Friends School Sixth Form Trip to the United Nations Headquarters in New York Summer 2000

From an Assembly delivered by Alex Hibbitt

Last Summer Rufus and Sushila and I, along with 30 other young people went to the United Nations Headquarters in New York for one week, and to the homes of United Nations Association families in Connecticut for a week. The trip was organised by the eastern region of the United Nations Association for students in the Sixth Form and University. We got to hear about it through the UNA Strachan Trophy quiz which Mrs Ainsworth always makes such a big deal out of us winning. We were sent a leaflet, wrote back expressing interest, paid up, and a year or so later we were in New York!

Basically the UN is an international organisation where representatives of each country in the world have the opportunity to talk out the issues that affect them. It's pretty unique in this way, as its agenda is focused on peace and development. We felt the trip was worthwhile because of this, and although it was expensive the UN is a worthy cause. Aside from its peacekeeping and humanitarian missions, it stays out of the limelight. The tour was a chance to learn more about it, how the key work happens, not in the Security council or general assembly, but in the corridors of the plaza, the same corridors we got to study in for a week.

The UN is a huge organisation. We were lucky in that we got full access passes, so we pretty much had a free range. This allowed us to wander everywhere, and you really realise the true meaning of the phrase 'corridors of power' when you see world leaders talking over a bowl of soup in the café, or watching the latest news of the Concorde crash on UN-TV by the elevators.

The UN isn't a godsend in everyone's eyes; for example people such as Jessie Helmes, a US Senator who is the chairman of the Senate Foreign Affairs committee. Have you ever heard the phrase 'absolute power corrupts absolutely' well it seems it also sends you round the bend. We attended an early morning briefing at the UNA-US head office where we were informed that the good senator believes that the UN has a large contingent of Peacekeepers waiting to invade the US from Canada, using bar codes on the back of stop signs to navigate them to key buildings!

Black helicopters are regularly seen by southern farmers chasing their chickens, again blamed on the UN. These sort of fears are why the US owes millions, if not billions of dollars in back payments to the UN, and why it's the only UN country not to have accepted the UN bill on the Rights of the Child.

The first week of the trip wasn't just about the UN, it was a chance to see New York City, to explore the big apple. Huge skyscrapers, a never-sleeping nightlife, packed streets, a subway as hot as an oven, and it is all built on a minute island. The place is like no other city on earth in its character or attitudes. Made of more districts than you can shake a pretzel at, and each one unique. We hung out mostly around the Greenwich Village and SoHo areas, where the TV programme 'Friends' is set, an area mostly consisting of boutiques, trendy little bars and coffee houses. We spent a good few days here shopping for clothes, art, gifts and pricing houses; not that I could afford the latter - the only place that really took my eye was 1.65 million dollars. We also went across to the famous eateries of China Town, Times Square and Little Italy for dinner each night as well as to explore. If any of you ever go, there's a fabulous little Basement Jazz bar on West 23rd Street you simply must visit.

As I mentioned, the relationships between the delegates in the corridors make the UN what it is, and without the people who believe so passionately in the work of the UN it would never be done. These were the people we were lucky enough to hear from in the briefings we received. We got to hear from two or three high-up UN delegates each morning. Many of these people worked extraordinary hours for not the best pay in the world in the face of often impossible odds.

My most profound memory of the lectures is of a delegate who spoke on the humanitarian aid situation in the world today. The passion she managed to show in her cause left an impression that was noticeable on every person in the briefing room. The stories of the things the system can accomplish and the horrible pitfalls that cost thousands their lives when the system falls short, shocked us all to the core. You realise how futile their work is when you look at natural disaster figures, and then hear how the public were stupid enough to send leather jackets to sub-tropical Nicaragua after Hurricane Mitch. Yet when the Humanitarian aid system swings into action, such as in Mozambique the results can be nothing short of miraculous, saving thousands of lives.

I said earlier that we were to spend a week with families in Connecticut. Roll on culture shock again. After a coach ride lasting a couple of hours in which the coach managed to nearly jam itself under a bridge and require a police escort, we found ourselves having breakfast at a bizarrely large house in the middle of a wood. Enter the Fairfield & Westport United Nation Association. They were nothing less than wonderfully hospitable, and I found myself staying with four others from our group with a family of three. Straight away the weirdness began. Away from the rest of our group, we were taken to a concert that could have been plucked straight out of an American teen movie. As the week went on, more weird events were to follow: Huge ice creams at Dairy Queen, Spicy Mexican food, parties being broken up by the Police, a huge casino owned by a Native American tribe in the middle of nowhere. The whole week was exhausting but fabulous.

To finish, I'd like to plug membership of the UNA for anyone out there who might be interested. The UNA-UK is a key support organisation to the UN. It's role is crucial in the world today to support the UN in campaigning and researching, to educate, and to raise the profile of people with a limited voice. Without people expressing interest in it and joining, it can go nowhere in accomplishing these goals. If you want more information, please come and talk to me.

To finish on a quote, "Be Angry, Be Sad, Be Passionate, But Don't Be Silent."