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12
Secondary students are required to serve
90 hours of community service before
graduating. At the end of every semester,
students are required to write an essay
about their experiences.
Sara Oweida
, terminal Bacc Français,
volunteered at St-Jude's Children Cancer
Center over Christmas and Easter breaks.
This is her story.
T
he minute you enter the Center,
you see colors everywhere. Col-
ored walls, tiny colored little
chairs around round tables, drawings
attached on the walls. You also see the
uptight smiles hiding the worries. I
remember every single child I sat with
at the table. At first, they are really shy,
not so talkative, but when they are
assured that you will not hurt them in
any way, they get close to you, ask you
to read them a story, or play with
them, or just ask you for a paper and a
pencil so they can draw peacefully in
the corner. Some of them, mostly boys,
have a lot of energy, and move around
like ambulant criminals, savaging the
little house where a girl had decided to
hide in, whereas others are a little
tired, barely smiling, and anxious for
the results of the check-up. Others pre-
fer to watch the same episodes of "Tom
& Jerry" over and over again on the tel-
evision. At breakfast time, the parents
are faced with a huge drudgery: feed-
ing their child. Playing or not, feeding
the children is pretty hard, especially
when their appetite is lost, or they are
busy playing with something else.
I believe this experience has taught
me so much. Not every person has the
guts and the patience to nurse an ill
child, and that is what I had admired
about the parents. Not to mention their
hopes, always up for the love of their
child. The most beautiful feeling, is
when a child clings on to you, and
wants to play with you, as if you are
some kind of protection. It is comfort-
ing to see that no matter what, some
children are hopeful and joyful, but it
tears you apart to see some children,
unlike others, quietly weakened by the
atrocity of their malady. Nevertheless,
the caring of their parents, the presence
of volunteers entertaining them and
providing them with pens and games,
and the assurances of the doctors, help
them in overcoming the situation.
When I enter the place, I am hit by a
wave of an indescribable feeling: I am
scared of what might come, doubting
if I will be strong enough to pretend
that nothing is wrong with these kids,
and go on playing with them. Howev-
er, I remind myself that I should be
scared of nothing, especially those
helpless kids, because if they need
anything, it would be someone to
share their moments of nervousness
with. The same goes to the parents.
Our presence beside them is enough
for them to understand that they are
not alone on that uneasy road, but that
they have us to rely on.
YOU ARE NOT ALONE
MODEL UN GOES TO CAIRO
Model UN is an authentic simulation of the
UN General Assembly and other multi-
lateralbodies. Basically, students step in the
shoes of foreign diplomats and take on their
roles. Before attending a conference, partic-
pants would have been assigned to research
a country, investigate international issues,
debate, deliberate, consult, and then devel-
op solutions to world problems. At IC,
MUN is offered is an extra curricular
activity and 11 of its members attended a
MUN conference in Cairo in March.
Among them, were
Chafic Dakroub
(6th
grade IB 1) and
Mira Houballah
(6th
grade) who submitted this article.
W
e, the delegates, were divided
into different forums according to
the different UN bodies present: Gener-
al Assembly A, General Assembly B,
Security Council, Disarmament Com-
mission, International Court of Justice,
Advisory Panel, Youth, and the Eco-
nomic and Social Council. Each dis-
cussed the two topics that were
assigned and eventually presented a
resolution for each group of allied coun-
tries. It took eight hours of debating and
amending the resolutions and finally
voting on whether each should pass or
not. The eight hours of intensity were
interrupted only by a lunch break and
several coffee breaks for the delegates to
freshen up. The closing ceremony took
place in the hotel on the last day and we
had the chance to address some ques-
tions to the guest speaker, an Egyptian
diplomat and former member of the
United Nations. Due to the high levels
of intellectual preparation of the dele-
gates, the resolutions that passed were
those that contained very reasonable
solutions to today’s international con-
flicts and human rights issues.
Model United Nations is not only an
after-school activity that is attended by
people that aim at having fun. It is
regarded as one of the most serious
activities that might provide an early
experience for participants interested in
a future in diplomatic and political
practices. It also contributes to the
building of a strong character with suf-
ficient self-confidence. Participation
also helps today’s youth become better
leaders for the future, with a broader
perspective that will help in the advan-
cement of the human race as a whole
with full international cooperation,
instead of the undying attempts to
intensify personal benefits. Many peo-
ple believe that the United Nations is
just a façade. We, the students that have
passed through a UN related experi-
ence, strongly believe that all youth
with no exception should have some
diplomatically based education tomake
the United Nations less of a façade and
more of an effective organization pro-
moting world peace and stability.