CVA!

Today I got the envelope. And, inside the envelope, this:



I don't think I am able to express how happy I am!

I've always believed in AVA and in voluntary certification, to the point that I was thrilled at the idea of taking it as soon as the three year in the field requirement would apply. Right after AVA's demise, I decided to take the CVA no matter what, because associations can day, but beliefs shall not.

Today, Katie Campbell (who I thank for her tireless volunteering hours devoted to this cause!) also let me know that I am the first CVA awarded to a volunteer manager outside of North America. We need to do something about it... don't we?

I still support AVA's mission statement in full, and I wished for things to have been gone differently. I deeply believe that a brighter future cannot be born out of refusing to acknowledge mistakes and consequently changing our ways. I do not think that people involved in AVA have to be kept out of present efforts. However, I do think that, if no mistake is acknowledged on their side, they better be kept out.

Above all, AVA was designed to be international and multicultural. It was designed to be a beacon of tolerance, respect, fairness and knowledge exchange. It failed partly because - like Susan J Ellis said - those are big challenges.

But, because those are challenges that are unavoidable (impending globalization, outsourcing, bilinguism, multiculturalism) especially in light of the UN millenium development goals (read #8!), we do not need to drop them.

We need to try harder instead!