Fabiana Irigoyen (RCN 16-18)

2021-10-19T11:55:52+01:00October 19th, 2021|

Passionate about Diversity and Food 

When I left Bolivia, at 16, to attend UWC Red Cross Nordic, I could not believe how much I was going to learn and live. RCN has given me the tools, support, and the self-confidence that I needed to expand my horizons. Every friend I made there, has made a huge impact on my life and I am thankful for it. 

After RCN, I decided to study in the United States. I am currently in the last year of my undergraduate program at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio. I am completing a Bachelor of Sciences in Human Nutrition and a minor in Biology. I chose nutrition as a career because I am passionate about food and how much diversity there is on it and how we can apply it in a healthy way to our daily lives. During my last year, I am taking the time to explore student clubs and organizations that focus on sustainability, diversity, and dietetics. Recently, we celebrated the Hispanic Heritage Month on campus. We had a variety of events where students, faculty, and staff members joined forces to celebrate our history. As part of it, I was interviewed by the university daily news, where I was asked what this month of celebration meant to me.

 I still miss RCN and its people, and without them I would not be where I am now. Thank you!

In People of UWCRCN you find stories of alumni or other members of our community. Here are the laterst.

Magnea Gna Johannsdottir (RCN ’17)

May 23rd, 2022|

Magnea Gna Johannsdottir (RCN '17) is the youngest person ever elected to the Reykjavik city council. Her political party Framsókn (English: Progressive Party)  gained 18,7% of the votes, [...]

Fabiana Irigoyen (RCN 16-18)

October 19th, 2021|

Passionate about Diversity and Food  When I left Bolivia, at 16, to attend UWC Red Cross Nordic, I could not believe how much I was going to learn [...]

Pedro Paposseco (RCN 13-15)

2021-06-09T11:34:35+01:00June 9th, 2021|

Congratulations to Pedro!

Upon his graduation from University, Pedro Paposseco (RCN 13-15)  has been acknowledged for his achievements in the national press in his home country Angola.

Here are his thoughts:

When I first left my country, Angola, to study the International Baccalaureate at the UWC Red Cross Nordic in Norway,  I could not hold a full conversation in English, nor did I have any international experience. Two years later, in 2015, I was admitted into the Davis United World College Scholars Program, allowing me to complete a double Major in Public Affairs and Administration and International and Area Studies with a Minor in Political Science at the University of Oklahoma (OU) in 2019.

After two challenging years, worsened by a global pandemic and radical changes in the education systems and international relations, on May 15, 2021, graduated from the University of Oklahoma with a Master of Public Administration and a Human Resource Development and Workforce Diversity Graduate Certificate from OU, scoring a perfect 4.0 GPA. Additionally, due to I have also been nominated as a member of the Pi Sigma Alpha, The National Political Science Honor Society, and Pi Alpha Alpha, The National Honor Society for Public Affairs and Administration that came as encouragement and recognition of my outstanding scholarship in public administration and public policy.

This accomplishment would not have been possible without the financial support and trust from the Davis UWC Foundation, the University of Oklahoma, my family, and friends. For that, I would like to extend my gratitude to Mr. Shelby Davis and the entire UWC movement for empowering young dreamers from across the world by providing us with the adequate education and financial resources needed for us to continue chasing our dreams and make a positive impact in the World. Coming from the outskirts of Luanda, the capital of Angola, being able to complete my higher education in an American university is a once-in-lifetime opportunity that has changed my life forever and I will be forever grateful for such an opportunity.

In People of UWCRCN you find stories of alumni or other members of our community. Here are the laterst.

Magnea Gna Johannsdottir (RCN ’17)

May 23rd, 2022|

Magnea Gna Johannsdottir (RCN '17) is the youngest person ever elected to the Reykjavik city council. Her political party Framsókn (English: Progressive Party)  gained 18,7% of the votes, [...]

