CAVR President's Perspective
IAVE World Conference
Amsterdam January 2001
These clogs were made for walking..... and in Amsterdam, I did just that. I was very fortunate to attend the XVIth International Association for Volunteer Effort World Volunteer Conference in Amsterdam, The Netherlands in January 2001.
Dreams come through for some of us who have never traveled abroad. Amsterdam is no longer seen as the nation of cheese-making, tulip-growing, penny-pinching farmers on clogs. Or in the case of the city of Amsterdam - hash smoking, sexually liberated house party animals, (although all of this seems quite appealing). My visit to the Netherlands was quite positive and contained only a few of the aforementioned stereotypes. I saw a country of warm and welcoming individuals, beautiful country where people care about the land. I found Amsterdam quite safe at night and my travels through the city mostly done on the tram where quite interesting. I got to see the city in the early morning and at night, of course I did a lot of walking so that I could enjoy the beautiful parks, canals, houseboats, museums.
I did, of course, find time to take a few excursions to Volendam - Marken, with its unique old picturesque fishing village on the shore of Volendam, which is joined to the mainland by a dyke. Some of the inhabitants still wear the traditional costumes. A visit to a Cheese farm was a delicious adventure and the typical Dutch scenery via Monnickendam was most interesting. Another excursion brought me to De Saanse Schans a small 40-house community north of Amsterdam on the banks of the river Zaan. There used to be 700 windmills on the turn of the 18th century, now there are only 5 left. The houses were made of green timber and have steep roofs and white windows. The visit to the windmill and my return trip to Amsterdam through typical Dutch scenery especially through the medieval town of Edam, was the highlight of my trip. Most of the souvenirs I brought home came from these excursions.
There was little time for shopping during the hectic four days of Conference. I am not one for the bar scene, and since smoking is everywhere I am not able to report on this other important part of the nightlife in Amsterdam. My site tour with the Conference took me through Friesland and a beautiful, but cold visit to Wadden the free plain of sand and wind, of low and high tides. Volunteers are very active in preserving wildlife and the land. The hospitality was fit for a king.
Now that my touring days are over, a little bit about the Conference itself. Representatives of volunteer organizations, governments, businesses and academics came together during this conference to share knowledge, exchange information and in particular to make plans for the future. A Global Action Plan was the main objective for this Conference.
The Conference offered a wealth of interesting gatherings, speakers and discussions. With 140 workshops, 7 plenary meetings, panel discussions, poster presentations, partnership meetings, study visits, state banquets and all the closing festivities, my five days in Amsterdam were quite busy.
The main topics consisted of:
I chose to attend many of the above sessions mostly to promote the professional management of volunteer resources and to network with other organizations on behalf of CAVR.
Ken Allen, President of IAVE looked forward to the days ahead during his opening remarks and provided the conference with a main goal to provide a meaningful, interesting and dynamic setting where participants will enjoy themselves. This is exactly what we did!
The Youth Forum resumed and many of the discussions were initiated by a single statement, "Don't ask us how old we are, ask us who we are! Give youth the opportunity to make the difference." To the youth present, volunteering is defined as:
| Sharing of | Skills and |
| Experiences and | Energy |
| Xpertise by | Xerted by |
| Young people | Young people |
Youth Forum: XVIth IAVE World Conference 2001
Her Majesty Queen Beatrix received the first version of Volunteering Worldwide now available for purchase from the IAVE secretariat.
The many gifted keynote speakers made strong statements about volunteering. "Volunteering should be a pleasure and pleasure should be volunteering " - Loesje
At an International Conference like this a lot of people are looking for answers. Being together enabled many partners of the voluntary sector an opportunity to seek answers and propose a plan of action.
It was hard to say goodbye! In my mind I still think of the words of Kumi Naidoo, Secretary General and CEO of CIVICUS, World Alliance for Citizen Participation who brought his audience to tears and to joy when he said, "I am because you are". This Conference allowed me to meet new friends. This year was the end and the beginning of a new millennium. Volunteers can take charge of their future and Administrators of Volunteer Resources can take the lead in the profession of these volunteer resources. We must take this opportunity for a leadership role by developing relationships with other national and international organizations.
MIREILLE ROY, CAVR PRESIDENT
