Over the past seven years it has been a tradition for Fjaler Kommune to celebrate Fjaler day. On this day, the municipality promotes its international character and facilitates activities in which students and teachers from different schools get together to do things which promote interpersonal relationships and develop a sense of understanding and bonding amongst young people. The theme for this year’s celebration is ‘Unity in Diversity’.
Instead of having classes on September 24, we went to Dale at 08:00 and met up with students from the other schools in Fjalerhallen (the sports hall) – where we took part in a warm-up welcome session led by Pete Wilson. He got everybody involved in a long chain that danced around the big hall (see picture). After that, we also took part in an energizing and lively Gammaldans!
Then we broke into small groups in which teachers from each school led an activity. The main idea is for all students to enjoy the day and get to know each other better while participating in these activities. Some of the activities were:Hiking, Fishing, Table Tennis, Biking, Cricket, Pool, Music, Dancing, Food making, bridge, and yoga.
The weather was superb and we all had a good fun ‘Samanristingsdag’.
RCNUWC is positioned on the edge of a small fjord and surrounded by stunningly beautiful nature, which would elsewhere qualify for a national park. In a circle of 5 km around the College there are fjords, mountain tops, cliffs, canyons, lakes, bays, tiny islands, ponds, streams, waterfalls, forests, meadows, marshes, beaches and a lagoon. An attentive and silent observer can see animals which are elsewhere either extinct, endangered or on Red lists, such as otters, black grouse, sea eagles, harbour porpoises, seals, Canadian geese etc. Cranes and deer are a common sight, not to mention sea birds, singing birds and owls. The vegetation is rich and lush green (with loads of blueberries and raspberries and with grand quantities of mushrooms).
The idea behind this project is to encourage students and staff to spend more time in this wonderful nature (and to make the walks easier for the clients in the Rehabilitation center) not only as an exercise and for its healing effects.
One can genuinely and passionately care only about that what one knows well. We hope that getting to know this Nature more intimately will make some of us (who mostly come from urban settings) care for Nature and environment more passionately and so we would be more likely to engage in environmental conservation in the future. This project is thus supporting our “Environmental pillar”.
The 1st concrete work on marking of some paths in the vicinity of RCNUWC started with a team of enthusiastic environmentalists and nature lovers in Environmental Service (“SerEn”) in autumn 2002. SerEn has been working in all kinds of Norwegian weather, step by step, clearing up and marking those paths. Only three of those paths existed (as paths) in the 1st days of the College (Jarstadheia, Raudbua, Storåasen), and were partly marked by the staff of Rehabilitation center. During Earth Days in 2003, 2005 and 2006, and during the Introduction week in 2006, student and staff volunteers contributed many work hours into the most popular path – Raudbua, draining it by digging ditches and paving it with stones. The other 3 and half paths have been created by SerEn. For example, the new, alternative path to Raudbua is called Amaryili – Amar from India and Yilikal from Ethiopia worked hard on it.
During the last two Introduction weeks, the 1st years (together with some 2nd years and staff) worked on opening the local views by cutting overgrown vegetation and on clearing and marking those six paths – a service, “dugnad”, to local community and to the College. The project, now called “RCNUWC 6 stiar”, is now completed!
The maps of all six paths were produced by downloading the routes, plotted by GPS, and copying them onto the electronic (“Naturbase”) maps. We placed 6 check-point boxes on the highest (or lowest) point of each path, each containing a different punch, a pencil and a notebook. Those keen hikers (who respect safety guidelines) can obtain a bookmark (which have 6 slots to punch 6 different holes in it, one for each path) a map and a compass – and get going.
The 1st five who complete it, get a head torch. Next ten will get a nourishing snack – for yet another good hike. The rest will be honored by having their name shown on this web site.
The very first who reached all those six points was certainly Ben, the dog – but as he was not able to apply those punches on his bookmark, that had to be done by his owner Chris.
There are rumors that three more aspirants to the prize have completed the RCNUWC 6 Stiar bookmark as well.
U.B. Sahrawi went to Førde and put up two stands in front of one of the malls. In the beginning we found it difficult to find a proper spot because most places required permission. We ended up selling at relatively random places, something which appearently was not essential for the total revenue. We realized that the way of approaching was important to get people interested, we learnt a lot and know what to do different next time. But all in all it was a really interesting, funny and positive experience. After this we are optimistic for further selling and progress.
