The Woods Charter Model United Nations team headed to Duke for its annual DUMUNC conference from Feb. 20-22 earlier this year. Although they headed to the conference with hopes of winning “best delegate” awards in their committees, the team was fortunate enough to make friends with students whose school was not representing Kyrgyzstan, but actually from the Central Asian country.

At larger Model UN conferences, it is common to see a high number of international students; at William & Mary’s conference in 2024, there was a school from Kenya, and at Yale’s most recent conference, there were hundreds of students from Brazil. However, the combination of DUMUNC’s somewhat smaller size and Kyrgyzstan’s lack of strong ties to the United States made meeting the Kyrgyz school’s delegation more remarkable.

The delegation consisted of dozens of students from Kyrgyzstan who all went to the same boarding school. According to Nur, a student whose position was Canada in the Social, Humanitarian, and Cultural Committee at DUMUNC, the school regularly participates in international conferences. Nur fluently speaks English, Kyrgyz, and Russian.

Another student from the school, Amir Bapaev, participated in a crisis committee that pertained to Duke basketball culture. Bapaev is a high-level chess player who has placed highly in national competitions. He was very friendly, and on the last day, he gave several gifts to the Woods delegation. Oakes Ulrich, who was in a committee with Bapaev, received an ak-kalpak, a traditional Kyrgyz white felt hat. I received a decorative plate that was adorned with art evoking elements of Kyrgyz culture.

In today’s world, it is easier than ever to keep in touch with people you meet from all around the world. The Woods delegation exchanged social media information with members of the Kyrgyz delegation; platforms like Instagram are used widely enough on an international level that you do not have to worry about figuring out how to contact people outside of the United States.

Even though the Woods Charter Model UN team won several awards at DUMUNC, perhaps it was the connections they formed with their new friends from Kyrgyzstan that best mirrored the work of the United Nations.