Spring 2010 Kaleidoscope

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Kaleid scope T H E N E W S L E T T E R O F U NI T E D W O R L D C O L L E G E — U S A , T H E A R M A N D H A M M E R U W C O F T H E A M E RI C A N W E S T

BUILDING COMMUNIT Y p. 6

PHENOMENAL WOMEN UWC-USA women mentor local girls p. 8

COMMON GROUND

students and staff reflect on community p. 12

Vo l u m e 3 9

SPRING 2010

TA B L E O F C O N T E N T S Embracing the UWC Mission through Nonviolence . . . 3 Shelter from the Storm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 My Night with the Homeless . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Building Community . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Mind the Gap . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Phenomenal Women . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Nourishing Community . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Beneath an Endless Blue . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-11 Common Ground: Reflecting on Community . . . . 12-15 Action for Education . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Smart Moves: Robots and Drunk-Driving . . . . . . . . 17 It’s Not Easy Being Green . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 A Family Away from Home . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 The Knutsons Express their Thanks . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE: We at UWC-USA are so very grateful to have a home in San Miguel County, New Mexico. We take pride in our community and embrace opportunities to engage in it. Our students, faculty, and staff are dedicated to applying their combined talents, energy, and resourcefulness in ways that contribute to improving the quality of life here in Northern New Mexico.

From tutoring to building projects to producing free cultural and academic events, we continually search for ways to serve the surrounding community and sustain our ties with area residents. We seek to tap our strengths—including cultural diversity and abundant energy—to offer numerous programs and services. By joining with the community and partnering with other organizations and agencies, we continue to expand the programs and services available to our neighbors.

Community residents, business owners, organizations, and activists have long led the way in providing a wide array of community services that enrich all of our lives. We at UWC-USA are happy to have the opportunity to work together with our neighbors and look forward to strengthening our relationships and working partnerships.

Keeping the Course: A Graduate’s Commitment to Community . . . . . . 20-21 Alumni Profiles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22-23

Lisa A. H. Darling President UWC-USA

Educating the Heart Sharon Seto Dean of Co-curricular Programs Educating the mind without educating the heart is no education at all.

—Aristotle I no longer try to predict what feedback students will share with me after a day spent working in the local community. Whether we have just cleaned out ditches, painted walls, helped at Habitat for Humanity, served meals, tutored in a school, or spent time with long-term patients at the hospital, students return to campus tired, but renewed by the time away from school routine and by the many interesting stories shared, people met, and places seen.

What keeps me focused on continuing to increase UWC-USA engagement in the commu-

nity is witnessing the effect that real, meaningful service has on both the community and UWC-USA students. Students benefit by developing skills and competencies through experiential means, by learning more about our community’s challenges and uniqueness, by learning how to plan, fund, and carry out projects, and by gaining understanding and empathy for people who have very different life experiences than themselves.

In turn, the community not only receives help with their projects but also enjoys getting to know young people from around the world while working alongside them. Time and again

I am told that without the help of our students, a project would just not be done—from enabling the City of Las Vegas to recycle, to keeping the community acequia cleaning tradition alive, to restoring the Old Mission Church, to providing afterschool science and math enrichment programs.

Our service program is a significant part of living out our UWC mission. Education continues outside of the classroom as we learn to apply our knowledge, passions, and energy to real-life challenges that make a difference in the world around us.

On the cover: U WC students help to restore the historic Old Mission Church in Las Vegas, New Mexico. Built in 1865, the Old Mission Church sits on a hill overlooking the old Santa Fe Trail. The oldest extant Protestant adobe church in the USA, this historic buildingUis W being purpose of becoming 2 C restored — U SbyAthe community / W WforW . U W C — U aScommunity A . O R G center. Photo from the book ONE SMALL FLAME www.MarkZelinski.com.

