UWC Youth Leadership Summer Course in China - 2010

High school and university students (aged 17-20) from all over the world are invited to join the UWC Youth Leadership Summer Course in China in 2010.

Applicants who are recommended by UWC National Committees (whether or not they are accepted as full-time UWC scholars) will be given top priority of acceptance into the Summer Course. The Summer Course will provide participants with an introductory UWC experience, whether or not they enroll in a full-time UWC program later on. In this way the Summer Course aims to make the UWC experience accessible to more young people, thereby adding considerable value to the UWC Movement by having more young people living the UWC ethic.  It is assumed that the more graduates of the UWC experience, the more effective we will become in fulfilling our mission.

The Summer Course will be an innovative experiential education program that enables young people to gain and apply leadership skills in the context of grassroots projects for economic, social and environmental development in a globalized world. Being in a developing country (China), the Summer Course allows participants to gain first-hand knowledge of the complexities and challenges involved.

The Summer Course is organized by current and former Red Cross Nordic UWC staff and students and will be hosted by two RCN-UWC partner institutions in China.

Time and Locations: 

·         July 15 – August 2, 2010

·         The majority of the program will occur in the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region in western China

o        An autonomous region in China with the majority of its population being Hui Muslims

o        One of the poorest regions in China, its geography characterized by the Yellow River, dessert, and the Helanshan Mountain

·         The course will end in Beijing, China, where participants will be able to visit famous sites such as the Great Wall and the Forbidden City.

Program Overview: 

The course aims to implement the UWC mission and will use education to enable young people to play an active role in the achievement of peace and a sustainable future in a developing country context. 

The course will consist of five components: 

1.       Values.

A strong emphasis on the residential and community Service programs will aim to build character and instill the following UWC values in the participants:

·         The celebration of difference

·         Personal responsibility and integrity

·         Mutual responsibility and respect

·         Compassion and service

·         Heightened interaction with the environment

·         A sense of idealism

·         Personal challenge

·         Exemplary, personal action

2.       Knowledge.

Through guest speakers, seminars and discussions, participants will gain understanding of the following issues:

·         Economic development by empowering the poor, 

·         Environmentalism in a developing country context, and 

·         Building a harmonious society through inclusion, understanding and respect.

3.       Skills.

Through interactive workshops and hands-on practical experiences, participants will develop the following leadership skills to enable them to initiate and implement grassroots development projects:

·         Cross-cultural communication, 

·         Public speaking, 

·         Team work,

·         Meeting management,

·         Fundraising,

·         Project management.

4.       Program Highlights & Host Country Content.

Ningxia:

·         Living with a host family and doing farm community service in a rural village in Ningxia

·         Community service and cultural exchange in rural primary school

·         Trekking in Maowusu Desert and camping in Sand Lake

·         Tree-planting in Habahu Lake

·         Hiking in Helanshan Mountain

·         Chinese language training

·         Introduction to Chinese culture

·         Introduction to the Hui Muslim Minority Culture in China

Beijing:

·         Visiting the Great Wall, Forbidden City, Tian-An-Men Square

·         Visiting the 2008 Olympics sites

5.       Outcome.

As the focus of the summer course is grassroots projects in a development context, the course should end up with participants leaving with 

·         A strong sense of UWC values and ideology;

·         Concrete action plans for follow-up project work.

Program Cost:

• 1,250 Euros (special price for UWC National Committee nominees)

• Program cost covers:
• Pickup from Beijing airport on July 17 and delivery to Beijing airport on August 2
• Domestic flights between Beijing and Ningxia
• Food and accommodation at host universities
• Summer course programs and tuition

• Program cost does not cover:
• Participant’s own travel to and from Beijing
• Participant’s health and accident insurance
• Participant’s personal spending money

• Students needing financial assistance should apply for financial aid on the application form.

Applications:

The Application Form, as well as other further information, will be available in mid-December of 2009 at

-- the China Summer Course website (http://csc.rcnuwc.no); or

-- under “Projects” at the RCNUWC website www.rcnuwc.no.