And yet another MUN conference that hits a home run. Like so many other conferences I have visited this year, I know how to pick them because I know or have heard great things about their MUN Directors and in this case, his name is Karim El Dib? He is simply the best of the best. An All-Star and UN Ambassador Hall of Famer. By far one of the nicest human being I know in his generous spirit and dedication to his students. You won't find him up on stage or in the front row during the conference. His leadership style is to let his executive team take all the credit, and in the case of HIAMUN, they deserved it!!!!
If you are from Hayah International Academy and reading this, go get yourself a box of Kleenex. You're gonna need it. This post is going to be glowing about your accomplishments. I had the best time seeing you all in action and carrying out the traditions that are HIAMUN. But let's just start with something I really had a hard time understanding. What's up with all the shout-outs when a speaker takes the stage? At my school, when a speaker is at the podium, the attention should be on that individual or group and only on those people. It is frowned upon for anyone in the crowd to call out to a friend with words of encouragement, "you da man, Johnny" or "you tell 'em, Susie". We teach that it is considered a selfish act that turns the attention on the person in the audience when it should be on the speaker. Not at Hayah. Oh my goodness!
When the first Executive team member rose from her seat and walked towards the podium, the crowd was erupting with cheers. As soon as she opened her mouth and started to talk, her supporters kept on cheering and offering up words, shouts, and shrieks of support. At first I was really uncomfortable sitting in the gym during this opening ceremony. The kids wouldn't let her talk at first. I looked around and saw there was an energy, a direct connection, a line you could almost see, and definitely hear, between the speaker and her adoring fans. The speaker smiled at everyone and just waited for the right moment. With a confident smile on her face she took control of the situation and started to speak with authority and the crowd instantaneously sat and listened. There was this magical moment of respect, of celebration, of teenage-hood, that clearly was a part of this school. When I asked later what that was all about, Karim and the students proudly said, "that's just who we are". It continued on at the opening and closing ceremonies and I was surprised how they pulled it off. It never was one student shouting out. It was a cacophony of voices, of school spirit that while discordant, never actually sounding harsh. Perhaps there have been discussions in the community when someone takes it too far and this culture, this school community has creating something unique. I hate to admit it considering what we practice and preach at John Burroughs during our assemblies, but I liked it, a lot. I am not going to encourage it at Burroughs, but I was very happy to see it work well at Hayah.
Ok, one more oddity that went well....apparently a surprise mascot is sent to visit every forum during the middle of the week. Now I am not a big fan of interruptions during serious conversations about global issues. I am not sure who this Spanish singing hombre was exactly, but he engaged with delegates in each room for a short period of time and it worked well to lighten the mood and build community spirit. Note: after further research I have discovered the red character is from the show Money Heist, which depicts the everlasting question about what is wrong and right. Ok, makes more sense now!!!
One of my favorite initiatives at HIAMUN was their community service fundraiser and MUN Impact Zone that raised awareness about SDG 6, clean water and sanitation. The HIAMUN's fundraising group teamed up with Misr El Kheir, a local non-profit organization and through a cookie bake sale raised over 50,000 Egyptian Pounds ($3000+USD) for building a water station in one of Egypt's underprivileged areas. According to The Quill, HIAMUN's acclaimed conference newspaper, "65% of Egypt's population do not have access to clean and safe drinking water on a regular basis. Almost two million people don't have access to basic water and more than two million deaths have been reported due to water-borne diseases". UN World Health Organization is warning Egypt that it may run out of water by the year 2025, since as of now Egypt is facing a water deficiency of around seven billion cubic meters." HIAMUN students focused their efforts on raising awareness and educating each other about the Global Goals and their Targets. They had a lot of fun passing out the cookies that came with messages of encouragement and friendship, but emphasized the greater good of giving back to their community and raising awareness and educating each other about the global clean water and sanitation crisis.
The debate overall was excellent. I esteem the conferences that find a good balance between seriousness in purpose and celebrating the participants who are often times committing to spending their free time on a weekend to debate global issues. The HIAMUN participants were not missing any school and were noticeably there for the educational value of the simulation and to network professionally and socially with students from all over Egypt. In addition I found the delegates to be incredibly supportive of one another during the debates in each room AND in the hallways during break. I overheard more endearing and personal comments they made to each other that reflected that they deeply cared about each others personal growth as MUN delegates during HIAMUN. I just LOVE that!!!
For this, HIAMUN's ten year anniversary, I applaud their efforts in focusing on a theme and making a conscientious effort to stick to it throughout the conference. This year the theme was Pangaea. While it is the hypothetical supercontinent that existed far before nations and borders ever did, the organizers intended the idea to signify our common origins. As Nour Abdel Hamid, the SG of HIAMUN '20 so eloquently states in her opening message in The Quill, "Despite our diversity, all nations were once birthed from the same continent; Pangaea. Guided by this theme, I hope all delegates recognize that despite their conflicting opinions, they share the same objectives. Ultimately, the purpose of our disputes is to achieve unity, in one way or the other. Through this, I am confident that delegates will enrich their experience, as well as make the most of their involvement in HIAMUN."
Among the debate topics that I felt privileged to observe were child militarization in the Human Rights Committee, the diplomatic crisis in Qatar in the Arab League, female genital mutilation discussion in the General Assembly (GA), and the illegal smuggling and transportation of oil discussed in the CCPCJ. HIAMUN brilliantly runs a middle school GA, chaired by high schoolers, so that students with little or no MUN experience can hone their research, public speaking, and debate skills. It was one of my favorite rooms to observe because they just blew me away with their depth of research and preparedness to make their points. If these middle schoolers are any indication of where the program will be in four years, I'd say HIAMUN will keep getting stronger.
I also have to shout out to the Security Council, who, like I observed at Royal Russell in the UK, were in a tightly configured room which led to some intense debate. Rubbing shoulders with your enemy apparently fuels some fires and leads to some heated debate! These teams were well prepared to discuss the civil war in Yemen and the issue of Iran's growing nuclear arsenal.
And the ICJ was busy arguing two unique cases. The "LaGrand” case between Germany and The United States, addressing consular access and the “Whaling in the Antarctic” case between Australia and Japan. I am always in awe how prepared the judges are to know all the intricacies of a case and how well the witnesses do without squirming in their seats when asked the most intense, detailed questions. They handle it well and even manage to make it quite entertaining at times.
I had a blast seeing the press team in action during the conference. Their four page daily edition covered every forum and was filled with great photos. Their video team put together a closing ceremony video that was a reflection of the conference the past ten years. Their opening ceremony video story was pretty spectacular as well. I made a lot of suggestions to the photographers to get them to think critically about their angles and perspectives while photographing as photojournalists. By the end of the week I was happy to see them standing up on chairs, bending their knees to get lower and definitely moving in closer to the action.
Another unique program I noticed is that the Admin team switched rooms ever few hours. They did a great job passing notes and being attentive to the needs of the room, but I just love that, as future delegates, rotating rooms gives them the opportunity to observe first hand the debate in each forum to take note of what topics they like most and to hear a variety of students debate and Chair with different styles and techniques. What a great educational opportunity for the Admin!
I will forever remember my first trip to Egypt with not just images of pyramids and King Tut dancing in my head, but rather fond memories of my visit to HIAMUN and the incredible generosity and spirit of the students and teachers at this gem of a conference.
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