HHHS MUN

Part of Houssam Eddine Hariri High School’s mission is to raise a generation of young people who take the initiative and hold the responsibility of finding ways in order to enhance their learning. Learning about themselves and about the world around takes place in different contexts not just in the confines of classrooms. The Lebanese American University offers the young generations in Lebanon opportunities in order to discover the world and themselves being part of this world, enhancing the global citizenship value in them. One of those opportunities is the annual GOLD conference.

As an Outreach and Civic Engagement event, the Lebanese American University organizes GOLD Conference in its headquarters in New York every summer. This summer the conference offered a 5 day workshop that took place on August 1 to August 5, 2016. The workshop came under the title “Model United Nations (MUN) Pedagogy: From Inception to Implementation”.

Our Leen Khalifeh , a grade 12 student , took the initiative and decided to be the one from HHHS participating in this event. Being a previous MUNer herself, she wanted to take this experience to another level since this will provide her with the chance to perceive things from a global perspective. She got to be exposed to a new culture and a new MUN experience that I believe this will be engraved in her memory for the years to come.

Leen came back back with these thoughts:

‘My experience in the GOLD Conference (2016), which took place at the Lebanese American University - New York center, has been gratifying, for it allowed me to live the most interesting and amazing five days. Throughout this experience, I have really learned so much that it is hard to express all at once but I will try my best.

Guest speakers, such as Ms. Erika Joergensen , Director of the World Food Program (WFP)-NY, were inspirational making me realize that nothing is impossible to achieve on the level of the global problems our world is facing. We have the ability to be part of every event, be it national or international, and contribute to it in a beneficial way if we put our minds to.

Part of this conference, I also got to see a lot of New York City and to visit plenty of touristic sites. Moreover, it was important for me to meet other students, and people whom I think I can benefit from their experiences. For instance, meeting Mr. Elie Samia, Assistant Vice President for Outreach and Civic Engagement, was really eye opening for me, where he showed me the impact of my decisions and leadership skills and the role I can play in the society.

In addition to all of that, the visit to the United Nations Headquarter was a special privilege ; we had the opportunity to explore the floor of the General Assembly and to stand behind the podium where the world prime ministers and presidents deliver speeches before an international audience. We also entered the Security Council and the Economic and Social council Chambers.

 Overall, it was a really exciting and a new learning experience for me.’

Hiba Chamandi

English Language Instructor 

MUN Coordinator

EE Coordinator