…Charles Taban, told at the 61st Annual DPI/NGO UNESCO Conference Reaffirming Human Rights in Paris 2008.
I feel honored today as I sit here to share with you my own experience and the experiences of many other young people of the Sudan who are not present at this conference.
Three months before my Sudan high school certificate, I found myself in a situation where I had to take a decision to leave home without telling anyone in the family because my life was at risk.
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An interview at the 61st UNESCO NGO Conference in Paris in September 2008 with Charles Taban, 32, a Salesian Brother of Don Bosco working with the Darfur Boys in Sudan by Valentin Jeutner (Germany, AC06-08)
United Words: Charles, how difficult was it for you to leave Sudan?
Charles Taban: I had to travel from the South to the North to Khartoum City and prior to come here we had to make several arrangements. We had to get an invitation from the Salesion Mission here in Paris. I was in fact the last person to get my visa, because I had to travel to Khartoum from the South and the only way to do that is by lorry. That takes you about three to four days. Eventually I arrived in Paris.
Isabel Syrek (Austria, Pearson 08-10)/ DER STANDARD
Strenggläubig trifft auf liberal: Am kanadischen “United World College of the Pacific” dient auch der Alltag in der Schüler-WG als Unterrichtsfach – damit das Wort “Respekt” nicht zur Floskel verkommt. Ottawa – Ein Weihnachtsessen, bei dem Schüler gemeinsam mit Lehrern sowie dem Direktor zusammensitzen und dabei über alltägliche Dinge reden, ist ebenso unvorstellbar wie ein Wirtschaftslehrer, der bei einem Weihnachtskonzert HipHop tanzt?
Dear Chris Cheng,
It is always a pleasure to read rational and sensible comments from a Chinese on the Sino-Tibetan problem. Otherwise, most of the time, one gets to read only polemics, mud slinging and blaming from netizens from either side of the debate.
There is one important issue that needs clarification however.
BY: Jennifer Leong (Hong Kong, UWCAC06-08)
It’s a week before the Olympics open in Beijing, and China is facing her biggest media crisis yet, led on by the authorities’ decision to step-up internet censorship in the press centre in Beijing. Sites which are currently inaccessible include: Amnesty International, whose front page displays the five Olympic rings replaced by interlocking handcuffs; the BBC Chinese site, sites whose addresses contain the word ‘Tibet’, as well as certain articles on Wikipedia and the site of the religious sect ‘Falun Gong’, outlawed in China, also met with the same fate.
Jennifer Leong (Hong Kong, UWCAC06-08)
French President Nicholas Sarkozy, who was the first world leader to raise the possibility of skipping the Opening Ceremony of this year’s Olympic Games to protest against China’s handling of the Tibet riots, revealed on July 9 that he would be attending the festivities in Beijing after all. This adds to a growing list of leaders of state travelling to the Chinese capital next month, which includes American President George Bush and Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda. British Prime Minister Gordon Brown has said he will attend the closing ceremony only, while German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper have said they plan to stay away.
From: Tariq Tobias (Zimbabwe, AC06-08)
Zimbabwe remains, after a failed election, in a state of economic and political chaos. As the forces of our society continue to deteriorate we appeal to all those who have fought or fight for freedom for support in ending what has gone on for too long. I have written what follows based on the many at home I have spoken to.
———–
‘Diary,
Baba says I can’t go to school today. They might come again.
I don’t know when I’ll see Ambuya or Mama but I want to show them the picture I drew. Baba won’t tell me when they’re coming home.
That man keeps coming here but Baba tells him to go away. He scares me.
I miss them.’
6 Year-old Girl
Of no political affiliation
———–
‘ Business has stopped, at least legal business has. It is impossible to keep up with the ever-changing prices. The shelves remain empty. I think Mr. Mugabe is a very honest man: when he came to power he promised we would all be millionaires and, in this, he succeeded.’
Baker selling bread for 100 Million Zimbabwean Dollars (price at 8am today)
———–
To: The Suppressors
Much of what you’ve done is beyond words.
Do not despair: the torture, the rape, the murder, the suffering has all been noted.
To do so much damage to people, your people, is against all that you were sworn in to protect. You remain a disgrace to your country and all of humanity.
