United Words Spring 2011

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SPRING 2011

The wonder of UWC blows me away. No, not just the huge castle, or the view of the sea, but encountering so much intellect and diversity daily, that its almost difficult to take it all in.

Emmanuella Onyilofor Having to return my wetsuit after four terms of Lifeguard Service made me realise how many things that seem natural to me now will soon just be surreal memories of the past; tucked away somewhere in my brain.

Thinking this hurts. Yet some things I learnt here will stay with me for the rest of my life just because they are too important to be forgotten about. And that is nice.

Merle I have managed to tangle myself in a ball of the most precious memories.The experience of living in a castle by the sea, surrounded by people from just about everywhere is second to none.

Zainab I finish my first year at UWC with more knowledge about the world than the best formal education could ever provide.

The experiences gained by living in an international community are incomparable. Jonathan Hadad 2

Coming to UWC from Budapest, Hungary has been the defining experience of my life. It opened up my view on the world from huge issues like Palestine/Israel and Tibet/China to more trivial things like talking to openly homosexual people. I have learnt a lot in terms of academics, but especially about understanding people who are so different, yet so similar to me. I will never forget these years.

Daniel Prinz As an environmental campaigner who’s fascinated by politics and international communication, this place and its students are as close to perfect as I think I can get.

Charlie Where else can one find international exposure, exceedingly intelligent students and a castle in such close proximity?

Harvey The UWC colleges are institutions through which society has invested its resources and faith in us, on the condition that we shall someday invest ourselves in society. May I someday manage to do as much as has been done for me.

Dylan

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Coming to UWC Atlantic College opened new horizons for me and taught me to see the world from more than one perspective. This experience is something that will always stay with me and made me ever more aware of things happening in the world.

Gala I have learnt that people aren’t that different when it comes down to the very basics, although what that level is can be hard to ascertain – to be frank does it even matter? The vast majority of good people drink tea and the ones who don’t learn to. Hanna We break our boundaries, and move with ideas. Our intercultural understanding is one of the core values of the UWC movement.

Alejandro A place full of weird but inspiring people; somewhere to know yourself and the others better Jonathan When I came to UWC Atlantic College the delicate jar I brought from back home holding all objective truths shattered and revealed to me all the different perspectives and ideologies, the differences that make our world beautiful.

Gabriel

UWC is opportunities served for you at breakfast, lunch and dinner. Whether you seize these opportunities or not is your choice.

Lin I have never imagined working with half a school on producing a show to raise money for children in Haiti, or that, I would be able to give service on a boat, being a weak swimmer. UWC Atlantic College has been beyond my expectations. I am just proud to be a part of it.

Aggie UWC changes me. Every moment at UWC I am learning something important. Now I can realize how much I have learnt when I look at my diary which I have been writing since I came here. The diary is going to be full of important lessons I will have learnt in these two years.”

SO The people at UWC Atlantic College have opened my eyes and my mind; I’ve never realized before how small and huge the world can be in the same time, and how in the midst of the chaos there is always a little hope, for you are never really alone

Assi

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Dear UNITED WORDS readers Welcome to the new annual issue of the UWC student magazine.

The aim of our publication is to share our UWC contributors’ impressions and experiences from the diverse and unique life at the different colleges, in addition to their personal perspectives on international events. What you will read about in this issue are articles that were first written and published on our official blog, compiled by the United Words team at UWC Atlantic College.

Currently, the blog has increased the number of average daily readers to 400 and the submission of articles allows us to publish content nearly every day. With the current issue, we have tried to include a range of articles that we (although some of the events are no longer in the global spotlight) felt captured the international environment that makes the UWC schools unique, and also reflect the interconnectedness of our globalized world, and – perhaps above all – that of the students.

This issue also brings a few improvements in layout and design – hoping to provide a more readable content, and stronger sense of identity by being consistent with the new UWC brand toolkit. We only hope to make the magazine edition better, and believe that the publication is moving United Words in the right direction.

As this is being typed, United Words is working on producing a different kind of magazine than those previously published, wishing to excite and inspire our readers across the world. Although the most important aspect of United Words will remain presenting views on current events and the highlights of life at UWC schools, we wish to add more international insights on culture, art, literature and other aspects that are unknown to rest of the world.

We invite you – the reader – to keep contributing articles and keep bringing adventurous, challenging and varied opinions to the blog and magazine.

The UWC schools are after all, places offering an intensely interesting and meaningful education; United Words hope to continue being the platform providing international and personal insights with an interest to readers outside, as well as within the UWC movement.

Enjoy, Diana Huynh (Editor in Chief, United Words)

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Contents

6 Measuring the success of an education at UWC 8 Poetic reflections on life at UWC Atlantic College 10 Debating global issues at the Model United Nations 13 Life without limits in Chile 18 The vibrant UWC Latino Movement 21 Calls for a change of leadership in Venezuela 24 Cuba at a crossroads in its history 26 UWC students helping to rebuild Haiti 29 Sonnet 001 - Poverty 30 The UWC Atlantic College Summer Project to Rwanda 34 There can be no delay in the fight against climate change 36 Flag waving at the annual International show 38 Life in post-communist Albania 42 Debating the Israel and Palestine conflict 47 Memories of growing up in Pakistan 49 Encountering rural India 51 Basic human rights for all in China and Tibet 54 Japan and its whaling tradition 56 Economic growth should not come at a price in Vietnam Editor-in-Chief: Diana Huynh Managing Editor: Jonathan Hadad Associate Editors: Lin Alexandra Mortensgaard & Mathilda Donaldson UWC Atlantic College: Alexandra Wyn Smith (Development Office) Publisher: The Hearst Corporation Contributors: Assi Askala; Gabriel Burgazzi; Yuho Fuji; Astar Goldberg; Dani Goral; Jonathan Hadad; Diana Huynh; Jonathan CW Kwok; Daniel Prinz; Dylan Hitchcock- Lopez; Harvey Koo; Rina Kuusipalo; Lin Alexandra Mortensgaard; Merle Mueler-Knapp; So Nakayama; Gala von Nettelbladt; Emmanuella Onyilofor; Hannah Smithies; Zainab Syed; Charlie Young; Iris Vrioni Online Editors: Diana Huynh & Jonathan Hadad Photography: Stock.XCHNG United Words blog: www.unitedwords.org Find us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter @UnitedWords Sponsored by the Hearst Corporation

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In for a penny?

‘It’s an honour being able to talk to the future prime ministers and presidents of the world’, lecturers often say, addressing the crowded hall of students at UWC Atlantic College, the famous factory of world leaders. We have so many expectations cast upon us to change the world.

So how do we measure the success of the product of UWC Atlantic College?

We don’t become the infamous Donald Trumps, the advertised masters of the universe. Is that because we are not good enough to strive that high, or, possibly because this place teaches us that our Everest might just not be to become a machine that measures its success rate in assets and luxury goods?

Students who arrive at UWC Atlantic College have, in most cases, gone through a relatively rigorous selection process; we are in many cases the big fish in our former schools, the little celebrities in our local communities.

Why do so many people choose to leave that behind, then? We enter a hub of intelligent students, where we are not likely to stand out by our academic

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There are many measures of success for graduates from UWC Atlantic College, but is wealth the most important? results anymore or by the incredibly active extracurricular interests that we can list. We become small fish in a big global pond, our egos and pride slowly corrode and we are humbled (mostly). The successful ones are, we were told, those who get their degrees from Harvard or the London School of Economics, who go on to make a fortune for themselves and then turn up at their college reunion looking like a Wall Street mogul, those who learn the rules of the system and excel at the game.

Is that what we came here for? And if we did believe in that before, it is the mission of this school to teach us something beyond that, a way for us to be as effective as possible regardless of fame, celebrity or economic wealth.

Individual success does not repay the debt. UWC Atlantic College should above all be a humbling experience.

This in no way means that we do not have any responsibilities. £40,000 is a lot of money, no matter where it came from. That could pay for the construction of a school in many countries and keep it running for several years. Is

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each student that goes through AC that valuable to the world? What skills have you learnt that make you different from somebody in the school you came from? It will take a while to realise how much this place has influenced us.

We’ll need to search for it and find the useful things that will improve the lives of those around us. There is a massive weight on our shoulders but we should be able to rise to the challenge.

If we don’t, this place isn’t worth a penny. If something is worth doing then it is a case of in for a penny, in for a pound, which means that when gambling or taking a chance, you might as well go the whole way and take all the risks, not just some.

