Highlights
"Who can change the world without me?"
- Ivenson, youth delegate from Haiti
It Takes a Child to Raise a Village: International Assembly Highlights
Ivan, from Honduras, said he'd remember the strength and courage of Miss Tina, from New York.
Appolonie, from Cameroon, said she'd remember Amcesse, from Haiti, because they asked each other
their age, they got to know each other, and then they played together. The fifty-four delegates
from Cameroon, Canada, Haiti, Honduras, and the United States came together from October 13-18 to
talk with politicians about overcoming poverty, but their coming together from so many different
backgrounds itself also embodied their message. The political meetings that brought the delegates
together with politicians and diplomats presented another opportunity to show how people living in
poverty work with others all year long.
ATD Fourth World Movement members prepared for the “It Takes a Child to Raise a Village” assembly
and the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty on October 17 for many months. Members
and friends had solicited and received letters of support from their members of Congress on both
sides of the aisle to encourage President Obama and his administration to receive the delegation.
Through this process, one of the long-term members of ATD Fourth World in New York who has lived
in poverty met with her local Representative and his staff. After years of working with ATD Fourth
World and in her neighborhood, she was finally able to say that she's a “community organizer.”
On Friday, October 15, Congresswoman Donna Edwards visited us at our national center in Landover,
Maryland. She had written a letter of support for the event and told us, “I've introduced a resolution
in Congress to recognize October 17th as a day to bring a voice to the faces of poverty
(http://www.govtrack.us/congress/billtext.xpd?bill=hr111-1692). Every day we have to talk about poverty,
to engage creative strategies to end it, and most importantly to elevate the voices of children and young
people who don't want to live in poverty and don't believe that others should. The children here may think
an international day is about missing school, and it's true that you are learning things here together
that you don't learn in school...We have a special obligation to eliminate poverty, not because it makes
us feel good, but because people want to be able to take care of their families and be successful.
The poorest family wants the same thing as the wealthiest.”
The delegates also brought their efforts to take care of their families and be successful to Ms. Otero,
the Undersecretary of State for Democracy and Global Affairs, who welcomed them to the State Department
on October 15. The discussion centered on the lives of people living in poverty everywhere and the United
States' efforts to reinforce anti-poverty initiatives abroad. Yvenson, from Haiti, said, “I've been part of
ATD Fourth World since I was very young. ATD Fourth World is the only movement I know that really works
with the poorest to help to eliminate poverty. We accompany families and their children so they can have
medical attention, an education, and social programs...This is a way of living out the slogan that I created
for the Tapori movement : 'Who can change the world without me?' ” Christopher Webster, Deputy Chief of
Mission at the State Department, said, “A lot of us don't know personally what living in poverty is like,”
and went on to explain how important it is for him and his colleagues to hear the personal experiences and
efforts of people living in poverty around the world. The representatives of the State Department assured
us that they would like to get to know ATD Fourth World and its members more and support us in any way that
they can. Ms. Otero promised to bring the delegates' message to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
The “It Takes a Child to Raise a Village” assembly and these political meetings showed that if we can
sit around the table with others who live in poverty, if we can build friendships and partnerships with
them, then we cannot ignore their suffering and hardships. We also cannot ignore their hopes and projects,
which must become our own as well if we want to eradicate poverty.
Photos:
Videos:
News and Perspectives of ATD Fourth World October 25, 2010
Publications:
eNewletter October 2010
Other:
International Perspective October 17, 2010 Assembly
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