(This is a recap coauthored by two students, Elias O'Brien (6th grade, Crow Wing) and Sahara Peters (5th grade, Crow Wing).
We just got back from a trip to New York City representing Cameroon and Australia in the Montessori Model United Nations. Our trip to MMUN was a great experience. We got to explore New York and meet people from around the world. We used our ideas to help solve real-world problems. We had a great time, and we all learned a lot! Here are two students’ perspectives on the experience.
Elias O’Brien, Delegate for the Republic of Cameroon:
When we first arrived in New York we checked into the conference hotel right on Times Square and then walked around Central Park. It was 70 degrees out!
At the opening ceremony the main speaker said that to make a difference in the world, find what breaks your heart and act on it. I thought this made a lot of sense. And while I haven’t found what breaks my heart yet, I will keep looking. As she said at her closing speech, “There are a lot of problems in the world and one will find you!”
I spent the next two days in committee meetings representing Cameroon where we drafted resolutions to solve two problems: natural disaster risk reduction and poverty eradication (other committees handled other issues). In my committee, there were 34 countries represented, each with two delegates, one for each topic. We made speeches proposing our solutions to these problems and then combined our solutions to make resolutions. What I liked about this process was getting to know a lot of the kids from around the world really well and gathering co-sponsors for the resolutions. It was a lot of fun persuading people to co-sponsor our resolutions!
In case you’re wondering, one of the natural disaster risk reduction resolutions was to educate youth on how to survive natural disasters. One of the poverty eradication resolutions was to provide better education for children so that they have the skills needed for good-paying jobs.
On the final day, we went to the United Nations building where we heard lots of speeches and did the final voting on our resolutions. It was cool to sit in the seats of actual UN delegates!
Sahara Peters, Delegate for the Commonwealth of Australia:
I represented the Commonwealth of Australia. I personally thought it was a lot of fun debating, writing resolutions, and everything else we did. We had to wear super nice, formal clothes! My topic was raising more money for UNICEF (United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund), which promotes the well being of children. Our resolution was focused on fundraising more money by means of the internet.
Even though most of us were sad to leave, we are all glad to be back and know that we can share our experiences with others. Montessori Model United Nations was very fun, and I hope we get to go next year!