THIMUN Reflection 29/01/2016

Below is an excerpt from one of my THIMUN blog post responses. I think that it best describes this experience:

This week can most accurately be described as a learning opportunity. Although honestly at the moment I’m not very confident in Ben and I winning our case, I can safely say that we did our best and the evidence was simply not in our favour. Each day has been a new experience to reflect on and I can safely say that there has never been a dull moment.

Our case began on Wednesday and it definitely was a whirlwind of emotions on my behalf. I gave the opening speech and feel as though the delivery was not executed as well as I could have done because of my nerves and then we proceeded with the evidence and cross examining the Somalian witness. Unfortunately, we were not as prepared as we could have been which I think came across as incompetence, something our coordinator did not seem to take well to. I was really impressed by my partner’s cross examination and definitely think that that was a plus in the whole day. In retrospect however, I don’t really understand why I was stressing so much; I got really great feedback from my judges which made me realize to be easier on myself.

Thursday was ultimately our final day of working and whatnot and I still cannot believe that 4 months of preparation led to this day. I think that we were able to confidently answer all questions asked to us and was really impressed honestly by the fluency and quality of our answers. Our opponents were definitely a tough match and so as long as we have a couple of votes in our favour, I will definitely feel like a success.

I realized this week that ICJ is really not for me. I would probably enjoy being a judge but honestly, I really miss debating and shutting people down and being able to argue to my heart’s content. It was a great thing to try but I can safely say that I will never be an advocate ever again.

Cancer Initiative Update

Key updates/points of focus during Term 2:

• Becoming CAS leader
  I can honestly say that I’m quite proud of my status and achievement that I’ve made in the past month or so of being the official leader. I can confidently say that I’ve already had more success compared to my predecessors. So far, from February to March, we travelled 3 times to Muhimbili Hospital to be which the children. Although this does not sound like very much, taking into account the fact that we missed several sessions because of ESP or break, I’m happy that we’re back on track.
• Welcome Guides for children at Muhimbili
  On one of our days to Muhimbili, I was able to meet with with Jane Kaijage, who leads the Tumaini La Maisha section at the cancer ward. We then discussed what the hospital specifically needed from us and came to the agreement that IST assist them in printing their parents handbooks in both Swahili and English. We’re planning on bringing the printed handbooks tomorrow when we visit. I’m really happy that we’re doing this and I hope that my legacy as a leader can be stronger communication and a focus on what specifically the hospital needs out of this relationship.
• The status of new members
  This is definitely the greatest obstacle that we’re facing right now. Although I personally enjoy visiting the hospital and can handle the logistics of our projects alone right now, I think that for the children at Muhimbili to benefit we need more help from other students. I’ve reguarly tried to communicate this to Ms. Gillman and Ms. McKeever so from my perspective, that’s all I can really do. I’m going to work harder to contact the students of service groups with excess people who relate to Cancer Initiative.