A group of aspiring political leaders received the opportunity to intern with the United Nations after visiting the U.N. headquarters in New York City during their weeklong trip May 12 to May 18. Five students from the BYU-Hawaii Political Science Department presented on indigenous issues at the conference and had the opportunity to meet with several ambassadors.“I got an internship with the Kiribati embassy,” said Eera Teakai, senior in political science from Kiribati. “I had dinner with them and they expect me to go there in the fall. The Kiribati embassy told me that I can go with them to the U.N. meetings to have the experience to see how U. N. meetings go.”The trip was organized by Professor Tevita Ka’ili to take political science students interested in working in international politics to the United Nations to present their senior research papers to U.N. members at a indigenous peoples conference and to become acquainted with world leaders.Maklen Kapalu, a senior in political science from Vanuatu, told of her experience at the U.N. conference. “It was really amazing that you have all of those leaders and you have to present your research papers to everyone. I’m definitely so happy that I got an internship with the United Nations. I will be returning there in a few months for my internship.”Kaveinga Tukuafu, a senior in political science from Tonga, also received the opportunity to work with the United Nations. “When we were talking to the ambassadors, they were like, ‘You know, people in your own country need you. They need good leaders. So you prepare yourself now.’ Just hearing their advice kind of boosts everything about your learning here in BYU to take you to another level of learning, in order to become one of them. That’s what they expect from us. That’s something that motivates you.”“We just started last year,” said Christina Akanoa, internship coordinator and instructor for the Political Science Department. “I wrote a proposal to the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, and we were accepted to have an observer member status. Once we were granted that status, now we’re able to go every year to the conference. These are undergraduate students and they’re talking about a lot of important issues. It’s really a golden opportunity for our students to be able to go every year.”Kapalu said, “It was great that we could meet the ambassadors from different countries all over the world and actually talk with them. They are all looking at different issues that are going on in their own countries.”Tukuafu said, “I started to use all of the terminology that I used in class. The trip made me utilize the learning that I had here. That’s one of the best ways to learn--to go out and utilize the knowledge of what you had learned in class.”
Writer: Rebecca Sabalones ~ Multimedia Journalist
