Article Link: http://exchangepress.com/article/commitments-chart-our-lives/5024896/
As we began to imagine what the experience of the World Forum might be all those 20 years ago, we knew that we wanted something significant to happen to delegates. We believed in the power of relationships and the mind shift of diverse perspectives and experiences. We hoped that people would return home changed in ways that would outlast memories — personal impact that would compel actions that would, absolutely, create change for young children. We commissioned David Higa from Kaneʻohe, Hawaiʻi, to craft a bowl of koa wood to receive the commitments people would make as they left Honolulu and the very first World Forum on Early Care and Education in 1999. Our vision was that the bowl would be touched and filled, that it would pass from person to person, from nation to nation, from one World Forum gathering to the next; and that the commitments placed in the bowl would never go away. The bowl would serve as a symbol of accountability for promises made. The World Forum Commitment Bowl now safeguards over 12,000 commitments. joining them together, inspiring a movement.
A commitment, a promise made, an opportunity taken, sets our course. Grounded in our values — children ...