UWC RCN community organized and participated in the Western Sahara Solidarity Half Marathon (21 km) on the 4th of March 2012.
The weather was perfect with some clouds and no rain. It was a privilege to run this Marathon with two professional Marathon runners from Norway – Per Olav Boyen and Hermund Klepa, from the group Fylkesbaatane flagget. Per completed the distance in 1 hour 13 minutes.
Frilufsveke is something the first years look forward to, after hearing interesting stories of the week from their second years! This year we went to the beautiful Stryne with perfect skiing conditions. We stayed at the Youth Hostel / Vandrehjem.
It has become a tradition to award “Frilufsveke awards” to individuals or small groups of students for their uniqueness in handling various events and activities during ski-week, or simply doing something which is ‘different’. It is worth mentioning out here that the entire group was full of energy and in high spirits demonstrating enthusiasm and care for others.
Frilufsveke Awards:
The Red Cross Nordic Model United Nations took place over three days at the end of January. It was the end of eleven months of hard work for the organisers, and several weeks of preparation and research for the delegates. The conference began on Sunday evening with the Opening Ceremony. The first years got the chance to present their Opening Speeches before MUN official began, opened by the Secretary General. On Monday the six different committees met for a day of intense debating. It was a day full of unexpected events as the Security Council were suddenly forced to deal with a kidnapped French journalist; the Social, Humanitarian and Cultural Committee voted to remove the Declaration of Human Rights; and a political divide was drawn between delegated in the International Court of Justice.
At 4.30 the following morning members of the security team shook several delegates awake. They were then hurried into an emergency crisis session that lasted over three hours, finishing just in time for the General Assembly to commence. Although the plan was to discuss the resolutions passed the previous day, shortly after commencing debate the Security Council were summoned from the chamber. They were then briefed by the Secretary General of the Arab League and the President of Qatar as to the unfolding crisis in Syria. On return to the General Assembly a crisis session was called. All countries now had the challenge of finding a feasible solution to the violent uprisings in Syria. As the day progressed things became more serious: various news flashes gave light to new events in the Arab country and leaked documents provided to the delegates caused rifts between former allies. Despite the unrest that was felt in the General Assembly (nuclear war was declared and the President of the General Assembly was briefly kidnapped by masked terrorists) the delegates managed to reach a solution just in time for the closing of the conference.
-as reported by participating students
Below is the link to the article published on the UWC website…
http://uwc.org/about_uwc/news/uwc_red_cross_nordic_exchange_to_uwc_maastricht.aspx
We started by creating bright, fun, tie-dyed swirl T-shirts and then progressing to more elaborate methods of creating fancier colour patterns on fabric and ending the PBL with trying out the wax resist of the ancient craft of batik (using in part, the College produced bees wax), a great time was enjoyed by all.
I hope that the participants will be able to develop their basic skills and basic techniques sometime later in life. The PBL was deemed a great success and fun was had by all. Everyone wanted a five day PBL next time!
-Anna
The main goal with this EAC is to collect a group of motivated and inspirational personalities, whom are able to create a everyday-life with a healthier attitude. Together we will create this source of ‘good energy’ and to do that we will be arranging lots of sport activities. The sport activities varies between mental and physical actions. Our mission as “Health & Lifestyle” experts is to inspire other people to take part in what we call, the healthy lifestyle.
The group meets every Monday to share, discuss and create ideas. They then plan the upcoming events and activities. The current aim is to have at least 3 activities per week with one of the group members responsible for leading the activity.
As of now, the group offers Pilates, Football and Martial Arts, Running (Cardio), Gymnastics, Fitness , Basketball, Breakdance, Swimming, Health and Lifestyle sessions.
‘This exceptional EAC is more than a EAC. This is a source of optimismn and realism, our group creates this opportunity of reaching goals in what we thought was impossible. We want to spread the positive philosophy and be a part of a healthier world by creating our lifestyles.’
UKM 2012…Click on the link below
Geopolitics is an interesting, educational EAC with fun-to-discuss topics thanks to Ashok, who likes to give nations human properties such as greed, resentment, selfishness and which provides us with the right direction for discussion when we get away from the main track.
Although we meet only once per week, the discussions we are having about today politics and governments broaden our level of thinking each day. The discussion is such that everyone has an opportunity to express their opinion and learn more about the world today and possibly in future.
This term the discussions we had were mostly about topics related to the Arabic world, but now we are turning to the rest of the world.
We often give predictions about issues we discuss based on our knowledge and understanding of the world around us and it is a very nice EAC to have if you want to know more about the geopolitical behaviour of different countries.
There are a variety of EAC’s that take place at the Haugland Rehabilitation Centre each week.
The student members all interact with the patients who are visiting the centre. The list includes Yoga, International Dance, Painting, Handcrafts, Water Confidence, Cozy Evening and Campus Tour.
Water Confidence:
Water confidence is a two year EAC which takes place in the Haugland hot pool. Each week the members of the EAC work with different patients from the local Haugland Rehabilitation centre. Patients generally need help with confidence in the water, practicing swimming technique or beginner lessons in swimming.
Every week is a challenge, and all the members have to adapt to the different situations which could occur. Needless to say, this EAC is extremely rewarding for all members, who are able to see first-hand the positive effect that they are having on their patient contacts.
Cozy Evening at Haugland Rehabilitation Centre
Every Thursday a dedicated group of students from RCN are expected to present a small presentation of culture and fun to the patients at Haugland. There is always music, cultural sharing, games and laughter. The EAC members often bring other students from the college to talk about special occasions in their homeland, show and talk about national costumes or to share some talent they may have.
The patients are often very active and curious about the presentations, asking questions of the participants. There is no doubt that the patients appreciate the efforts of the students who both present and organise the evenings.
The key to a good EAC participant includes being a good communicator, a good motivator and someone who simply enjoys being with others. The EAC is very rewarding to those who participate due to the positive feedback they get from both the patients and employees at Haugland – not to mention the practice they obtain in talking in front of a large group.
Haugland Crafts:
Every Wednesday, from eight to nine, a group of students has an origami and paper crafts session in the activity room at Haugland. They use origami techniques to make flowers, birds, boxes, and sometimes do some bead work too. All the group members put in a lot of creativity in trying to be efficient teachers, sharing the basics of origami with the Haugland patients.
We all have had a wonderful opportunity to share our skills, learn new things from each other and most important of all – meet people from Norway, and sometimes even beyond the borders.
Yoga teaches us to cure what need not be endured and endure what cannot be cured. ~B.K.S. Iyengar
The Yoga and Relaxation EAC takes place every Wednesday from 6-7 p.m. at Haugland. Five first years and six second years come together to create an accessible and simple Yoga and Relaxation activity for the Haugland patients.
The people that attend have a variety of different injuries and problems and part of the challenge of the EAC is to ensure that all the patients feel that they are taken care of and that they do not perform a pose that they do not feel comfortable doing. Also the variation in the seriousness of the patients issues is a big challenge for us, as some can barely walk while others are able to do all the poses.
This is part of what makes this EAC so meaningful, the ability to feel that we can provide an activity that fits everybody and that you do not need any prerequisite knowledge or skills before attending.
Hearing from patients that the Yoga and Relaxation has helped them a small step in their physical improvement is a very valuable experience, feeling that you can actually make a difference.
Just before the winter break the first years started doing entire sessions independently and they are now approaching the point where they soon will be able to let go of the second years.