Daniel Prinz (Hungary, 07-09)

UWC Atlantic College alumni l Established the first Scandinavian office for Medicins Sans Frontiers l Chief Executive of Voluntary Service Overseas (VSO) l Senior Advisor to Under Secretary for Economic Affairs, Energy and Agricultural Affairs, US Dept of State l Special Adviser to Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change (UK) l Vice Minister, Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Beijing l Head of EU Observation Mission in Georgia ... and many more

Charlie Young (UK, 08-10)

Rina Kuusipalo (Finland, 08-10)

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Poetic reflections Chemistry Practical at 3 a.m.

In the sea at midnight.

Discussions in the dayroom until 4 o’clock in the morning.

Acceptance.

Lifeguarding in the Bristol Channel with 7 Degrees Water temperature.

Amnesty International Street Theatre in Cardiff.

Bonfire.

Painting in the Art Department after Check-in.

Community.

Identity crisis.

Being a child.

Coming of age.

Lack of sleep.

Water balloon fight between houses.

Singing in a retirement home.

Colliding of different ideas on morality.

Hail at the seafront.

Protest.

Culture shock.

80 different nationalities.

Understanding.

Painful debates.

Reality.

Living in a room with three people: Japanese, Nigerian, British, and German.

Cooking 101 in Chinese Idealism.

Disillusionment.

Fighting against money-eating washing machines.

Language barrier.

Contentment Service weekend and eight hours of kayaking.

German “Schultuete” for First Years.

Mathematical functions.

National Evenings.

Experiencing borders.

Unique.

Baking without eggs and milk.

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Pub evenings.

360 people singing “Happy Birthday� in the dining hall.

Tuna and peanut butter sandwich.

Questions.

Learning outside the classroom.

Growing lobsters and beekeeping.

University application stress.

Fear of the future.

Magical.

Porridge for breakfast.

Arriving.

Climbing the highest mountain of Wales, with blisters on feet.

Emergency meeting in the drying room.

Pumpkin Weight Competition.

Getting thrown into the outdoor pool on your birthday.

Archery with primary school children.

Disappointment.

Learning how to put on a wetsuit Learning how to take off a wetsuit.

Saving the environment, fanatically.

Fundraising.

Wild hugs.

Emotions.

Honesty.

Iranian dance. Barefoot.

Colourful.

Loud.

World music.

Listening.

There are approximately 500,000 words in the German language, but even though it seems to be impossible to put the experience of two years at UWC Atlantic College into words. Maybe we should not try to put some things into words. We have to experience them. UWC Atlantic College is one of those things.

Merle Mueler-Knapp (Germany, 08-10)

Gala von Nettelbladt (Germany, 08-10)

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Model students

At UWC Atlantic College students are taught to think, to engage with the real world and become leaders in their own communities to make the world a better place. There is a curriculum of course, the well-rounded and highly accredited International Baccaulreate Diploma, but students studying at the college can also achieve the UWC Atlantic College Diploma*, a qualification that is currently unique to the school and aims to broaden young individual’s perception of the world and prepares them for a life of service and leadership.

It makes sense then, that from 21st – 23rd January a Model United Nations (MUN) conference was held at the home of the college, St Donat’s Castle in Llantwit Major/South Wales. UWC Atlantic College students were joined by a selection of students from Llantwit Major Comprehensive and Associated

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The Model United Nations gave students from UWC Atlantic College and associated schools the chance to debate contemporary global issues

Schools** to partake in an academic simulation of the United Nations where a selection of contemporary issues are discussed and solutions debated.

There was representation from all councils, including Security, Economic & Social, Human Rights, Environment, Disarmament & International Security and a General Assembly, as well as from each country. Just some of the topics for discussion were cyber terrorism, greenhouse gases (trading of quotas), political prisoners in Burma and the establishment of a nuclear free zone in the Middle East.

Students attended in formal wear or national dress and were shocked during the opening ceremony by an unexpected terrorist attack and Saturday’s Crisis Committee meeting to solve the ‘Oil spill off the coast of Nigeria’ scenario.

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In summary, Sarah Collister, Second Year student organiser of the conference from the Isle of Man said, ‘ACMUN provided the perfect forum for cultural understanding through educating students from politically and culturally diverse backgrounds about global issues and their potential resolution through negotiation and compromise’.

Ken Corn, the Director of Outreach at the College said of the Model United Nations, ‘It was such a pleasure to witness such a successful conference, organised entirely by the student body and enjoyed not only by UWC Atlantic College students but also thirty students from our Associated Schools due to sponsorship from the Garfield Weston Foundation. The College is a true nexus for intercultural engagement and exchange and this demonstrates that. Planning for MUN2012 is already underway.’

‘It was a joy to watch individuals engage in creative negotiations and complement each others’ knowledge about the issue of cyber terrorism and the situation in Sudan’, Paul Lau (Hong Kong), Chair of the Security Council ‘The best part of MUN for me was simply listening to new and innovative ideas to solve issues that have been featured in the news recently’, Scott Dwyer (UK), Chair of Environmental Committee * The UWC Atlantic College Diploma is comprised of seven strands including: face-to-face community service, action-based service and outdoor pursuits, environmental and sustainable future awareness, global and intercultural awareness, approaches to learning, artistic creativity and physical health and wellbeing in conjunction with the IB Diploma. **UWC Atlantic College has an outreach and development programme in which it partners with three schools from socially deprived areas of the UK (North Liverpool Academy, Broadway School Birmingham and Lewis School Pengam). The programme involves shared activities, access to resources and a scholarship available to one student from each school.

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About UWC Atlantic College l The first of 13 UWC colleges, UWC Atlantic College was inspired by educationalist Kurt Hahn to engage young people from all nations in finding peaceful means to bring together a world divided by political, racial and social barriers. l Since opening in 1962, UWC Atlantic College has been a beacon for international education. More than 7,000 young people from over 100 countries have benefited from this extraordinary experience. l The student community of around 350 (from over 80 countries) involve themselves in over 100 different student- and staff-led activities and clubs covering a range of sports, arts, current events and issues. l A self-funding national charity committed to selecting students on merit regardless of religious, social, ethnic background or their ability to pay.

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Chile lessons Dylan Hitchcock-Lopez found that he learnt a lot about himself and about western culture from his time in the South American country The first thing any Chilean will tell you upon arriving in their country is to watch out for Chileans. According to Chileans, Chileans are very dangerous. They will - they say - rob you blind and leave you to die in the gutter without a moment’s hesitation. Indeed, it might have been as dangerous as they said, only every Chilean I met was so busy trying to look

out for me that they hardly had time to do me bodily harm. I had never been warned so heftily about the dangers of a country, and yet I had never felt so safe in any metropolis as I did in the dirty, polluted streets and shantytowns of Santiago, swept along with the tide of its seven million inhabitants as I tried to do my little bit for humanity. Whatever

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I might have had to give the people of Chile when I stumbled onto their soil after 48 hours, three continents, and an ocean’s worth of travel, it was nothing next to what I took back with me on the return trip.

We arrived in Chile as a group of eight optimistic, worldly, and intrepid UWC Atlantic College students (or so we thought), with little idea of what exactly we were going to do. Theoretically, we were meant to be assisting the organization with its work helping to support the poor through educational development and health infrastructure.

The main model involved employees of the organization training community volunteers from the impoverished areas of Santiago to work in various caregiver roles. The idea, or so it seemed to me, was that this was supposed to inspire a ripple affect, by which jobs and improvements would spread from the initial corps of volunteers outwards to the rest of the community.

On the first real day of work we were told to arrive at nine o’clock. We arrived within the acceptably late range of about five minutes, to find that no one at organization headquarters was there yet to open the door for us. Employees began to arrive at around 10, though one would assume that they had all eaten breakfast before leaving home, they seemed to feel the need to settle into the small kitchen and catch up on whatever had happened in each others lives since the previous afternoon.

Our day began around noon, when our would be ‘managers’ arrived. We spent the rest of the day touring various offices around Santiago, a protracted six hour inspection of the municipal

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transit network that felt decidedly useless, attempting to find something productive for us to do when the reality was they had no need of eight foreigners.

We returned home at the end of that day thoroughly deflated. We had expected to be met with hardships, never anticipating that the work would be easy, yet what was more difficult to accept was that there might perhaps be no work for us to do at all. The thought that we might have traveled half way around the world to spend countless intimate hours on the Santiago Metro was, I admit, disheartening. The next morning we again arrived early at the organization´s headquarters, only to find out that the staff had been hit by an outbreak of swine flu and were quarantined at home.Thankfully, salvation came to our little odyssey in the form of a man named Felipe. He represented an organization called Un Techo Para Chile (A Roof For Chile).

