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International Indigenous People Day: Empowering Indigenous People
Today is a day entirely for celebrating indigenous people and their unique cultures. Indigenous people lead very amusing lives, something I'm quite keen about as personally, I find learning about cultures quite fascinating, especially under-represented and unheard ones. Indigenous people have quite a history too, dating back thousands of years. They are found in over 90 countries, speak 4000 of the world's languages and there are 476 million of them in this world! In my country, Bangladesh, the main ethnic groups are Garo, Marma, Shawtal, Monipuri and Tripura. Bangladeshi tribes either have...
Salesperson of Happiness (Khoshbakhtye Forushande) - Persian Poem
Persian has always been a language that I had admired and wanted to learn. This poem is my first attempt at writing a Persian poem after learning it for a few months. The poem consists of easy words that I picked up while learning the basics. While it is very difficult to write a poem in a foreign language due to its inherent nuances and grammatical intricacies, I found it to be a very entertaining and enlightening exercise for improving my skill in the language as well as learning it further. My accompanying transliteration has tried to bring forth the rhyme and intonation used in the poem...
The Child of Racism
As a child of two immigrants from India, I am a mix between the vibrant and traditional culture of India and the extroverted culture of America. To me, India and America were worlds apart, often making me drift between the two whenever I visit India or return to America. I could not find any similarities between India and America, because to me (or at least to my parents), India was a mystical place filled with culture that I often took for granted. Now that I'm older and have access to more information than the generations before me, I started to realize that Indian culture and Western...
A San Belief
“We are the ancestors of our grandchildren’s children. We look after them, just as our ancestors look after us. We aren’t here for ourselves. We are here for each other and for the children of our grandchildren.” - Profound words by a San elder, Roy Sesana The hunter-gatherer San are among the oldest cultures on Mother Earth, and are thought to be descended from the first inhabitants of Southern Africa. The San were traditionally semi-nomadic, moving seasonally within certain regions based on the availability of water, game, and edible shrubbery. The San culture and beliefs are simple yet rich...
Water and Fire
When water encounters fire, The fire is relieved, water is set free. Red and blue occupies the opposite side of the scheme, Water and fire stand on the contrary. They are never placed together, For that, the existence of one is the death of the other. Fire is extinguished by water, While water drains in the heat of the fire. But I think the two have made each other. The compromises by the two to willingly change their form, Has delighted this confrontation. Fire is finally released from its burden to always shine and emit warmth. Water is eventually free from its bond of certain form as it...
The dark spots of Tirana
Walking down the streets of Tirana,Albania, you happen to see a lot of things. Giant buildings, most of them inhabited, some of them left undone at the very last moment. You see people running up and town, some going to work, and some searching for one. There are cars honking at every red light, being parked at the side of the road, occupying that very little public space, and therefore making driving in the streets of Tirana, an extreme sport. If you keep walking a little bit more you will see cafes, a lot of them. Probably one of the most beneficial businesses. You will see people inside...
Do you believe in God?
Religion has always been a very controversial subject. But the question that arises is, how many of us really understand the concept of religion? I see lots of people saying that they don't believe in God. But what does God represent? For me God is a constant positive energy in my life. What I believe is that one doesn't need to believe in a deity if one believes in some positive force. This positive force can be their father, mother, siblings, grandparents, etc. Anyone can be a positive force as long as they help us to move in a positive direction. This positive force keeps you grounded and...
"Are the men of the house here?"
I grew up in Prishtina, the capital of Kosovo, but my birthplace is Prizren, a very well known city of Kosovo-known for the history every inch of the land has. I have a big family, both on my mom's and on my dad's side. Both of my parents encourage me to do what I love and feel happy about myself, and my dad tells me I am not a piece of property to anyone. Because my dad works as a freelancer in IT, my mom usually has to run all the errands of the house while also working as a Registered Nurse. My 80-year-old grandma lives with my aunt, who works as a physicist.I have two uncles and one aunt...
