New Horizons - Ukraine
Let's do some backtracking. Let's pretend it's November 23rd shall we? :DI have just arrived from the national conference in Ukraine called New Horizons. What an experience! :)
I arrived late :$ and was not able to attend the premeeting since MOSEM just ended on the 13th and premeeting started on the 14th. No matter because as soon as I entered the conference I met all the facis for my track (half of whom I already knew) and got right in the action. Thanks for welcoming me so quickly guys!
The conference was truly one of a kind. The track that I was a facilitator for was the leadership track, geared towards people who were moving into new leadership roles in AIESEC. The delegates (all 50 plus of them in my track) were amazing. Such a dedicated group of people. This is the level where you really see the passion and the drive for AIESEC. Students who have a million and one things on their plate from professional to personal, dedicating their time and pouring their whole heart and soul into an organization that they really believe in because they want to make a difference. I love that!
This was also the first time I was away from home for my birthday. Not only was I away from Canada, but I was away from my Macedonian home. But the facis were so sweet! At the stroke of midnight, as the faci meeting was ending, Nadya announced that it was my birthday. :) That night I had some vodka to drink with facis and some delegates. The next morning, the entire plenary sang to me (in different languages of course, true to @ fashion) and I received a cake. Hehe. That night, we ate the cake, which Nestor mostly inhaled like it was nothing. Lol. Very good pictures to prove this.
Interesting part of the conference was when we woke up and discovered there was no electricity (thus no hot water and no hot food). Lol. Talk about Crisis management! All 28 (?) facis quickly rallied around each other to make back up plans of sessions, plenaries and more. That night, because the sun sets earlier now, we had no choice but to let the delegates go out into the city by 5pm so that they could do something and not be bored in the conference site. What did the facis do? We planned the best evening plenary ever! We asked the delegates to return at 9pm for a surprise, and they really enjoyed what we had to show them. When they arrived, for the next three hours, we did silly roll calls that got us all rolling on the floor laughing. The first one was the Japanese theater where you act out the same short skit 5 times, but each time the theme is different. There were 5 of us who did this play and it was a hoot! I played the director during the skit and I thought I was going to lose my voice screaming the way I was in the cold. This was the beginning to a very fun and interactive night.
The next day, power still down, and this was the day I was really impressed by the Ukranian @ers. The previous day, aware that this lack of power may still be a problem, the delegates VOLUNTEERED!! to get up one hour earlier to do sessions in the daylight, and so we did! By 8am, tracks had started. By 4:30pm, yet again, light was gone, but instead of stopping tracks, we kept on, with the use of candlelight. Now imagine, 150+ delegates huddled around candles, looking into session sheets and filling them out as if it was the most normal conditions. They didn't leave. They didn't complain. They kept on. Really impressed.
All in all, I learned so much and had so much fun at this conference. Seeing as I love challenges, working at full force from day one in a very new environment and being tested and challenged by delegates and logisitcs, this was an experience that has definitely made me stronger and helped me develop. The delegates were so friendly and welcoming, the conditions were ... well they were what they were, but that's what made me even more at awe at @ there. Thank you AIESEC Ukraine for a great week!