At 8 am in the morning in Bogota, Colombia Enrico Quaroni signs into his msn. He has just woken up. It is Sunday morning and he is tired. At the same time, it is 11 am in the morning in Halifax, Canada. Alex Neuman is preparing to go to thanksgiving dinner with his family. He has some time left and also logs into his msn. Sofia Mexia living in Lisbon, Portugal. She is really at a weekend meeting with her job, but manage to capture a wireless network and log on to her msn. In Sweden, its 3 pm. I sit on a train between Gothenburg and Stockholm. 200 km/h. Internet. Msn. At the same time, 10pm in the Philippines where Jali is and it is midnight in Canberra, Australia, where Chris Stokes lives. They also log into their msn. The last thing they'll do before they go to bed. A further five people, in different places, in different time zones log on. It is time fo a committee meeting of CISV International Mosaic Committee.
Context. I think that is why we engage. It gives you context - a sense of belonging. In my context, there is not time. During an hour's time, we discuss the development of Mosaic Projects in Asia and Europe, the network of trainers in North America and the financing of the upcoming training in France. The word going around. When you are meeting via msn can not do as in a normal meeting. Body language and eye contact is not there. Words like "he" or "she" can not be used, because it is not possible to know who "he" is referring. We apply silent agreements, only disagreements needs to be typed in. During my six years in the International Mosaic Committee, we have developed methods to coordinate ourselves and communicate with each other so that time does not matter. Regardless of when I send an e-mail, I get a reply within an hour. It is always someones' time to check e-mails. After a day I have twelve replies.
Our vision is our most important tool. For we can not be motivated and have fun hanging with the gang. Because we don't meet. . So when you lose power and motivation you need to go back to the root. Why am I doing this? Why are we doing this?
I like the idea of a world without borders. On Sunday when we were meeting over msn, it was not just time that disappeared. It was also the world's borders. There we were, committed to a more peaceful world. Early in the morning or late at night. Or at 200 km/hour. We are committed to our vision.
The more people who may grow up with a context where borders do not exist, the closer to an open, fair and peaceful world we become. CISV creates context and we all continue to grow.
//Per
