Preparing youth for better tomorrow

Hundreds of school and college students, including from countries like South Korea, Japan, Thailand, France, South Africa and almost all states of India, have descended at the Thyagaraj Sports Complex to participate in the International Youth Fellowship (IYF) camp which is hosting a range of educational, sporting and cultural programmes.

The four-day camp was formally inaugurated by Delhi’s CM on November 5, though the activities had already begun a couple of days prior. The inauguration was followed by a cultural programme, which included Korean actress and singer Choi Eun Hye, singer Julio Goncalves, the Gracias Music Preparatory School choir, a Korean fan dance, a martial arts dance and a performance by students from Amity University.

But the visitors won the hearts of Indians when a Korean choir sang popular Hindi film songs like Yeh dosti hum nahin torenge and Aashaayen dil ki.  

“Youth of today will be the leaders of tomorrow. So, they cannot remain disconnected from all that is happening.

This camp aims to bring about challenge, change and cohesion through cultural programmes which include music, folk dances, ‘mind lectures’ about understanding each other, even fun and games like scavenger hunts and a marathon on the last day. Around 2300 Indian students and 300 foreign students are participating,” said Hong In Ki from South Korea, director, IYF camp.

“The focus of this camp is on sports and cultural activities but the central theme is on team building activities. Mind lecture are a very important part. They help students think in the direction of how to control and motivate their minds. After spending some days together, the young become such good friends that they visit the countries their friends came from,” he added.

During these four days, the students took part in competitive and non-competitive events like Scavenger Hunt, Mini Olympics and other games; mind lectures by Pastor Ock Soo Park, who founded the IYF in 2001. The camp also aims at connecting youngsters from across the world.

Parth Kalke, a B.A student from Mumbai, said, “It is for the first time that I am participating in an event of this scale. I am in fact coordinating a team of 15 students from Orissa and have personally enjoyed sessions of leadership quality, kung fu and skin care.”