The Silent House is open from 9:30 to 23:00 every day. UWC students and staff use this house for meditation, prayer, yoga, meetings of religious groups, etc. All are welcome to attend, and thus other frequent users of the house are the clients at Haugland Rehabilitation Center.
Every other Wednesday evening there are discussions and sharing sessions arranged around different inter-religious or spiritual topics.
On the Wednesday night of Friluftsveke (February 20th) 25 students and 3 staff drove to Sandane for an evening of traditional and modern Norwegian folk dance, including swing, tango, polkas, waltzes, and more.
The dance hall was packed to the gills with dancers of all ages and from around the world, as the local community includes immigrants who are adjusting to life in Norway, some of whom we recognised from our activities with Bergum Mottak! Dance is proving a powerful integration tool, and our arrival took this a step further.
We were warmly welcomed into the hall of dancers, where our students wasted no time in getting onto the floor and joining the throng. Halfway through the evening we took a break and enjoyed delicious food provided by the local hosts before another round of dancing. The efforts of the organisers to include us in this event were greatly appreciated, and we hope the experience can be repeated next year!
Despite being provided with ‘some warm precipitation’ in the form of rain throughout the week, there was no shortage of spirit among all and Friluftsveke 2008 was unquestionably a great success. Karistova received us, once more, with open arms, and our students kept it clean and helped prepare their own meals while enjoying all that Utvikfjellet has to offer. Everybody had the chance to experience cross-country & downhill skiing, in many cases for the very first time in their lives; also, to camp in a lavvu tent for one night. Students really did make the most of this week.
Much credit must go to Ragnhild and Joakim, the organisers and managers of so many details, and to
* the Group leaders – Angie, Ingrid, Joakim and Kåre S.,
* their “groupies” – Kip, Matthew, Paulina and Peter,
* Dona and Mark for managing the skis with minimum fuss,
* David and his four 1st Aiders (Aske, Eli, Elise & Uldis) for managing the injuries and helping with arrangements on the slopes,
* Arne Opphaug and Johnny for managing the kitchen,
* Bjarte Morten for all the driving,
* Arne Osland for the planning negotiations.
Each year we cooperate with Sunnfjord folkehøgskule, Førde – particularly Hanne, who brings 4 qualified staff and a spouse to manage the downhill skiing situation and instruct — a win-win situation. We also cooperate with Bø university college, who provide 4 friluftsliv students to assist with the back-country skiing – another mutual benefit. Impressed with the students’ enthusiasm, Hanne is very keen to bring her students on a day visit to us later this term.
Angie arranged for ca. 30 students to participate in a “gammaldans” event (traditional dance) with locals one evening (see separate posting): a huge success, especially
as this event helps to integrate the immigrant families who attend regularly.
A certificate-&-kviklunsj award event on the Thursday evening has become something of a tradition: each year, categories emerge through discussion among staff. We all agreed that many students deserved prizes, and the following recipients were regarded as representing many other students. This year’s awardees, for the awards named, were (in random order):
* “I can’t, I can’t, Noooo, I can’t . . . Hey, I can!” award: Soumia
* Life on the edge/sidewalker award: Alex C. (idiosyncratic, perhaps English, skiing style)
* Skeletal award for bone-breaking bravado: Danamona (two fractured metacarpals and a stoic response)
* Jacques Cousteau award for deepwater endurance skiing: Natalino
* Human YoYo award for innumerable ascents & descents: Youssef
* Intimate facial relationship with snow award: Samed
* Norwegian soul award (telemark skiing): Lisa B, Malthe
* Humanitarian ‘help all these foreigners’ award: Nina T.
* Queen of the lavvu rappers award: Isilda (on behalf of the motley crew)
* Surrender to the gravity constant: Milton Fung (for combining “fun” and “g”!)
* Prince Charming award: Savant (at least one blonde Swedish instructor was impressed!)
* Premature acrobatics: Zacharia (for somersaulting before reaching the jump).
On a final note, Maddie impressed NRK journalists and listeners with her interview på norsk.
Takk for turen, everyone!
Alistair
On the 13th of February, UB Sahrawi was in Førde, participating in a fair for all the youth companies associated with UNGt Entreprenørskap (Young Enterprise Norway), a movement which is trying to foster entrepreneurial activity among young people in Norway. It was an exciting day — we got the possibility to meet locals and get feedback on our business plan: to import artifacts from Western-Sahara, market them here in Norway and send the profits back to the refugee camps.
Our company clearly stood out from all the others, since we were the only one with humanitarian aims. An overwhelming majority of people seemed to be interested in the idea and contributing to U.B. Sahrawi in the future. In addition, we raised awareness about the Sahrawis, but we were also pleased to find out that many people knew a lot already, due to the extensive work that was done with the calenders.
Thanks to everybody for a really good day!
Ten students joined this course in November. In February nine of them completed it successfully (some among them almost grew gills).
