Zeenat Azmi gives another perspective from the Politics Of Poverty youth event at the Houses Of Parliament on November 9, where the topics of combating climate change and poverty were thrown left, right, and centre…

The Politics of Poverty, Climate Change and the MDGs... Complex topics for a Question Time event that was really more about the questions we were bringing and our anxious awareness of the fragility of these efforts, than about ending in enlightenment. There was a real sense of impatient eagerness in the room for action, but at the same time this was not a group who could be satisfied by simply being given charity buckets to shake or going to a Live 8 concert.

'... it was a valuable connection for young, engaged people to feel that the highest of political institutions are in fact accessible and our urgent voices can be heard within those daunting walls'

There were plenty of Platform2 returnees like myself, many of whom had gone to Ghana- which made them automatically like extended family to me, especially one Rwandan who had worked in the same village as I did and was also going on to start an masters in Education and International Development. Plus he was wearing a woven kente scarf - a joyful signal to Ghanaians and pseudo-Ghanaians everywhere... The volunteers clearly felt driven to demand an immediate, intelligent response to poverty affecting the lives of people and their environment which we had grown to love.

I attended the protest outside Westminster lobbying for action on the MDGs a month or so before, where I was impressed to see a whole crowd of young hijabi girls that had responded enthusiastically to MADE’s call and were contributing to the racket with cheerful confidence... I was glad to see how articulate and considered the community was in that room on November 9 and only wished there was more time for us to learn about each other. From standing outside Westminster, pitching our concerns to a camera, to sitting inside that august building having a direct dialogue with politicians and those in positions of power - you realised that it was not such an impossible distance to bridge as it seems.

'... this was not a group who could be satisfied by simply being given charity buckets to shake or going to a Live 8 concert'

The Houses of Parliament seem so imposing and Gothic from the outside, and then the entrance too was grand and stony - great Hogwarts-like halls with portraits and statues of past Prime Ministers you vaguely recalled from history books. But once inside the little room with bottle green flocked wallpaper, and slim mikes suspended over our heads, it was cosy enough and only not enough time to ask or say all we wanted to say, though in fact there’s never enough time for that...

We splintered off on the journey home continuing our discussions and reflecting on the event, from my new Rwandan friend who was thinking of returning to work in his home country, to learning about Tzedek from a boy who had also attended the event and noticed our chatter at the tube station. We talked literally until the last possible second when I had to leave the train - scribbling my phone number as I went before just squeezing out the door.

Although it was not the academic exercise I might have anticipated - I guess I have university lectures on development and neglected reading for that - it was a valuable connection for young, engaged people to feel that the highest of political institutions are in fact accessible and our urgent voices can be heard within those daunting walls.

Words: Zeenat Azmi. Zeenat is a returnee from overseas volunteering initiative, Platform2.
Photos: Platform2

For more information on Platform2, please visit www.myplatform2.com

To take part in Ctrl.Alt.Shift’s Climate Fever competition, click here.