Who better to step-up and tackle the issues facing their neighbourhood than the residents themselves? Nearly 150 residents and service providers from 40 Ottawa neighbourhoods gathered at the Confederation Education Centre on Thursday November 13th for the fifth annual Community Development Framework Learning Forum
The theme Resident Leadership Comes in All Shapes and Sizes brought residents and organizations together to celebrate accomplishments, and share stories and ideas about resident leadership in neighbourhoods across the city.
After dinner, spoken word artist Roua Aljied (Right) set the tone for the evening, inspiring us with:
“The ants go marching one by one. Hurrah! Hurrah! The ants go marching one by one. Hurrah! Hurrah! The little one stops to suck his thumb and they all… wait for him to finish before they move on because no one gets left behind. Have you ever stopped to think about the way ants work together? Why there are more ants than humans? Why they’re so efficient despite their size? Let me tell you. It’s not a coincidence that there’s no I in ant. Selfless determination gives them a resilience we could learn from. We have learned from. I have met many humants and many of them are here in this room. We have built homes from houses. Communities from neighbourhoods. We have led people to become leaders. A colony is not build in a day and neither is a community. It takes the resilience of an ant. The effort of a team and the guidance of great leaders. Leaders who understand titles are not what cause people to follow…”
