Alberto Varela is an MUN advisor from Lima, Peru and has been involved with Model UN for 4 years. For 40 years, Alberto has been teaching subjects including English, Social Studies, and Philosophy. He has also participated in the World School Debating Championships in Singapore and Lima.
One of the most rewarding experiences I’ve had in my career is teaching my student Gabriel. When I first met Gabriel, he was a shy aggressive little boy, full of problems and resentment – but also full of intelligence, which he would discover later in life.
During this time, I was taking my first steps into the world of Model United Nations, MUN here in Lima, Perú. And as you may guess, the discovery of this new world of teaching was a changing point in my life. During this time, Gabriel was also part of my daily routine. On one side, MUN was giving me new positiive ways of teaching, whereas Gabriel’s difficulties were telling me that all my efforts were useless as a Social Studies teacher.
At the time I was an MUN Advisor, I was interested in all the tools that MUN gave the students. Researching skills was part of the training they had every week, so I decided to apply it to understand Gabriel´s strange attitude. I began investigating a bit abouut his life anad the origin of his strange behavior. He was fighting with the world, was against everything, and was always calling for love and attention from others.
Negotiation was another important part of the training, I decided to utilize it to help Gabriel, though negotiating was not easy with him. Third grade passed without any results, or so I thought. Gabriel came back from summer holidays being the same agressive teenager thet I had met in third grade.
Despite my efforts to try to apply a moderated caucus type of situation with rhyme and reason, everything turned unmoderated without reaching to any resolution.
I had almost lost all my hope at the end of fourth grade, however, things changed at the begining of fifth grade – his last year in my class. Over time, Gabriel was no longer the agressive little guy I had met in third grade – he had transformed into the young intelligent boy standing in front of me, telling me that I had given him the tools to find his root in life, and that he was willing to go for it.
Research, negotiation, and moderated caucuses with careful thinking had helped Gabriel over time.
When I think of my dear Gabriel, I think in all the students that MUN congregates, and how it gives them the chances to find their way in life. Some people probably think that MUN is only one more kind of debate, however this is totally wrong, MUN is not just another form of debate – MUN is the way to find your place in the world, MUN makes you a citizen of the world, and MUN makes our teenagers capable of making decisions and giving intelligent points of view.
This experience has made me believe that teaching through MUN strategies will give our students chances of a better life. Helping them understand the importance of being global citizens will shape a new future generation, building peaceful resolutions for complicated problems, looking for equity between all and respecting human rights above everything. That is why I believe in MUN.