“Going to UWC meant a huge change in my vision of the world,” explains Andres. “I had a very parochial view of the world, and suddenly I was confronted with the international world of UWC-USA. It was very exciting – especially because we were the pioneer year, and everything was just getting started. UWC also broke some of my stereotypes about America – I was amazed at how remote and poor that area of New Mexico was.”

After UWC, Andres had the opportunity to remain in the US and study, but instead opted to go back to Colombia. “I was torn,” he says. “I knew that if I stayed, my life for the next ten years would be in the US, and I felt that my place was in Colombia. So I returned to law school there – but the first six months were really tough. I had changed in such a big way, and it felt as if everything at home had stayed the same. But it was a growing experience. I learned to be a global citizen in a local setting – one of the most important things that UWC had taught me.

“I gradually ‘bonded’ with the real world, and eventually ended up working – somewhat unhappily - as an insurance broker in the private sector. Luckily, during that time one of my former UWC teachers visited, Ivan Mustain, and he inspired me to go to graduate school at the University of Miami’s new North/South Center, which gave scholarships for students from South America.

“Afterwards I returned to Colombia and joined Universidad Javeriana, a national Jesuit University, as an associate professor, working on Colombian foreign policy. I became very involved in the then ongoing debate about a legal framework for the internally displaced people of Colombia, and when the government decided to build a new relationship with the UN, my name came up for the post of Deputy Permanent Representative of Colombia to the United Nations in New York. That was an amazing four years, and it was at that point in my life that all the core values of UWC became for me part of the core of who I was.”

“Colombia served on the Security Council for two years, and we were involved with pushing forward some tough issues of peace and security. It was also during that time that I became involved with UNICEF.

“UNICEF’s regional office was at that time in Colombia, but UNICEF had decided to move it to Panama. The Colombian government was very upset, and I was asked to do everything I could to persuade UNICEF to stay in Colombia – which really involved making UNICEF’s life as miserable as possible! I was also asked to get Colombia elected to the UNICEF Board, which I duly did – and that gave me the chance to really get to know the organisation. I visited Senegal, Gambia and later Vietnam, and was very impressed. I felt that it was a fantastic organisation, with many strengths. Eventually I became President of the Board – and when my time with the UN came to an end, UNICEF offered me a job in Peru, which I immediately took.

“After four great years in Peru, during which UNICEF did a lot of excellent work for indigenous children, I am now back in the regional office – in Panama! The work is less directly people-focused, but it’s still very exciting. It’s good to influence larger projects, like talking to organisations to try and steer change on poverty reduction.

“In life, there needs to be a match between what you believe and what you do. UWC means a huge amount to me from that perspective – if it hadn’t been for UWC, maybe I’d still have been an insurance broker!”