gdtnomore

[gdtnomore]

Rooooooome ~

Geneva to Rome we went by the trusty old easyJet. God bless. I was sitting in row 1 though, so #perks.

The first half of our first day was spent at the World Food Programme’s HQ. We had 3 meetings in 1, getting a brief insight into the extent of the work that WFP actually does. Today in the world, there are around 815 million people who are hungry. Due to funding and a number of other factors, WFP provides food to around 80 million, and this ensures that they have a nutritious meal of 2,100 calories a day. We were also lucky enough to have lunch at their cafeteria, which was a slightly stressful but cool experience.

In the afternoon, we headed to the colosseum which was amaaaaaazing. Actually being inside it was such a crazy thing to imagine, even just being there .... nuts. It was nuts. After the colosseum, we had some free time, so some of us went to find a grocery store, a gelato stop and then we went for a climb up a hill and found these cute little churches. That night, we had a guest join us at dinner. The guest happened to be the immediate past president of UN Youth NZ, Bowen. We had some great conversations, one even included whether or not the Big Red Car song by The Wiggles was “toot toot chugga chugga” or “choo choo chugga chugga”. I don’t feel like ruining childhoods here, so I won’t let you know the outcome of this one lol.

Our last full day in Rome and of the tour was spent at the Vatican and then we had some free time. The Vatican was definitely one of my favourite places. It was incredibly holy and I felt spiritually connected there. We did also get to go to the Sistine Chapel which was amazing also. All the artwork that we saw was honestly breathtaking. Unfortunately they had closed the Grottos just before we were going to go in because apparently the Pope was coming, didn’t get to see him though :(

During free time man did people go shopping. I was really sad because boy did I want to go shopping, but I really wasn’t in the mood. It was fun watching others spend money though. Our meeting point at the end of free time was the Trevi Fountain. We were waiting for our Paolo’s to show up but sadly he didn’t come.

Our final delegate dinner was filled with thank yous, laughs and tears.

The past 29 days had been filled with many experiences, some have not yet been fully comprehended. But what I can say is that I do not regret giving up my summer to spend it in the northern hemisphere with some of the most amazing and inspirational people I have ever met. So I want to thank each and everyone of them for all the support when it was needed and just for being there and experiencing everything with me, I wouldn’t give it up for the world. Love all you snakes 🐍🐍🐍 Slithery Deliveries out ✌️

[gdtnomore]

Geneve

Geneva was fantastic. Even though I was sick, it was fantastic. The first and only full day we had was at a meeting at the OHCHR and then at the Red Cross museum. The meeting we had with Juan was amazing, the focus was mostly on the rights of indigenous people, and I learned about a really cool fellowship programme that the OHCHR runs once every year. Possible opportunity to go back to Geneva? Heck yeah!

At the Red Cross museum, I really wasn’t feeling all that well, so I just hung out in the cafe for a bit until we left. Slight FOMO but we good.

Our final day in Geneva, we had a meeting with Jarrod Clyne at the New Zealand Permanent Mission. A lot of his work is based in the Human Rights Council, even though we currently do not sit on it, but we still submit many resolutions for the council. Sadly it was our second to last meeting for the entire tour! Our last one is with the World Food Programme in Rome.

After our meeting at the Permanent Mission, we walked to the UN HQ for our tour. I’m not going to lie, but the tour was fairly underwhelming as it was my second time there in a few months. The gift shop was still pretty great though 😉

We headed to Rome by plane that afternoon and thank god it was our last easyJet flight because a 20kg bag weight limit is not easy.

[gdtnomore]

Paris ~~~

From Berlin, we flew to Paris on the amazing easyJet. What an airline. As our first full day was a Saturday, we spent the day being tourists. Our morning began at the Louvre where we could find the Mona Lisa, Venus Di Milo and many other famous pieces by world renowned artists. The Louvre is definitely a place where I could find myself in again.

After the Louvre, we spent the afternoon in free time walking up the Champs Élysées from the end without the Arc to the Arc de Triomphe. Jordana went to Tiffany’s. Jordana brought another charm for her bracelet. Lol rip bank. Then I headed to Five Guys with Katie, Emily and Hayley for lunch and we were later joined by Jason, Sarah and Hana. Funniest part of the day was when I went to Sephora with Te Ruki and Milo. The purpose for me? Looking at makeup. The purpose for the boys? Free cologne sampling. Our final activity for the day was going up the Arc de Triomphe, but due to unforeseen circumstances (and a rude lady who said our group was too big to go up) we were unable to ascend the monument. Maybe next time kids.

