Our International Experiences
WCDSB 1st Annual International Model UN Conference
The staff and students of the Waterloo Catholic District School Board were involved in an exciting event when they were able to host the 1st Annual International Model UN conference at St. Jerome’s University from May 16 to 18, 2023.
90 students from the board were joined by 5 students from Collegio Marymount, Bogata, Colombia. These 5 students were able to experience the cultures and traditions of Canadian life during a 7 day visit including trips to Toronto, Niagara Falls, and tours around Waterloo Region. The culmination of that visit was the three day Model UN event that started with opening ceremonies on the Wednesday night. In between speeches from the Mayor of Waterloo, the vice-president of St. Jerome’s University and the Director of Education for the WCDSB, the 95 students were treated to an online address from the Colombian Viceconsul to Toronto, Mr. David Perez and by a special recorded message from the Canadian Ambassador to the United Nations, Mr. Bob Rae.
The rest of the week, Thursday and Friday, were dedicated to solving important international issues in three separate committees: the Economic and Social Committee, the Human Rights Council and the Security Council. Issues addressed included Regulating Cryptocurrency, Climate Change as a Security Council Issue and Organized Crime as a Crime Against Humanity.
The three day conference culminated with the presentation of the top delegates over the three days. The top delegates were recognized for their efforts by Bardish Chagger, Member of Parliament for Waterloo. The three winners included: Bryanna Donaghue from WCDSB, Ethan Kiers from WCDSB and Valeria Aguilar from Collegio Marymount.
The experiences of both the WCDSB students and the students from Colombia represented the best in critical thinking, problem solving, teamwork and oral advocacy. But the real achievement was the friendships made by participants who had only recently met. This set a standard that we hope will be matched in future international events.
WCDSB Model UN Trip to Colombia
The WCDSB’s trip to Colombia was the trip of a lifetime. Our time in Bogota was vibrant and rich. The staff and students at Marymount were enthusiastic, welcoming, and talented. Our guide from Estudiar was engaged, knowledgeable and kind. I would not change it for anything.
First and foremost, our Model UN conference at Marymount was an incredible example of what Model UN can become. The most incredible part of the conference was the fact that it was almost entirely student organized. Seeing such an inspiring reminder of what it means to empower student voice was invigorating. It was also great to have my time as a teacher valued and used by having the teachers participate in workshop about how to introduce education about empathy, democracy and peace and conflict studies into the classroom. If our Model UN at WCDSB did more to fully empower students to create the types of events that they want to see we could truly make our Model UN conference world class events. I would also love to see more teacher workshops at our Model UN conferences. It was great to feel like I was back in a university seminar again and acted as a powerful reminder of how we can continue to bring hope, empathy and ideas of innovation and radical change to our classes.
The various tours we did in Colombia were fabulous cultural experiences that highlighted some of what makes Bogota and the surrounding area such a beautiful part of an incredible country. My personal favourites were the Cathedral de Sal and Montserrate. They were jaw dropping in their beauty and truly helped me connect with parts of my spirituality that I didn’t know I had. Our walking tour of the historic Candalaria district was filled with incredible history and art and gave my a brand new appreciation of the importance of publicly funded art and of the history of Colombia.
Overall, students are in for the trip of a lifetime should they travel with WCDSB to Colombia. It’s an eye opening experience filled with rich cultural experiences and amazing people. I would recommend the trip for any students or staff and I cannot wait to see what international experiences are coming up next!
