A Collision of Worlds: KUNA’s World Exposition

by: Olivia Walton

Walking in, the new World Expo at high school Kentucky United Nations Assembly (KUNA) 2 is a whirlwind of countries, colors, and creativity. Unique to KUNA, the World Expo was created to give student ambassadors a chance to interact with countries and their representatives before debate on the second day of the conference.

This year, the Expo showcased all forty-five countries in this KUNA’s delegation as well as the forty-one resolution sponsors. Also behind booths were several volunteer organizations and college recruiters.

Rachel Sawyers, a Clint County chairperson and representative from France, talks about how her school researched the issues their resolution addresses: “We saw that France had a really big problem with air pollution..there were so many cases of people dying on a daily basis just from the lack of quality of air.” Her delegation is presenting a resolution that will help boost air quality by giving a tax incentive to large corporations that show visible results from efforts to decrease air pollution from their industries.

Argentina ambassador and Lafayette High School student Nate Barker explained how the World Expo let him explore cultures he never had otherwise- “I’ve worked with pretty much countries all over the world except for South American countries and I liked the idea of trying something I hadn’t done before.”

Amanda Breeding, a representative for the Kentucky Refugee Ministry (KRM) was happy to share about all of the volunteer opportunities for youth. KRM, a nonreligious program that helps immigrants in Kentucky feel at home, is an organization close to Breeding’s heart; “Louisville is actually where my grandfather entered the United States to do his residency with U of L.” To get involved with helping immigrants in Kentucky with the KRM, go to www.kyrm.org/get-involved/volunteer.

The World Expo is a time to see all the countries and explore resolutions, but most importantly it is a space to learn about cultures different than one’s own and expand the perspectives on issues facing the world. Kerrylyn Poole, Germany ambassador and student at Butler Traditional High School, puts it this way: “Just learning about the countries in general and their issues and figuring out about them makes me want to learn more about it.”