Tony Blair Faith Foundation

Almost a year after the Dubai Conference, 23 Face to Faith coordinators from a total of 17 countries congregated in London in time for the Coordinators' Conference on the evening of 29 January.

I didn't know what to expect when Leila invited me to join last year's conference. I had barely begun my involvement in The Tony Blair Faith Foundation. We had just conducted an informational meeting with school heads in Manila, courtesy of Ian and Simmi, but we had no teacher training workshop as of yet. In other words, I had no first hand experience of the modules or the VCs. I remember, however, being impressed by the way the other coordinators spoke so passionately about the program, especially how they felt Face to Faith made a difference in the lives of their students.

As I walked into the welcome dinner, I immediately recognized many familiar faces, people I had first met in Dubai last year, but all of whom I've somehow managed to keep regular contact with last year, thanks to Skype, our email correspondences, as well as our regular conference calls.

Also noticeable that evening were the new faces, new recruits from countries that had just recently come on board, such as Israel, Mexico, and Indonesia. Also with us were Cory, a fairly new VC moderator from Washington and Dr. Charles Haynes of the First Amendment Center.

The next morning Ruth and Charlotte gave us a much-needed Big Picture view of the Foundation's work, which someone aptly described it as an advocacy for faith. It was amazing to realize the extent of the work, not only for schools, but for universities and for social outreach as well.

The great thing about the way the conference began was that we got the chance to hear from some of these people, each talking a little bit about their countries. Two coordinators, Marcial and Sara, shared their versions of "A Day in the Life of a Coordinator," and in the process, also exhibited their Filipino and Lebanese brands of humor, respectively.

Despite the clear differences in contexts, the similarities in our experiences were quite uncanny. I also developed a growing appreciation for the work that my colleagues did, considering the obstacles they had to hurdle. For example, I hadn't realized that Indonesia had three time zones for its over 17,000 islands, or that Palestinian schools had to borrow computer facilities to do their videoconferences, or that Lebanon had a scheduled three-hour power outage virtually very single day.

It was just mid-conference, but already I recognized that same positive energy that had been so palpable in last year's conference. On the first evening I overheard my friend, Jo remark that you couldn't find a better group of people elsewhere. I am certain no one in the room would disagree.

Fr. Johnny Go