Zimbabwe is a land of many wonders. We are resilient and will one day walk along the path of peace and reconciliation. It will not be easy, but I assure you that this day will come. Perhaps, the acts of you and your supporters will be forgiven, I sincerely hope this is possible, but they will never be forgotten. We will need to embrace them as a part of our identity before we can move forward. Their resolution is impossible to ensure. All we can now hope for is some form of closure.
We remain prisoners in our own land, victims of greed, corruption and tyranny but we have hope in the power of freedom and its unstoppable voice.
The People of Zimbabwe
- United World College Student Magazine -
From: Tariq Tobias (Zimbabwe, AC06-08)
As I pulled out my camera to take a picture of the hotel I was staying at, two police officers converged on me and informed me that it was illegal to take pictures and that I should give them my camera and follow them to the nearest station. After much argument and negotiation I escaped (with the equivalent of $1 less in my pocket). Oh yes, I kept the picture of the hotel and I was further inspired to take a few more. I share them here for all to see some of what a madman can do.
From: Tiina Honkanen (Finland, RCN03-05)
In recent times there has been much discussion about the duties and responsibilities of UWC alumni. In particular, we have discussed the topic in relation to alumni activities and running the national UWC networks. United World Colleges have indeed given us all so much, even if we could not pinpoint exactly what it is, why would someone not want to give some back to the community and ensure that generations to come have the same opportunity as we did?
From: Surrey North Delta Leader
By: Sheila Reynolds
It may look a little like Hogwarts, but Katherine Carey won’t likely meet any budding Harry Potters or learn to cast magical spells where she’s going.
Carey, 17, is heading to Wales this fall to continue her education at Atlantic College, one of 12 United World Colleges (UWC) around the globe.
The humble honey bee is under threat from a killer parasite. But as they increasingly fall victim to the Varroa mite worldwide, students at Atlantic College in the Vale of Glamorgan have helped two endangered wild colonies survive this term as part of an eco-friendly project, tending to the swarms and raising money for the scheme by selling honey and honeycomb extract. Bees are one of nature’s most useful insects. When they are collecting nectar they spread pollen, which fertilises food crops. But last winter one in five bee colonies died in the UK.
Yoyo Schepers has returned from the Arctic having successfully completed the 2008 Polar Challenge. She has raised over £30,000 for UWC scholarships aimed at young women from countries in crisis in the Middle East and Africa.
Yoyo had wanted to go the North Pole for many years. “It was all a brilliant experience, tough, but worth it. Knowing that I was doing some good often helped to make you struggle through a tough day.”
The Polar Challenge is a competitive, 350 mile team-race across the Arctic. Competitors race on skis, pulling their supplies in 120lb pulks (ski sleds). The race finishes just beyond the 1996 location of the Magnetic North Pole. Yoyo spent over a month in total in the Arctic, one of the world’s most extreme environments.
Click here to sponsor Yoyo. All funds raised will provide scholarships for young women from the Middle East and Africa.
- United World College Student Magazine -
Atlantic College sends its congratulations to ex-student Dr Shermeen Chan (AC 96-98) who, on 18 June 2008, will be presented with the Dr Ben Finkelstein Family Medicine Award on behalf of The Hamilton Academy of Medicine Foundation and the Hamilton Academy of Medicine, in Canada. The Dr. Ben Finkelstein Family Medicine Award is presented annually to a final-year McMaster University Family Practice Resident who demonstrates a kind, compassionate nature and possesses a strong interest in family counseling and therapy.
- United World College Student Magazine -
At the end of May, UWC’s newest Colleges, UWC in Mostar and UWC Costa Rica celebrated the graduations of the pioneering class of 2008.
From: The Nelson Mail
By: Tracy Neal
Queenstown-based project director John Hilhorst was in Nelson yesterday to look at potential sites for the $74 million development.
“Nelson has the degree of diversity and good community spirit that we are looking for,” he said.
“It’s a go-ahead place with good connectivity nationally and internationally.”
Nelson Deputy Mayor Rachel Reese, who has held preliminary talks with representatives of the trust behind the project, confirmed that between three and five sites in the Nelson region were being looked at.
