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Hi everyone !
My name is François Reyes, I'm 19 and a student in political sciences at Sciences Po Strasbourg , in France. I'm fond of a lot of things, but I'm most passionate about politics and international relations.
During the last 4 years, I've engaged myself in many organizations, from P.I.E. (that helps French high-school students to study abroad for a year, and allows foreign students to spend a year in France) where I help the soon to-be-away French students understand how to better apprehend their future thanks to their to-be-gained experience ; to the French Youth Parliament , where I'm in charge of relations with the different sections of the Parliament (Strasbourg, Paris, Lille, Montpellier, Aix, etc.) after being a deputy there for a year.
But there is one organization that I have more faith in than the others. One that allows me to travel to places I’ve never been, to meet wonderful people all around the globe, and that gave me the motivation to build the new French think-tank “Réveil Citoyen” (‘Citizens Awakening’), which is the reason of why I deeply wish to go to the Summit. With Stras Diplomacy, where my job is to train the students to be the best diplomats possible during the Model United Nations around the world, I’ve discovered a whole new world. A world of a youth that waits it's time, that innovates, that searches for new answers to old problems that couldn’t be solved. A youth that dreams of changing the world, or at least of changing the lives of a few for the better. I’ve had the chance to represent many countries (Islamic Republic of Iran, Maldives, United States of America, Egypt, etc.), and to be awarded “Best Delegate” while representing the U.S.A. (where I had the chance to live for a year thanks to P.I.E.) at the MUN of Nice 2015.
The story of my engagement had to be told so that you can understand how “Réveil Citoyen” was born.
Réveil Citoyen, why ?
On January 7th, coming back from college around 11.30 AM, I turn on my TV. Then I see it. I see death; I see terrorism in the streets of my own country. I stand there, watching the horrible actions of those terrorists, walking towards a wounded police officer, and shooting him at point blank. I remember perfectly what I felt. I felt rage. I felt sadness. I felt pain. I discover that 11 people died at Charlie Hedbo , a satiric newspaper, killed by those terrorists. I’ve never been a fan of this newspaper, but I do love my country, and I do love the people living in this country. I’m attached to the values of the French Republic. And these journalists, these cops, they died because they were fighting for freedom. I remember crying. A very strange mix of rage and pain. As if it wasn’t enough, the next days, another terrorist hit the streets of Paris, killing another police officer, and taking hostages in a kosher store, targeting yet another community of my country. In a total of 3 days, 17 people died because barbarity hit France. On January 11th, 4 million people went out in the streets to defend freedom, to show that we were not scared, that we will stand in the face of fear, and that we will defeat terrorism. Since the liberation of France in 1945, never had that many Frenchmen and women gathered together to speak as one.
Réveil Citoyen, how ?
The following day, I thought, “What can I do? What can I do that could change things? Bring the people of France together? How can I prevent racist and anti-Muslim acts to happen following those attacks? How can I help my country?” A friend of mine told me that the issue is the gap between the different communities, which I totally agreed with. So, how can we bring them together? Réveil Citoyen is a non-political think tank, created on the belief that we can only heal our wounded country by sharing ideas and through debate. They wanted to bring us down; we stand firmly and will speak loudly. Every month, Réveil Citoyen organizes a debate on a very precise theme, which is divided into 2 or 3 sub-subjects. Then we gather people, and have them debate in groups, so that we can reach common grounds, but most of all: concrete propositions to change what has to be changed. We bring together people from different communities, with different backgrounds, different religions, of all ages, to discuss the problems of our time. The first theme was secularism.
We’ve seen wonderful propositions. People came up with great ideas. Now it is time for Réveil Citoyen to gather those propositions together, and to publish a magazine that can be distributed to our representatives and our senators, so that the deciders can have a direct idea of what their citizens want.
So of course, when I learn a few months ago that there is this Summit organized by One Young World that aims to bring together the world's youth that innovates for the best, I thought that I could submit my project, and see what happens then. On the 15th of July, an email came in : I was selected to go to the One Young World Summit of 2015 in Bangkok to present my projects. This would give Réveil Citoyen a worldwide coverage, and a unique opportunity for me to meet thousands of young people that are impacting their societies on a daily basis. Not only would that allow me to pursue my dream of helping communities in my country, but that would also stimulate new ideas and new projects for me to pursue, all of them trying to be aimed for the greater good.
Here you can find an extract of the approval letter from One Young World
My problem is simple: it costs money. A lot of money. Only to attend, the cost is 3946 Euros. With the plane tickets to Bangkok for a departure on the 16th of November and a return flight on the 22nd the cost goes up 800 Euros which isn't included. + VAT, it reaches around 5000 Euros, which I do not own myself. Since I live in France, I cannot apply for a scholarship at One Young World, my country not being considered as a “poorly represented” nation at One Young World Summits.
So I call upon your generosity, even if it’s 5-10 Euros, every cent will count. Since i was a little boy I’ve always dreamt of talking with world leaders, of meeting young people devoted to make the world a better place, all of them are models to me, as I’m trying hard to add my piece of work to the world. Below this text you will find the details of the per-delegate price detailed by One Young World.
Only two French have had the chance to be selected for this Summit. I really cannot miss this opportunity. I’m counting on you!
Do not hesitate to contact me for more information about my project, I will be more than happy to provide you with answers. You contact me at [email redacted] !