Un Techo Para Chile is, incidentally, the largest most influential and most successful humanitarian organization in Chile. Its aim is the eventual eradication of homelessnes- especially within the rural and suburban ‘campamentos’, haphazard slum communities in which people live far below the poverty line. By mixing volunteers with poor families in the campamentos they manage to merge the varying classes of Chilean society. Thanks to Felipe, we became one of their very first group of volunteers from outside the Spanish speaking world to join the ranks of the intrepid architects of Chile’s future. In the space of a few days we had shifted our allegiance from the old to the new non-profit agent for change and were on Sponsored by the Hearst Corporation

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a dilapidated bus heading for the hills.

We joined a group of secondary school students from a Santiago high school, volunteering in a small community called Cajon Del Maipo about an hour into the mountains outside of Santiago.

We spent the three days building two houses, though we connected them to form one larger dwelling. After Cajon Del Maipo we were deemed fit to serve with the real volunteers, and were thus deployed nearly eight hours south to a far more remote location for an eight day building extravaganza with a large corps of university student volunteers.

They were a much better organized and disciplined group, all having done at least one- and most more -previous stint with Un Techo.

We worked in teams of 12, under the supervision of one experienced volunteer acting as leader, and were tasked with finishing two homes in eight days. Ten hour days of construction, frequently in the pouring rain. The foundation pilings refused to stand up straight and were continually washed away in the morass of red, ferric mud that covered everything we did. We revealed all sorts of relics as we worked. Old cooking pots, bits of rubbish, cast off clothing, and the bones of, what we at least thought-or hopedwere dogs. I felt like an archeologist, except for the fact that I didn’t need to dig to see how the people lived, for I was in their very midst. I could see for my own eyes the contradictions of their existence. The cardboard walls and unheated rooms and clotheslines of barbed wire and, glaringly out of place, the television satellites and brand new mobile phones which,

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I learned later, people sometimes went without eating in order to afford.

People possessed strangely skewed priorities, the product of insufficient education, a lack of opportunity, and a saddening apathy. Yet, these were the true things that Un Techo was attempting to eradicate. They thought that, by encouraging people to become involved in their communities, by sending young excited students to poor rural areas, that they could turn the tide of disenfranchisement and resignation.

And, despite all odds, it seemed to be working. Their secret did not seem to be in their organizational genius, nor in their delicate strategy, but rather in the blind, indomitable optimism of their volunteers.

Until I travelled to Chile I had never really thought of myself as jaded, never considered that I might be a cynic. I was always a happily self prescribed realist, one of many wouldbe intellectuals who consider a certain degree of skepticism the sign of a healthy world view. Sadly, I think that for many of us the line between healthy skepticism and damning cynicism becomes blurred over time, leaving us disturbingly disenchanted with the general ineffectual nature of the world without even realizing that we, in our pessimism, make it so. It was not until I saw the volunteers of Un Techo who, as I thought, exhibited optimism to the point of idiocy, accomplish things I would have simply written off as impossible, that I began to realize the error of my views. There is, I have come to firmly believe, an amazing capacity for the incredible among those who simply refuse to accept the existence of limitations.

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Chile refuses to extinguish the flame of its enterprise, and instead goes bravely where we, in our bitterness, fail even to look. They do not, in reality need our help, yet we are desperate of the lessons of their vision. It is to us now, to learn the secrets of the veracity of their belief. For honestly, if they can, why can’t we?

Dylan HitchcockLopez (USA, 08-10)

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Images of Latino culture Alejandro Vertiz describes the vibrant Latino community of UWC Atlantic College

What is a Latino? Although a culture shouldn’t be generalized, the term Latino often means Hispanic. At UWC Atlantic College a Latino would often be described as one of those who always sit together in the dining hall, talk really fast in Spanish and eat in an extremely slow manner.

The Latino community of UWC Atlantic College is unique; only in a UWC do so many Latin American and European Latinos meet. We have things in common that build a certain identity; when it comes to football and parties we always come together. Nevertheless differences exist

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between us. Who belongs to the Latino community? Certainly not only native Spanish speakers as many believe, for Brazilians and Italians also form, amongst others, part of the same culture.

Furthermore, when it comes to dialogue between Latinos, there is a plurality of accents and vocabulary that might be considered barriers elsewhere, but in UWC Atlantic College they are greatly appreciated and often the reason for a good laugh.

Wanting to demonstrate our cultural diversity to the UWC Atlantic College community, the idea of a Latino focus

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week came up. A photography exhibition was inaugurated in the breakfast room, “Images of Latin America”. It brought a glimpse of the Latinos, from the streets to the jungle; different images captured their cultural essence.

The films “Cidade de Deus” (City of God 2002), and “En la Puta Vida” (2001) were showed and followed by discussions on current news of Latin America. It was an opportunity to find out more about the drug war, but also to realize that many continental events go unnoticed, and that there is more than “Narco-traffic” to the story.

An inspiring international concert was given. Bringing music and cheers to the student body during a time of exams and worries. A short stories booklet was written by Latino students and posted in every dayroom on campus; the texts had a wide impact on the alumni and staff, bringing a marvellous taste to the cultural experience.

Last but not least, the UWC Latino Movement was introduced; Patricio Provencio from Mexico (AC 07-09) gave us a brief description of its aims: ˝Throughout the years, Latin American students have given a very lively image

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of our culture in the different UWC colleges. We are normally recognized for our good music, our great spirit for partying, and our delicious foods, but are we only made of those superficial aspects? Back home, our nations encounter striking social realities, where corrupt people throughout the years have brought development to the region. Although a few might enjoy a comfortable life, many more, millions, suffer from the lack of fulfilment of their basic needs, and the impossibility of making our diverse and culturally rich countries improve. But there are people that fight everyday for these factors to change, and we want to be part of it.

Being selected to come and represent not only our community or nation, but our region, we have decided to give something back to the world. Through raising awareness in the colleges, establishing contacts with organisations from all levels of society and all parts of the world, and developing small and large-scale projects in our communities,

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we intend to develop a dynamic, lively, and pacifying movement whose purpose is to improve education and life conditions in Latin American, based on the UWC principals we have learned at the college. The movement stems from UWC Atlantic College, but the intention is that all UWC students set out to join our cause, which is to make a difference in our communities. No matter if it is one, a hundred or a thousand who join us, we want to make people’s live better. We have to act, as we are now part of the change we want to see in our Latin America.˝ Finally, after these wise words, I sincerely hope you enjoyed the focus week as much as we enjoyed organizing it and I take this opportunity to remind you that you are more than invited to join, if you haven’t had the chance already, that table in St Donat’s Castle filled with peaceful eaters and fast speakers; for the Latino group has its arms wide open.

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Time for change High crime rate and insecurity levels, growing inflation, water and energy shortages, strong depreciation of our national currency, disinvestment and the list doesn’t stop there. How can a president administer a country so poorly and still have such strong popular support?

To understand this we must go back, not 11 years (when Hugo Chavez came

Gabriel Burgazzi believes that Venezuela now needs new leadership after 11 years of Hugo Chavez keeping a grip on power

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to power) but more than 200 years.

1492: year of the “discovery” (with emphasis on the quotes) of the American continent. The natives possessed great knowledge on astronomy, medicine, engineering and much more but none of that mattered against the Spanish gun powder, the conquerors also brought with them bacteria and viruses that wiped out more than half of the natives. Enslaved, forced to convert to Christianity, killed, employed in lethal jobs, the indigenes didn’t stand a chance against the Europeans. This was not the meeting of two cultures; it was a massacre of one in order to satisfy an insatiable hunger for natural resources of another.

Our independence from Spain wasn’t at last in favor to us, the wealth simply exchanged hands “the most ambitious and the worst enemies to our land” this was said by Simon Bolivar, liberator of Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia referring to USA and foreseeing what would come.

USA’s centralist capitalism dries out the minerals and natural resources of the peripheries. Latin America’s underdevelopment has fostered world capitalism.

Venezuela has always focused on the primary sector, selling raw material at low prices and inevitably re-buying them after they are manufactured in other countries at a much higher price, leaving a negative balance in the country and allowing the rich to get richer and our poor nation to get poorer…

In addition to our unfavorable economic scenario, Venezuela has never had a

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true democracy; once it achieved its independence in 1810 military leaders ruled the country in dictatorships until 1958 when the first “democratic” government was established, and until 1999 the political scene was occupied by two parties. During these periods the country slowly developed but authorities were corrupt and only interested in

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cooperation. He is also a critic of neoliberalism, and United States foreign policy. Chavez is the first president to represent the proletarian and to give them a voice.

My opinion might sound ambiguous; the situation of my country is very ambiguous. I comprehend the reasons for Chavez’s popular support but I consider myself a member of the “opposition”. I view myself that way simply because I refuse to settle when I know that people are being killed every day, that my country is far more divided than it ever has been, and it feels as if we are entering a tunnel with no way out.

