Cumberland University’s leadership class revolves around building leadership skills in ourselves and our communities. For this reason, we were able to have a very unique experience in our time with Many Hands. We were blessed with the amazing opportunity to hold a leadership conference for local citizens of Pignon. Over a span of two days, we held sessions each with their own topic centered on leadership. What most of us were not expecting was that we ended up learning more from the Haitian citizens than they did us.

As we began preparing for our conference the night before, our group was nervous. What can you say about leadership to people who are already so much stronger than any of us? We wanted to be sure that we got the right message across. To do this, we decided to incorporate a variety of activities and discussions in order to hear first hand from the citizens how they feel and what their ideas about leadership are. The first day of our conference was centered on building confidence in yourself and others. We began our day with a foot washing ceremony that we hoped would signify our equality and appreciation for their presence. After breaking the ice, the Haitian men and women opened up to us and shared their ideas and stories. We were truly blown away by the amount of input they were giving us. It was as if everyone wanted to speak, which was really amazing.