‘My London visit was the cherry on top: overall, an unforgettable experience!’

The journey from Iasi, my hometown in NE Romania, to London started with a British Council newsletter promoting the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) competition. Ran in partnership with the British Embassy in Bucharest, the competition aimed at increasing awareness of these 8 global development goals and asked what individuals can do to achieve them.

I took up the challenge and selected one of the 8 goals (eradicate extreme poverty and hunger, achieve universal primary education, promote gender equality and empower women, reduce child mortality, improve maternal health, combat HIV/AIDS, malaria, and other diseases, ensure environmental sustainability, develop a global partnership for development), with a proposal to promote  it.

News on who won the grand prize was broken during the MDG event on 25 September. A complex, one-day gathering of important personalities from the political and social arenas, it included a workshop for young people and the announcement of the winners.  My scenario for a mobile telephone application that promotes all 8 goals made my first ever trip to the UK possible.

One month later, I landed in London on a sunny weather.

I met Romanian Ambassador Ion Jinga, a relatively brief moment yet full of emotions. I did not know what to expect and had no clue what to say. The Romanian Cultural Institute was next on my visit list, followed by calls to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO). In my informal talks with the British diplomats, I learnt a lot about the amount of research they make and also about the lobby targeting foreign governments.  The tour of the FCO building was  impressive, given the history of each room and of the personalities who worked there.

I then  went to see the Big Ben, the Parliament building, the London Eye, Covent Garden, Trafalgar Square and the National Gallery - where I rushed to see Van Gogh’s Sun Flower. Too bad that I was not allowed to take pictures. However, access is free.

At the Department for International Development (DFID), I was struck by the new building, with an inner courtyard that could not be guessed about from the outside. From the elevator I could look through the windows and see the staff working at their desks. The DFID’s Communication Department told me about the newly launched website, which provides more information and is complementary to the already existing intranet. What I found very interesting is that they are open to new challenges and use communication channels such as YouTube, Facebook and blogs.

It rained all day on my final full day in London. I chose to tour the city by bus and saw the main tourist attractions: the London Bridge, the Tower of London, the Buckingham Palace, and Madame Tussaud’s.

On Sunday I was back in Iasi.

It was far from my thoughts that I could get the grand prize when I first thought of entering the competition.  In fact, it was an iPod I was after, but eventually received both the 4 day-visit to London and the iPod. Overall, an unforgettable experience!

Silviu Savin

Silviu Savin's project won the MDG competition. Download it here (PDF, 400kb).

 

 

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