ICMC May 21st
Our last day and the birthday of the Mountain Children's Forum

During the morning we focused on finalizing our official MCF Declaration. We broke into groups to identify our regional problems and each region made a presentation on the problems they had identified. We then melded them into a manifesto that would work for all children, especially children of the mountains.

Launching The Mountain Children's Forum
To make things crazier, we learned that the responsibility for the function celebrating the launch of the MCF rested entirely with us. Happily, we did very well, though we had little time to prepare and rehearse, and there were the usual last-minute changes to the schedule, like when we suddenly learned that one of our guest speakers was being replaced by someone else, and others were leaving to catch their train.

The function featured cultural performances by delegates from different regions, magic tricks, and even a song by Anungla Miss, a teacher who accompanied the Northeast delegation. (After all, at most functions children are invited to perform a song or dance, so we thought we would invite an adult to perform at ours.)

The most important part of the program, however, was our reading of the MCF Declaration and Call to Action, and the official launch of our website.

Mr Girish Menon, of Plan International, principal sponsor of ICMC, suggested that we ask the United Nations to declare May 21st the International Day of Mountain Children. It'll be one of the first items on our agenda.

It was a crazy, hectic evening, but we did it OURSELVES. And no one knew of the panics behind the scenes, but isn't that life...and we're ready for more!

We closed the function on a very special note. The lights dimmed and we all climbed up to the stage with candles in our hands. From the wings, Karen walked onto the stage with a burning candle and lit the candle of the person next to her. And as the light spread across the stage, one candle to the next, we sang "We are the World, We are the Children...." As the song ended we came down from the stage and walked up through the center aisle past the audience and out the hall, sharing our light with all who joined us.

That night we were saying goodbyes till 2 a.m. None of us wanted to leave, but we know that our work together is just beginning and as we left, we were taking MCF with us. And the night resounded with shouts of "PABAM."

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