Guest writer, and 3rd year law Student, Natali, shows us how to make a difference.

Drought, climate change, the high price of food and fuel, exclusion and poverty are daily aspects of life that millions of children and their families in East Africa face. 13.3 million people are affected by this devastation every day. In Somalia alone, an estimated 30,000 children have died from malnutrition this year. We all share a desire to help but we are reluctant to act apprehensive of an inept ability to make an impact. On Monday the 10th of October 2011, we were shown it only takes 8.

It took 8 UWS students to vaccinate 2125 kids in a matter of three days. It took 8 UWS students to provide 10 and a half months worth of food used to treat malnourished children. How did only 8 students do all this?

They didn’t just ponder on the issues helplessly following a commercial on TV, they decided to act. In 2010, they formed the UWS United Nations Student Society (UWS UNSS) to uphold the work of the United Nations and it’s Charter.

What is the UWS UNSS? The UWS UNSS seeks to promote a social justice culture amongst the thriving student community by providing a platform for students to engage in contentious debates on current events with like-minded and sometimes not-so-like-minded peers.

Their launch event, held at Parramatta campus, pitted the recently voted UWS Law Lecturer of the Year, Simon Kozlina, up against Benjamin Cheung, a fellow United Nations student society member from UNSW and a MUNing (model UN) veteran.

Conveyed to a crowd of eager UWS students, the two contenders debated about the fate of Gaddafi in the event of his capture.

They asked who should decide the fate of Gaddafi: the ICC or the Libyan people? Simon Kozlina started as the clear favourite and took the social justice route citing integrity and the capacity of the ICC to establish its case to prosecute Gaddafi. However, he was unable to undercut the MUNing extraordinaire Benjamin Cheung who maintained the solid legal conservative perspective that the ICC has no jurisdiction to prosecute in a country that is willing and able to prosecute Gaddafi themselves. Ultimately it was the crowd who decided the dictator’s fate and it eventuated in a tie leaving us to wonder what should happen to Gaddafi?

In between the riveting rebuttals, the UWS UNSS was able to collect $425 in donations for UNCIEF’s East African Famine Crisis Appeal and that’s how… it only took 8.

If the success of these 8 UWS students taught us anything it’s that’s you don’t need to go far to offer help. So although seeing the avalanche of depressing information on TV and the Internet may make you feel helpless, there is so much you can do.

Some people sit around and moan about their lives, some moan about not being able to do anything about it, and some have no idea what they are doing here. But those 8 UWS students seem to have an inkling. And now they’ve made real progress as well. It’s time others did the same.

-Natali Nissan-
Vice President of the UWS UNSS

* For more information on how to join the UWS United Nations Student Society email uwsunss@gmail.com