Unpaid UN intern admits"tent home "publicity drive

WELLINTON  A New Zealand man who lived in a
tent during his unpaid UN internship in Geneva
confessed on Friday it was a publicity stunt,and
won praise from his mother for his moral stand..

David Hyde ,22 told a Swiss newspaper  earlier
this week he was living in a tent near the shores
of Lake Geneva because he could not afford
to rent ,drawing swift reaction from sympathetic
locals who went looking for him to offer
accommodation..

But Hyde ,who has now quit his job says he
chose to live in a tent to call attention to lack
of pay at the United Nations prestigious
internship programme.

He said that when he was interviewed for the
position he was asked if he could fully fund
himself in Geneva for the six month post and
said  he could when "my bank account clearly
said  no"

Hyde confessed to the publicity stunt on The
Intercept website ,saying while he had wanted
to complete an internship to help fulfil his dreams
of working in the international arena,he had also
wanted to raise awareness about the "hypocrisy "
of unpaid work...

He said he decided on a tent after realising
renting a studio or a room in Geneva was
outside hi budget,in part because of the 'powerful
imagery I knew it would provide"

AFP