From: Selamawit Fessehaie (sfessehaie@hotmail.com)
Date: Mon Sep 21 2009 - 12:16:27 EDT
Keeps Getting Better
By Selamawit Fessehaie
It didn’t seem possible that the 5th Annual North
American YPFDJ Conference could be better than last year’s. But as any of the close to 600 participants
could attest to, the offerings of this year’s conference were simply awesome. The
conference was a perfect blend of fun, serious, Tigrynia, English, a look back
at our history, and a look forward to our future.
Of course there is the beautiful camaraderie and fun times
that we’ve come to expect from being with our fellow YPFDJ members and
prospective members. To have that many brilliant, active, conscious, young Eritreans
in one place is a site to behold. But the conference definitely had a serious
side that empowered the participants to take control of our future.
This year, we were honored to learn from Minister Saleh Meki
as he engaged us in discussions about current developments in Eritrea. It was evident that he is particularly proud
of the amazing gains Eritrea has made in public health over the past twenty
years. It was instructive to hear all of the questions and comments that
Minister Saleh took from the participants and even more instructive to hear his
treatment of those questions and comments.
Following conference tradition, all of the chapters creatively
reported what they were able to accomplish since the 2008 conference. The
annual reports impressed with both their technical sophistication and the
amount of work the various chapters were able to realize in the span of one
year. We were blown away with the European and Canadian chapter reports. And
although I’m from the Oakland Chapter, I have to give it up to the Dallas and
Atlanta chapters. They deserved the
“YPFDJ’s Got Talent” and “YPFDJ Achievement” awards they received respectively.
I can’t talk about the conference without talking about the
role of the Hidri groups. It is amazing
to see how fast the Hidri groups across the country are growing in number and
in the quality of their programming. I got the sense that this was just the tip
of the iceberg. They are full of energy, promise, and ideas.
The conference had a medley of enlightening presentations
from Berhane Ghebrehiwet, Sophia Tesfamariam, Issayas Tesfamariam, Temesgen Woldezion,
as well as a panel discussion facilitated by Dr. Gedewon.
I have to wrap this up but I have to mention just a few
things that stood out for me about the conference:
·
Ear pieces were provided for the Tigrynia
portions of the conference so non-Tigrynia speakers could listen to an
interpreter.
·
The Saturday evening dance with traditional
dress was a hit and I just have to say that the people were looking absolutely
beautiful.
·
Mealtimes were events unto themselves. Participants used this time to socialize and
to carry on interesting conversations sparked by the consciousness raising
content of the conference.
·
The very moving closing ceremony when the
parents came to hand over the responsibility of Hidri to the youth was a
defining moment for the conference. It
brought the conference full circle and reminded us that we are a growing youth
movement that is part of a very beautiful and powerful community and that we
are supported and nourished by this community.
If I were asked to use a few words to characterize the
conference I would use these: positive, empowering, joyful, unifying,
energetic, creative, and purposeful. I can’t wait until next year’s conference.
It just keeps getting better.
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