Reflections on the ISC24
by Isabel Dancey and Jimena Montoya
"When I came to Dornach two and a half months before the ISC, I had very little knowledge about what I was supposed to do. I hadn’t even read the website! I had received a vague yet appealing invitation to be involved in a peace pageant. I gathered the details in due time… and our team of volunteers came together. I feel honored and humbled to have worked with everyone who came and “got their hands dirty”. The puppet-building studio was indeed a welcoming environment and the doors were literally never locked. So many individuals came and helped produce the pageant. I experienced learning how to work alongside all those people which admittedly didn’t feel natural at first. Now I feel the group work is a skill I would like to hone.
The energy that flowed from every individual into the deep, wide pool of the communal conference energy, truly became a work of art. I’m convinced that we created something eternal. I can’t tell you exactly what it looks like because right now, it may be invisible inside. This energy found some of my rough edges and sanded them a little smoother. I’m so grateful to every single person who came, not knowing what you would face, yet participated in this creation that could be called a brave challenge. I am still taking heart!"
Isabel Dancey - Volunteer
"I volunteered to help the organizing team almost a week before the start of the conference. In that short time, I was able to get an idea of the immense amount of effort that was put into this project which was a year in the making. What amazed me the most was the people around my age who were such an active part of the process and dared to take the responsibility of hosting more than 700 people from all around the world. Watching that labor flourishing into the conference was incredibly inspiring, to say the least, and it’s a feeling that I know is going to stay with me for a long time."
Jimena Montoya - Volunteer