At the Crossroads in Washington
Advocating
and creating awareness for something that you believe in and are very
passionate about is not very difficult.
So I was very humbled and honored to receive a fellowship from the
United Nations Foundation to attend the Results International Conference in
Washington D.C. in July, 2012. Before my trip I wrote letters and telephoned my congressmen
and senators offices in order to schedule
meetings. I arrived in D.C. wondering what amazing things this endeavor would bring and happy to see some of
my fellow Shot@Life champions and the staff from the United Nations Foundation.
The four-day Results International Conference in Washington, D.C., brought together over 400 grassroots activists and leaders from 36 states and 19 countries. Together we received the most up-to-date legislative and policy information related to our issues and listen from world class speakers.
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| Shot@life Champions Yolanda Gordon, Nicole Melancon, Felisa Hilbert, Geoff Adlide (Gavi Alliance), Jodi Foster, Carolina Barrett (Shot@Life Campaign Officer), and Crysula Winegar. |
I was amazed
at the array of workshops about issues so relevant to our societies. I have attended many conferences, but this is
the first time that it was difficult to decide which workshops to attend after
I participated in Reaching the 5th Birthday: Tools for Success with
Geoff Adlide from Gavi Alliance; Mary Beth Powers from the New &Child
Survival Campaign of Save the Children; and Jackson Ndegwa from the Kenya AIDS
NGOs Consortium. Some of my other
favorite workshops were The Moral Case for Ending Poverty; Creating Champions:
A Conversation with Senator Bob Bennett; The end of AIDS; and Saving Children’s
Lives.
Over the course
of this conference I received tons of wonderful information and listened
to amazing speakers like Dr. Myron Cohen from the Chapel Hill Division of
infectious Diseases; Dr. Mphu Ramatlapeng, the former Minister of Health of
Lesotho; Dr. Rajiv Shah, Administrator of the US Agency for International
Development; and the famous Jeffrey Sachs, a world-renowned economist and
author. I was in Heaven! The reason I say this is because I love
learning and hearing real human stories, and I love to see so many selfless people
giving of themselves without thinking about “what’s in it for me?” I am so tired of hearing this and watching
others pretend to care just to get power.
There is a lesson here, my friends: many of these advocates paid their
own expenses and traveled across the Atlantic Ocean to be there to make sure
the children and people in their countries, and around the world, get a chance for
a better education, better life and better health. That, to me, is power and real love for your
fellowmen, no matter whom they are or where they come from.
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| Ms.Yvonne Chaka Chaka and Ms. Felisa Hilbert |
With my heart bursting
with joy, happiness with so much goodness still
I was surprise when, after seeing the documentary, a “Motherland Tour - A
Journey of African Women” by Ms. Yvonne Chaka-Chaka, I realized that she was sitting
right beside me! She had come into the
room in the middle of the film and very quietly sat there. You have to realize how important she is! Ms. Chaka-Chaka is called the ‘Princess of Africa’.
She is a famous artist and singer, but
more important is that she uses all of her fame to do good and to advocate for
many causes for Africa.
Like I said before, as long as I can remember I have been
advocating for causes and issues that I felt needed to be addressed, but being
at this International Conference was the epitome of humanitarian advocacy. Can you imagine 400 passionate and awesome
country leaders and advocates on Capitol Hill, at once, to discuss issues that
affect the human race and the future of this world? Yes, I said “issues of the world”, because
what we do as a nation affects the world.
We are all interconnected and we, the fortunate, have a responsibility to
the less fortunate. We cannot and must
not turn our backs on them now. Like Jeffrey
Sachs said, “We are at a crossroads in the world today. We have the knowledge and tools for how to
effectively end poverty and the countless deaths and suffering of millions of
people around the world”.
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| Innocent Laison, Felisa Hilbert and Frank Gilbert |
I
felt excited - my favorite word and emotion. There we were on the last day of
the conference ready to talk to our legislators! I had visited some of their offices before
but today was different. I was the only
person from Oklahoma and could only secure one appointment with Senator Inhofe’s
staff that graciously agreed to meet with me in his office. Although many
states had big groups gathered together to visit their state representatives, I
smiled to myself about the power of one.
One is a powerful number, and without one there cannot be ten, a
hundred, or thousands, etc. (this is a lesson for another day). As I was only one person, by myself, I had
never let that stop me before, and today was no different. I grew up knowing that I could make a
difference and that I have a responsibility to do my part - no matter how small
I may be in stature (4 ft 11 in). The
only reason I mention my height is because I was accompanied by Frank Gilbert
from Kentucky and Innocent Laison from Dakar, Senegal. Frank was the only person from Kentucky and
Innocent was to be our international perspective. We had the best day of advocacy together and we
were powerful! Although I tried to make
other appointments, none of the others were confirmed before my arrival. In spite of that, we marched on down to my
Oklahoma senators’ and congressmen’s offices and got appointments from the gracious
staffs that met with us. It was incredible
how well Frank, Innocent and I complimented each other in delivering our
message. Innocent gave an African
perspective on what we are doing here make a difference on her continent. Having them along was like icing on a
cake. We Rocked!! We called ourselves “the dynamic trio”. After we finished with Oklahoma, we visited
Frank’s Kentucky representatives and had other awesome meetings. It was funny, because some of the Oklahoma
offices were in front of the Kentucky offices. Coincidence? I don’t think so! I am so grateful to Mr. Joel E. Starr, the Legislative
Assistant from Senator Inhofe’s office, for the enlightened conversation and
great information to consider. It was
engaging, honest and very refreshing to have the floor and not worry about
time. Thank you, gentleman, for making
this one of my best days to remember… As a Shot@Life
champion, I have lobbied on Capitol Hill, met in senators’ and congressmen’s’
offices to discuss standing up for Children’s Issues and Expanding Access to
Global Vaccines and Education. I have
shared my story as a former nurse in Mexico and explained the reasons why
education is the only way to eradicate poverty and diseases in this nation and throughout
the world. What a wonderful ride! However, there was more that came out of this
trip…
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| Sir Elton John and Ms. Felisa Hilbert |
This is an amazing time to be alive! Can you imagine all the good we
can do together? We can end poverty, eradicate
illness, and provide the best education for our children. Our future is going
to be extraordinary and I know this because our future is just the outgrowth of
all the great things we are doing today in and outside of conferences like
this.
