Bermuda High School for Girls senior students who recently participated in a model United Nations at Harvard University in Boston.

The ten Bermudians were among 2,700 students aged 14-18 from across the US and 18 countries worldwide invited by the Ivy League college, after careful scrutiny, to participate in their annual event.

"To be chosen was an honour in itself,'' said BHS history teacher Mrs. Gretta O'Kelly-Lynch. "While many others do similar exercises, Harvard's is the creme de la creme.'' The aim of the conference was to give students an understanding of the purposes and functions of the UN, as well as insight into particular issues confronting the international community.

To achieve this end, the Harvard model United Nations simulated committees of the General Assembly and of the Economic and Social Council, as well as several of its specialised agencies, including the Security Council and the International Court of Justice.

Each student delegation was allowed to request a specific country, selected from among the 107 represented at the real UN, and send enough members to sit on replica UN committees.

For the purposes of the exercise, delegates had to assume completely the identity, philosophies and voting patterns of that country.

"We chose Mauritius for several reasons,'' Mrs. O'Kelly-Lynch explained.

"One, if Bermuda were to go independent and have a seat on the UN, we wanted the girls to learn what it would be like to be a small island nation there.

"Two, the Bank of Bermuda has opened trust companies in Mauritius, so we had a good link with that island. Three, it is also an island surrounded by a coral reef, so their environmental problems are the same as ours; four, it is an ex-British colony with a Westminster style of Government; and five, in terms of the economy, tourism and exempt companies are its main industries.'' Because of the very high standards demanded of delegates, a great deal of advance preparation was required.

Students had, for example, to know all about the domestic situation of their assigned country, its international relationships, and its position on the issues the committees to which they were assigned would discuss.

In addition, delegates were required to study the history and structure of the United Nations itself, for behind that international body's public face lies an elaborate and highly complex machine.

Debates in the General Assembly, for example, are the ultimate result of days, or even months, of finely-tuned resolutions hammered out between delegates in backroom committees and caucuses.

The road to participation, therefore, was a long and exacting one. As a first step, those competing for a berth in the BHS delegation had to impress three judges with a personal essay explaining, among other things, what they felt they would gain from the experience, and what they felt they could contribute to it.

Once the final candidates were chosen, months of intense preparation followed for, at the model UN, the BHS students would be debating with the brightest and best from all the other delegations.

In keeping with the real UN structure, Harvard assigned the local students to eight committees or councils, giving them two topics each to argue. They were as follows: Special Policital Committee: 1. Kashmir and Jamuu. 2. East Timor (Lucy Wozniak).

Organisation of African Unity: Democracy building in Africa through the electoral process. Repatriation of Refugees. (Stephanie Henderson, Kerri Viera).

Social, Humanitarian & Cultural Committee: 1. Child pornography and prostitution. 2. The rights of indigenous people. (Sarah Mair).

International Atomic Energy Agency: 1. Non-compliance of N. Korea with UN safeguards. 2. The use of nuclear power sources in outer space (Jennifer Burland).

Legal Committee: 1. Terrorism. 2. Sanction embargoes. (Alexandra Storie, Elena Strong).

World Health Organisation: 1. AIDS pandemic. 2. Water-borne diseases, especially cholera and typhoid fever. (Kathleen Ardis).

Economic & Financial Committee: 1. Financing the UN. 2. Economic integration of eastern Europe. (Alexandra Watlington).

Political & Security Council: 1. The proliferation of ballistic missiles. 2.

UN peacekeeping. (Sarah Carr).

In doing extensive research for these wide-ranging topics, the students received tremendous support and assistance from various sources. Mrs.

O'Kelly-Lynch described the deputy Governor's office as "brilliant'', and the help of Mr. Mark Earhard of Bermuda Services Ltd. as "superb'' in providing background material and copies of UN resolutions on a host of issues.

The school's own Librarian, Mrs. Christine Chiappa, turned to Princeton University for assistance, with "fantastic'' response, and the students themselves spent days faxing and telephoning the Mauritian delegate at the real UN, Mr. Neyeck.

