An exceptional exception

I don’t often write about where I have been or what I have done, but this month I am going to make an exception. And I am doing that because in July I had an “exceptional” experience and it has lingered with me for this past month and so I want to talk about it. On the surface, at first hearing, it is going to sound so ordinary: In July I had the chance to be at the Biennial National Conference of South Africa’s National Association of Child Care Workers – NACCW. They were celebrating their Association's 30th anniversary; it was their 15th Biennial Conference.

So what. Right? Another conference. Big deal. And yes, actually, big deal. Because it was exceptional, as in special, different, an exception to the norm.

Now don’t get me wrong. I love, for example, Canadian Child and Youth Care Conferences. They are filled with the spirit of friendship, re-connection and family. They are like a reunion of distant cousins getting together for an annual family reunion (except of course they only happen every two years) with people loved but distant. The spirit soars. And I love, as well, the provincial Canadian conferences, like the one in Nova Scotia every year where people really are friends and family. I enjoy the International Child and Youth Care conferences, too, even if they usually strike a somewhat pretentious note.

But the conference in South Africa was exceptional. There was more than the spirit of family, more than the spirit of friendship, more than a re-connecting of distant relationships. And it was not just because of the size – although it was one of the largest conferences I have been at. And it wasn’t just because of the quality of the presentations – although they were wonderful (South African Child and Youth Care is one of the most exciting in the world right now, I think). No. It was something bigger than all of this.

It was the spirit of caring. People who care, caring. Caring about those they help, caring about each other. Caring about this field. Curious, asking about everything. Hungry to learn, demanding more at every opportunity. Eager to connect, reaching out whenever the chance arose. And proud, heads held high as they sang together at a moment’s notice.

I have never felt more what this field can be, than I felt at that conference. An outsider, a foreigner, welcomed like a special guest, taken in, make a part of it all. From the first greeting of a few Durban students who found me sitting alone outside, to the final clinging departures, there was a sense that one belongs.

And so, while I usually don’t talk about where I have been or what I have done, this time I make this exception – because it was exceptional.

And I just wanted to say two things.

First, thank you.

And second, really everyone, save your money and go to the next one yourself.

Thom