On the Sunday, we headed to Notre Dame which was cool, as mum and I didn’t do that when we were in Paris in September. After Notre Dame, we had free time for a couple of hours. Sarah, Oscar and I found this cute bakery for a kai and had ham and cheese rolls and macaroons which were amazing!!! Then we went to a supermarket because snacks and our last stop during free time was the Shakespeare and Co bookstore. Absolutely love it. Good bookstore with some great reading vibes. When we all came together after free time, off to the Eiffel Tower we went. It was a great time taking photos and then getting in the way of each other’s photos (@ cr cr lol). We were then meant to head to a modern art museum, but because myself and others weren’t feeling all that great, we hung out with Jayden at some restaurant before we headed back to the hostel. Great times.

On the Monday, our meetings started up again and our first one was with Roger Duncan, the deputy permanent representative to the OECD at the New Zealand Embassy. It was interesting getting to know who the OECD are, and what they do, and then also what New Zealand does within the OECD. Our second meeting was with the International Federation for Human Rights (IFHR) where we got to hear about how they use social media to bring human rights abuses to the attention of the world, but also they have to work against “fake” activists dishing out the fake news.

After our final meeting in Paris, off to Geneva we went, by train as well! Goodness I love Europe.

[gdtnomore]

Deutschland

Berlin was great. Slightly sad that I began to fall ill with a nasty cough while we were here, but I will try my best to recall all that happened in this beautiful city.

When we got to Berlin, it was yet another evening-ish arrival. We trained from the airport to the central station to get to our hotel where we checked in, had dinner and slept.

Our first day in Berlin was definitely full on. We spent the morning at Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp which was most definitely an eye-opener. I learned that Auschwitz was based off this camp, and just being in a concentration camp really gave me a greater understanding of the lengths that the Nazi regime went before and during WWII to do what they did. Definitely not an experience I would like to have again, but I am happy that I went. There was one section of the camp Sarah and I went to where as soon as we walked in, shivers immediately went down my spine. What an experience that was nē?

After the morning at Sachsenhausen, we made our way into the city and had free time for a couple of hours. Myself, Sarah, Jason and Te Ruki decided to make our way to the Mall of Berlin which had like 300+ stores inside. I bought some lightweight Vans and Sarah got herself some sports gears. We also had a look at the old Birkenstocks for our mums :) In our group, Jason was the only one who didn’t buy anything which was surprising, but when we were headed back to the main group, he stopped in at Galaries Lafayette to get himself a Polo cap lmao.

The second day in Berlin I spent in my room sick and having my asthma being triggered by my cough. All I did was sleep and it was so great, because the next day I was ready to have our meeting with the UNHCR Germany and then fly to Paris. I was a little sad because I missed free time, and the Share the Meal meeting which would’ve been cool and interesting.

In the morning of our final day in Berlin, we had a tour of the Reichstag which was pretty cool. We were able to go into the German Parliament’s debate chamber, use their underground tunnels, go to the roof of the Reichstag to take pics, and also see Angela Merkel’s office. Was a pretty cool tour to.

The meeting with UNHCR (UN High Commissioner of Refugees) was pretty cool. We got to ask questions about how Germany have been impacted due to the influx of refugees since 2015, who they decide who should be granted access to the country, and how they are integrating those who have been granted access. It was an insightful meeting and it helped gain a more wholesome understanding of how Germany and other European countries are dealing with the current refugee crisis.

Currently we’re in Paris and we’ve just spent our first proper day here. I reckon I would definitely visit Berlin again, just so I can further explore such a wonderful city :)

[gdtnomore]

København

Denmark 🇩🇰

The Dane Land has been one of the faves so far. Copenhagen is such a beautiful city and I hope to come back one day.

Our arrival in the city was fairly chill - we checked into our hostel, had dinner and then went to bed.

