Regional Session Made in Sweden by Andrej (pictures by Janne Vanhemmens)
At this time of the year one would think that high up north in Sweden you would find only moose and reindeers. But in fact there are also brave humans living in these cold and snowy places. Some of these people organised the 1st Northern Regional session of EYP Sweden, a two-day session in Ume책, Sweden, not very different from the session we are at right now. This is my account of experiences as a first-time chair at the session. Early Saturday morning, 33 delegates had come from near and far to discuss and find solutions to current global or local issues. The session offered seven committees and 14 chairs for the delegates and this presented some unforeseen challenges since the usual model for teambuilding and committee work is made for groups of at least 8 people. Nevertheless the chairs team met the challenge with great optimism and worked hard with their delegates all Saturday to create a draft resolution. Even with the resolution phrased the work did not end since a handful of delegates would sacrifice their night sleep to fine tune their speeches and prepare for the debates the next day. This was a pleasant surprise since this
was their first time doing EYP. The chairs team were also up late to type and spell-check resolutions and there was a moment of terror when the printers refused to cooperate and no resolutions could be printed. Fortunately this was finally fixed at 5 am. The first day went by quickly and all of a sudden the final day started. The morning began with a small delay, as the busses were late, but with entertaining games and songs the delegates were kept happy and energized for a long day of GA. GA went smoothly and the delegates and their work really came out to shine, as placards and moods were kept high throughout the long day. To sum up, I was very pleased with being an official for the first time and through the observing role I was surprised when I saw how hard these first-time delegates worked. I expect no less from the delegates at this session and I am looking forward to seeing the fruit of your labour.
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