The students quickly learned to use the masks, fins and snorkels and started training to increase the length of diving “in apnea”. They practiced different styles of swimming under the water (dolphin like, belly up, spinning, etc.), diving through obstacles and positioning themselves flat at the bottom of the pool. They also learned, in the deep pool in Førde, how to compensate the pressure in the middle ear, to prevent pain in ears while diving.
The simplified version of underwater rugby that they played, looked more like underwater wrestling, but they seemed to enjoy it very much, anyway.
At the end of the course, all participants attempted the trick (a non-obligatory skill test) of removing the mask and snorkel while diving, donning them back, emptying the water from the mask, surfacing and blowing the water out of the snorkel. Most managed this well and some, in addition, donned fins under the water, too.
A special thrill for the instructor was a persistent and keen student from Swaziland, who joined the course with almost no swimming skills. In the last session she had a big break-through and managed to dive almost the whole length of the pool. All participants were issued with an internal fun certificate.
Jele
This activity started for UWC students and teachers when they were invited to join a group of around 20 people from Fjaler Kommune who every week since 1979 have been getting together to dance traditional Norwegian dances. They meet every Thursday evening at Flekke Ungdomssenteret or at other public places in Fjaler; then, at the sound of live instruments such as violins and accordeons, they learn to dance such diverse things as waltzes, polkas, hallingar, tangos, springar, line dances and more. Sometimes special events are organised, and our staff and students join in on those occasions, too.
This activity not only provides a good opportunity to relax and exercise in the middle of the week, but it is also an excellent opportunity to get to know and interact with the local residents. They, by the way, have been very welcoming and are really enthusiastic about the “infusion of new blood” that has come into their activity.
Looking for intellectual stimulation on a Saturday night? Look no farther than our very own auditorium. Since 19 January representatives of the Liberal-Conservative and Socialist Youth groups have been holding debates at seven o’clock on Saturday nights. The first debate concerned tuition-based private schools, and the most recent was on the expansion of nuclear power. Both parties displayed impressive levels of reflection on the issues and adroitness in arguing their points. The audience always plays a major role in the repartee as well, raising new questions and answering topics raised by others. The debates are wonderful opportunities for everyone on campus to be exposed to new or alternative viewpoints. Hope to see you there next Saturday!
We are a group of three first year students, Lisa, Gustav and Vedran, led by the Chemistry teacher Ashok Pratap Singh. Our main goal is to make the whole campus aware of how much energy we consume, and in particular how much of it we waste due to our indifference to and carelessness about our environment.
During the first term, we brought about an idea, originally created by the group “Nature and Youth”, to make an Inter House Competition on Saving Energy, provided that the money saved would be given to the winning house in the end.
Considering that environmental protection is ingrained in the vision statement of our college and the fact that energy conservation has huge monetary implications, the Ozonizers are addressing this issue aggressively and actively in order to make an effective contribution to the campus. The competition will henceforth be an independent event to underline this fact.
We are working specifically on this and will continue to inform and remind the college community throughout the year as to how our community can reduce energy spending. So far, the group has had regular meetings and made two presentations at College Meetings. Upcoming presentations and posters will reinforce the awareness. Misusing of electricity is unacceptable and the group takes photos and keep data of classrooms and buildings which were left with the lights on.
We always have lots of fun hunting down irresponsible energy users in the night, taking pictures and evidence of the energy “crimes” on our campus, working on different presentations and ways to spread our information and ideals of environment preservation. It truly is a very creative EAC with a lot of self-responsibility. With experience and innovativeness, we will improve our effectiveness.
On Thursdays, Ahmad Towaiq and Saaluja Chandrasekaran leave all their work (academic or otherwise) and go to Flekke Elementary School. They ride their bikes, walk, run or hitch-hike there, regardless of how stormy or dark it is, to attend to about ten kids of around eight years of age. The parents come in to bring their children and then leave them in the care of Ahmad and Saaluja, who use the next two hours to carry out planned games and activities together with the kids. Usually these involve soccer, hide and seek and, most fun, a few cool invented games, created in brainstorming sessions that include the children.
“This service has been always very interesting for both them and us” says Ahmad. He continues: “Our main priority is to maximize the fun, for all of us. The kids enjoy it a lot and we get rid of stress and try to produce a positive impact in the community that hosts us.”
On a sunny Wednesday, with the country covered by snow, we left the Red Cross Nordic UWC towards Wales. We had been given the opportunity to take part in the Model United Nations and experience UWC life in Atlantic College (AC).
One of the highlights of our trip was the lecture held by Mr. Michael Schweitzer. He had been Kurt Hahn’s secretary for a long time and was present in the whole process of starting UWC’s. He told the students about Hahn’s life and how hard they worked for the UWC project to become true.
After meeting many people and getting to know the college, the MUN officially started on Friday and the committees had a short session. On Saturday, the real debate took place, divided into 5 sections. The committees came up with proposals, which were voted by all delegates in the General Assembly on Sunday.
In the General Assembly, the Chairs announced the best speaker and the best delegate of each committee. Two of our students were nominated the best speaker in the Crisis Committee and the best delegate in the Economic and Social Committee.