We went from 40 years of ignoring the low class, to 11 years of ignoring the high class. What is the future of my country? I cannot answer that question, I believe that a change must come, that Chavez had to come but may no longer continue in power because rotation of power is fundamental for democracy, I believe in a new way of government of inclusion without exclusion, I believe in a strong middle class, and that our country possesses a youth that is willing and desperate to take action, to learn from our mistakes and work together to create a future for Venezuela. personal benefit; the veil of apparent profit blinded them from realizing the truth of the impossibility to emerge through USA’s central capitalist system.

In the year 1999 Hugo Chavez was elected president of Venezuela, promoting a political doctrine of participatory democracy, socialism and Latin American and Caribbean

Gabriel Burgazzi, Venezuela, (09-11)

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Cuba is at an interesting stage of its history. With Obama’s election coinciding with Castro’s decline, there is potential for great change on this controversial island. Although officially Fidel Castro is still in power, he hasn’t been seen in public for some time and as one woman we met said, “He’s gone already.” Fidel’s younger brother, Raul Castro seems to have taken over position of leading figure.

The Cuban Government’s opinion of George W. Bush was about as secret as Madonna’s last adoption. Billboards of Bush as a blood-sucking vampire adorned roads until very recently and an unflattering caricature of him in the Museum of the Revolution, Havana is captioned with an ironic “thank you” for keeping the spirit of revolution strong.

However Obama’s decision to pull out of Guantanamo and open boarders to Cuba is well received. It is thought that it will certainly help tourism.

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Cuba Hannah Smithies says that there is potential for change on the Caribbean island

Tourism though has its downsides.

There are two currencies in Cuba: the Peso for day to day use and the Convertible Peso or CUC (hard currency that on par with US$) for tourist’s to use. Minimum wage is 225 pesos or $9. With a taxi ride to a cigar shop down the road and back costing more than that it is not difficult to see why many Cubans turn to the tourist industry for a career. This has resulted in brain drain and a lack of doctors and other professionals. Even in this supposedly equal society there are still groups of ‘haves’ and ‘have-nots’.

On the other hand the spirit of the

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calling

Cubans is addictive, inspiring and impossible to miss. There is a national culture of sharing and fairness, you only have to look at how accepted and well organised hitch-hiking is. This is mixed with a universal free-living, sociable and musical identity that makes Cuban life very appealing to a foreigner despite the hardship that its people must face. It’s all too easy to forget you’re in a country where freedom of speech is suppressed and there are jails filled to the brim with political prisoners.

As a tourist (especially one without as good a grasp on Spanish as she would like) it was difficult to actually understand what the government were doing while we were there. It felt like we were being kept in blissful ignorance, which of course, we were.

There remains only reminders of history, billboards bearing slogans of “Hasta la victoria siempre!” and eerie ‘roads to nowhere;’ abandoned bridge building

schemes which are telling relics of Soviet Russia’s involvement.

How can you know what time has in store for a country such as this? Even the Cubans themselves didn’t seem to know or maybe they didn’t want to tell us or maybe felt they couldn’t. But the next few years are key. This is a make or break moment of history and the eyes of the world are watching with baited breath.

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Standing up Harvey Koo reports on the response from UWC students to the Haitian earthquake At this time of writing, the death toll from the earthquakes in Haiti is said to range from 180,000 to 230,000, while the number left homeless lie in the vicinity of 2,000,000. Regardless of where the actual number lies on this spectrum, these earthquakes are indisputably a legitimate disaster. The aftermath? A society crumbles, and the rest of the world is made to watch and bear solemn witness, both left reeling in its debris.

So while international bodies and NGOs scramble to provide all the aid they could muster, a similar campaign was launched in UWCs all over the world.

Seemingly a world away in UWC Atlantic College for example, as an initiative students organized all the logistics to fundraise. Indeed, within two weeks of the first earthquake I found myself pacing along the streets of a nearby community raising money. Everywhere I looked; students had traded perennial college clothing of hoodies, of sweaters and jackets and changed into fluorescent yellow security vests in hopes of attracting more attention. It is also important to note that the simplicity

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at which our visual aids were made did not detract from the cause that we were advocating; in fact the makeshift banners and the small facts on them only seemed to bolster our spirit.

Compassion is contagious. That’s what I learnt. Over the course of the day, it was plain to see that our efforts were easily matched by the altruism of the local community. In the light of day, it was plain to see that many students finally saw our community as something greater than the suppliers of stationary, shampoo and desperate overnight kebab runs, in fact they too were citizens of the world, contributing to UWC ideals in their own way.

Needless to say, raising money for Haiti was surprisingly easy. In retrospect, had I not experienced this event myself, I would have missed groups of people dropping coins and notes – seemingly without hesitation at all. All in all though, the thing that stood out most for me must have been seeing my roommate among this sizable crowd.

Never mind the fact that he has worried all week about an impending deadline

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on his World Literature, in his words, ‘Yes, it’s due tomorrow, but now I need to do something else.’ This ardour is one of many examples that explain the privilege I often feel being a part of UWC Atlantic College.

Forty students raised over £2,000 that day. ‘You should always do what’s in your power to contribute, even if it’s a little.’ said Ingvill and Anette, two students who organized the event, as I caught up with them afterwards. Even then, as the outcome showed, the final amount was anything but little. These similar movements were also carried out in other UWCs. In UWC Costa Rica, the nearest UWC to Haiti, students performed in the largest mall in Costa Rica and asked for donations. Students in Simon Bolivar

UWC of Agriculture went to the nearest town to ask for donations in each store.

They raised over 40 boxes of clothes, 4 boxes of medicine and medical supplies, 30 boxes of food, 500 bottles of water and 1500 USD cash. LPC UWC in Hong Kong also raised over 1600 USD on campus.

Nevertheless, it was right there and then I was struck by that sudden brainwave.

Here we were, certainly doing everything we could to make a difference, or at least inspire other people to do the same in turn. But are our efforts mirrored by that of those we have chosen to ‘carry the weight of the world’?

On face value, the prospects are promising: a $100 million interest-free loan was granted to Haiti in a high-

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profile emergency conference held in Montreal by a group of government officials calling themselves the Friends of Haiti. Yet, tucked almost quietly beneath this fact also lies three worrying details. One, despite urges from aid organizations around the world, the same countries who agreed to the loan were also the ones adamant in their refusal to cancel any of previous Haiti’s $900 million loan. Some may say that this is understandable, using the somewhat hackneyed but obviously still valid point of national interest.

However, does this mean that we are willing to condone a country’s evasion of significant aid because the issue crosses national interests? Even then, many observers have suggested that to rebuild Haiti, nothing less than $10 billion would be required. Hence we can see that even then the sum is grossly insufficient.

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But perhaps the most startling thing was that a mere few days later the United States decided to pay $85bn in buying toxic assets in order to bail out the insurance company AIG. As put aptly by the Guardian, ‘It is an obscene reminder that, in the world of global capital, distressed assets are still more valued than distressed people.’ Make that 8.5 times more valuable. Perhaps this is just a small reminder that there is work yet to be done, not only in Haiti, but around the world.

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Harvey Koo (China, 09-11)

Sonnet 001 –

Poverty Cars at a standstill, the perfect condition I grab Toks by the hand, he’s only five The angry suns’ rays blur my seven year old vision He clings to me tightly, into the traffic we dive.

Toks jerks my arm, toward a shiny black car We stare into it solemnly, ready to beg and bless My bare feet scream in pain from the burning hot tar The rich lady waves us away, like she’s under some stress.

Toks stumbles and falls, I roughly pick him up I didn’t mean to - but the road is unsafe for a child Moving to another car, my tattered wrapper begins to drop A girl sits in there, beautiful, could be my age, I stare in and almost cry, emotions running wild Wishing I could own a dress, like her, my heart fills with rage.

Emmanuella Onyilofor (Nigeria, 09-11) Sponsored by the Hearst Corporation

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Rwanda of a 1,000 stories Rina Kuusipalo reports on the UWC Atlantic College Rwanda Summer Project Rwanda. Google Images produces pictures of tragedy and corpses, some of the at least 800,000 Rwandans who were killed in the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsis and moderate Hutus, which left the whole world in shock, questioning how “never again” had once repeated. Yet this destruction was not what visibly plagued the Rwanda of 2009. There was no simple picture, of fly-ridden children suffering in the heat, to capture the enormous multitudes of the society. Beyond the sensationalism there lies the real Rwanda, a country of a thousand hills and, similarly, a thousand stories: some terrifyingly sad ones, but many more incredibly hopefostering ones.

This official “Heart of Africa” was where our Atlantic College Summer Project headed in early June. During our month there, our wish was to decipher for ourselves the nation and people beneath all those media riddles, and to leave behind something of use.

