Wednesday, December 7, 2011

The Global Leadership Forum 2011 - by Natalia Estoyanoff (Uruguay)

OCTOBER
2011 Global Leadership Forum, October 23, 24, 25, 26 and 27th
On the morning of October 23 we went by train to Washington DC to participate for four days in the 2011 Global Leadership Forum. Because this wonderful VCU Humphrey Fellows team is destined to overcome several challenges, (I want to remind you that this group endured an earthquake and a tropical storm), the first challenge of the day was to keep calm in spite of the delay of the departure of our train to D.C!! However, as you can see in the picture below this text, we never lost our great humor sense and beautiful smiles!!  

Waiting for the train to finally leave the Staples Mill Amtrak Station.
The second challenge of the day showed up 25 minutes after the train departed from Richmond: for almost two hours the train stopped suddenly on the track!!...sincerely, since from moment we started to become a little bit concerned about to our participation in the tour of Washington DC planned by IIE staff and of course, the famous group photo at the Capitol!!… But despite these adversities, this group tried to deal with our anxiety and be patient (actually we had no choice)…

Pan, Pedro and Lionel waiting on the Amtrak train to Washington.
Finally, and without time to take our luggage, we arrived on time for the group photo in front of the United States Capitol!


2011-2012 Humphrey Fellows annual group photo.
204 Humphrey Fellows from 93 countries met together for first time. It was a wonderful moment to see some familiar faces again (our colleagues from our pre-academic courses!) and meet new faces.

After taking a group photo we boarded the buses to take a tour of important places in Washington DC. We visited Lincoln Memorial, Washington Monument, Martin Luther King Monument, The White House, and other attractions.


(from L to R) Lionel, Pan, Me (Natalia) and Aizhan.
During the Forum we had an important variety of activities: Humphrey alumni speakers, workshops, time for professional associations, etc. but I would like to highlight two unforgettable events that personally, I enjoyed:

1)  1)   The visit to local high schools: we had the opportunity to interact with students and answer questions about our native countries and cultures. For me, it was very enjoyable experience. They listened with attention and asked their questions respectfully to us.





2)    Reception in the U.S Department of State: We all got dressed with our best clothes. IIE staff encourages us to wear national dress, so many Humphreys brought their traditional dress with pride.  Africa and Asia were highlighted for their beautiful colors, textures and attire. But as I am of Latin America, I want to highlight the beautiful Mexican dress of our colleague Margarita.



Unfortunately we were not as lucky as the Humphrey's of the last year, to be received by Hillary Clinton, but we had the opportunity to meet Hillary Clinton’s Assistant, Hubert Humphrey’s niece and the Director of Humphrey Fellowship Program. After the speakers we enjoyed a great reception: delicious food and white wine!

Field trip to SAMHSA
October 27th, after GLF, we took a field trip to SAMHSA (Substance Abuse Mental Health Services Association). Winnie Mitchell, International Officer from SAMHSA and Dale Weiss from NIDA (National Institute on Drug Abuse) were responsible for welcoming and hosting us. It was very useful and interesting for us to meet this important federal agency on drug abuse and learn about programs, projects and strategic initiatives that SAMHSA develops not only within United States but also in cooperative projects with different countries. The first day we received an introduction to SAMHSA centers and an overview of medication assisted treatment for substance abuse disorders. The second day we attended program presentations. Special thanks to Winnie for her kindness and hospitality! Some of us want to come back soon…


VCU Humphrey Fellows and Winnie Mitchell at SAMHSA in Bethesda, MD.