Nine Bluffton University students traveled to New York City Nov. 3-7 to attend the Mennonite Central Committee United Nations Office Seminar, an annual conference held to raise awareness of important world issues.
The conference is the work of a permanent MCC-UN liaison office and is held at the UN Church Center, across the street from UN headquarters. This year's issue was natural resource extraction in developing countries, addressed by speakers from Zimbabwe, Haiti and other Third World countries. In addition, UN representatives spoke about current policies and what Christians can do about the problem.
Keith Suter, a Bluffton junior from Pandora, Ohio, said he learned about the "violence that accompanies mining and mineral uses in Third World countries, and the damage that comes along with mining."
Noting how much "churches impact this situation," Kelsey Gruenhagen, a senior from Wauseon, Ohio, added that her initial reaction to the discussion was to "boycott the minerals, but the speakers stressed not doing that because it can be used for good, like to boost the economy in these developing countries."
Marcus Unruh, a senior from Wayland, Iowa, said he is now "more aware of how involved different industries are in the countries and what countries are, and are not, putting down regulations." The group echoed his sentiments, with Suter saying that people must "work to come up with good economic procedures to help the countries come out of poverty."
Dr. Jonathan Andreas, an assistant professor of economics who led the Bluffton delegation, said he was glad the students had the experience and learned about the "resource curse."
"One of the ironies of economics," he explained, "is that nations with vast natural resource wealth like Nigeria and Congo are more likely to be condemned to poverty than nations that have few natural resources like Taiwan or Singapore."
Bluffton students have attended the conference every year since it began 15 years ago. Helping fund this year's group were several campus organizations-Pathways to Mission and Vocation, International Connection, Student Senate and the Peace Education and Action Community Endeavor (PEACE) Club-which the students said gave them the opportunity to expand their worldview.
