We are one day away from the main Jubilee event at UWC Red Cross Nordic – an opportunity to celebrate our 20th anniversary in tandem with the 150th anniversary of the Norwegian Red Cross – alongside UWC Day and the
International Day of Peace as observed across the world. Her Majesty Queen Sonja will be arriving in the Royal Yacht for the event.
In this weekend’s edition of Bergens Tidende (BTmagasinet), an article was published on the 20th anniversary of RCN…..
It has been an exciting week with local Norwegian elections gripping the campus.
We started by announcing the whole project during an assembly on Monday. All of the first years found out which party they had been placed in, and were encouraged to start researching their party and democratically electing a leader.On Thursday Jacob and I had a short presentation about the actual Norwegian election on Monday 14th Septemner, in other words some background for why we’re doing all of this. Afterwards we went outside where each party had a ‘stand’ (a table with their party’s logo on it). The first year students took turns walking around asking the other parties about their policies and ideologies, whilst the rest would stay at their own table to answer the same kind of questions. To finish off, every party leader was asked to present a 30-second speech to sum up their party’s most important issues.On Friday we welcomed local politicians from 6 different parties to campus. We invited 9 different parties, but being the weekend before the election not all of the parties had the opportunity to come. During dinner, each politician had his/her own table where students could ask them questions and discuss issues. At 1900 we hosted a panel debate in the auditorium, where the politicians discussed 3 different issues before opening up for questions. The topics they discussed were the dumping in the Førdefjord, oil boring in the Artic and today’s migration issue.This has all been as a preparation for Sunday, where all first years will represent their party in a large debate mainly about those three issues. The second years will be watching the debate, and voting on the party they agree the most with afterwords. We will also choose a student who is ‘The most promising Norwegian politician’ to join Jacob, Thea and I at the ‘valgvake’ in Førde on Monday, and (fingers crossed) get on national television.
Last weekend people all over Norway marked the Days of Mushrooms by picking and identifying them. Some of our students and staff joined in with the help of Norges Sopp-og Nytteverksforbund. On Sunday fifty of us took the Posteveitrimmen, the traditional walk of the local families – and found many types of mushrooms. After the hike, experts were waiting on campus with a display of local mushrooms and identified the ones that were found on the hike. Luckily this is a perfect year for the chanterelle – along the postal road our participants picked several kilos. Big thanks to Eli Heiberg and Harald Eriksen who ran a short and informative workshop, so that we can carry on with this practice in a safe and rewarding way.
Generous donations from friends and supporters of the College this year have enabled eight first year students to receive new laptops to assist them with their studies. Every year a small number of students is supported in this manner and this year is no exception. Babba Laminou (Cameroon), Becky Ahikiriza (Uganda), Bernard Kenyi (South Sudan), Jacob Yath Deng Dau (South Sudan), Lee Yang (Cambodia), Mean Pring (Cambodia), Sumaya Said Salma (Western Sahara) and Telemos Zike (Ethiopia) received their laptops from Angie Toppan (Academic and Learning Support Coordinator) and Pete Wilson (Diploma Programme Coordinator). Past recipients of laptops have highlighted the difference this generosity made to their lives during their two year programme at the College.
Our thanks, and the thanks of all these students, to those who have made this possible.
