Grade Seven Students Grapple with the Sudan Situation

By Altay Otun, student (10)

Model United Nations (MUN) is an international relations-simulation experience for high school students across the globe. Real-world issues concerning the Untied Nations, such as political unrest, wars and global warming, are the focus of the student delegates who must work with their colleagues in an attempt to solve these issues. MUN gives a wonderful opportunity to students who want to polish their debating skills and meet other students who share similar passions. MUN has always been an activity welcomed with open arms by Upper School students at AIS. When the chance to educate our peers in the seventh grade was presented to several alumni of the MUN program, we were obliged to offer our expertise. Our team of volunteers included six ambassadors: Colin Hill (11), Megan Doyle (12), Gillian Ferqueron (12), Emika Ijuin (11), Olivia Jones (11), and myself (10). In addition, the moderators and chairs of the mock-MUN sessions comprised Ethan Lyle (12), Benji Schutler (12), Lauren Olens (12), and Christiana Theodore (12).

I acted as an ambassador for the Ethiopian delegation. The job of an ambassador was at times tedious and stressful but that was easily forgotten as I watched the excitement and energy of the seventh grade delegates. My first meeting with my team of seventh graders went extremely well. Everybody was eager to learn about debating procedures and to learn about their topic -- ending atrocities being committed in Darfur. After much preparation, it was time to start the first ever mock-MUN at AIS. The day was started off with introductory speeches given by our chairs Benji, Lauren, Christina, and Ethan. The excitement began as the speeches came to a close, and a lively debate began! Everyone participated. The delegates moved through the auditorium debating and arguing with each other on ways to solve the issues occurring in the Darfur region. After an hour of debate, the delegates departed into separate rooms according to their committees. Students were placed into four committees: Environment, Homo Faber (Technology focus), Health, and Community and Service. As an ambassador, I dutifully moved from each committee to the next watching and observing something amazing. Each delegate passionately argued his or her point of view while trying to persuade the others in the room, including the ambassadors. I was relieved to find that all our hard work paid off. Each committee drafted a resolution stating how they would fix the situation in Darfur.

The real work in this mock-MUN was done by our chairs. Christina Theodore stated, “As chair on the environment committee, I had the opportunity to teach the delegate the intricacies of parliamentary procedure. While at first they found it difficult to speak as the countries, which they were representing, by the end of the day they sounded like real UN delegates. It was also interesting to see the ways in which they believed the crisis in Darfur should be solved. Solutions ranged from the construction of an underground tunnel network from Sudan to France to complicated irrigation schemes. Overall, the delegates seemed to be focused and generally interested in finding solutions to the problems with which they were presented.”

The conference was an all day event planned as part of the Middle Years Programme for Grade Seven. On behalf of all the student volunteers, I would like to thank the faculty members, Mr. Bechtel, Mr. Rollins and Ms. Winch, who organized this MUN simulation; it was a great learning experience for everyone. We are proud to pass the MUN torch to the students of the seventh grade – the future “MUN’ers”!