Alumnus Saye-Maye Cole

2018-10-16T09:33:33+01:00September 8th, 2014|

Our alumnus Saye-Maye Cole came back to our College as part of his visit to Norway last week. Saye-Maye was chosen on an SOS scholarship in 1998. Having completed his education, he has now taken up a central position for the government in his home country, Liberia. Our regional news on NRK has covered his story here.
While he was at the College he told something of his story to second year student Nabila Nur…

Saye-Maye Cole was one of the victims of a Liberian civil war and, at an early age, he ended up in a SOS Childrens Village where he found the stable family that he so needed.  At that time there were many abductions of children taking place for the recruitment of child soldiers. Saye-Maye was almost a victim of this but luckily his SOS mother had been able to intervene and announced that if Saye-Maye was to be taken then the recruiters have to take her too! And the soldiers gave up. Later, due to the ongoing violence and instability in Liberia, SOS children with academic potential were taken to Gambia to continue studying as the instability in Liberia had resulted in many schools having to close. Saye-Maye was one of the fortunate students who were taken to live in an SOS village in Gambia.

Saye Maye described the reason behind his motivation being in following way: “I wanted to show that their money was not wasted”.  Saye-Maye received a full scholarship to UWC Red Cross Nordic, for the two years which he described as “…the best years of my life’’.

Saye-Maye now works for the government of Liberia coordinating the aid received from the IMF and various other organizations. He says that the two years spent at RCN helped him a lot in his life and especially in his work now, where cultural sensitivity and careful communication is required.  Saye-Maye gave a presentation about his life and told that the volunteering aspect that he learnt during his time at RCN had continued ever since he left and, even at the moment, he works at the University in Liberia as a volunteer teacher of Economics. He reminded us that it is good not be only on the receiving end of generosity and kindness, but also to give. In his visit we could see the UWC mission statement being brought to life as he is now helping to build his country with tools developed from his UWC education.

For more in English, see here.

Visiting speakers

2018-10-16T09:33:34+01:00August 28th, 2014|

As part of our commitment to students’ futures, we strive during the course of each academic year to incorporate not only visits from university admissions counsellors but also workshops on careers. For example, In April each year, we invite members of the UWC RCN Council to deliver workshops on their areas of professional expertise.

On Monday 25th August, the College invited two visitors to our campus to run workshops on journalism and humanitarian work.

James Lamont, Managing Editor of London’s Financial Times, kindly interrupted his family holiday to talk to students about the world of journalism. Drawing on more than 20 years experience of reporting around the world, he told us of the great shift that is happening in newsrooms around the world as urgent accommodations are having to be made as news is being consumed at an accelerating rate on mobile devices. In the face of a demand for free digital content, James spoke optimistically of how quality, and news reported ‘without fear or favour’ (in the motto of the Financial Times), will always attract a readership willing to subscribe. While acknowledging himself as being somewhat resistant to change, it wasn’t hard to hear the quiet excitement in his voice as he reminded us that news is no longer exclusively delivered by the daily newspaper, but is an immediate global conversation we can all participate in.

For those of our students interested in a career in journalism, he spoke about the qualities a journalist in his world must possess – integrity, curiosity, a willingness to ask questions that don’t always have simple answers, and a love of truth. Could that be a shorthand description of a UWC student?

Many thanks to James for his inspiring talk, and to Larry for persuading his brother to speak to us.

On Monday evening, Paul Bloomfield (Managing Director of Rosetta Consulting) gave an introduction to his career path which has taken him from the position of lawyer in both the music and the insurance industries to presently responsible for global communications and public relations for a selection of Foundations. He has a strong commitment to charitable and humanitarian projects – he is a governor of the Sir John Cass Foundation, one of the oldest and largest independent educational charities in Europe and is an active supporter of the St. John of Jerusalem Eye Hospital. He has organised a number of events for Prem Rawat events across the world including two at the European Parliament and the visit of Prem Rawat to RCN in May 2013. As part of his presentation, Paul showed the recently released film which both charts the visit of Prem Rawat to this College and explores the role of peace in today’s world.

Lord Attenborough

2018-10-16T09:33:36+01:00August 25th, 2014|

Oscar-winning actor and film director Richard Attenborough died at lunchtime on Sunday at the age of 90. Lord Attenborough was a member of the UWC International Board, an active member of the Governing Council of UWC Waterford Kamhlaba and patron of the UWC Movement for many years. Alongside his extraordinary career as a film-maker, Richard Attenborough took every opportunity to work for peace and justice  and to support disadvantaged people in every walk of life. His films ‘Gandhi’ (1982) and ‘Cry Freedom’ (1987) gave compelling insights into Indian and South African political and social history. He made an enormous contribution to the UWC movement, including financially supporting many students at UWC Waterford Kamhlaba, and we are hugely proud to have had him as our patron.

UWC Waterford Kamhlaba principal Stepehen Lowry has said the following:

Waterford Kamhlaba United World College of Southern Africa joins the world in mourning Lord Attenborough, who died on Sunday 24 August 2014, aged 90.

Waterford students will remember Lord Attenborough as a distinguished actor, producer and Oscar-winning director, but above all they will remember him as a loyal and generous friend of the United World College movement in general and Waterford in particular.

He and his wife, Lady Attenborough, visited the school on several occasions. He enjoyed discussing football with staff members and took a real interest in the students and their activities.

Lord Attenborough strongly opposed apartheid and supported Waterford, where young people of all races studied and lived together. In April 1988 he invited the IB (International Baccalaureate) to the premiere of Cry Freedom. The following day he hosted a private viewing of the film for the rest of the school at the Cinelux in Mbabane and took questions from the students.

He funded scholarships for many students but, being the humble, unassuming man that he was, he never sought publicity for his generosity and insisted that the students should not make a fuss about his financial support.

Lord Attenborough was a patron of the arts at Waterford. He generously funded the construction of the Sheila and Richard Attenborough Fine Arts Centre. Together with the Paul Hamlyn Foundation, he built a Drama and Music facility, the Jane Holland Centre for Creative Learning, in memory of his daughter, his granddaughter Lucy and Jane’s mother-in-law Audrey-Jane, who died in the Asian tsunami on 26 December 2004.

We are grateful for Lord Attenborough’s friendship, his inspiring example of compassion and concern for others, and the artistic legacy he has left us in his remarkable films.

May he rest in peace.

We send our heartfelt condolences to Lady Attenborough and her family. We will keep them in our thoughts and prayers.

We invite you to leave messages of support for the family and the WK community on the school’s Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/waterford.kamhlaba

For another overview of his life and work – from the BBC website.

Mandela 67

2018-10-16T09:33:37+01:00August 24th, 2014|

Nelson Mandela devoted 67 years of his life to the service of humanity – by being a lawyer, while being in prison, and by being the first democratically elected president of a free South Africa. He devoted the last 18 years of his life to our UWC movement – being our Honorary President since 1995 – and he has inspired us ever since. By giving 67 minutes of our time – one minute for every year of Mandela’s service – we made a small yet crucial gesture of solidarity with humanity.

Safuge and DROP members talking about their work to new first years We are a movement based on values that should be cherished through devotion, passion, determination and action, and Mandela 67 was a unique chance to shed light on the incredible humanitarian projects we have at Red Cross Nordic and the wonderful teams behind it all. It is amazing to know that we all have the opportunity to make a difference for someone, and that our fellow students and friends work hard on an everyday basis to make projects like these a reality. That is, in my opinion, what makes our home magical.

Thank you to everyone who lend a hand and made the Mandela 67 event possible!

Written by Chantal Smeland (RCN 2013-15)

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