"He gave us a phenomenal amount of material,'' Mrs. O'Kelly-Lynch said.

Untold hours were then devoted by the students to reading, collating, preparing and typing reams of material -- in addition to pursuing their regular studies, of course.

Among those helping to finance the cost of the project was the Bank of Bermuda Ltd., and the school's Parent-Teacher Association.

Once in Boston, the girls quickly discovered just how intense their weekend at the model UN was to be.

"There was a four-hour meeting on Thursday night, and on Friday and Saturday there we meetings from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., 2 p.m. to 6 p.m., and 7. p.m. to 11.30 p.m.,'' Mrs. O'Kelly Lynch who, with chemistry teacher Mr. Eric Jones, accompanied the group, explained.

In addition, some delegates were roused from their beds at 2 a.m. to attend "emergency sessions'' of their committee, debating such hypothetical issues as escaped Cuban refugees from Guantanamo Bay. Such debates could run until until 7 a.m. the following day, after which they attended the regularly scheduled 9 a.m. session.

Emergency sessions gave added reality to the model United Nations, teaching the young delegates how to deal with issues as they arose, with only their background preparation and knowledge to draw on.

In the course of their many deliberations, the BHS girls experienced many things -- pride, frustration, success and disappointment -- as they took up the challenge laid down by the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Boutros Boutros-Ghali, in his opening address: "You will confront the challenge of responding to the needs of a world in flux...Through the United Nations the international community is jointly seeking ways to foster peace, development and democracy...Your stimulation will be to deal with these issues. You will also consider ways in which the United Nations could become a more powerful implement to make the world a better place.'' Unlike regional and international public speaking competitions, in which BHS students participate, where everyone listens to the speaker, and there are winners and losers, at the model UN it was simply the survival of the strongest.

Being heard in debates and having one's voice count in the formulation and passage of resolutions required personal acumen, tenacity, and an ability to compromise.

"Just as in the real world, it was a dog-eat-dog mentality, with every representative for him or herself,'' Mrs. O'Kelly-Lynch explained. "The girls found out that you could work for months, debate for days, and have your draft resolutions amended countless times, only to see them ultimately voted down by the General Assembly.'' "We spent one and a half days defining `terrorism' for example,'' student Elena Strong confirmed. "In the end, we spent three days on the topic and it was voted down in the General Assembly.'' Despite such setbacks, Mrs. O'Kelly-Lynch felt that the model UN was a better forum than the regional and international public speaking championships, in which the school also participated, because it was "a microcosm of the real world''.

"You saw those who lead, those who were behind, and those in the middle who didn't want to fall behind but lacked the personality or drive,'' she said.

"I think a good school, a good teacher, and a good education is one that is constantly providing new opportunities for the students. You are always looking for something else, another way that will benefit them. This was a new opportunity.'' Ultimately, the BHS delegation saw six of the eight resolutions in which it was involved passed by the General Assembly -- a very significant achievement.

"I was just so proud of them,'' Mrs. O'Kelly-Lynch said. "A lot of the girls have aspirations to go to Harvard and Yale, and this gave them an opportunity to know beforehand what they'll be up against. Many wanted careers at the United Nations before we went, so this was an excellent insight.'' And what did the girls themselves think of the experience -- which also included sitting in on Harvard lectures, and listening to internationally recognised, dynamic speakers? "It was very tiring and very frustrating because there were so many people with fixed ideas,'' Kerri Viera said, "but it was good.'' "It also showed you why the UN is so slow in actually taking any action,'' Lucy Wozniak noted.

FUTURE UN AMBASSADORS? -- Bermuda High School for Girls seniors were among 2,700 international high school students invited to participate in a model United Nations by prestigious Harvard University. Accompanied by history teacher Mrs. Gretta O'Kelly-Lynch (far left) and chemistry teacher, Mr. Eric Jones (far right), they were (left to right): Alexandra Storie, Kerri Viera, Alexandra Watlington, Sarah Mair, Jennifer Burland, Sarah Carr, Stephanie Henderson, Kathleen Ardis, Elena Strong, and Lucy Wozniak.