Fabiana Irigoyen (RCN 16-18)

October 19th, 2021|

Passionate about Diversity and Food  When I left Bolivia, at 16, to attend UWC Red Cross Nordic, I could not believe how much I was going to learn [...]

Helen Pörtner (RCN ’16-’18)

2021-05-03T09:56:48+01:00April 29th, 2021|

Bringing Climate Justice and Human Rights to the International Court of Justice

The connection between Human Rights and the Climate Crisis has become clearly visible for anyone who cares to see it. However, in international climate action treaties there is still a lack of language that emphasizes the immediate danger to Human Rights, especially in the Majority World. The global youth-led campaign “World’s Youth for Climate Justice” is attempting to change exactly that. We are working towards an Advisory Opinion from the International Court of Justice that would ultimately set a norm for states to include such language in their treaties. Supporting the initiative put forth by the Pacific Island State of Vanuatu, we are youth from all over the world rallying for civil society support to convince as many state’s representatives at the UN to vote in favor of our effort. I was recently able to join the campaign that was initiated by a group of law students from the South Pacific.

I had been active in climate action before coming to RCN and through studying Human Rights as part of the IB curriculum was able to make a lot of new connections. I feel that now, four years later, many of the loose ends which I was exploring at RCN are coming together. My time at RCN paved the way for my focus on Climate Justice and made me constantly question my positionality as a white woman from the Minority World. After my time at RCN, stories of the impact the climate crisis is having on my friends’ communities are having a much bigger impact on me and motivate me to make use of my privilege. In my work with “World’s Youth for Climate Justice” I aim to follow the role of solidarity support and try to stay as much in the background as possible. My effort is to amplify the voices from youth of the Majority World through the networks that I have been able to establish as well as using my privilege to act as, for example, one of the treasurers of the campaign to open up possibilities for my friends in the campaign.

Our campaign is very idealistic and we are putting a lot of trust into international politics that have often disappointed us in the past. Still, we believe that pursuing change through international law is a powerful path and we are not being discouraged by slow bureaucratic processes and pessimism. Staying optimistic is hard sometimes but I am constantly encouraged by stories from my RCN friends who show up as active citizens and are making change wherever they go. Although everyone has moved on from RCN and is building their own little worlds elsewhere, still feeling part of this strong community empowers me to keep going and persist in working towards real and just climate action.

If you’d like to know more about “World’s Youth for Climate Justice” or would like to join our campaign, please reach out! We welcome all backgrounds and levels of engagement!

Check out our website: https://www.wy4cj.org/

Our facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WY4CJ

and instagram: @wy4cj

In People of UWCRCN you find stories of alumni or other members of our community. Here are the laterst.

Magnea Gna Johannsdottir (RCN ’17)

May 23rd, 2022|

Magnea Gna Johannsdottir (RCN '17) is the youngest person ever elected to the Reykjavik city council. Her political party Framsókn (English: Progressive Party)  gained 18,7% of the votes, [...]

Fabiana Irigoyen (RCN 16-18)

October 19th, 2021|

Passionate about Diversity and Food  When I left Bolivia, at 16, to attend UWC Red Cross Nordic, I could not believe how much I was going to learn [...]

Dorothy Dix (RCN 1996-1998)

2021-03-04T13:13:32+01:00March 4th, 2021|

Making Ideals Reality: Creating Better Futures For Children In My Home Community

Dorothy Dix (UWC Red Cross Nordic, 1996-1998) was born into poverty in Zimbabwe. She relied on handouts throughout her childhood but after showing potential at a local school in Zimbabwe, she was given the opportunity to study at UWC Red Cross Nordic at age 16.

