Thanks to a French video documentary contest sponsored by the French embassy in the Philippines, I was chosen as the only Philippine youth delegate in a 10-day conference in Paris, France about human rights in the technological age. This conference is called LabCitoyen 2014, which aims to promote international relations of the French-speaking youth through relevant global issues. There were more or less 60 countries who participated and more or less 82 participants. To be able to select the Philippine representative, the French embassy held a video documentary contest that would select the entry which best illustrates the theme in the Philippine context.
I do not know how I won, but of course I wanted to win because I'm really passionate about the theme of the competition. I submitted a video discussing the Cybercrime Law and its implications here in the Philippines. This is a contested issue that threatens two very important rights for Filipino Internet users - freedom of expression and security in cyberspace. The delicate balance between the two concepts greatly interested me, and this is the main reason why I wanted to participate in this contest.
It was also an opportunity for me to improve my French by contacting the other winners who come from other countries. And of course, I dreamed of going to Paris, because why not? It is the dream of anyone with an interest in French culture.
Suddenly, on the morning of June 9, 2014, that dream came true.
There was a series of conferences that made up the program. There were traditional conferences with round tables for 15-30 minutes, but there were also unique and eye-opening ones. One of the most memorable conferences for me was the first one, which discussed the fight against death penalty. The speaker, Ms. Antoinette Chahine, recounted the story of a woman who was condemned for death penalty and had to endure the physical and emotional torture in prison while she was pregnant. There was also a conference on discrimination and intolerance with a presenter who spoke about the experiences of LGBT. After his presentation, I asked about discrimination against homosexuals in the workplace during the open forum.
But it wasn't just the conferences. During our stay we visited Lille, a province in France. We had a workshop and discussion with the MRES Association (Movement against Racism and for Friendship among Peoples) on the campaign "No Hate Speech Movement" that condemns discrimination, racism and hate speech on the Internet. During our stay, we also attended a forum theater - a kind of forum that uses theater to facilitate the intervention of the participants, while situations are played by actors. We also visited exhibitions like the Motion Factory which featured the world of animation; a FabLab which featured up-to-date technological innovation like the 3D printer; the visit to the National Assembly which allowed us to understand the system and political elements; and the most unforgettable visit, that of the Shoah Memorial dedicated to the victims of genocide. There was also an exhibition about the genocide of Tutsis in Rwanda in 1994.
I learned many important things and I hadseveral exciting experiences during the workshops, but the best part of the stay was of course the free time. We were free to do our sightseeing in Paris.
I went to really beautiful sights such as the Louvre Museum, the Eiffel Tower, Montmartre, Arc de Triomphe, the Champs-Elysées, the Maison de Victor Hugo and Notre-Dame de Paris. There were no tourist buses for visitors so at the end of the trip we were already familiar with the Parisian public transport - the subway for example! We could go shopping or go to restaurants of our choice. Finally, just before the last day we saw the military parade of July 14, otherwise known as the "Bastille Day" attended by President of the Republic, François Hollande.
During the last night of our stay, we had dinner and a disco party on a boat along the river Seine.
It's not bad to have big dreams. And after going to Paris, the city of dreams, it is a temptation to be already contented. However, for me, this experience as a participant in LabCitoyen 2014 inspired me to dream bigger than before.
Because why not?
(A longer and more detailed version of this entry written in French is available on the website of the French embassy in the Philippines: http://www.ambafrance-ph.org/LabCitoyen-2014-Realisation-d-un)
No comments:
Post a Comment