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Despite all the obstacles in Rwanda’s way, with no substantial natural resources and little land, what Rwanda has managed to do with what it has is astonishing. Kigali, the capital, turned out to be widely known as one of the safest capitals in Africa – with police men and women, sometimes armed with rifles, emerging at every street corner as dusk descended.

Everywhere you looked, there were building sites since Kigali’s infrastructure was fundamentally in ruins as a result of the genocide. Cranes towered over future skyscrapers in the central business district, and little ingeniously improvised boutiques and shops littered the streets sprawling through the city. The vibrant culture welcomed us. We recorded a project song in a local recording studio, produced the do-it-yourself way, to meet the needs of aspiring national music icons.

We attended church service on Sundays with our Christian-Muslimatheist crowd, and joined in with a community that welcomed us indiscriminately and sang in unison, with a priest who translated for us his sermon and notifications on the church marriage counselling. We danced in salsa clubs and played football with children of all ages, who played barefoot with balls manufactured from plastic bags. That always puzzled me, the origin of those plastic bags. As it so happened, Rwanda had decided to ban plastic bags, and only supplied paper ones in stores, to combat pollution and climate change.

We also met an impressive bunch of local personalities. There was a Sponsored by the Hearst Corporation

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21-year-old Rwandan Muslim girl, who had become somewhat of a celebrity by becoming a radio hostess with her own programme, while simultaneously studying at university.

Then there was the rap artist who performed in local rap battles and swore he would never leave his home country even if foreign record labels offered financially better deals. There was also a very chill group of fresh high-school graduates, who had founded their own youth magazine, the Blink, “to promote a reading culture amongst the youth of the country.

magazine featured articles about people like Martin Luther King, “to set an example for the young, to show anything is possible”, about fashion and relationships, about the upcoming elections, and the people who were combating the brain drain in Africa.

“You can’t just have foreign idols for the youth. You need to keep the educated people, the artists, and the youth, wanting to stay here. You have to give people who are doing things recognition for it; our magazine wants to give them that public recognition.

You also have to show how much positive culture we have here.”

There are many illiterate people here, and too few magazines. We also want them to learn English through this, that’s vital nowadays”.

The youth makes up well over a half of Rwanda’s population. The

What has remained as the symbol of Rwandan solidarity for me, and of small-scale social cohesive development far beyond what I have seen elsewhere, was the community clean-up that we tried to attend one

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day, only to find out in embarrassment that we were too late for the actual clean-up part. However, they still invited us to attend the community gathering that followed, whereby all the members of that district, from university-educated lawyers to the very poorest ones, sat under the shade of a few trees in the heat of the day, and the elected community leaders began talking.

They spoke in Kinyarwanda, so I couldn’t understand much more than the introduction of a water purifying powder to the people, but our project leader translated some of it. What this discussion, lasting for hours, encompassed, amongst other things, was the election of the new community leader, the management of the local water supply for which they had built a network, and the congratulations directed at the community on the successful one dollar per day project, which they had initiated to guarantee a minimum income even to the poorest community members. Observing this, I was reminded of reading about the ancient hill-by-hill administration structure in Rwanda.

Our input to that flow was miniscule. Still, it was much appreciated by the people we worked with. We once received prayers from a crowd of a hundred Rwandans in a church that was linked to a school where we’d worked. We had painted both buildings, and the priest told us we had fulfilled a prophecy by coming and giving them that gift of work.

Obviously, it felt exaggerated since it was the absolute least we could offer, but his humbleness really impressed me. Before he and the organisation had started working in this area, where the

school and the church were now – now a very decent area – it had been known as a criminal district, with foreign troops popping in for visits in the early 1990′s.

Many of the children, they told us, were a product of this. In addition, we worked at a day care centre, which also hosted an orphanage, where we levelled the hilly ground, and cut, carried and put together goalposts, to build two football pitches and a volleyball pitch. As we were logging in the forest, the closest we came to danger happened when a cobra attacked some members of the group; but it soon was slain by a local man.

We also could have never done what we did was it not for the constant support of Love to Love Ministry, a local NGO, and had our project leader, Innocent, himself a student, not lobbied us the project money at school, and organised everything for us in advance.

We also lived off the goodwill of the executive director of Love to Love Ministry, as he provided us with his home and kitchen to cook in every night, and he would sometimes cook traditional food for us too. All in all, I think the whole project group really enjoyed their time, and learnt so many things about the different aspects of Rwanda that they will keep coming back to us years and decades from now. So, just thank you to everyone involved with the project, and, most of all, thank you to Rwanda.

Rina Kuusipalo, Finland (08-10)

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There can be no delay

Assi Askala reports on the environmental focus week at UWC Atlantic College

As all the UWC Atlantic Colleges are full of active and globally concerned young people, so is UWC Atlantic College. We therefore have large number activities, and every single week focus on one theme. We all know that climate change is a crucial issue, so it is not a wonder that the environmental focus week was a big event. The whole week was full of various activities connected to the environment. There was bike-fixing, a capture-the-flag game, tours around campus, a dark hour with all lights out, a pumpkin competition and movies shown every day. We had experienced speakers and climate activists from all over the UK giving presentations. The aim of the week was to give students a possibility to get to know more about different prospects of climate change and to make them more familiar with are surroundings and sustainable living at UWC Atlantic College.

The climax of the week was the climate conference on Saturday. It started at 10am with Tim Helweg-Larsen’s presentation about the science and politics of climate change, and continued with small breaks until 6pm when Leo Murray, producer of “Wake up freak out” and one of the creators of the film “Age of Stupid”, gave us a talk

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about activism. He told everyone to use their talents and give their best. He said that now when we have the chance we should really do and act; doing small things like taking showers one minute shorter are important, but not enough.

During the conference, we also had an interesting approach to climate change from an economic point of view. Our debt-based system was blamed for not giving the possibility to invest in renewable energy systems. Building new power stations rather than wind turbine farms gives you back faster, so you can pay back the interests faster.

With our current economic system it is easier to borrow money than to save it.

During the breaks of the conference, there was a bake sale and homemade apple juice for everyone. On Saturday night, there was an acoustic “Sosh” (the college disco), and a letter writing campaign to Barack Obama and several governors and prime ministers.

Overall, the week went by surprisingly well and mostly everyone was more than happy with it. We got some new members to ACE, the college climate activity, who told that the conference really woke them up. Many students said after the week that you can easily

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think that you know enough about climate change already, but really, you have no idea of many interesting and even scary facts and theories. The only thing that still needs to be done is getting the whole college involved.

Now as all the events, especially the conference, were optional, there were not as many participants as there could have been. Most of the Second Years had loads of work and decided to skip the talks, and many first years just planned other things, and maybe did not completely realize how great of a chance it was.

It is important to spread the word and wake people up to reality. Climate Change is going to affect everything you can imagine: global health, economics, finance, justice. When we look back at history, human kind has made many great mistakes that we cannot

understand. There have been disasters which the whole world has witnessed and done nothing. There may be one, of the biggest kind, ahead of us, and what are we doing? McKinsey suggested in a research that in 2050, there will be population of 9bn people, but in 2100, of only 1bn. We still have the chance to change the future, and that is what the students in Atlantic College are trying to spread to people and activists around the world. We need to act now; this issue is not an English essay you can delay for tomorrow or day after it, this is a huge problem that touches every single person around the world, some more than others. I will quote Aragorn from The Lord of the Rings, as I think that this is the time for our generation to be the heroes: “There will be one day when all humankind fails, but it is not today.�

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International Show

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Yuho Fuji reports on the annual event

Last year, students of UWC Atlantic College came together to present their cultures in the annual International Show. The programme consisted of 21 performances including outstanding dances from all over the world, a folk song from Russia, a story from the US, a poem from Africa, a Norwegian sketch (received with warm laughter and drumming from Sierra Leone) - to mention but a few.

The days of hard work paid off well; each performance received great applause from the audience. Amongst the public were link families, church members and staff, all eager to see the talents of the student body. “I’ve seen a great many International Shows, but this was by far the best,” said one link father. “I really enjoyed the Tinikling Dance and Fishermen Dance. You have a lot of energy!”

The show came to a close with the customary Flag Ceremony. The students came forward one by one to the background music “We are the World” by Michael Jackson. The stage soon filled with a swirl of colours from different flags – some waving vigorously, some gently- representing the diverse community at UWC Atlantic College.

The event was organised by students from the Children’s Charities activity with the generous aid of the Art Centre.

Stands were put up outside the door to promote the Save the Children movement, and other student groups sold intricate items made of origami.

They were able to raise a considerable sum of money, all of which will go towards the children affected by the Haiti Earthquake.

