Seven students fom the International School Eindhoven put in a lot of time, effort and conviction to win a prize in the Festival of Hope, an initiative from the International Baccalaureate Organisation. The festival, organised since 2022, allows young people to come together “to turn complex challenges into positivity and hope”. Eindhoven News spoke with five of the seven students who made their voices heard and won a prize which they will give to Niños de Guatamala.
Out of over 1,500 global applicants and with only 131 projects selected, the ISE students won the maximum 3,000 USD grant. Mia Louisa explains what they did to earn them this recognition. She and the six others made a video to introduce the project, as well as an elevator pitch with eight slides explaining who they are, what problem they intended to tackle, and how they would use the funding.
Pranav, whom readers my recognise as the enterprising person going for the Space Challenge earlier this year, explains how he and Mia Louisa, Ana Paula, Kabir, Shrish, Ishitha and Juliette divided the tasks in this collaborative project. They intended to organise a three day Model United Nations Conference for the students in year 4.
Model United Nations
Model United Nations (MUN) is exactly what it says: students take on various roles to model what happens at a United Nations Conference. There is a question for debate, there are delegates roleplaying various nations that are assigned to them, and there are strict rules on discipline so the focus is always on the issue at hand. The ISE students had chosen Sustainable Development Goal 4 as their focus: “Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all”.
For the 132 year 4 students, the winners organised the conference, sourced the necessary supplies and rallied support teams, but most importantly, provided three research reports to guide the delegates throughout the debate. The topic of quality education deepened the understanding of the need in Guatemala, a goal that the ISE has supported for a number of years through the NGO Niños de Gatemala.
Quality education, according to Shrish, means that children are taught according to recognised standards, that they have access to the necessary supplies, and that their learning is not distracted by the growling of an empty stomach. The 3,000 USD grant will go to textbooks and other school materials as well as hot school meals. Kabir says how he is aware of a clash between their own occasional grumbling about school work and their feeling of elation at managing to subject other children to the same fate. “It does make us realise how privileged we are”.
Summer vacation? Not for some
Karla Prada, the teacher who leads the ISE MUN team is beaming. She is proud of her team, charged by the energy they bring, and looking forward to yet another MUN activity: their yearly one-day conference, scheduled for this Friday. Almost time for the summer vacation. Which will mean 15 two-hour workshops that are also part of the prize. Between now and September, the winning students will participate in 15 sessions on leadership skills. They will meet the other winners, this year’s as well as those from previous years, and form a network of creative, caring, committed people.
When asked how they see their future, options range from owning a business to a career as an architect or a diplomat. As to leadership skills, their definitions range from the abiity to run a profit-making business with as few people as possible, to the ability to accept criticism and the ability to inspire others to give their best. The seven inspiring students who pulled this project off certainly gave it their best.
written for EindhovenNews by Greta
