Written by: Serene Kasim
The 5th of August 2009. Never thought I’d be here. Definitely never dreamt I’d be doing this. Sixteen people I had never met or heard of a month ago had suddenly become more than names from places that I had only ever seen on a map or read about in passing. They had assumed personalities, quirks, unique little likes and dislikes, strange turns of phrases. We, complete strangers, from strange cultures and backgrounds, with different experiences, had been put together here, told to mingle and mix and get along. It was demanded we like it. It was expected we learn from each other. The strange thing? We did. We liked it. Over four weeks we mingled and we mixed. We learnt to love the sounds that we brought from each of our strange lands. We learnt to describe smells and sounds to each other. We struggled over meals to tell each other how we missed a certain texture to our food. We struggled in classes to tell each other that each of our experiences, the good ones and the bad ones, were different and yet so similar. We told each other of successes and failures. We shared frustrations and triumphs in the realization of visions we shared for each of our countries and in the end what turned out to be a vision for a better world. Yes, we argued and still argue over definitions. Yes, we still don’t know if the universal is an acceptable word. No, we haven’t agreed on where the individual ends and the community begins. We haven’t found answers. We probably will not find them in the next five years or fifty perhaps. But we have begun asking the right questions. It is a good beginning I think. The perfect beginning I feel.

The 5th of August was also significant because of that. This is the day we began thinking of what we had learnt. We began to assimilate a tiny portion of the vast stores of knowledge we had begun to tap. Having assimilated, this was the day we began applying that knowledge. We began questioning accepted wisdoms. This was the day we added our own understanding (s) to accepted truths. We began to show that we are willing to go outside the box. Think laterally. We began to actively start becoming a part of the solution rather than be a part of the problem.

Personally, I feel this has been the grand achievement of the Summer School. It has rejuvenated those who have been waging these battles for long years (you know who you are) and it has inspired those just starting out by showing them a way forward in their own battles.

It is my hope that this continues - that scores of young people in the future are given this opportunity to come together, to share and to learn. It is absolutely invaluable that this tremendous space for intercultural dialogue is allowed to flourish and that the participants take back new ways of thinking and doing and contributing. We need to communicate in more meaningful ways as a species. We need to see beyond our four walls and our borders. We need to see beyond our own “national” imperatives and learn how every action affects the other, who isn’t really the other, but a part of us all. We really are bound by our humanity; by that quality that makes us human. Keeping the lines of communication open is the only way to make sure we never lose sight of this.

Thank you!