Language is the New Oxygen

Mari-Daleen Cloete
Windhoek High School has resolutely set mile stones in academic, sport and culture for generations to come.

Breathe in, breathe out. On the 7th and the 8th of June, six Windhoek High School top English students took part in the Model United Nations High School Conference. It took place at the Safari Court Hotel conference room in Windhoek where they, once again, awarded their Alma Mater a heart swelled with pride. Besides Windhoek High School walking away with a$3000 cash prize for the best school, Michael Petrus won the 2nd best speaker and the 2nd best delegate and Tulipomwene Kalunduka won the 3rd best speaker.
The team consisted of: Michael Petrus(Gr 11), Tulipomwene Kalunduka(Gr 11), Ainley Amunyela(Gr 11), Tariro Muparadzi(Gr 11) Zuvvi Kandjavera(Gr 11), and Christiaan Prinsloo(Gr 8), who was one of the youngest learners to participate in the conference. Even though Windhoek High School only had a 6-person team, it was still the most competitive school. The competition included the German Private High School-DHPS, St Pauls and Windhoek Gymnasium, just to name a few.
Model United Nations, more commonly known as MUN, is a simulation of the United Nations Organisation. Proper selection, debating, drafting and diplomacy are among the skills which are taught at these simulations. Throughout the process, participants also hone their critical thinking, leadership and teamwork skills. The purpose of the MUN event is to prepare young people to actually participate in real United Nations summits and to be diplomats for their own country. At this particular MUN event, around 70 participants, also known as delegates were present and they were assigned to more or less 35 countries, from which to research a certain topic: there were at least two delegates for each country. From this research, they then formulated a poposition, which they presented during the two-day conference. There were two prevailing topics in this conference for Windhoek High school, namely “Harnessing the Green economy to eradicate poverty” and “Improving co-ordination in response to natural and humanitarian disasters.”