Full terms and conditions here
My name is François Reyes, I'm 19 and a student in political sciences at Sciences Po Strasbourg , in France. I'm fond of a lot of things, but I'm most passionate about politics and international relations.
During the last 4 years, I've engaged myself in many organizations, from P.I.E. (that helps French high-school students to study abroad for a year, and allows foreign students to spend a year in France) where I help the soon to-be-away French students understand how to better apprehend their future thanks to their to-be-gained experience ; to the French Youth Parliament , where I'm in charge of relations with the different sections of the Parliament (Strasbourg, Paris, Lille, Montpellier, Aix, etc.) after being a deputy there for a year.
But there is one organization that I have more faith in than the others. One that allows me to travel to places I’ve never been, to meet wonderful people all around the globe, and that gave me the motivation to build the new French think-tank “Réveil Citoyen” (‘Citizens Awakening’), which is the reason of why I deeply wish to go to the Summit. With Stras Diplomacy, where my job is to train the students to be the best diplomats possible during the Model United Nations around the world, I’ve discovered a whole new world. A world of a youth that waits it's time, that innovates, that searches for new answers to old problems that couldn’t be solved. A youth that dreams of changing the world, or at least of changing the lives of a few for the better. I’ve had the chance to represent many countries (Islamic Republic of Iran, Maldives, United States of America, Egypt, etc.), and to be awarded “Best Delegate” while representing the U.S.A. (where I had the chance to live for a year thanks to P.I.E.) at the MUN of Nice 2015.
The story of my engagement had to be told so that you can understand how “Réveil Citoyen” was born.
Réveil Citoyen, why ?
On January 7th, coming back from college around 11.30 AM, I turn on my TV. Then I see it. I see death; I see terrorism in the streets of my own country. I stand there, watching the horrible actions of those terrorists, walking towards a wounded police officer, and shooting him at point blank. I remember perfectly what I felt. I felt rage. I felt sadness. I felt pain. I discover that 11 people died at Charlie Hedbo , a satiric newspaper, killed by those terrorists. I’ve never been a fan of this newspaper, but I do love my country, and I do love the people living in this country. I’m attached to the values of the French Republic. And these journalists, these cops, they died because they were fighting for freedom. I remember crying. A very strange mix of rage and pain. As if it wasn’t enough, the next days, another terrorist hit the streets of Paris, killing another police officer, and taking hostages in a kosher store, targeting yet another community of my country. In a total of 3 days, 17 people died because barbarity hit France. On January 11th, 4 million people went out in the streets to defend freedom, to show that we were not scared, that we will stand in the face of fear, and that we will defeat terrorism. Since the liberation of France in 1945, never had that many Frenchmen and women gathered together to speak as one.
Réveil Citoyen, how ?
The following day, I thought, “What can I do? What can I do that could change things? Bring the people of France together? How can I prevent racist and anti-Muslim acts to happen following those attacks? How can I help my country?” A friend of mine told me that the issue is the gap between the different communities, which I totally agreed with. So, how can we bring them together? Réveil Citoyen is a non-political think tank, created on the belief that we can only heal our wounded country by sharing ideas and through debate. They wanted to bring us down; we stand firmly and will speak loudly. Every month, Réveil Citoyen organizes a debate on a very precise theme, which is divided into 2 or 3 sub-subjects. Then we gather people, and have them debate in groups, so that we can reach common grounds, but most of all: concrete propositions to change what has to be changed. We bring together people from different communities, with different backgrounds, different religions, of all ages, to discuss the problems of our time. The first theme was secularism.
We’ve seen wonderful propositions. People came up with great ideas. Now it is time for Réveil Citoyen to gather those propositions together, and to publish a magazine that can be distributed to our representatives and our senators, so that the deciders can have a direct idea of what their citizens want.
So of course, when I learn a few months ago that there is this Summit organized by One Young World that aims to bring together the world's youth that innovates for the best, I thought that I could submit my project, and see what happens then. On the 15th of July, an email came in : I was selected to go to the One Young World Summit of 2015 in Bangkok to present my projects. This would give Réveil Citoyen a worldwide coverage, and a unique opportunity for me to meet thousands of young people that are impacting their societies on a daily basis. Not only would that allow me to pursue my dream of helping communities in my country, but that would also stimulate new ideas and new projects for me to pursue, all of them trying to be aimed for the greater good.
Here you can find an extract of the approval letter from One Young World
My problem is simple: it costs money. A lot of money. Only to attend, the cost is 3946 Euros. With the plane tickets to Bangkok for a departure on the 16th of November and a return flight on the 22nd the cost goes up 800 Euros which isn't included. + VAT, it reaches around 5000 Euros, which I do not own myself. Since I live in France, I cannot apply for a scholarship at One Young World, my country not being considered as a “poorly represented” nation at One Young World Summits.
So I call upon your generosity, even if it’s 5-10 Euros, every cent will count. Since i was a little boy I’ve always dreamt of talking with world leaders, of meeting young people devoted to make the world a better place, all of them are models to me, as I’m trying hard to add my piece of work to the world. Below this text you will find the details of the per-delegate price detailed by One Young World.
Only two French have had the chance to be selected for this Summit. I really cannot miss this opportunity. I’m counting on you!
Do not hesitate to contact me for more information about my project, I will be more than happy to provide you with answers. You contact me at [email redacted] !
Full terms and conditions here
Organizer
François Reyes
Organizer
Strasbourg
