Four students from 11th grade took part in BERMUN2, one of the biggest Model United Nations conferences in Europe. MUN is an educational simulation of UN committees where participants act as diplomats representing assigned countries. The conference took place at the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung in Berlin and was organized by the John F. Kennedy School. We represented Canada and Belgium and spent several days debating about “decolonization” with students from seven different countries, one delegation even traveled as far as from Rwanda.
During the conference, we gave speeches, discussed different points of view, and worked together with other delegations to write resolutions. It was really interesting to see how demanding international politics are and how much negotiation and teamwork is needed to find solutions.
One of the highlights was listening to the guest speakers, for example the ambassador of Namibia to Germany, Jerobeam Shaanika, who illustrated the difficult relationship between former colonizer Germany and Namibia. It was inspiring to hear from people who actually work in diplomacy and to learn more about current challenges.
Overall, BERMUN was a very interesting experience. We learned a lot, improved our public speaking skills, and gained more confidence in debating in English.
Carla McCormick, Sophie Utz, Elisa Albertshofer, Elina Bessonova with Fr. Schonhöft (teacher)