It was the final day of the event where I was volunteering for the weekend.

People from all around the world had met, exchanged ideas, encouraged one another and even had the chance to “vote” using very cool voting pads. I’d never seen these things before, but they make a conference a very interactive thing (“if you think membership of this organisation is too expensive, press 3 now”).

Anyway, the event ended with an inspiring speech and a nice metaphor comparing NGOs to Christopher Columbus (he didn’t know where he was going, when he got there he didn’t know where he was, when he got back he didn’t know where he’d been, but he changed the world and he did it all on other people’s money!).

Then there was the inevitable list of thank-yous, which only differed from usual thank-yous by the fact that as well as thanking all the volunteers, staff, waiting staff etc they even thanked the producers of the food! Nice thought.

And then came the bit that was different to any other secular conference I’ve ever been to. They sang a song! And did a dance! It was a calypso, possibly the only calypso in the universe with the words “accountability” and “responsibility” in it?!?

Much nicer way to end than with just thanking everyone and lots of clapping. It got everyone smiling, even the ones who were far too british to join in!!

uh-oh, and its even made it onto You-tube ! (warning, it will make you dizzy!)

Oh and another good thing was that while tidying up at the end of the conference, recyling was done as a matter of course, and they paid attention to how much was left over in order to better plan for even less waste next year.

I’m doing some volunteering this week, at an event for volunteers and NGOs. That makes me volunteer to the volunteers!

First task was to meet delegates at the airport, and what an enjoyable task that was. Many of the delegates had been travelling for 24 hours and were very tired, but still managed to be friendly. I met people from ALL over, from the US, the Philippines, the Cook Islands, India, Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, Chile, Uruguay, the Gambia.

Felt embarassed at my lack of knowledge about some of these places, but am now motivated to find out more, and really enjoyed meeting so many lovely people, who could still make the effort to be lovely after a long and tiring day.