Hello Again

Now that the UN meetings are over, I'll be blogging over at my usual blogspot:  hanna-manna.blogspot.com.  It's where I muse about life, books, spirituality, art, and food.  It would be a pleasure to see you there.  Thank you for reading along about the UN experience---it has been an honor and I'll continue to explore how I can give back from what I learned to enrich my local community and the international community.

10 Highlights from the UN

It's hard to believe but last week flew by.  I'm already in Boston in recovery.  Last Saturday after we said goodbyes to each other, I realized that I felt like a bus had run me over several times.  The emotional and physical toll of everything that had happened in the past week came to a head.

So much happened last week that it's almost better to ask, what didn't happen?  When people ask me, how was the UN--I am flooded with images, emotions, and memories.  I felt anger, mourning, inspiration, and awe.  I felt empowered, seen, and connected to a powerful community of women.  It was an incredible, complex experience that I will surely pick out for months to come.

Here are 10 highlights from my trip to the UN Commission on the Status of Women meetings as a young adult delegate from the Episcopal Church.

1.  Met with Bishop Katharine for a 45 minute conference with our delegation.  I sat next to her and felt a strongly centered presence from her.  I had expected her to be strong leader but I had not expected to feel such a peaceful and spiritual energy from her.

2.  I made incredible friends from my delegation.  At the end of the week, we had our closing lunch and it felt like summer camp.  We were all crying and telling each other how much we loved each other.

3.  Listening to Serene Jones, President of Union Theological Seminary talk on the role of faith in feminism and social action.  She rocked my world. 

4.  Listening to Archbishop Tutu give a children's homily.  He's so strange.  He made lots of strange animal noises.  I like that he's strange.

5.  Eating at Cafe Olympia for lunch in between sessions--a warm buffet deli run by Koreans.  Really helped.

6.  Sitting in the official plenary sessions of the UN!

7.  Meeting women from all over the world:  a lawyer from Argentina, a financial officer from Lebanon, a radio producer for girls from Liberia, a woman from Bangladesh.

8.  Laughing hysterically with my delegates at the end of a long day.

9. $10 manicure and martinis.  Hot pink.

10.  Feeling empowered, impassioned, and getting tons of ideas for children's books.  I am so full, I cannot wait to pour it out into art.

Cold Weather

I was most afraid of the cold before leaving for NYC.  Good thing it's easy to conquer.

1.  It gives me cheekbones.  My face does really well in cold weather.

2.  It makes me walk fast.

3.  It makes me feel alive.  Nothing like a little nip to give you a little kick.

Today I listed to adolescent girls talk about what the Commission on the Status of Women means to them and what they need as a girl and woman.  I also went to a session on education for women and learned about the role of narrative in healing from illness and giving a deeper political and social context for understanding what brings about illness in bodies.

The whole thing is amazing, overwhelming, and just awe-inspiring.  Yesterday I spent the whole day crying in every session because everything I have been learning here has been speaking to the core of my being.  I'm not alone though. My whole delegate seems to be crying at one time or another as we become aware of our privilege and enter into solidarity with women around the world over issues of violence and injustice on all levels.

Will write more later.

Meditation

In NYC, I am surrounded by a cacophony of noise and movement.  Buildings filled with people rise on all sides of the street.  People rush to and fro.  Cars are merging, and trucks are honking.  I am surrounded by people with countless agendas, and it feels easy to feel insignificant.  Yet my heart is burning and alive with the pain of women around the world, and I do not feel alone or insignificant.  I'm learning that this is what social action with faith looks like.  It is dynamic and ever present, painful yet hopeful, healing and renewing.

Today, I went to the opening plenary session at the UN and although I was in the overflow room next door, I was in awe that I got the opportunity to sit in that familiar room with chairs and microphones and desks lined in semi-circles.  I saw African female deputies and delegates speaking with passion and conviction about ending violence towards women.  I experienced what it's like to be a part of an international body, and I committed to having a global perspective and not just an American one.  Even though we were in the overflow room, there were men and women lined up along the walls until there was nowhere else to stand or sit.  I myself was sitting on a stairwell next to African sisters.  We were packed in and you could sense the desperate delight of women willing to stake their lives on fighting for women's rights.  I was reminded of the story of the lame man who was lifted down through the roof of a house where Jesus was teaching because there was no other way to get inside the packed house.  The building could not contain all who wanted to sit and listen, and I yearned for all my brothers and sisters out there who want to be a part of the conversation to be allowed inside.

I never imagined that I would come to the UN as a delegate with a church.  But I would not have it any other way.  The faith community here is articulate and strong.  I see now how faith can work with social action to breathe life into it, to give it resources and values, to provide courage, strength, and healing.  I'm seeing a new way of strong female leadership here--one that is clear and present, assertive and persistent.  My cup overflows.