It has been one month since the Restavek Conference. The conference itself, as i said before, was an overwhelming success. We pulled off everything, from logistics to content, almost flawlessly. The people showed great signs of motivation and interest in this cause. We even saw a unique miracle as a sign of their self-motivation. What was that miracle? It was the first Haitian event that I ever took part in in which all of the invitees arrived EARLY (yeah, that’s right… early!… in Haiti!). We started on time & ended on time. We started with Tifane’s beautiful song, went into a welcome, heard a couple of talks, and went right into the panel discussions. The panels ran smoothly up through Mrs. Sixto’s lunchtime speech, and we topped off the conference with Jean-Robert’s moving and challenging speech. God’s hand was in every detail.
As for me, it was an honor for me to stand before 500+ leaders of various sectors in the nation, speaking on behalf of 300,000+ children who have no voice. As the emcee of the event, I too had a chance to share my heart about the issue and challenge people to take personal responsibility for the plight of these children. This great opportunity came after weeks of speaking out for them on television and radio; an honor and a privilege that I had not yet imagined for myself. It was truly a divine opportunity.
I did not get to take part in all of the panels because I was moderating the religious panel. I heard great reports from all of the rest, but after spending four sessions with a Pastor, a Priest, and a Hougan (vodou priest) speaking on the same panel about the same issue, I must say that our panel was the most significant… the most miraculous (I may be a bit biased). Never has it been seen or heard of in Haiti for three men from these three domains to sit together peacefully to discuss anything of substance. They not only sat peacefully, but they supported one another’s statements, they laughed together, and they genuinely enjoyed one another’s company. They came representing sectors filled with differences and known for fiery confrontations, but they left as friends united by a common purpose.
That was the miracle of the Restavek conference. Men and women came from all over the country (and even different parts of the world), from different walks of life, different social and economic statuses, and from different domains of work and they became united toward a single cause: the children, the future of our nation. Everyone left encouraged and motivated, and I truly felt that the nation is finally ready to start taking some steps toward change.
So what has happened since? Our office has spent several weeks catching up to our own program, paying more attention to our own children. Still every week I am receiving calls and emails from excited organizations and individuals telling us about their ideas and efforts. Many of them need some help and direction getting started and I always wish we could do more for them at the moment, but our own children are our priority for now. We are still a very small organization, despite the big splash that we made at the conference, and our resources, especially our human resources, are limited. At times I have been a bit discouraged to see so much momentum yet be so limited in our ability to keep it rolling, but from what I see, the issue is still fresh in the minds of all of our attendees . The fire is still burning, and it won’t go out any time soon. I am fully confident that we will be able to contact anyone on our list of attendees, even in a few months, and enlist their full participation. I believe that the conference had that much of an impact.
I have already called upon the members of my church who were in attendance, and we are now planning a campaign to root out this system in our church and in the surrounding community. Their enthusiasm is greater than it was on day one because they have been thinking about the issue ever since, and they came ready with some great ideas for a very smart campaign. This will be the first of many to come. Hopefully it will become a model to be replicated in other churches and neighborhoods around the country. The media campaign is still in the planning phases, but we have some great ideas flowing…
Why does all the good stuff always happen when I am just getting ready to leave the country…? I only have 35 days left. Booo…