Sonnet 001 – Poverty

Emmanuella Onyilofor (Nigeria, AC 09-11)

Cars at a standstill, the perfect condition

I grab Toks by the hand, he’s only five

The angry suns’ rays blur my seven year old vision

He clings to me tightly, into the traffic we dive.

Toks jerks my arm, toward a shiny black car

We stare into it solemnly, ready to beg and bless

My bare feet scream in pain from the burning hot tar

The rich lady waves us away, like she’s under some stress.

Toks stumbles and falls, I roughly pick him up

I didn’t mean to- but the road is unsafe for a child

Moving to another car, my tattered wrapper begins to drop

A girl sits in there, beautiful, could be my age,

I stare in and almost cry, emotions running wild

Wishing I could own a dress, like her, my heart fills with rage.

- United Words College Magazine -

UWC youth at Copenhagen

Tina Bylinski, Charlie Young (AC 08-10)

At the heart of the Bella Centre, the venue playing host to the infamous UN climate summit last December, hung a large, eggshell white globe suspended by a thin wire. Countries deep black of spilled ink carelessly thrown onto canvas. China, India, US even a country as small as the UK was on. The secretariat hadn’t noticed that a myriad of island nations were missing. A prophecy? Ten friends, mostly from Wales under the banner of UNfairplay, we crossed the sea to support the under represented-delegations of vulnerable countries. Digesting documents, attending meetings and taking notes; we helped the delegation of Kiribati negotiate and spread their message. Grateful for our support, we were made official delegates and spent the last night having dinner with the President.

Nnenne – Nigerian poem

Chisom Amalunweze (Nigeria, AC 09-11)

                                                Nnenne!

                                Mother, you are far away.

                                                Nnenne!

                                How are you? What do you do?

                                                Nnenne!

                                Is the full moon out now?

 Do you wear your starry lappa for the dance of the new yam?

Beyond the A-Sea

Diana Hyunh (Vietnam/Norway AC 09-11)

First-year. The taste of the words is just not quite the same as it was previous to the autumn months, when everything was still unknown and the excitement so thrilling. Fast forward three months, it is December and everyone rushes off to the gates of the College. All leaving with memories still fresh of induction, camp, codes, sosh, escapades, service, activities and all other things in between that first term brought so amusing.  

Chanukah in the Jewish state

Jonathan Hadad (Israel, AC 09-11)

 

The celebration of Chanukah does not originate in the old testament but was added later to the Jewish tradition. Chanukah celebrates one of the times in history when someone tried to destroy Judaism and failed. Like Christmas, it is celebrated in the beginning of winter and one of the main themes is light, symbolizing everything that is righteous, just, and “Disney good”. In Israel, secular Jews enjoy eating doughnuts, and shopping with festive discounts. Though the shopping season in Israel during Chanukah never reaches the consuming hysteria in Cardiff, capital of Wales, a month before Christmas. Every day for eight days, after lighting another candle on the Hanukkiya, each child gets a present and everyone sings songs. Most of them are normal cheery songs about dreidels (or spinning top), candles and doughnuts. Others are about the wars between light and darkness. A part of the lyrics of one popular Chanukah song called “Maoz Tzur” is “bring genocide upon our dog-like enemies”. The lyrics of this song are not in Modern Hebrew so most people and mainly children do not understand what they mean.

Teaching and houseparenting at a UWC

Jon Morten (Teacher and House Parent, AC) 

What can best describe AC Life for a teacher and houseparent? The very short commuting distance? The ridiculous working hours? The IB bureaucracy? The raised voices of students, leaning forward on their desks, intense, allowing you to lean back, smiling? Realising you have students smarter than yourself? The unbelievable release of energy in the first September assembly, which makes you believe in everything again?

Christmas traditions of a Dane

Lin Alexandra Mortensgaard (Denmark AC 09-11)

Christmas in Denmark officially starts December 1^st, but many businesses choose to ignore this and start their Christmas campaigns late in October. The same goes for many firms where the annual Christmas lunch is often held in November. Such a ‘lunch’ takes place in the evening. It involves all the employees of the particular firm, extreme amounts of alcohol and food, inappropriate flirting with colleagues and a massive hang-over the next day. 

“Permission to be unique”: rights of the indigenous Sámi in a welfare state

Assi Askala (Finland AC 09-11)

About a year ago, I met an interesting young woman, who had ambitious ideals of the future of her people. She was an indigene of the Nordic countries, a Sámi woman. She had lived her childhood in the stark landscape of Lapland where the pure nature, old culture and modern world clash together. Now she had come to Helsinki University to study more about indigenous people. She was interested in the relationship of language and identity and how important is it to know your own history in order to create a self-image. The cultural movement has been getting stronger and stronger among the Sámi youth in the past decade.

 

“Human rights not merely a Western ideology” in Vietnam

Diana Huynh (Norway/Vietnam, AC 09-11)

As October approached it was time for a week with focus on Human Rights at AC. Needless to say, Human Rights is an ongoing issue in our world, and the Amnesty International Group put an exceptional effort into reminding us about that. Among the events were films, petitions and discussions. This article will shed light on Vietnam in particular, and the dilemma and issues it raise about developing countries; how to successfully evolve as a nation without compromising the human rights in the process?

