By: Fiona Imperial
It was my first time joining an inter-faith and inter-cultural delegation to a Model of United Nations conference abroad. At Model United Nations conferences, people tend to socialize, and multiple times people questioned, “what school delegation do you belong to?” I answered, “I don’t belong to a school delegation, I belong to a delegation that consists of Muslims, Jews, and Christians that debate for peace.” Every time I stated that I belong to such a delegation, there was this hint of surprise on their faces.
The hint of surprise on their faces led me to contemplate why they had such an expression on their faces. After two years of belonging to such organization, it has become conventional to me that we coexist despite the cultural and religious differences. Debate for peace consists of people who set aside the differences between identities and view each other as equal human beings. However, in most settings such model of coexistence and diversity is rare.
It clicked in my mind that the reason why there was this hint of surprise on people’s faces was due to how we defied the norm of polarization based on identities. This realization has made me believe that we are doing something transformative. As an inter-faith and inter-cultural youth delegation, we aspire to establish change for the present and the future. Not only did we end our conference becoming a family, but we strengthened our connections with one another with the common goal: to promote peace, coexistence, and change.
Debate for Peace 