Something unique about the UWC as an educational movement, is the cooperation between the Colleges and the National Committees NC. We are fortunate to have strong NCs in all Nordic countries and work closely with them to to increase the impact we have in our region.  On March 14th, 2019, we co-hosted an event for new and old friends of UWC at Asia, Aker Brygge in Oslo. The focus of this Evening with Meaning was deliberate diversity.

Current students Hari and Jonathan gave a personal account about their experience, living and learning together. Alumnus Antulio Rosales from Venezuela talked about how UWC has shaped his life now as an Olso based researcher at the Centre for Development and Environmet. Chair Kristin Vinje, Harald Møller and Zoya Taylor shared why they have chosen to support UWC, each in their way. Zoya captured it with a few words:

Poverty makes invisible – Education makes visible.

For some photos from the evening, click here.

This weekend we held the Psycho-social first aid course for 20 interested students. The course is a part of our Red Cross Diploma and was led by Anita Nelissen Leirvåg. It went into depth about how people react in a crisis and emergency, as well as giving knowledge of how to deal with that person. The course also lets the students talk about their experiences with crisis and how people around them have reacted, and was followed by a discussion. They also practiced what it is like to have someone not interested in listening and then the difference when they are actively listening. One lesson was that you don’t need to be an expert to help people: by just being there and talking to someone, it can help them. Beyond this, it is important to know how you can obtain further help, if needed. The course is not only about to act in big crises but also about how to act and talk with people in your daily life.