The weather this autumn has been stunning, so our hikes were such as well. Mellow FRILUFT! We meet at 14.15 in front of Admin. While we wait for some greenhorns run to put on proper shoes, we play with Ben, the dog. When everybody is ready we drag Ben into the van. And we let ourselves into safe Edmund’s hands. And then – loads of fri luft , views, sun – and Ben’s hystrionics.
1st hike: Arstensheia, on the other side of the fjord, start from Straumsness,
2nd hike Jarstadsheia from Rakneberg (saddle between Flekke and Dale),
3rd hike Einingsfjell – near Korsund, 4th hike Fredensborg – an easy walk in a cultural landscape.
We had superb conditions for the first three jogs: sunny, fresh air, clear views! Each jog takes ca. 2 hours. The limitations of language: we need a verb that means between a jog and a quick walk; “joggår”?
First jog: From campus up Jarstadheia (ca. 500m altitude), some practice in reading a map and using a compass, then down a lovely small unknown valley westwards, past a lonely sign “Kaldemyrhaug” (enjoying not knowing exactly where we were: the freedom of the hills), to a point above them all (see picture).
Second jog: Off the bus at Rakneberg (halfway to Dale), then up over Jarstadheia and back to College.
Third jog: Drive up to Steiestølen (15 kms from College), then jog up through all the ripe blueberries to Styggheia, the local roof, for a quick photo then back in time for Lisa’s Student Council meeting.
Safuge has been making great efforts to raise money throughout the school year 2007-2008. As a result three projects have been started by the Safuge members. Two of them were in Sierra Leone and the third one was in Madagascar.
In Madagascar, the school that Safuge chose to help is “EPP Ambatomasina”, a primary school located in the countryside of Antananarivo.
The school
Being a sparsely populated village and quite isolated from the city, school education is not the priority of the villagers. The only school was built in 1952 and is almost falling down from the roof to the walls and generally kids quit school very early to join the main activity of the village which is producing coal. Although the fabric of the school is deteriorating, it is grand in dimension: the classes altogether have an area of 160 sq meters and a ceiling height of 3m.
Those factors made Safuge focus on how to motivate the children towards education. The most urgent task was to make the school functional again so that kids’ mind would be open and creative.
Over the summer, Danamona (RCNUWC student from Madagascar and Safuge member) brought 5000 NOK from the money raised by Safuge to realize the project.
Enthusiasm of Community
After dialogue and meetings with the headmaster and the parent’s association, the aim for this summer was to completely renew the building and provide teaching materials. With the amount of money we had raised, the whole community of Ambatomasina worked on the school and Danamona negotiated the prize of materials in ironmongeries, paint, fabrics etc.
After a two months period of cooperation between the community and Safuge, and real hard work (the work had to be done before the rains in August) the school looks totally new from inside and from outside.
The walls have been limed and painted, the windows have been repaired then painted, the roof and ceilings have been replaced. A pavement has been made in the yard. To sum up, the school is now the most good-looking building in the village!
Danamona presenting teaching materials
Teaching materials have also been donated to the school: dictionaries, maps, abacuses, rulers, compasses, books and the school signboard.
Parents and authorities were both very grateful to Safuge for encouraging kids to study to be able to make their motherland develop.
The community Ambatomasina as a whole offered a banderole with a nice message: “Safuge (RCNUWC) thank you from EPP Ambatomasina (Madagascar).” They are all looking forward to further support and cooperation from Safuge for next year and Safuge hopes to do even more for the EPP Ambatomasina for the coming summer!
This is a service activity both for students with special needs and for others who want to play basketball from a wheelchair. This service will be a joint venture with the local community and include both disabled people and others who enjoy sports activities.
Instead of having classes on September 24, we went to Dale at 08:00 and met up with students from the other schools in Fjalerhallen (the sports hall) – where we took part in a warm-up welcome session led by Pete Wilson. He got everybody involved in a long chain that danced around the big hall (see picture). After that, we also took part in an energizing and lively Gammaldans!
