Two Young Reporters for the Environment (YRE), Isaac Sam Camilleri and Martina Mifsud, recently attended Youth Mundus 2019 in Rome, a global festival for environmentally conscious youths inspired by the Sustainable Development Goals. It was the first event of its kind. In this joint interview, they share their experience and its messages for young people.
How did you become involved in YRE and Youth Mundus?
Martina Mifsud (MM): In 2013, our Form 5 Chemistry teacher, Miss Barbara, invited a group of students, including me, to produce a reportage – either a video, article or photo – about an environmental problem we were passionate about solving. We produced a video about posters that were still displayed well past their advertised event date. We also spoke about the cleanliness (or lack thereof) of beaches and bays. I was subsequently chosen to participate in a YRE workshop in Sweden, and I have been a faithful YRE ever since. I applied to participate in Youth Mundus 2019 and was chosen.
Isaac Sam Camilleri (IC): I was part of Eco-School during secondary school, and as part of the committee we discussed different ways we students could air our concerns. One way was through YRE. Since then I have remained active in the programme, and YRE Malta invited me to report on the Youth Mundus in Rome and I accepted to take part.
What did festival consist in?
MM: It was targeted at young gamechangers. They were a very inspiring three days – a creative space where young people could share their views on a wide range of topics without fear of being judged by their audience. We participated in three days of the four-day festival – the topics of which were ‘Mother Nature’, ‘Love is Love’ and ‘One for All, All for One’. We had excellent speakers on all three days, and questions and debates were greatly encouraged.
IC: At Youth Mundus there were discussions about everything – from the environment to rights.
What interested you the most, and what did you decide to report on at Youth Mundus?
MM: I went with the preconception of investigating and reporting on SDG 3 – which deals with promoting good health and well-being. But the festival was organised in a unexpected way. It did not offer directly related content. Instead, the speakers were people like us who, inspired by the SDGs, bring about actions and change in their respective communities. They essentially taught us how they did that in the most effective way, and how they made the sometimes unattainable very much possible.
IC: The thing that interested me the most were the talks and workshops regarding single-use plastic. I decided to report on this because single-use plastic is a problem all around the world and we as a country need to be more aware about it.
Did you meet anyone at the festival who you regard as an excellent role model, and why?
MM: Although every person we met there had a story to tell, and all were an impressive inspiration in their own ways, I regard a 17-year-old Tunisian woman named Linda Torkhani not only as a role model, but also as a wonderful friend. She uses her talent of directing theatre productions to deliver her messages, besides being a very relatable individual. She does not seek drastic changes to the world, but, one theatre play after another, she is definitely scaling up the ladder.
IC: The one person I would choose is a determined 11-year-old girl from the Netherlands called Lilly whose aim is to pick up a piece of plastic every day and dispose of it properly.
What impact has the festival had on your lifestyle and mentality? What changes will you implement?
MM: Youth Mundus was a very unique festival. It showed us realities in other countries we often do not see because we are so absorbed in our bubble of self-fulfilment and Nimby mentality.
For example, before I was not aware of what was going on in Lebanon in terms of marginalised groups and political propaganda, but I was enlightened by Megaphone, an impartial media platform that aims to deliver digital content on Lebanese politics and amplify marginalised groups’ rights. I.M. Sweden, a 6,000-member organisation in Sweden dedicated to fight poverty and exclusion and contribute to lasting change for people in particularly vulnerable situations, made me aware of what is going on in southern Africa and south Asia in terms of the denial of human rights. And Amazon Watch, an NGO based in California, USA, that works to protect the rainforest and advance the rights of indigenous peoples in the Amazon Basin, explained what is happening to the indigenous people there.
There was a wealth of information and it was an absolute privilege to be present and receive all this. The festival made me more aware, more in touch with what is happening around me. I have been humbled into caring more about what is happening in the countries which are not click-bait for the masses to leech on through social media.
IC: Participants had decided to be plastic-free throughout the whole festival, which at first I thought was impossible, but the talks showed us how we can avoid single-use plastic, and we managed to do it. It made me realise how easy it was to do it if one pays attention and I am trying to implement in my everyday life what applied for that weekend.
What one piece of advice would you would give to children and youth, who are tomorrow’s leaders?
MM: Always do something. No matter how small or insignificant you think it is – never stop trying to convey positivity. You are but one drop in the ocean, but as we Maltese say – “Bil-qatra l-qatra timtela l-ġarra!” (Count the pennies, and the pounds will take care of themselves), so be a drop of happiness; a drop ofkindness; a drop of positive smiles and twinkling eyes. Be a plus in a world full of minuses – and change will come about slowly, but surely. Have a positive attitude – there’s no need to change the world, but change within.
IC: You can live without single-use plastic if you pay attention about what you are buying. Everyone will have a better world if we refuse single-use plastic. There is no planet B.
Isaac Sam Camilleri is a 16-year-old Junior College student. Martina Mifsud is a 22-year-old dental technologist and a part-time explainer at Esplora.