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now i feel respected and recognised in the socitey |
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Wednesday, 02 December 2009 |
 I am Tamil Kavi. I am 24 years of age. I am from Pallapatti, a village in the district of Madurai, Tamil Nadu, India. I am the National Treasurer and part-timer of YCW India. Victoria Mary and I from India participated in the Asia Pacific regional Action Meeting from 10th to 15th Oct 2009 held in Chiang Mai, Thailand. Delegates from Australia, Hong Kong, Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka also participated. I am happy to share with you my experiences and what I learned from this program.
It was my first experience to travel in a plane and the travel was exciting. Moreover, it was my first experience to visit another country. Therefore I was very much motivated.
During this program, we explained past one year actions and activities done by YCW India with and for the young workers. I learnt the situations and the issues of young workers in other countries for the sharing of the other delegates. We also evaluated the outcome of the Decent Living Income (DLI) survey. From this evaluation I could learn that most of the young workers have very low income and could not have a decent life. This is also similar to the reality of young workers in India. I learnt the international labour conventions related to decent work and income as well as how the International Labour organisation is working with social organisations to protect the rights of workers in the world.
During the meeting we evaluated the actions of IYCW as an international movement. We evaluated the work of the ASPAC coordinators for the past one year. The ASPAC team presented the plan of action for 2009 – 2010 focussing on achieving Social Protection in the areas of Just and Decent Work, Quality Education and Gender Equality. Based on this plan, each national movement developed specific areas of work for 2009 – 2010. For YCW India, we agreed to continue implement our national plan focussing on minimum wage and right to employment. We also agreed to work address the gender issues inside our actions.
The ASPAC team also explained the need of electing ASPAC leaders for the International team to implement the International Plan of Action. Hence, the International Plan of Action. Hence, the ASPAC coordinators explained the importance of all ASPAC national movement to participate actively in the midterm election which is in the process now.
I took very active role in the program. I contributed my opinions and ideas in the group discussions. I raised clarifications, questions and gave my reflections in the plenary. It was my first experience to present the action of YCW India (the wage increase action at Pallapatti) through power point. I was given the opportunity to be the secretary of the working groups 2 times and I presented the report of the group in the plenary in English. I was really happy about this. I participated actively in the cultural night through giving dance song and street play.
I was able to relate and share with all delegates making use of the little English that I knew. Now I have many friends from other countries. It was a good exposure for me to know different languages and culture (food, dress etc) I tried to learn a few words in other languages. The challenge for me in the program was to express myself fluently in English. I need to take steps to learn English.
I am very happy to say that after coming back from this program my opinions and reflections are listened and respected in my village. Now I feel respected and recognised by the society. I think it is because of formation that I am undergoing through YCW and the opportunities that YCW has been giving me to develop my self.
Tamil Kavi National
Treasurer
YCW India
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Life Stories 