Our very own Muxuan Yan was =1st, with Johan Socrates Wind from the Kongsbakken high school in Tromsø, in the prestigious national mathematics competition – the Abelkonkurransen.
Many congratulations to both first place winners and to the other participants in the final round including second year RCN students Ricardo Guzman from Mexico and Jana Řežábková from the Czech Republic .
Here is a link to an newspaper article about Muxuan’s win.
On Monday 23rd March, Aileen Thomson (soprano soloist and friend of our Rektor) gave a recital of English music in the auditorium to a large group of students and staff. She rehearsed over the course of the weekend and was accompanied by Christina Pavlaki (Greece), Alexis Bjørksten (Sweden) and Kåre Sandvik (Norway). Aileen’s recital consisted of songs from Purcell to Handel, from Vaughan Williams to Madeleine Dring, spanning over five centuries – for the programme notes, please click here. We are hugely grateful to Aileen for volunteering to perform here at UWC RCN whilst she was here on campus on holiday.
Following the successful event, student Blessing Chirimbani writes:
The long-awaited 2015 African Bazaar and Show finally came to RCN on Saturday, 21st March. It attracted a large audience of host families, mottak visitors, friends of the College, Haugland visitors and the community of the RCN. A lot of hard work, long evenings and cooperation went into the event. There had been a wonderful video trailer, and a series of adverts had been posted around campus to publicize the upcoming show, all to make sure a lot of people were aware of this grand day. The publicity also served to put a lot more pressure on the participants to performit to the best of their abilities and make the day a success!
The day was blessed with sunny weather which made the Bazaar even better. With the collaboration of some of our mottak guests, stands were set-up outside and also inside classrooms to showcase the diversity of the continent of Africa from the different perspectives of individual countries. There followed a scrumptious dinner with varied dishes which were tastes from the different countries – leaving people happily satisfied and yearning for more. The show came right after the dinner and it was an amazing showcase of talent from within the student body with songs, acting and dances.
The show was a collaboration of different groups from every part of the College and we give special acknowledgement to Barbara and Daniel Toa-Kwapong for being the driving force behind the spirit and enthusiasm of the African Show.
Click here for a collection of images from the day.
On Thursday 19th March, RCN’s biennial Nordic Global Concerns Day was held on campus with workshops led by students on Nordic topics as diverse as mythology, monarchy, fishing, peacekeeping and refugees, socialism and knitting. Per Heggenes, the CEO of the IKEA Foundation, was invited as part of the day to deliver the inaugural Nelson Mandela lecture here at UWC Red Cross Nordic – please click here for our Rektor’s introduction to the presentation. Per gave a stimulating and compelling insight into the holistic and long-term approach of the IKEA Foundation to creating meaningful opportunities and sustainable change in the world’s poorest communities – and its emphasis on helping people to help themselves. The presentation effectively engaged with the three pillars – Environmental, Humanitarian and Nordic – of the College and, at the same time, gave a fascinating introduction to the global philanthropy and outreach of IKEA as a Nordic institution with Nordic values at the heart of its vision. The Q & A session provided a forum for discussion and reflection on challenges facing the IKEA Foundation as it seeks to fulfil its strategic aims and targets in a transparent and responsible way.
As part of Per’s day on campus, he connected with a range of students including those from refugee backgrounds, and those on the College’s Survivors of Conflict programme and members of the Student Council – and was hosted for lunch in the kantine and for an afternoon Saharawi tea ceremony in Snikkerbua.
It was interesting to learn about the IKEA Foundation’s work, notably its valued support towards education, tackling child labour and empowering women and girls. It was a privilege to welcome Per to our campus so that he could deliver the inaugural Nelson Mandela lecture. Per was appointed recently by UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon, to the UN Commission on Life-Saving Commodities for Women and Children, with its mandate to increase access to life-saving medicines and health supplies for the world’s most vulnerable people – we wish him well both for his work for the UN Commission and the projects he oversees for the IKEA Foundation.