The first day was spent doing a walking tour of the city in the morning and then free time in the afternoon. The walking tour of Copenhagen City was pretty good and fairly similar to London. It was educational, physical (lol I did around 20,943 steps) and we had some good bants along the way. My tour group this time around was fairly small, only myself and Hayley (because sick and knee problems) with our tour guide, Danielle. Dani was great, although we did take some “shortcut” down a side street which was a nice way to see the city, but all in all I would probably ask after her again. The stops of the tour included:

The Danish King’s garden

The Little Mermaid Statue

Amalienborg Palace (where the Royal family reside) and

The canal with the colourful houses.

On Trip Advisor, I would give this tour a 7.5/10. Good people, good bants and just all round a good tour. Thanks GDT tours.

In the afternoon, Hayley and I headed back to the hostel for a rest as the walking tour took a bit more energy than expected out of us. The walk back to the hostel wasn’t too bad as we were still able to see the main shopping street of Copenhagen. It did take us three-ish hours to do a 30 minute walk lol. We stopped at the LEGO Store, Flying Tiger, some souvenir place that had Viking in the name although they sold very few viking themed things. Was great. Chris and Milo also came with which made it just a bit more fun 👌

Day 2 in Copenhagen saw us have a meeting and tour at UN City. Our meeting was with the Nordic Liason Office from UN Women which was really really cool. During the meeting we were given insight into what UN Women stand for, what the office does in the region, and a bit about what the organisation is doing in order to achieve the SDGs. I quite enjoyed this meeting and it really did excite me more for our meetings to come.

In the afternoon we were meant to go to the National Museum of Denmark, but due to some sort of tradition, the museum and others across Denmark are closed on a Monday. How convenient lol. I was quite looking forward to going to the museum, however not going meant that I could reorganise my bag and pack it properly.

The final day in Denmark saw us have a meeting with the Copenhagen City Council (CCC). I thoroughly enjoyed this meeting as we learned about how the CCC get the general public involved in local politics, keep them engaged and then how they have been able to follow through on many of the projects that have been implemented.

Hopefully, I can visit this city again. And in all honesty, I don’t think I’ll ever stop talking about the segregated cycle lanes. Whoever came up with these are an actual legend. You definitely deserve a decent chunk of the world.

[gdtnomore]

The European Chapter Begins

London was absolutely amazing. We arrived on Tuesday January 16 and got straight into our first activity which was a walking tour, directed by Jayden. Good commentary, I would rate this tour a 7/10. We were taken to places such as Buckingham Palace, Westminster Abbey, Big Ben and multiple other London landmarks which was really cool. Finally saw the Thames River which mum and I didn’t see while in London back in September, definitely lived up to the expectations. After the walking tour, we went to the Natural History Museum. There was an earthquake house type place ... not quite as good as the one at Te Papa, but they tried. The museum as a whole though was really interesting with exhibits on Human Evolution (darn you level 3 biology) to whales and rocks. Unfortunately, most of the delegation were really tired and we all just sat around, falling asleep from jet lag after our flight from NYC so we didn’t really get to appreciate the museum as much as we wanted.

On Wednesday, we had a meeting at the UN Global Compact UK with Steve Kenzie. The Global Compact was started in 2000 and has a principles-based approach to the SDGs. There are 10 principles which fall into the categories of human rights, labour, environment and anti corruption. It was really interesting learning about what the Global Compact is doing across the world to get businesses engaged at a local level to contribute to achieving the SDGs.

In the afternoon, we had a meeting at the Grantham Institute with Richard Templar. This meeting was really enjoyable and interactive. Hayley, Sarah, Katie and I established our business, Snake Shack and presented our idea of an underground tube-like system which delivers mail and goods to businesses and apartments in metropolitan areas. The meeting in general was sustainable business models and being able think outside of the box when dealing with sustainability issues. Slithery Deliveries will be coming to a city near you soon.

Thursday was a lot of fun. Our first meeting was with Stuart Fergusson at the London Waste and Recycling Board. We talked about circular economies and maximising the use of materials, rather than just have one use products. The afternoon meeting was with A4ID who are an organisation that provide legal aid to those who cannot readily access it. Their main SDGs focus is on SDG 1 (no poverty) and 16 (peace and justice). It was really cool to hear that there are people out there who are willing to provide legal aid for free. Usually when you hear about organisations providing aid to countries, it’s food, clean water and shelter, hardly ever is it legal aid.

