Hey everyone!
We're on our third day here at the Cochabamba summit – it's been very hectic, and exciting so far, and internet has been very hard to come by, so apologies for the lack of communication and stories thus far. Our team here consists of Paula, Marcelo, and myself, as well as a number of inspiring friends leading the charge.
It's hard to say exactly what will come out of the conference just yet…but I'm beginning to see it as a real symbolic counterweight to the the Copenhagen Accord (they plan to submit the document here to the United Nations as the "Cochabamba Accord"), and a great time for networking and movement building. The best news so far has been the young people we've been connecting with here – lots of excellent movement building and excitement for the Latin American youth meeting taking place this Friday and Saturday.
Yesterday was our big day – Bill "spoke" on the science panel and I was there to answer questions (and did a little interview with Grist). Then last night, we held our side event ( see photo) which was really, really fun – did a presentation with several 350 reps from all around Latin America, and then had small group discussions about work party ideas – solar ovens, bike/walk days, reforestations were all things people are excited about – as well as making 350 Bolivia a much more coordinated group.
We're all working as hard as we can (plus going on adventures to find food & Internet access). Marcelo in particular, who has taken on the task of being president of the Shared Vision working group – he's working to elevate the number 350 and having to put in lots of hours, but is really helping to put 350 and the whole movement into the spotlight of the governments and big networks that are there. He deserves a lot of respect for taking that on! Paula has taken on Twitter and is representing us at many of the Latin American NGO meetings.
We'll do our best to be better about blogging and getting information out – hopefully if all goes well (and we have internet), a video by tomorrow!
Un abrazo para todos mis compañeros (compañero* means like a combination of friend and colleague, which I like),
Kelly