Students reflect on Mombasa Congress: “it gave me strength, power and new faith in humanity”

by Stella Ziegler

On Saturday, 12 August, we held the first online international student meeting since the World Congress in Kenya, Mombasa, in April 2023. In total, 26 students were present from different regions of the world, including the USA, Zambia, Kenya, Uganda, Nigeria, France, India, Pakistan, and Germany. The meeting was hosted by the new ISRs; Walusungu and Stella.

Not to brag or sadden anyone, who wasn’t there, but it was awesome!

After a quick introduction round of some familiar and some new faces, we walked down memory lane, reminiscing of the fun and inspiring days we spent together in Mombasa. While looking at a few pictures from the Bike Tour and the Congress, us sweating, dancing and discussing, we talked about our experiences and new learnings, what we liked and our most important take aways. 

Here are just a few impressions from IPPNW Students:

Blessing (Nigeria): “Honestly, it was one of the best things I have ever experienced in my whole life. The commitment and love for humanity has kept me going and it definitely was a turning moment for me.”

Alice (France): “As I have joined IPPNW only a few months before the congress, everything was really new to me. Being at the congress opened my mind to this new topic, and I met people from all around the world, who I never would have had the chance to meet otherwise. It was an incredible experience and gave me strength, power and – even if this might sound a little cheesy – new faith in humanity.”

Yusuf (Nigeria): “Truth be told, the Bike Tour for me was the most amazing part. We had the time for deep conversations and much more exposure to the people, compared to the busy days at the congress. I am so thankful for the great people I met during this time and will never forget the strong teamwork and care I felt during the 500km on my bike!”

Lameck (Zambia): “What I enjoyed most at the Congress was the chance to meet new people and fulfil one of my goals: to make lasting relationships. I felt how important it is to be engaged, and that we need to keep up our important work!”

Victor (Kenya): “I especially valued the small conversations in-between the workshops and sessions while drinking some tea outside, the in-person interactions and free time events during the congress. This was the time, where you really got to know the person in front of you, who they really are, and make friends and new allies. To me, this was a safe-space, and many conversations, like the one about mental health during the bike tour, and the inspirations from the student congress, will stay with me.”

Devin (USA): “Fortunately, the congress was hybrid, so I could join a few sessions online! I am always impressed by the knowledge of older IPPNW members, it feels like you learn 10 new things within the first chat you have with someone. I think this intergenerational dialogue is essential.”

In general, all students talked about the excitement of being part of such a big international congress – to many the first congress ever they attended! We spent a little more time on sharing stories, laughing, and giving updates about the local work that has happened since then. 

Walu and I gave a few updates on our activities as International Student Representatives, such as our revived connection with IFMSA, the updated MOM and Advocacy letter, our work in establishing a Young Doctors’ Network for young IPPNW doctors, the new Medical Toolkit for students and our planned online Med-student series starting in autumn. 

Students talked about their current activities, such as projects to plant trees in Kenya, supporting humanitarian air and awareness of disease spreading. Students from the USA and France talked about the difficulties in anti-nuclear advocacy and lacking engagement from students in these fields. 

Afterwards we opened the floor to any ideas on how to further continue our international student work and collaborate with each other.

From this great brainstorming session, we drew several ideas and actions for the future:

We want to stay more connected among the international IPPNW students, and share updates on local and regional crises, obstacles and struggles our countries are facing on different places on the world. One way could be to write short essays or blogs to share among each other. Moreover, we need to (re-)connect with other student movements more and seek partnerships, so we can be stronger in fighting for the same causes, spread awareness and share campaigns.

A very important part is the IPPNW’s take on climate action and projects concerning the climate crisis. With the newly formed Climate Working Group we will have the chance to further engage in this cause and bring together doctors and students from all over the world. Staying informed about the happenings at the upcoming COP28, where IPPNW members and a few students are joining, and the Fossil Fuel NPT, are important ways to spread awareness and knowledge.

Planning regional events, such as an African Bike Tour, give great motivation for students to come together. We also want to keep establishing more regional affiliates and representatives for the active IPPNW students regions, as of now there are only European and African Student Representatives, and this would further support regional and international collaborations. 

Concerning international action, we plan a medical student series starting in [northern] autumn, and want to continue student exchanges and communication. For that, we want to organise online meetings for all international students every six months, where we can talk about our current projects, future ideas, struggles and simply stay in touch with each other.

A concrete idea was to create a joint paper from IPPNW students about the importance of being engaged in activism during a time of several global crises for publishing—we will work on that!

So: the students are back, full of ideas and motivation! It was so much fun to see everyone after quite a long time and it filled my heart with joy & love! 

[Stella Ziegler of Germany is an International Student Representative to the IPPNW Board. She and her co-ISR, Walusungu Mtonga of Zambia, were elected at the 23rd World Congress in Mombasa, Kenya.]