That night was an absolute blast. Guess who went back to West End to see PHANTOM OF THE OPERA!!!!! Bloody loved it. Was as amazing as it was in September 200000/10 would see it again.

Our last day in London was spent at the British Museum in the morning which was really interesting. I went to the Egyptian section, saw some Viking stuff, there was Roman stuff and the best part was the Currency of Communism exhibit. Bless. In the afternoon we had a meeting with New Zealand Trade and Enterprise at New Zealand House. It was really cool learning about the trade relations NZ has in the UK and Europe, and also how they want to help grow NZ companies globally.

I can’t wait for the rest of the trip and the meetings that we’re going to have while in Copenhagen. Sorry there aren’t too many photos in this blog post, I’ll add them on Facebook soon. Lots of love xxx

[gdtnomore]

CMUNCE XVII

What an experience Sea-Monkey was. Te Ruki and I had a good time in the Dwikora Cabinet, from wanting to start a coup and seeing if China would be interested in sending us nuclear weapons to being nominated for President and then being “killed”. The conference was very different to any MUN I’ve been to in New Zealand, but it was quite enjoyable. You could see the passion oozing from the delegates as the committee sessions began and there was a competitive edge to the conference as each committee gave awards to the best delegates.

I did unfortunately miss out on a day of debate and the delegate social. This was because of my asthma which got so bad, to the point where poor Jayden ended up at the old hospital with me. I am fine now and hopefully nothing too significant happens for the rest of the trip.

After the closing ceremony for CMUNCE (which was fairly underwhelming), the group split off into groups and I went shopping down Lafayette (I’m taking this horse by the reins, making redcoats redder with blood stains) Street. There were so many shoe stores that I’m surprised I didn’t buy any 😂

Our last day in New York was spent with free time. Jason, Te Ruki, Sarah and I went shopping for shoes and mate .... the shoes are so expensive that I’m regretting not buying any. But we’re fine. We’re great. No regrets. Live. Laugh. Love.

Currently we’re in London, which seems to be a lot warmer than New York. We’re going to West End (!!!! I’m so excited !!!!) tomorrow night and I can’t wait!!!! I’ll be back later for another update💞💞💞

[gdtnomore]

Meetings, Subways and Sea Monkey (CMUNCE) XVII

*quick note: this was written a day earlier*

Wow, ok. The last few days have gone incredibly fast and have been jam packed!

Day one began with a wonderful trip on the ole subway. And what an experience that was. Being tightly packed into one carriage made me feel slightly claustrophobic but it was exhilarating at the same time.

The subway took us to Grand Central Station where we had time to take photos and look around. Sarah W, Jason and I took photos with the NYPD who were crazy nice.

NYPD & me

And then we finally headed off to the UNHQ, New York. The tour was really cool, we saw the General Assembly, Security Council and watched as these tourists went right up to the podium in the GA when we were specifically told not to (some of us tried to stick around to see if they would get tackled by security, but that was not to be).

Kawana just hanging out between two of the many panels that were woven and given to the UN as a gift from NZ

Kawana and I in the Security Council chamber

Kawana and I in the General Assembly

After UNHQ, us dellies and the directors went to Chipotle for lunch. Amazing food. Definitely recommend if you’re ever in the USA.

Then we had a meeting at the NZ Permanent Mission to the UN where we met Ben and Craig. During the meeting, we learned about what the Permanent Mission do, how they work with the government of the day, what it was like during the campaign with Helen Clarke as she ran for Secretary General (#Helen4SG), tips on how to negotiate effectively for CMUNCE and of course the Sustainable Development Goals. The meeting at the Mission was incredibly insightful and could be somewhere I could possibly be working in the future.

Boy oh boy after our meeting, we had a little bit of free time in Times Square and then dinner (at this cute little place called the Little Beet) before Broadway called for us to see Book of Mormon!!!!!! Absolutely no regrets in terms of musical choice. Everyone seemed to enjoy the musical and we definitely had our fair share of laughs throughout.

