Attending 12th University Scholars Leadership Symposium – Humanitarian Affairs Asia as a UTS Delegate

Between Aug 6th to 9th 2024 I attended the 12th USLS HAA held at UN Conference Centre in Bangkok, Thailand. Even before attending the program the fact that the program will be held at the prestigious United Nations Conference Centre made me very exited about it, just thinking about the fact that I will be sitting at the same seats as the delegates from all the around the world seat, was a magical feeling. In the following passages I will share my experience of the four days I spent in the program.

When I wore My Cultural Attire

One the first day of the program we were encouraged to wear something that represents our culture, so I decided to wear a white ‘Top and pant’ with the newly gifted pair of sandals from my father-in-law. The day started with the opening speech from the Founder of HAA and followed by three lectures with half an hour break between them. The best part of the day were the breaks when we got to meet people from all around the world, learning about their experiences coming to the program.

A Minute of Silence for the Souls Lost

The second day started with the story of elephants, followed by series of lectures with half-hour breaks in between for networking. The best part of the day was
when we all got up to observe a minute of silence for the protestors who lost their lives in the Monsoon Revolution in Bangladesh. It was organized by one of the lecturers Shomy Hasan Chowdhury, founder of Awareness 360, she is a big source of inspiration for the youth in South-Asia. Starting by coming from an under-developed country to running a global organization that specializes in helping people from those underprivileged country is an unimaginable challenge that she overcame, not to mention all the global awards she has won along the way, Forbes 30 under 30 in Asia to name one. Later that day, I visited the famous Bangkok night markets with one of my newly made friends from the symposium Sai.

The Reality Check

Third day of the Symposium was the kindness day, there were four options, and I took part in the activity where we visited the Refugee camps in Thailand next to Myanmar border. There we visited a school for the refugee kids, it was so humbling to see the kids and the classrooms they are taught in. It was certainly on of the best parts of the Symposium, where we got a reality check of how lucky we are to have all the privileges where we live. We also visited some of their homes and gave them few solar lights and snacks, that they can use in their daily lives.

Our Last Day in the Symposium

The last day was again composed of few lectures, question & answer sessions with global mentors and lots of networking. After sending full four days together it was hard to say goodbye to all the people, I got to know from all around the world, not sure when we will be able to meet again but we all connected through our socials and LinkedIn, and promised to be in touch.

To conclude it was an amazing experience that I would cherish my whole life and would always be grateful to the University of technology Sydney for giving me the opportunity to attend and Humanitarian Affairs Asia for organizing this event.

Tanzir Ahmed Bhuiyan
Bachelor of Engineering (Honours)
Faculty-Led – BUILD – University Scholars Leadership Symposium (Thailand)
BUILD Global Ambassador Grant recipient