SYDNEY, JULY 14, 2008: Rakesh Singh, a young tribal from Krishnachandrapur, a village in Orissa’s Mayurbhanj District, is leading India's 510 member delegation to the World Youth Day in Sydney, Australia, that begins tomorrow July 15. The following is an interview given by Rakesh to Union of Catholic Asian News before he left for the WYD.What is the significance of this World Youth Day for you? I attended the earlier World Youth Day in Cologne, Germany, in 2005. Only 250 people from India attended that event. This time, 510 Indians, some 400 of them young people, are attending. The event is very important for the whole Indian Church. We want to gain experience to conduct similar programs in our country. Who knows, India may hold the World Youth Day after 20 years? We will then have some people who have attended the international event.
How will the World Youth Day help the Indian youth? It will expose our youth, most of them village based, to the big world. They will mingle with youth from other countries. One of the days in our program in Australia is assigned for social work, when people will be working in the streets, planting trees, cleaning a garden or a cemetery. They may also go to institutions like old age homes, and spend time with local people. This will broaden their mind. I hope they will understand the dignity of labor, which most developed nations respect. In India, we look down on menial jobs. Sharing of expectations by our participants has convinced us that the exposure is the kind of program they really need.
How many delegates are from villages? We have about 60 percent from villages. The intentions are different. Rich people want to go overseas on holiday, but only a few are ready to go on a pilgrimage. Young villagers if given opportunities will prove themselves.
Has your own background played any role in this focus on rural areas? I was born and bought up in a small village in Orissa. The school was 16 kilometers away. My mother, a teacher who studied in Kolkata, knew Blessed Mother Teresa (of Kolkata). So my mother wanted me to take up social work. It's because of God's grace that I got these opportunities. But there are lots of people who do not have the platform and opportunities. There are lots of facilities and opportunities in cities, which I never knew when I was in my village. So if such facilities are made available to village people, they will also grow. There is a big gap of opportunities between village and city people