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Best foot forward Lin Alexandra Mortensgaard talks to UWC Atlantic College Student Iris Vrioni on how Albania is getting on after the end of communism Being a post-communist country, Albania has many problems to deal with.

However, the country also possesses beautiful landscapes and a friendly and welcoming people. Having a first-hand source in the UWC Atlantic College student, Iris Vrioni from Albanian, United Words has asked her for an interview to obtain a more varied and personal perspective on the country, but also to discover how it is to be an Albanian at UWC Atlantic College.

UWC Atlantic College: If you should describe the scenery of Albania in a few sentences what would you say?

Iris Vrioni: Albania is a small country, yet it has a very long and beautiful coast-line. 70% of the landscape is covered in mountains, which makes the landscape look rough and wild. There

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are many small villages and very few big cities.

UWC: How would you describe the “Albanian” mentality or the people of Albania?

Iris Vrioni: The Albanian people are very conservative in their mindset – a bit old-fashioned sometimes.

An example of this is the position of women in Albania. Recently a law has been passed, which states that 40% of the workforce in an institution should be female. The government is definitely trying to alter the role and status of women in society, but it is difficult to change old family patterns and the attitude towards this issue.

Generally women live at home till they get married. This often means that fathers see their daughters as a

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‘possession’ at least until they turn 18, which I believe is a big problem. I think Albanian women themselves should do something to alter this, however it is also the responsibility of the government to keep pushing towards a modernization of the female role in Albania.

UWC: Which other areas do you think could be improved in Albania?

Iris Vrioni: Well, some parts of Albania are very poor – especially the northern region. This part of the country is undeveloped in many ways. It is not uncommon to still use a sort of ‘blood revenge’ if a member of your family is hurt or killed. Furthermore, many farms are managed with very outdated methods such as ploughing with horses.

The infrastructure in the northern region

is another crucial problem, which means that certain villages are very isolated and during winter they do not always get sufficient supplies of food and necessities. The last critical thing I want to mention is the problem of corruption.

The wages in Albania are very low and so an easy way to earn some extra money is through corruption. I think an increase in wages in general would solve most of this issue. And this problem will have to be solved if we are to gain acceptance into the European Union.

UWC: But is the government not influenced by corruption as well?

Iris Vrioni: Not to that extent. The government is really trying to eliminate corruption within its own rows.

Numerous ministers have been sent to

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prison because of corruption. Moreover, we have the media, which really does work on a basis of freedom of speech.

It functions very well and looks critically upon the government.

UWC: You have mentioned a lot of negative sides about your country.

Can you tell us about some of the positive aspects of Albania?

Iris Vrioni: Well, the capital, Tirana, is very modern and developed. In general the big cities are very developed. I also love the food that has traces of Greek, Turkish and Italian food. We eat things such as Moussaka and baklava all the time. However, we also have our own traditional food. What I love about the Albanian people is there willingness to share everything. They are very open to strangers and in general very helpful.

They are also very keen on learning, because they see this as a way out of poverty and Albanian children are urged by their parents to take their studies very seriously. We are a very happy people and we like to celebrate and sing. We have a lot of parties and they involve the entire community – old and young. Finally, Albanians are very honest and they do not tolerate bullshit and empty phrases. They are very frank and state their opinion without concealing it in fancy words.

UWC: So how do you represent your country at Atlantic College – and have you encountered prejudices against your culture or country since leaving Albania?

Iris Vrioni: I do not think that one person can represent an entire country.

There are currently five Albanians at the college so I guess that gives the other students an idea of the Albanian people.

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I believe that our different customs and ways of behaving are evident and without sounding too generalizing, I think, I can allow myself to say that the Albanians here are quite noisy when they get together, but I also think that we are characterized by a great deal of generosity and friendliness. Some of the prejudices that I have encountered relate to our academic skills. We are known as Higher Level math students and also expected to be very good in the sciences such as Chemistry,

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developed a lot since coming to UWC Atlantic College?

Iris Vrioni: Yes, I do. I do not see how you cannot. Atlantic College is very different from everything I know and I believe that I speak for the majority of the students here when I say that Atlantic College is very different from anything anyone knows. It is a small universe in itself. The major differences that I have personally met here exist within the way the students socialize. Maybe this is why I feel that I have become more open-minded since leaving home. The diversity of students here has brought me to see myself as part of an international community, which has to some extend ‘internationalized’ me, but on the contrary also made me more patriotic in the sense that I hold strong the values of my country and culture.

Physics and Biology. Maybe there is some truth in this prejudice. Most of the Albanian students, chosen to go to Atlantic College, are good at math. This is probably because our educational system is rather strict. However, we do have other skills than those related to math and science. An example would be that we all speak Italian. This is due to the enormous Italian influence on Albanian culture.

This development is probably due to the fact that I am far away from home.

I miss Albania and have realized what distinguishes us from other countries.

Moreover, I think it is natural to become aware of your culture and its values whenever you are abroad because you are confronted with new ways of living and thinking. This awareness will cause you to miss certain traits that your home country possesses and thus you will appreciate them more than you did at home. This, I believe, will create a certain extent of patriotism or maybe even nationalism within you.

Lin Alexandra Mortensgaard (Denmark, 09-11)

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Israeli-Palestinian Students at UWC come from both sides of the war in the Middle East and often get the chance to debate the solutions Jonathan Hadad (Israel, UWC Atlantic College 09-11), Dani Goral (Israel, UWC-USA 09-11), Astar Goldberg (Israel, Red Cross Nordic UWC 09-11) The Israeli-Palestinian conflict in the Middle East is far from reaching a long-term solution. The Israeli army still has control over land promised for a Palestinian country in the future.

There are illegal settlements, supported by the Israeli government, where about half a million Israelis are living.

Hatred and fear have been present for decades in both sides, along with racism, religious bigotry and ignorance.

In the different colleges of the UWC, this conflict has had a much stronger presence in Israeli students’ lives.

Living in the same house with our “enemies” and hearing about the condition of living and violations of human rights are strong enough to doubt our support in our own country.

This is never easy, as Palestinian voices are never heard in Israel. We also all have to, by law, go back to Israel after we finish our UWC experience and get recruited to the army. Israelis our

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age would normally get reinforced and taught about how positive the impact of the army is to our country, Israel, which as Jews is supposed to be our only hope to survive in the world.

These are the ideas that are preached at school, at home and in the media in Israel. Throughout our lives we are taught that Israel’s military actions were always defensive, that compared to other countries we have “the most

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conflict

Dani Goral from the UWC-USA wrote this letter to his friends in Israel after operation Solid Lead in the Gaza strip: ”Before he even got to college our Palestinian second year sent us an email to update everyone at the college about the horrible situation in Gaza. He wrote how many people had died and added articles to support his claims. Of course he ended by writing that ‘I wish for world peace soon’. In the beginning it was quite irritating but I understood what we meant. Another email was sent out to the entire school from the conflict resolution coordinator to invite whoever was interested to come to her house and talk about the issue.

humane military force”, ignoring the complete oxymoron. We are never surprised when Israel is criticized and attacked for its actions, but sometimes criticizing Israel’s actions is interpreted by many Israelis as doubting the Jewish people’s right to exist, bringing back the memories of history lessons about the holocaust. The letters below were originally written in Hebrew by Israeli students to their friends back home.

Me and my Israeli second year got to her house worrying about what will happen. The place was completely full, not only with people from the Middle East. The Palestinian second year started speaking about how many were murdered, how life is horrible, kids are being killed, pregnant women, mosques and hospitals bombed. He ended by saying that 70% of the people who were killed were innocent civilians. This infuriated me but only on the inside, because how could I explain that these innocent civilians were actually hiding explosives in their houses?

It’s impossible. I froze, my heart was beating rapidly and I couldn’t speak.

I was just hoping that the two Israeli girls who were with me had something good to say in defense. The room was quiet. Then the Palestinian teacher started talking. Of course he supported what was said before and explained how much they’re suffering from the Israeli occupation and the attacks.

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He explained that the Hamas was not a terrorist organization but the hero, fighting for freedom of the Palestinian people. He showed how Israel was the terrorist, occupying Gaza without any reason, ruining millions of lives.

At this point of course I couldn’t say anything. There’s obviously another side to this conflict but I just couldn’t speak in front of all these people and explain the inaccuracies. Then the Israeli first year started talking. She said that she just got back from Israel where people are not enjoying the war either. No one could get to the south of Israel, houses exploding, people killed and lives destroyed! Then the Jordanian student asked how many Israelis were killed. She had tears in her eyes from all the tension in the room and the defensive position forced on her.She said she doesn’t know exactly and that there were many more Palestinians killed but it doesn’t matter because a death is a death.

