Hi everyone!
Time for an update . . . my last posting ended on somewhat of a depressive note. I struggle with writing what is going on here – mostly because there is so much happening! Every day is very intense, and VERY full – for example, yesterday we started at 730 and finished at 11 pm Today we started even earlier at 6:30. So things are full and exciting.
My team is fantastic. I feel so blessed to be around such courageous, knowledgeable, integral women of Character. They are an absolute joy to work with! I can’t express this enough. I wll miss them all so much when we all leave!
Right now I am sitting in a panel entitled “Positve Masculinities” being put on by our wider delegation, the Ecumenical Women. This morning our team – the World Student Christian Federation, in cooperation with another young ecumenical women delegation – lead worship for the entire Ecumenical Women delegation. Yesterday we took part in official United Nations sessions we sat in the room with delegates from hundreds of countries. Reeally cool to be a part of that, where things actually happen, and it is also so eye-opening to see and understand how the UN really works. Somuch of it is beauticratic, arbitrary, and boring! Quite an experience. In addition to all of these things we attend dinners, work on our official policy recommendations, learn and share in panels and side events . . . lots to do! And over a week left to do it!
My last post I shared my struggles I was feeling. What is fantastic is that once I started talking about what I was feeling here, I heard lots of similar stories from people both within our delegation and other NGO’s which have nothing to do with us. We all struggle to make an impact, struggle with how much we can actually do, and are frustrated with so much of these processed. For example, some things are absolutely impossible to discuss, like true-gender inclusive language – these issues are simply not on the table. But it is heartening and significant that the delegates are speaking out and working on these things – it makes me believe that change will eventually happen in the UN, although it is painstakingly slow. Groups of people here really care about these issues and we will keep pushing, as our level of influence allows (and even beyond) to push these issues which are so close to our hearts.
So we are being strategric in what we want to happen in this commission – we are spreading ourselves out with our policy recommendations and telling anybody who wil hear – or anybody within earshot, including oru government delegates and anyone we can possibly speak to! Personally I have chosen to focus my influence on our Ecumenical Women larger delegation – to declare a voice withi this context – both where I am invited and where I am not – to strengthen us and to change us and our lanuage and gthe way that we do things so that in this commission and in future commissions we will be more unified, purposeful, and intentionally centred on the intersection of faith and justice. I love these women and I think I have a true place here to speak and influence the future. So I will grab onto that, and be bold, and push the envelope a little bit which is sort of the way that I do things.
I am learning so much, and I am changing everyday. Thanks for all of your notes of encouragement after my first dark few days – they are very meaningful to me.
Together, we are gonna change the world . . .
B
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