World Student Christian Federation Solidarity Conference

by Kathryn Ellis

After my BOVA placement I didn’t want my volunteering or my travelling to just come to a halt. As a member of the Student Christian Movement (SCM) in the UK I have been involved in various retreats and conferences so when I heard about an international opportunity I jumped at the chance. SCM is part of a wider organisation called World Student Christian Federation (WSCF) and along with another representative from the UK I went to Paris last year for a conference about peace and violence organised by the European section of WSCF. Whilst there I met many interesting people and was inspired to get more involved. I soon found myself on the Preparatory Committee for the next conference: ‘A Just Life or just life?’ to be held in Budapest, Hungary. As part of the prep-com I saw the behind-the-scenes part of the organisation, making me truly appreciate what a lot of work goes into these conferences. Although this meant I hardly stopped during the conference, for me this made it a lot more enjoyable. We aimed to raise awareness about alternative globalisation, social justice, fair trade and the global responsibility for poverty reduction. This was done through lectures, workshops, discussions, role play and Bible study. I chose to involve James and BOVA after hearing him talk about volunteering as I thought his talk would be a good way to encourage us to do something in our own countries. Following this talk, we gave participants the chance to do a small act of volunteering in Budapest with a homeless organisation, a home for disabled people and letter-writing with Amnesty International.

A large part of these conferences is intercultural dialogue and this was something I found particularly rewarding, learning about other people’s experiences from all over Europe, particularly as a westerner talking to people from poorer eastern European countries. I hope that we encouraged people to return to their own countries and share their experiences with others. The worship was another part that I found particularly moving, since it was organised by different denominations each evening, giving us the chance to experience an alternative worship to what we are used to, including Catholic, Orthodox and Protestant. It was a reminder that although we all come from different parts of the world, although we all have different styles of worships, we are one body in Christ. The week was an emotional one, full of laughter and tears, but also an excellent opportunity to learn more about poverty issues and to discuss them in different cultural contexts.