Day 2 was filled once again. Jordana made a little oops by forgetting where she put her card for the Subway and almost ended up being late to the meeting back at UNHQ with Broddi Sigurðarson from the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues. A lot of what Broddi had to say was incredibly inspiring. As an individual, I learned about the difference between a declaration and a convention, in terms of indigenous rights NZ is doing alright and Māori are a group others should look to as a model for standing up for these rights, however as a nation there is still much work for us to do to even have these rights acknowledged. I also found myself really asking what does the word indigenous really mean, and what are the criteria to being an indigenous person, as the term indigenous is fairly young.

We were also lucky enough to have one of Broddi’s colleagues, Melissa, come and speak to us about her experience in the UN and potential avenues for young people to enter which was amazing.

The GDT fams with Broddi and Melissa

On this day we had lunch at this place called Bareburger. 100/10 deffs would go back there for a feed 😂

Then we had a meeting with Elliott Harris at UNEP which was really interesting. He was very realistic in terms of what the world needs to do if we are to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030, and not only should policies be made based solely on one main policy aspect eg economic, social or environmental, but policies should be created which take all three into account (how much will implementation cost? how will this affect the population? how will this affect the environment?).

GDT Squad with Elliott

That night we also we to Top of Rock with had some incredibly views (but is was so cold that my phone started to lose battery faster than normal).

Me and the Squad at Top of Rock

Day 3 was a real eye opener. In the morning we headed to the 9/11 Memorial and Museum. It was sad but also insightful and inspirational to see how New York was able to emerge from such a horrible incident and flourish to become the city it is today. There were a few sections within the museum where my heartstrings were tugged, and a couple of tears fell from the eyes, but overall it was absolutely amazing.

South Block memorial

After the 9/11 Memorial, the CMUNCE nerves began to settle in. As a delegation, we had heard a few horror stories as to what American delegates were like. But during the opening ceremony, all those stories were forgotten when we found out we had been pronouncing CMUNCE (Sea-munce) wrong. It’s actually pronounced Sea-Monkey. No joke. We all thought it was a joke but we found out fairly quickly that it’s not. That’s the legitimate name of the conference.

Te Ruki and I had our first committee session of The Year of Living Dangerously, Dwikora Cabinet, Indonesia 1965. It was interesting to see how on topic delegates we able to stay throughout our first 2 hour session. We did decide to gage where everyone was at before we wanted to make any moves. The other delegates in the Cabinet were very good at getting into character, so T and I definitely need to practice (lol).

*post finished*

I hope everyone back home is well. Jordana is having a ball of a time and it’s only been 4 days. I absolutely love the delegation, the directors and everything we have done so far! And I can’t wait to update everyone on how Sea-Monkey went!!!!! I’ll catch you guys on Monday/Tuesday 💞💞💞

[gdtnomore]

It begins with a passport

Sunday 7th of January marked the official first day of the UN Youth Global Development Tour 2018. Currently, we are sitting waiting to board our first flight to Sydney.

Today started fairly early. An alarm was set for 4am so we were on the ball ready to go before the directors even thought about coming to wake us up. Hayley and I were not necessarily awake, but we were ready. At 5am we left the hotel to walk - yes walk - to the international airport.

Yesterday was a great time, meeting up with everyone again after December Planning Weekend. Our directors Anna, Danielle, Imogene and Jayden gave us a quick overview of what the trip will look like before we settled in to play a couple of rounds of cards.

I’ll catch you all once I get to New York 😁💞

[gdtnomore]

2 days ~~

Yup. That’s right. 2 days before the Global Development Tour begins. I’m so excited 😆 it feels like yesterday I got a call from Jayden (logistics director aka Louis Litt) telling me that I had received a spot on this amazing tour.

Meet the Delegation

On the first weekend of December, all 22 of us made our way to Victoria House in Wellington to begin our Planning Weekend.

The aim of the weekend was to prepare for some of the meetings we are going to with people who either work within the UN, New Zealand representatives or organisations that work with the UN, and CMUNCE, the conference we go to in New York. The weekend definitely made things start to feel a bit more real.

This was the first official meeting of the Delegation and we found ourselves bonding over Spoons, Mafia and blaming everything on Russia (and some of us over missing out on Crate Day but it’s ok, we’ve still got many years ahead of us).

I can’t wait to share my first post about my trip with you all 💞😁

Next update: between January 7-9