Speaking of her experience at UWC, Dorothy says “UWC helped me to escape the challenges and poverty of my upbringing in Zimbabwe while simultaneously instilling the values of empathy, responsibility, and lifelong action.” After graduating from the University of Reading, she founded Creating Better Futures, a charity helping orphans and vulnerable children in her home communities in Zimbabwe. Dorothy’s leadership has lifted 5,000 children and their communities out of poverty by providing education, health, feeding and development programmes. In 2020, the charity also jumped in to protect children from COVID-19 by installing sanitation infrastructure and helping communities pushed into poverty by the lockdown. Dorothy wrote to us to share her story of how UWC got her to where she is today and what keeps her drawn to the work she does helping communities like the one she came from in Zimbabwe:

As a child I could never have expected to end up anywhere like UWC. I was born into poverty in rural Zimbabwe. I was raised by a single Mum who, despite making huge sacrifices and working extremely long hours, struggled to pay my school fees. It was only a combination of her hard work and an international sponsor that enabled me to attend school, even before UWC came along.

This wasn’t the only thing I received from Mum. I shared her work ethic and the value she placed on education. This allowed me to work hard for a scholarship to attend UWC. At the age of 16, I received a life-changing opportunity to attend UWC Red Cross Nordic in Norway.

When I arrived – it was a total culture shock. Growing up in Zimbabwe I had never seen snow.
But the atmosphere at UWC, and the brilliant friends I made, helped me to settle into this entirely different climate, country, and culture. And it was UWC’s emphasis on individual action and social change that inspired me to think about my place in the world, and how I could make a difference back home.

I wanted to make things better for people in my community. Growing up in Zimbabwe I always knew that things could be better. I had personally experienced that through a stranger’s kindness. They unleashed my potential when contributing to my education. Why couldn’t others do the same for young people in my community?

My UWC education played a key role in making this vision a reality. Two values stood out: a sense of idealism and personal challenge. I adopted these values to set out my idealistic vision for my charity – one where every child in rural Zimbabwe would grow up to achieve their potential and every community would be free from poverty. And thus, Creating Better Futures was born.

I found a real purpose in the sense of personal challenge required to deliver this change. I believed if I could just change one child’s life, my life would be complete. I looked back on my experiences at UWC – moving thousands of miles from home to study, having the opportunity to speak at the United Nations – as proof that this change was possible. I knew ideals could become reality.

My mission to give back to my home country of Zimbabwe was grounded in the core UWC values: compassion and service.  By attending UWC I was fortunate to receive one of the most rounded education’s on the planet. Unfortunately, many of my close friends back home didn’t have this opportunity. Our paths quickly diverted. Some continued with school, whilst others couldn’t afford their fees for college. I wanted everyone to have the same opportunity I had.

But of course it has not all been easy, the conditions in the communities we work alongside are a significant challenge. Last year it was estimated that 70% of Zimbabwean children were living in poverty. These conditions don’t just impact their daily lives, they also limit what they can hope to achieve over a lifetime. Our mission is to deliver programmes that enable people to overcome these conditions.

So what keeps me going through these challenges? Belief. Belief that things can be better. Belief in myself, and my dedicated team, to play a role in making a difference.

We also know the costs of inaction. People misunderstand poverty. Living in poverty doesn’t just mean you don’t have much money, or limited access to resources. Poverty conditions everything you do. There have been children who have dropped out of school, not because they wanted to – but because it was the best thing they could do to save money. I am driven to give these people the best opportunities.

And then of course there is the inspiration I gain from the enthusiasm and kindness of the young people we help. During the pandemic I received several reports of sponsored children in ZImbabwe who, with schools closed, had taken on extra care responsibilities for housebound elderley relatives. To think that these children, who often have very little themselves, still make huge sacrifices for others, is hugely inspiring.

Finally, I was asked to comment on why, amidst the many causes in need of our help, we should continue to support education and empowering youth. My answer is simple: empowering young people gives them their lives back. Everything is possible for a healthy, happy and financially secure young person. I was so fortunate to receive the support I did as a girl. Every child deserves the same opportunities I was fortunate enough to have been given by supporters of UWC.

Thanks to UWC International for letting us use this story. It was originatly published as an UWC Impact Story

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