Clayton Heights Secondary student Nurain Lakhani attended the Vancouver Model United Nations conference at the end of January, and represented both his hometown of Cloverdale and United Nations member Malaysia.
Vancouver Model United Nations (VMUN) is a three-day conference in which high school students take part in a simulated United Nations. It is billed as the largest student-organized model United Nations conference in North America, and it takes place annually at the Hyatt Regency in downtown Vancouver.
Nurain, 13, was one of about 1,500 students to participate in the conference from Friday, Jan. 19 to Sunday, Jan. 21.
Each student represents a nation and sits on a committee tasked with tackling a global issue.
Since Nurain was selected for the World Health Organization (WHO) committee, he studied Malaysia鈥檚 health care system. The committee鈥檚 two topics for the weekend weren鈥檛 exactly light fare. Thes students discussed on-the-ground intervention during epidemics and medical black markets.
鈥淚 needed to find out if Malaysia had ever experienced an epidemic or helped during an epidemic somewhere else in the world 鈥� which they did,鈥� said Nurain. 鈥淭hey helped with the Ebola outbreak, when over two and a half thousand people died from improper equipment. Malaysia, being the world鈥檚 largest producer of latex rubber gloves, sent 20 million [gloves] to the areas affected by the crisis.鈥�
Black markets were a bit more difficult for a grade 8 student to research. 鈥淚 didn鈥檛 really find anything,鈥� Nurain admitted. 鈥淭here was a black market presence, but I couldn鈥檛 find anything about it.鈥�
He spoke from the podium at the conference to share a strategy for countries who suffer from mosquito-borne viruses to limit the spread of disease.
鈥淢alaysia has a monsoon season and suffers from the dengue fever annually,鈥� he said. 鈥淭he reason why it doesn鈥檛 turn into an epidemic [every year] is because Malaysia has certain protocols in place so that the mosquitoes can鈥檛 breed.鈥�
The idea, Nurain explained, is to eliminate or prevent standing water that mosquitoes could breed in.
鈥淭here are patrols making sure that if they see still water, they move it,鈥� he said.
鈥淢alaysia is not the only country that has dengue fever. Putting [Malaysia鈥檚] protocols into place would help save lives.鈥�
Malaysia鈥檚 position on medical black markets was that they needed to be eradicated. Part of the solution, Nurain said, was making health care more affordable and training more personnel, so that people don鈥檛 need to turn to the black market for treatment.
鈥淢y dad grew up in India, and he said that one of his friends who had to go in for leg surgery had to wait four months. It鈥檚 a country of over a billion people; there鈥檚 just not enough trained personnel,鈥� he said.
So while Nurain represented Malaysia鈥檚 position on medical black markets accurately 鈥� they should be eradicated 鈥� he also drew from his own experience to recognize what the problem was for Malaysian citizens and offer a solution that meant the people in his country wouldn鈥檛 have to, say, wait four months for a critical surgery.
That鈥檚 the idea behind VMUN; uniting students to create solutions to major issues facing the globe in a fast-paced, intensive and collaborative environment, giving participants a chance to exercise critical thinking, diplomatic and speaking skills.
But while creative solutions are encouraged, United Nations delegates have to represent their assigned nations accurately, and act as ambassadors of their country鈥檚 current policies and interests.
Nurain said there were instances where students attempted to act in the interest of the global good, but were shut down because it was against their nation鈥檚 current policy. 鈥淲e had a delegation from the U.S.A. in our [WHO] committee,鈥� said Nurain. 鈥淭he U.S. wanted to fund other countries鈥� health care systems 鈥� but it got ruled dilatory because it wasn鈥檛 going with the current U.S. position.鈥�
Midnight crisis
The midnight crisis 鈥� an 鈥渆mergency鈥� meeting held at midnight on the last full day of the conference 鈥� was one of the best parts of the weekend, according to Nurain.
Students arrived at their committee sessions at midnight, and faced a simulated global crisis. The WHO committee was called to respond to a catastrophic flood in Sierra Leone, which left nearly the entire nation homeless and vulnerable to mosquito-borne disease.
鈥淐holera and malaria and dengue fever, they felt that that would pop up again because of all the still water,鈥� Nurain explained. Another, simulated virus developed dubbed the 鈥淲HO virus鈥� was introduced, which was spread through animal carcasses.
鈥淚t wasn鈥檛 fatal yet, but there were some minor symptoms,鈥� he said. The committee decided to quarantine affected individuals, and put in protocols for vultures.
鈥淲e shut down the borders, we called in a different committee to help rebuild houses, we sent in medical personnel, medical equipment, some vaccines and medication, food and water and clothing.鈥�
The crisis lasted until 2:30 a.m.
Although the weekend was intense, Nurain said he鈥檇 definitely recommend the program to his classmates.
He plans to return next year, and to continue attending the conference until he graduates high school.
editor@cloverdalereporter.com
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