Ohana and the UWC experience

Michelle Asuncion (Philippines, AC 08-10)

 

As the camera shutter clicked, in a blink of an eye, I saw myself lying in the beast garden. My whole leg was in severe pain. I can still clearly visualize the ambulance, the stretchers, big needles and injections. The sound of the siren comes back to me. I was brought to the operating theatre; my greatest fear…I can still remember my cry of pain, in a split second I was knocked out by the morphine. I woke up in the ward on a beautiful Sunday morning after my operation. I was terrified as I saw my casted leg…

Gwent House and the integrated development program

Jonathan Hadad (Israel, AC 08-10)

                                                                                                                

Interview with Sarah Hamilton, house parent at Gwent house.

 

Can you define what Gwent house is?

 

Gwent house is the house in which IDP (integrated development program) students live. It’s funded by the government. We asked for a name for our house 4 years ago because we thought it would reduce the feeling of separation from the other houses on campus. The students get offered to some to Gwent house from their schools where they lived or by a governmental program that offers help to find jobs for young people for their future. Our calendar is basically the same as the rest of the college but the students have work for 4 weeks and then 4 weeks of studying. I don’t think they can get the same experience anywhere else in the UK because it’s a boarding school which means that they have a lot of time to interact with the rest of the students here. In their second year they do the program from home with more focus on a workplace which we help them find.

El Camino and the “endless freedom” of a pilgrim

Miklos Marton Jalkoczi (Hungary, AC 09-11)

Santiago de Compostella is one of the three most important targets of pilgrimage along with Jerusalem and Rome. My father and I completed the Camino Frances to go there in a bit over a month in the summer of 2007. This was the best thing that has ever happened to me, apart from getting into Atlantic College . I suffered, but it was well worth it. Why? It is hard to answer this question. Simply because it is wonderful. It is El Camino.

Remember, remember the ninth of November

Thilo Roth (Germany AC 08-10)

On the 9^th November 1989, the one of the leading members of the East German government announced on a press conference that the borders would be opened and the citizens of the German Democratic Republic (GDR) would be free to travel to West Germany. On the question when this new rule should be implemented the uniformed press speaker that to his knowledge the new rule was to be implemented immediately, a mistake that would lead to the breakdown of the world order since the end of the Second World War.

SATS: You fill in the acronym

Alexandra Sánchez (Bay Area, California, AC 08-10)

 

If “all that is gold does not glitter,” than SAT scores should not amount to the categorization of an individual. In fact, any United States student will tell you the countless times she or he may have heard the famous comfort: intelligence also rests outside standardized testing, some people are just good test-takers, not doing well on a standardized test does not imply any stupidity. But in the rat race, in the path well-travelled on to be accepted into a “good” (which may not even be suitable for an individual) school, all this may be left by the wayside and the mad credit card pumping for Barron’s, The Princeton Review, The Official College Guide, Fiske, etc. guides becomes a sore yet acceptable action in our society. My upbringing may tell otherwise to my current stance. I will explain some of it in terms of how many Exam Prep books I bought. But I understand that an SAT score should not become a matter of pride, of ego, nor will it hopefully be the only worthwhile accomplishment others or I do in our lives.

Obama’s Nobel Peace Prize “what the world seeks for”

Diana Huynh (Norway/Vietnam AC 09-11) 

The beginning of October brought the announcement of the annual Nobel Prizes, and among them – perhaps considered the most significant of all – the Peace Prize. The prize has been rewarded for over a hundred years to men and women for their efforts working for peace and justice.

This year it could be debated whether to what extent the laureate has accomplished any of the latter. The decision made by the Norwegian Nobel Committee has without doubt stirred praise and skepticism throughout the global community. The Times wrote on October 10^th, “The committee had put hope above results, promise above achievement”, other questions what he has done to merit such a prize.

Nevertheless, what there is no doubt about is that Barack Obama has been able to capture the whole world’s attention for the past year. He has been a central figure on the international stage, and will continue to play an important role as a diplomat. With his characteristic eloquence he has continuously been giving hope to people and promoting change – and it has merely been eleven months since he was elected the President of the United States. President Obama announced in his acceptance of the prize that he was “surprised and humbled”, and will continue to “confront the common challenges of the 21^st century.”

It might have been with political intentions that the Nobel committee awarded the prize; to put pressure on the US for future endeavors. That would not, however, be the first time that a Nobel Peace laureate has been awarded for political settlements. Yasser Arafat, Henry Kissinger, Jimmy Carter, Teddy Roosevelt – all worked with solving conflicts between countries.

The Norwegian Nobel Committee decided to award the President “for his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy, and cooperation between peoples”. Possibly, some would argue that using diplomacy to solve global problems is what we have the UN for. Nonetheless, his outreach to the Muslim world and attempt towards nuclear disarmament are two worthy and important causes encouraging world peace.

What the world will now expect is that the President will actually achieve something. It will be interesting to see how the weight of the prize will change what President Obama will do, and the expectations it sets. The prize might even have been a burden to Obama domestically, with two wars and an economic recession on his shoulders. Furthermore, it might have changed the ethos of which the prized is based upon. But then again, President Obama is a man with visions of profound change. This year he proves that the Nobel Peace prize can be awarded as a catalyst for more peace, rather than recognition for established peace. And that is perhaps what the world seeks for.  

- United World College Student Magazine -