It went on like that, a Ping-Pong game of accusations between the two Israeli girls and the Palestinian teacher and students. I still couldn’t say anything because I didn’t feel like I could explain Israel’s actions well enough. I started asking myself- did the Israeli committee make a mistake by sending me here?

I was disappointed in myself. After a while, other people started talking and asking irrelevant questions. But then an African-American girl started speaking: ‘This is not the first time a group of people was oppressed. Black people were slaves for hundreds of years.

They took our children, our rights, hit us, raped us, spit on us, and here we are now with an African-American

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president. Have you ever heard of an African-American blowing up a bus?

There are better ways of solving things.

After the Holocaust, the Jews built their own country with hard work and determination. It’s not a secret that the Jewish people have been persecuted and hated by everyone and that they suffered, but like the African people, they rose up and took charge of their own future. The Jews didn’t have to explode in German restaurants.

Terrorist attacks won’t lead to any good’.

This made me feel much better. It also increased the tension in the room because she basically called the Palestinians terrorists. But then again, just a few minutes ago, a teacher! A teacher at an international school that promotes peace and understanding called Israel a terrorist! The woman who invited all of us to her home said that we were brought together to share our thoughts and feelings and maybe come up with something that we could do about this issue.

She asked the room who believed that there could be peace in the Middle East. There wasn’t one Palestinian with a hand up! The other Israeli first year had her hand up and other people who weren’t from the area. I thought it was a pointless question, so I didn’t raise my hand. Then she asked who believed there couldn’t be peace and all the Palestinians and the teacher had their hands up! But just a moment ago the teacher explained to us that the terrorists were only the people who lost all hope and had nothing to lose.

And then in front of all the Palestinian students, and his 11-year-old son, he said that there’s no hope.

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I couldn’t say these things out loud, but I did realized something, and I started speaking- ‘I’m listening to these horrific stories by my fellow students, my friends from enemy countries, and for every argument that was said, I learned an opposite argument at home, at school, by my family, in my country. I could make the Palestinian side look wrong, but what for? I didn’t come here to justify what my country is doing. I don’t even know if it’s true. I understand that all of you want to know what’s going on, but so do I! I don’t know, no one does. I didn’t raise my hand because I don’t believe it can be

solved in discussion. I don’t think that war could help either, but we can’t go to court and decide who is right or wrong.

Sitting here with my Palestinian friends, I don’t think that it’s hopeless. We can live together in peace, leaving the conflict behind us.’

I’m not sure who I am after this, what my country is, if what I learned in school was right, if we really did just take over their land from the beginning. How could they hate us so much for nothing? Was there really ammunition in those mosques that were bombed by us? Or is that just what they want us to believe?”

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Astar Goldberg from Red Cross Nordic UWC was shocked by a conversation with a fellow student from Palestine. She wrote about her thoughts in her blog: Please keep in mind that I’m in a different situation from most of you right now and that it’s making me react differently. There’s a difference between being here at an international school than being in Israel.

I was brought up to think that the Palestinians’ suffering comes from the need to protect my family and myself. I always thought that I would happily join the army and do everything that I could to protect my country. I knew that Israel is a developed democratic country that seeks peace and does everything to achieve it.

In recent years I realized that this was actually a disguise set to silence the abuse of the Palestinian people. I know that the situation is not my fault, but I still feel ashamed. I always denied what was in front of me, the Palestinians’ suffering.

After learning about the horrors that the Jews went through in Poland, I don’t understand why anyone would join or support something like the occupation.

Israel is stronger, and therefore has to make the first step for peace. We must evacuate the settlers from the land that isn’t ours.

Most of you probably don’t agree with me. I have a difficult time accepting it myself. It was always important for me to defend Israel but I found myself saying to my Palestinian friend that she’s completely right and that I have nothing to say.

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Memories of Pakistan Zainab Syed remembers the country she grew up in

Somewhere in this war on terror that we began to fight, we forgot that there were human lives at stake. That the innocent people we’d kill on the way had no part to play in world politics. We forgot that the places we’d burn down were also homes. And so no, I don’t understand this war on terror except that it’s taken the Pakistan that I grew up in and turned it into a land where chaos and desolation run rife.

As I watch the numbers of those dead, of those injured and of those displaced rise I do so in disbelief because a life of fear, bomb attacks and protest is not one that I know of. These images are hard for me to picture because this was not the Pakistan that I grew up in. It’s easy to call it a failed state, to caution people from venturing down there in fear that it’s not secure. But these cautionary remarks leave me mournful

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because the memories of my childhood in Pakistan are coloured without fear.

I remember the cruel July heat and how beads of sweat would break out on my forehead as I played hopscotch under the scorching sun with my cousins.

I remember when it used to rain, the monsoons would be a cause of jubilation as the dust would be washed away from the flowers and trees and all that was left would be an array of vibrant colours glistening under the sunlight.

I remember how exciting it would be to eat mangoes, and how they would leave stains on my clothes.

I remember hearing the boys play cricket on the streets outside and the occasional breaking of a glass when the ball would have ventured too far into someone’s house.

I remember family gatherings where the smell of spice would drown the sweet scent of roses in my grandmothers spacious lawns where, as a child I would sit in awe of all the grown ups.

I remember when Eid- (Muslim holiday) used to be in winters and the markets would be a buzz with shoppers looking for the right clothes. I remember how, the night before we’d sit in front of the gas heaters and dry the intricate designs of the henna on our hands.

I remember Fridays, when we’d get off early from school so that no one would miss the Friday prayers. The streets would be lined with cars. I remember watching people, from all walks of life, standing shoulder to shoulder, humbled before God.

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I remember going up to the mountains.

We’d watch the snowfall from inside my grandparents’ mountain house as we sat there sipping tea.

I remember the wedding seasons- the gorgeous hand embroidered dresses, elaborate jewellery sets, fireworks and dancing.

But most of all I remember how I’d walk out on the streets, sit in a restaurant or pray in the mosque and I feel secure.

This was the Pakistan I grew up in.

My memories of home are bathed in honey-coated nostalgia. So no, I don’t understand how the person who worked in the shop I bought a packet of crisps at, the waiter who served me at my favourite restaurant or the muezzin who called us to prayer could be capable of killing many. I don’t understand how the people I grew up with; my people could be capable of such hate on their own accord.

Something went wrong somewhere and it wasn’t only our fault. But I don’t even understand all of that. All I know is that my country has been blamed over and over again, my people have suffered, and my sense of security has been taken away by this war that we’re fighting- globally.

I don’t understand this war and im not shirking away from responsibility- but I have watched too many of my peopleinnocent people suffer. And though I have the option of living abroad in a safer place. They have nowhere to go.

I don’t know what happened to the Pakistan I grew up in, I just know that I want it back.

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Encounter rural India Taking part in MUWCI’s Encounter India program has been an enormous opportunity for me as I have never been outside Europe before. That means that I have never been to the so-called Third World or a developing country. The name Third World seems to be justified insofar as India seems to belong to an entirely different world, though one finds

Daniel Prinz explores the subcontinent

giveaways of an increasing connection with Europe and America. When walking into a house without a proper floor from a street that is nothing else but mud, we see TVs, DVD-players, fridges inside. Though clean drinking water is still lacking, we can buy CocaCola and Sprite in the small shops of the villages.

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In fact, I have never spent more than a week in a rural area in any country if not for hiking in the Tatra, so even the experience villages has been new for me. The outlook of people on life, the reality of their everyday lives, their dreams – if they exist – are fundamentally different but at the same time resembling of those of the urban Indians I have met while in their country.

The rich urban Indian is richer and more ambitious than the middle class Westerner.

The rich urban Indian often goes to expensive international schools and then to an American college which perpetuates his or her social standing.

The Indian living in the village often drops out from school after fourth grade and seldom continues his or her education beyond high school. But at the same time, they all seem to value education, only they do not have equal opportunities to attain it.

These things form a part of the “real” India as much as poverty and a desperate need for development do.

We should by no means talk of India as something that has no hope or that lacks initiatives or enthusiasm. And maybe we should not talk of India as something that we have seen in its entirety. And by this I do not mean that we have only seen a tiny part of a vast country but that the experience we had has nothing to do with the experiences of the people living here. How could it, when we go to the villages by car, stay there for a short while than get back in our cars and drive away. We eat tasty food four times a day, and in the evenings we sit down at our computers and go on Facebook. Like this, we are nothing more than outsiders. We are not willing to compromise on what we have a “right” to. We will not sit for three hours in a regular Indian bus crammed with people or if we will, only for the hell of it.

Some of the initiatives I have seen in rural India are truly world-class. We interacted with people with mental disabilities and mental illnesses who live in a home created by the NGO Sadhana. The care they receive and the activities they do are still lacking in places that are deemed developed.

