By Fajr Sabah
Special to The Times Kuwait
Fajr Sabah, writer and content creator was among the group chosen as a young leader to represent Kuwait and highlight the country’s rich culture, history and literature at the World Youth Festival 2024. Fajr Sabah is also a Member of the Kuwaiti Traveler’s Association and Member of the Media Committee.
A graduate of the Higher Institute of Dramatic Arts – Department of Criticism and Theatrical Literature, Fajr is a travel enthusiast and can be found on Instagram as fajersabah_blog.
It was an honor and a privilege for me to be invited to attend the World Youth Festival, held in the first week of March, in the Sirius Federal Territory in Sochi, Russia. An event considered the largest in the global youth arena, it brought together the most passionate people from all over the world.
The event hosted 20,000 young Russian and foreign leaders, aged 18 to 35, from fields like business, media, international cooperation, culture, science, sports, education, volunteering, and charity under one roof, and gave them a global platform to interact and express their views.
The festival kickstarted new friendships, and provided an opportunity for mutual enrichment of various national cultures and traditions. It presented a unique platform for dialogue and search for mutual understanding regardless of one’s nationality, political views, or cultural choices.
About 50 percent of the participants were Russian and the other 50 percent from different foreign countries. Participants included 1,000 children as well, aged 14-17, about 500 from Russia, the other 500 from overseas. The teenagers represented various youth organizations and unions in their respective countries.
The concept of the Russian Youth Conference revolves around ‘We are young people from different countries of the world who have come together to learn about each other’s customs, traditions, and the distinguishing factors of the numerous countries we belong to. Despite our differences in language and dialect, and the diversity of our beliefs and ideas, we believe and accept different religions and cultures, and we are here on Russian soil, to discover each other.
Russia has brought us together to exchange nuances of our cultures and discover through discussion, dialogue and workshops in artistic, scientific, cultural, literary, heritage, and other popular fields. We exchanged souvenirs that symbolized our countries and highlighted our identities in a way that allows for unconditional mutual acceptance despite the disparity.
What unites us is respect and a passion for nurturing friendships across the world, participating in activities during and post-conference, organized by the conference administration, which enlisted many Russian volunteers fluent in English, Russian, and a little Arabic to ensure the success of this event. The opening exceeded all expectations, followed by round-the-clock transportation to the conference venue, with breakfast at the accommodation where representatives from all countries gathered.
We interacted with each other during breakfast and continued our introductions on the bus until we reached the festival venue, where we were warmly welcomed by volunteers with beautiful smiles.
We then chose suitable lectures, workshops, or conference activities, or looked to join an arranged delegation, in addition to the exhibition representing each country and the parade of each delegation.
In the midst of this energy-driven festival, President Putin himself wanted to prove the success of this conference and its simple yet profound idea, which was, “We come from different countries, but we can discover each other and exchange varied cultures with love, respect and acceptance of this diversity.” He indeed came in person on the closing day, delivered his rousing speech, welcomed the whole world to his country and home, and reaffirmed that “Russia is a friend to the world.”