Parents of the future
I believe Gen Z has better morals and political views then any other generation. I often find myself arguing with my parents over their outdated views and try to educate them. These debates make me think of how different I myself will raise my children along with the rest of Gen Z I hope. For example, as a teenager I have started to become exposed to the objectification women face on a daily basis. No woman should fear walking down the street alone however we do due to some men being disrespectful, rude and even scary sometimes. The saddest part is that whenever we talk about these encounters...
Forever African
For the sake of our pride And that of our ancestors Who jumped from ships into the sea of sorrow Because they knew death was better than bondage The pride of our ancestors Who suffered in the hands of foreigners Cling, Clang the shackles cried For freedom from their bloody ankles They tried to break the shackles That were already anchored to the soils of our land Pulling us down to the roots of the mango tree Guiding us back home And now we dance To the rhythm of the palm trees In the song of the wind Whistling sweet words in our ears Reminding us of the beauty of Africa, my Africa The home of...
This thing called "community"
It is without debate that all that we are and yet to become is largely due to our community’s loving hand over our lives. “Umuntu ngumuntu ngabantu,” is a famous African quote meaning, “I am because we are.” As one is for all and all are for one, community is the glue that keeps us hand-in-hand all throughout life. Before delving any deeper into the notion of community, let us first define community. From my vantage point, community is a force of love that binds all of humanity together. Community are the trees, the mountains, and the stars when they smile at you. Community are your parents...
It's not what you say, but how you say it
Eight Words with Incredibly Beautiful Meanings
Start with yourself!
We have always stressed the importance of smiling at the face of our friends and distant neighbor and helping others. And we are fully aware of the love we feel when we help older people or when we play with little boys, but what made me remember these words again is that I no longer see any effect of it on reality! Perhaps what inspired me to write this article is that we are aware of the importance of the individuals to society, and that they cannot grow apart from their community. They need friends and family to stand with them in pain and joy, but what we do today is very different from...
CULTURE
Culture is our structure, which we live with no fracture. In it we look in good future, for all human creature. The mixture of our features, gives us perfect picture. The texture of our culture, doesn't need any fixture. One who doesn't practice his culture, consider him a premature in nature/ CULTURE IS OUR SIGNATURE.
First Came the Temple, Then the City
*This article was originally written and published in July 2016 at UNICEF Voices of Youth’s former website. It has since been moved here. In my hometown we often talk about the unappreciated and underrated treasures of our country. I frequently find myself in such conversations, and the one that led me to write this post was about Göbeklitepe, a pre-historic site in Southeastern Turkey. Known to be “the oldest temple of the world”, Göbeklitepe is dated back to Pre-Pottery Neolithic A Period (c. 9600–7300 BC). The peculiarity of the Göbeklitepe site lies in that it contradicts what the studies...
From the #MeToo movement to debates about gender: 5 stories you really liked on Voices of Youth in 2019
Breaking the myths about the hymen
Telling you guys honestly, it took me a long time to decide whether or not I should write about this subject. I am aware that this is a very sensitive subject in various part of the world but I just feel that I need to talk about it so that women will stop facing injustice and people will no longer believe the myths about hymen. If people didn’t raise their voice against FGM, it would not have ended so I do hope that my post will bring a change in many people lives and after reading this post, you might learn something new. First off, contrary to what girls are often led to believe, “the hymen...
#HappyToBleed
Yes menstruation. You figured it right, that’s what I’m talking about. No, it is not, a taboo, a dirty subject, a process that girls should feel ashamed of because it is- “socially incorrect” , a topic that people can’t discuss openly and respectfully, a truth that girls need to hide or something that men should not know about. I assure you guys, it’s not an embarrassing subject at all and I know that some people might feel uneasy because I’m posting about this topic, but we need to discuss openly about this subject to be able to tackle various issues related to menstruation and gender...