GoMakeADifference was created by Colin Habgood and his wife Jill Longson (AC ’81) in 2001, to provide grants to UWC students.

This year, we have three projects from UWC Red Cross Nordic that have received the award.

1. Nicolas and Aristide’s project is about installing biofil toilets in the school at Ghana, where the waste will go to the schools farm and serve as compost.

2. Sara and Liva’s project is about establishing an Innovation Center for Sakyikrom school and local youth to be able to make products from recycled materials, which to be sold locally and internationally.

3. Thando will do the project with Ngwazini Primary School at Eswatini, where she will be renovating a block in the school by fixing walls, floors, windows and the interior of the classroom, with the aim of encouraging the kids to continue coming to the school.

An eager, enthusiastic, intrepid (and somewhat unsuspecting) team assembled for this year’s “Neil Davis Memorial Friluftsliv” snowcaving trip in Gaularfjell: after 3.5 hrs of sweaty excavating and shovelling in a soft drizzle, a superbly cosy cave emerged complete with sheltered entrance-cooking area. The cuisine included deeply-appreciated and relished porridge & raisins (Dutch & Italian members, rather bizarrely, adding chocolate powder), tomato soup-couscous & noodles and a South African specialty beverage (rooibos) sharing spoons, bowls and cups as required. A Dane (who could ski) usefully carried the day-pack on a trip up the valley, and a Tibetan demonstrated that yoga-induced flexibility enabled an innovative skiing style. A skiing highlight was an evening trip in almost full-moon and almost cloud-free sub-zero conditions; we also enjoyed seeing groups of ptarmigan at home – as we tried to be – in this magnificently bleak colour-free wintery environment.