Gomukh, an NGO involved in growing organic vegetables and selling in directly to people living in the city does something highly sought after in Europe. To buy organic food directly from the producer is longed after by populations of cities in Europe just as much as those in India. These organizations have to be talked about by their own right not because they operate in circumstances of poverty.

Most probably, however, in three weeks we cannot go further than this, but even this sort of experience as a complete outsider is valuable. I have learnt a lot about different human reactions when pushed outside one’s comfort zone. I have seen how one gets from the point where one says “it is so disgusting in the mud, let me wash my feet” to the point where one says “I will be the hero to walk for half an hour barefoot in the mud to see where the villagers get their water from”. I have seen how one loudly speaks about the “real experience” but is then unwilling to get out for the briefest from the comfort of the private car and the “seven people on seven seats”. India has a long way to go. So do we.

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China and Tibet

Jonathan CW Kwok wants basic human rights for all

Since induction period, the voices regarding Tibetan issues or the echoes of “So you don’t regard Tibet as a country!?” at UWC Atlantic College has been driven out despite some ongoing activities. Apparently, international pressure on China has been declining.

As a Hong Kong-born Chinese who bears witness to the human rights development in the mainland, while enjoying the economic success and

miss almost every tragedy, I too cannot actually find a reason to convince myself that Tibet should gain her “independence”. It is the reality, not a single country is willing take the risk of supporting Tibet independence.

In addition, the term “national selfdetermination” will and never can be applied in the country with 56 races.

In fact, I have to say that Tibetans are enjoying a lot more freedom than any

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other races in mainland Chinese, even compared to the Han, the largest race.

Indeed, the focus of this article is to urge people to place more attention on the entire human rights situation in China, rather than a single faction, such as Tibet. In fact, many problems aroused by the Dalai Lama and western media are the problem of the whole China.

For example, the problem of “disappearing culture” is a problem of the entire country, all races. The Cultural Revolution that lasted for 10 years in the 1970s destroyed almost every shred of culture we had, thus the few hundred years-old attractions that you can all visit now are in fact all “repaired” infrastructure. Thus, the values of the traditional Confucianism, which emphasis respect, politeness, love and etc, are being damaged.

Together with the “invasion” of foreign culture in major cities of each province, there are not much people left in upholding the traditional values. The tradition costumes of Han, Machu, Mongolian, Tibetans and other races would only appear in dramas or shows.

Many recipes and medications were lost. Moral values are being lowered continuously such that the central government needs to issue some “civilized guidelines” to uphold some Confucian values. Yet, the young generation still cannot realize the importance of preserving their tradition and culture.

The problem of religion is also severe.

As mentioned above, you can see a national flag standing besides the cross

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in the largest church in Beijing. The catholic bishops are selected by the communist party instead of Vatican.

Discussing religious issues with people under 18 including your own children, whether in private or in public is forbidden. “Non-registered civilians” cannot be a leader of any religious activities.

Freedom of speech and legal independence are the two other aspects that we should pay attention to. Artists in China are suppressed. In fact, Hu Jintao, has been asking for increased emphasis of the interest on both the party and people and enabling all places to act as a court if there is a “qualified judge”.

What can we do then? Form pressure groups, write letters to the high rank officials, travel and demonstrate in the mainland China? Somehow these measures works really well in your country, but certainly not in China as most people, even those who are being suppressed, believe that democracy would not work in this country, a country which believed in authority for more than 2,000 years. We have to admit that it is almost impossible for us to deal with power-wielding officials. Simply talk to the mainland Chinese near you, show them how important freedom is, how practical it is, how it can make a more beautiful world.

Meanwhile, I hope and pray that Obama would also remember the non-economic issues in China at the same time as he sympathizes with the Chinese opposition before he preaches the values he believes in. Basic human rights are all the entire country needs.

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Japanese whaling So Nakayama argues that whaling is an ancient right Do you know Japanese culture?

Manga, games, animation, technology, cars… are probably famous. But do you know about Japanese fishing? Japanese eat fish very often, for example sushi.

We also “eat” whales.

Our traditional Whale Fishing, or Whaling, started around 8,000 years ago. Whales have always been big parts of our lives. Ancient Japanese started catching whales because of their valuable parts. We use all parts of whales; meat for eating, bones for making houses or harpoons, oil for fuel, skin for clothes and other parts for making fishing lines. Ancient Japanese did not have many domestic animals because of the many

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mountains in Japan. These ancients then turned to whales as a form of food and as a resource. Our ancients respected whales very much.

There are festivals about whales and temples for them as a form of respect. It seems like Japanese ancients were in great harmony with whales.

Nowadays, whaling is regarded as a problem by some countries around the world. I don’t want to say which opinion is

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correct. I just want to say each side has every reason to believe the way it does. This problem has so many different points, from the aspect of resources, food, culture, the protection of nature, whale watching and so on. There are differences between how each country regards whales. Some countries accuse other countries that eat whales.

But I think this is the “culture” that the whaling country has. I wouldn’t want countries to accuse others simply because whaling culture is too strange for them to understand.

Others say that as whales are smarter than other animals, it is not right to kill them. But according to this theory, it is alright to kill the

person who isn’t as smart as us. It doesn’t make sense. On the other hand, countries against whaling do have their reasons.

I believe respecting animals is the most important part. Whaling countries recommend catching whales when their amount is increasing. But other countries believe that as whale reproduction isn’t at its optimum, there is not enough support for catching them.

Too many whales lead to a lack of other fish in the sea. Still, too little numbers of whales brings about the danger of their extinction. It seems that humans’ endless theme is managing a good harmony with nature. We have destroyed many kinds of animals.

I had never thought about these international problems before coming to UWC Atlantic College, but experiences here have changed my mind. I am proud of my culture, but at the same time I think it is very important to understand the opinions of other countries. We also need to consider our shared earth. First off, let’s start talking with our friends in the UWC community.

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Human rights in Vietnam Diana Huynh reports on how economic growth should not come at a price

As October approached it was time for a week with focus on Human Rights at UWC Atlantic College. Needless to say, Human Rights is an ongoing issue in our world, and the Amnesty International Group put an exceptional effort into reminding us about that.

Among the events were films, petitions and discussions. This article will shed light on Vietnam in particular, and the dilemma and issues it raise about developing countries; how to successfully evolve as a nation without compromising the human rights in the process?

The Economist wrote at the end of 2007 that the developing country was one of the ‘up and coming’ to watch out for.

Vietnam is currently making immense progress in terms of economic growth and poverty reduction. Similar to China, Vietnam is slowly transforming from a state controlled economy to a market based one. Nevertheless, the human rights protection is still lacking severely.

When the Outcome Report for the

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Universal Periodic Universal Periodic Review (UPR) in Vietnam came out about three weeks ago, it raised doubts about the country’s commitments to the Human Rights regulations suggested by the UN. In the beginning of September several peaceful pro-democracy activists were arrested after hanging up antigovernment posters. Among them was Nguyen Xuan Nghia, a novelist who has been publishing articles criticizing the government – a big risk to take in a place were freedom of speech is limited.

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being arrested at all, the government responds claiming they are being kept in decent facilities. In addition to the attempt of taming the actions of the dissidents, the country is trying hard to put restraint on the religious movements as well.

The activists are still being detained in prison. Despite the international criticism of the arrests, the police keep imprisoning anybody they believe is in opposition to the government and their one party-rule.

These incidents are only one of the few that are becoming more frequent in Vietnam. Only one month before, Le Cong Dinh, a well-known human rights lawyer, together with four others connected with his case, were arrested. Although the outside world is questioning why the prisoners are

Followed by the activists, the monks in Vietnam have also recently been in the spotlight of the international press.

This happened after the disputes in the Lam Dong province, which took place in the end of September. More than 350 Buddhist monks and nuns have been driven out of the Bat Nha monastery, established by Zen-master and author, Thich Nhat Hanh. The reason behind the tension emerged from the proposal Nhat Hanh made to President Triet this summer; to abolish the state control of religion. However, official spokesmen deny this. The disturbance that has occurred is a setback from 2005, after Nhat Hanh was allowed to return to the country after 30 years in exile.

Vietnam is yet to lift the restriction on freedom of speech of the public to express their opinions; freedom of press and the prohibitions on the media; take measures to abolish capital punishment; release prisoners of conscience, and the freedom of religion that is state controlled.

How does “Social Republic� in the country’s official name justify the restrictions on how people express their views and choose to believe in? Human rights is not merely a Western ideology, it applies to all citizens of the world. A nation is not flourishing while the people are under oppression, because this does nothing apart from creating a great divide.

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