As the young leaders (all members of YSEALI Network) departed TechCamp Thailand in May of this year, many shared their plans to continue collaborating and using the knowledge they gained to implement the solutions they created at the event. New online campaigns promoting peace, local events to build technical capacity, and advocacy across a range of issues were a few of the ideas that participants hoped to bring back to their communities.
One group from the Philippines turned an idea into reality immediately following the TechCamp. #MealforMarawi was a successful online campaign that helped raise funds to feed some of the hundreds of evacuees across Mindanao. The Filipino delegates were able to use their new knowledge and connections to carry out this campaign and their community benefitted greatly.
Other participants look forward to turning their TechCamp solutions into action. Three projects were selected by the U.S. Embassy in Thailand, the Asia Foundation, and the TechCamp team to move forward with their plans:
- TechCamp Philippines will organize three local TechCamp events across the country. The core themes are fighting misinformation and promoting peace and each event aims to empower 30 young leaders of various organizations nationwide by providing them the necessary tech skills and platforms to take action.
- Tech to End Hate Speech will be a one day workshop and a campaign to reduce the use of hate speech in the Southern Border Provinces of Thailand. The aim is to help young people learn to understand the importance of ending the use of hate speech and to explore new and creative ways to use media to raise the awareness on the issue.
- Qapwa is a story sharing platform created to address cultural biases that continue to impede the development of Muslim communities. Qapwa will showcase stories of everyday lives of people and the similarities that we share. It is a website that will be used by youth organizations that are interested in working to build peace and educate their members on the narratives of Muslim Filipinos.
The TechCamp team congratulates these teams on their successful proposals and looks forward to hearing about their results. The team is also reviewing additional projects and encourages all young leaders in southeast Asia to continue making positive contributions to their communities.
