The following is a reflection on the 8th Annual YPFDJ Conference in
Ontario. For more reflections, visit ypfdjconference.wordpress.com
I was very fortunate to attend the 8th Annual YPFDJ Conference. Held this
year in Ontario, it was my first time in Canada in nearly ten years. I was
excited for the opportunity to meet so many new Eritreans, as well as to
participate in the conference itself.
After a fourteen-hour bus ride, we finally arrived on the campus of McGill
University. We arrived in the morning, so there was little time to sit and
enjoy breakfast before the conference activities began. The day opened with
the raising of the flags: the Eritrean national flag, the Canadian flag,
and the flag of the EPLF/PFDJ. It was amazing to see us all standing in
unity as we sang the anthems of our nation, Canada, and 'Wudbna' the anthem
of the EPLF/PFDJ. We concluded this beautiful display of unity and strength
with ziq'ri sem'atat (a moment of silence), raising our fists in salute to
our martyrs.
We moved back inside for introductory remarks from members of the Toronto
conference team, and Mr. Zemhret Yohannes. In addition to their remarks, a
representative from the NA Media team announced the reintroduction of
Merih, our official YPFDJ newsletter. It was heartening to see the return
of this forum for discussion of our issues, and I look forward to seeing it
grow. What was exciting to see was the number of conference attendees,
especially the newcomers, reading through it voraciously. There is a lot of
untapped intellectual potential in our organization, and I hope that Merih
and other forums for discussion can help us realize that potential.
After an in-depth national report from Mr. Dawit Haile, we broke for lunch.
When we reconvened, we ran through chapter presentations for the rest of
the afternoon. One of the best presentations came from the Boston chapter,
which included an inspirational video of various moments of the Boston
chapter in Eritrea that tugged at the emotions of everyone in the crowd.
See video here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6W6CS8rIcV4
The conference was filled with many incredible moments, but one of the most
substantive moments for me was the training session on Sunday morning.
These sessions were broken up to separately serve newcomers, messegagerti,
and the various NA committees. One of the largest was the joint session
held by the Networking, Media, and Hidri committees. The session had great
turnout and left the attendees with a deep resolve to get involved. The
session opened with an icebreaker that encouraged the attendees to learn a
little more about one another. Each committee then presented their work and
their goals for the year. The sessions for me were the most memorable
moments of conference because they epitomized to me the substance of our
movement. In these sessions, we organized our new attendees and passed on
knowledge to a new generation. We set forth plans for the year, and
received the commitment of attendees to volunteer their time in the future
for our cause. As attendees transition back into work and school, we will
begin to see this commitment turn into real work at the chapter level. It
is the energy and passion of youth both new and old that will continue to
drive our movement. I am confident that this conference will inspire many
more successful years to come.
Nahum T.
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YPFDJ MEDIA
Received on Mon Nov 05 2012 - 14:37:05 EST
