Mining, child soldiers, the human rights of migrant workers, and crisis in Colombia?

These are issues that challenge the world's foremost development and security experts, and probably seem foreign and unfamiliar to most U.S. teenagers. However, Model UN youth are taking on these seemingly intractable problems in mock forums across the country this month.

The 2012 Global Classrooms DC (GCDC) Spring Model UN Conference took place on Tuesday, May 1, at the U.S. Department of State, hosted by the United Nations Association of the National Capital Area (UNA-NCA), the U.S. Department of State, and the Pan American Health Organization. During the event, 600 middle and high school students, including youth from underserved communities in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area and a special delegation all the way from Tema, Ghana, participated in a daylong program. The agenda consisted of speeches by diplomacy experts followed by the main event: member-state presentations, negotiations on draft resolutions, and unmoderated caucuses among the students.

I can only imagine how exciting it would be to don a junior-sized suit and swap policy recommendations at the State Department, the hub of our nation's diplomatic activities. As I recall, my own Model UN experience in 7th grade took place at a local community college--and I thought that was pretty snazzy. And yet, as thrilling as the conference surely is for all the participants, it represents only a small part of the broader Model UN program. To prepare for the conference, middle and high school students and teachers participate in year-round activities to help them understand the UN system, increase their knowledge of other cultures and traditions, improve their ability to think analytically, and creatively and collectively tackle global problems.

The eyes of the world have been on big cats lately as their numbers dwindle at ever-increasing rates. These extraordinary creatures, which play an incredibly important role in their respective ecosystems, cannot be replaced. If they are not at the top of the food chain, the delicate balance of trophic relationships will be thrown into chaos.

What is the best way to save big cats? Education. The interactions among big cats, their territories, and humans, are complicated. It is critical to help students understand these relationships so that they can know how to best protect lions, tigers, jaguars, and other threatened top felines.


National Geographic Education, in partnership with the Big Cats Initiative, has created a library of resources to help educators teach about big cats. While "big cats" might not be on any state standards list, basic topics in biology, ecology, and environmental science--such as predator-prey relationships, adaptations, habitats, and animal conservation--can be covered through the lens of these charismatic megafauna. Below, we highlight a few of the resources in the Big Cats collection.

Jane Fajans is a professor of Anthropology at Cornell University. She was invited to join the James Cameron expedition during their time in Papua New Guinea and share her insights into the culture of the Baining people. Jane conducted fieldwork with the Baining on the island of Papua New Guinea, near the Mariana Trench in the South Pacific.

On Monday I decided to visit Kolopom Primary School. Martin offered to accompany me since I had never been to this school before. Kolopom is the biggest school in the coastal Baining region and is growing.  Until recently it only went up to 6th grade. To continue their education, students used to have to graduate with good grades from 6th grade, and then go on to boarding school elsewhere. Only a few families among the Baining could afford to send their children to boarding school in the past.

Tony Paska, headmaster of Kolopom School, Coastal Baining District, Papua New Guinea. Photo by Jane Fajans.

Nowadays, the schools are being extended to include all grades up to 10.  Kolopom is now offering grades 3-7, and next year will add grade 8; they will add a new grade every year until the school can accommodate up to to  grade 10. For the first two grades, children go to elementary schools in their own communities. Then, they move to the more centralized primary schools, which host children coming from 4-5 local elementary schools. After grade 10, some students go on to high school, and some go to vocational school to learn special skills to help them acquire jobs.

Jane Fajans is a professor of Anthropology at Cornell University. She was invited to join the James Cameron expedition during their time in Papua New Guinea and share her insights into the culture of the Baining people. Jane conducted fieldwork with the Baining on the island of Papua New Guinea, near the Mariana Trench in the South Pacific.

The day after the fire dance people got off to a relatively slow start. Around 10 a.m., I had an interview with James Cameron about the fire dance and Baining life, in general. We sat outside and the film crew filmed the interview. I found Jim an excellent interviewer, and the whole event felt more comfortable than I had imagined.

After the interview I set off for the North Baining. I had only five days left before my departure, so I chose the village that was easiest to get to. The journey turned out not to be as easy as I expected, in either direction. The driver, James, took me to a place where the coastal Baining and other residents navigate across the big bay, called Atiliklikun Bay, in big speedboats, called 'banana boats' because of their shapes. I thought I would be able to find a boat to take me across the bay. It was midday when we arrived, but the people on the beach said that none of the boats would be leaving until 5 or 6 o'clock in the evening.

Being reluctant to just sit on the beach and wait, we called the district administrator for the coastal Baining--who had said on Thursday that he would be at this beach around noon--only to find that he was still in Kokopo. After several conversations, he persuaded us to drive back to Kokopo to meet him (an hour's drive). When we did find him, he said he wasn't ready to go, and found me another ride instead. That ride was also not ready to go, but I got into the car anyway. We proceeded to drive around Kokopo from store to store, while the various passengers bought supplies and talked with friends. Most of the passengers in this car were teachers from one of the local Baining schools; they were in town because they had been paid on the preceding Thursday and were now spending their earnings. They were not Baining themselves, but represented a spread of people from across Papua New Guinea. 

Finally, around 4:30, we left Kokopo, but to my surprise we didn't go straight to the beach where the boat was docked. Instead, we went to the home of the school inspector. He insisted on feeding us with rice, noodles, and chicken pieces, and some greens in a coconut sauce to put over the rice. This meal is fairly typical of what a teacher or other salaried person might eat regularly.

Just as it was getting dark we loaded into the truck again, this time along with the school inspector, who actually owned the truck, and headed for the beach. The school inspector then drove the truck home, and we got into the speedboat to head to Lassul Bay. Lassul Bay is the government headquarters for the Coastal Baining. There is a brand new health center there (to be opened with great fanfare at the end of March), a police station, the district administrator's office, and the local government council offices.

Jane Fajans is a professor of Anthropology at Cornell University. She was invited to join the James Cameron expedition during their time in Papua New Guinea and share her insights into the culture of the Baining people. Jane conducted fieldwork with the Baining on the island of Papua New Guinea, near the Mariana Trench in the South Pacific.

On Tuesday, March 13, 2012, Martin and his mother, Tangbinan, sent messages out to various hamlets in the region to invite everyone to a farewell dinner on Wednesday. All day I was told who would be coming. As plans got finalized, I learned that each guest was going to bring food, and that several men and boys were also going to arrange a dance performance of a part of the dance called amambua.

I had seen amambua performed several times when I lived with the Baining in the seventies, but had been told when I visited in 1991 that they no longer performed it. I was pleased to hear that they were performing it again. This particular performance was being readied for the opening of the new health center. The performance for my going away party was thus sort of a dress rehearsal for the event a week or two later.
 
With invitations out and preparations on the way, Awat, Aidah, and I set off to wash clothes. We headed for a spring and water hole about 20 minutes away. We had to walk about twice as far, however, because we first had to buy washing soap at the trade store along the coast. While at the store, we also bought some rice and tinned fish to serve as my contribution to the going away party.

The water hole is called 'wata kalop' in pidgin, which means jumping water. The water comes out of a crevice in the rock and falls to the pool below. Those who use the spring have created a small channel made of a split bamboo to create a kind of waterfall that works as a shower.

                 Women washing clothes at the 'wata kalop'. Photo by Jane Fajans.

After we washed our clothes, we spread them out on the grass and bushes to dry. Then we sat in the cacao grove alongside the water and cooked some plantains and waited for our clothes to dry.