Embracing the UWC Mission through Nonviolence Tyler Fisher ’10 USA - Pennsylvania In 1955, Martin Luther King, Jr. lived out the UWC mission statement before it existed. In the organization of the Montgomery Bus Boycott, King educated the watchful public eye on the level of discrimination facing African-Americans in the United States. Yet King’s force was not malevolent but benevolent—a nonviolent call to arms that spawned a civil rights uprising that lasted throughout the 1960s. Despite his assassination in 1968, his spirit lives on in the hearts of civil rights activists around the world.

presence to the conference, delivering a powerful keynote Sunday night that energized and inspired the rest of the conference. Other speakers included activists from United Farm Workers, Casa de Cultura, Amnesty International, and Wise Fool New Mexico. Don McAvinchey, a Gandhi

Gabriel Ellison-Scowcroft ’10, Canada

King’s legacy was the impetus for the Choose Your Weapon Summit held on the UWC-USA campus on January 17 and 18, January 18 being Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. The provocatively titled conference was subtitled “Fighting Nonviolently,” an attempt to change the discourse of nonviolent terminology. Dr. Gene Sharp, a preeminent scholar and activist regarding nonviolence, once termed Gandhi’s tactics as weapons, and his work lent the title to the conference. The conference was planned by UWC-USA, Rio Gallinas School in Las Vegas, NM, and the Las Vegas Peace & Justice Center. UWC-USA students, in collaboration with Rio Gallinas students, focused on nonviolent strategy and tactics, and in conjunction with the conference created a website featuring examples of nonviolence from around the world: http://nonviolentweapons.com.

Wise Fool New Mexico

Speakers for the conference poured in from around the country, most notably Minnijean Brown-Trickey, one of the Little Rock Nine and one of Martin Luther King, Jr.’s followers from p Minnijean Brown-Trickey hugs Tanya Tawengwa ’10, Zimbabwe, during the question-andanswer session following her presentation. “You can do anything,” Minnijean affirmed, “and a young age. Brown-Trickey was one of nine African American you have a smile to die for!” students to attend Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas, after a Supreme Court ruling ended segregation in public schools around impersonator, attended and presented workshops on his use of nonviothe country. The Governor of Arkansas sent military troops to prevent the lent weaponry. More than 300 people from Las Vegas, Santa Fe and benine students from entering the school, but President Eisenhower overyond participated in addition to the campus community.

p Puppets created by Wise Fool New Mexico. Wise Fool New Mexico ran a puppetmaking workshop at the Choose Your Weapon Summit, demonstrating how anyone with a little cardboard, masking tape, and wheat paste can create fun and powerful art to communicate about important community issues.

rode that decision, sending federal troops to escort the nine students into the school despite riots and protest. Brown-Trickey lent her energy and K A L E I D O S C O P E

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On Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, participants attended some 35 different workshops discussing a variety of topics from women in Iran to oil and gas drilling in San Miguel County to the use of radical puppetry for theatrical protest. Workshops were interactive and focused on different nonviolent weapons. Many students led workshops, including one led by the Gay-Straight Alliance and another on the use of protest song.

Three students—myself, Luisa Gonclaves ’10, Portugal, and Corrado Minnardi ’11, Venezuela—took the lead on logistical organization of the conference and many more helped out to make it a success.

Going beyond ideals of nonviolence, the conference represented for UWC-USA a new bridge of connections to like-minded organizations and people in New Mexico. Sponsor Naomi Swinton, Director of UWCUSA’s Bartos Institute, said she hopes the conference planted the seeds of many future collaborations and community events leveraging the resources and energy of UWC-USA students: “It was exciting to achieve this level of partnership and see that so many people are excited to learn about alternatives to violence and proven methods for social change.

For more information about the Bartos Institute for the Constructive Engagement of Conflict, contact Naomi Swinton at nswinton@mac.com.

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Shelter from the Storm Rosie Lopez Rio Gallinas School Reading Specialist & Board Member for the Samaritan House Cold Weather Shelter The Samaritan House mission declares: “Meeting needs; empowering In addition to the Cold Weather Shelter, UWC students have assisted our community.” The Samaritan House expanded on this mission when, with the Samaritan House Thrift Store on Legion Drive. They sort clothon November 23, 2008, it opened an overnight Cold Weather Shelter for ing, wait on customers, help recycle clothing, and size clothing on the the homeless and people in emergency situations. Housed in alternating racks. If you have never watched 10 to 15 teens converge on an area that church accommodations, this shelter was operated for the winter from is to be moved and sorted, you cannot imagine how fast the work gets 7 pm to 7 am with over 75 volunteers and serving a variety of guests, ages done. Of course, there are comments of “look at this!” or “you’d look cool 19 to 77. Community volunteers in that,” as they playfully make the operated two shifts, supplemented UWC students provide empathy, but as only chore fun. by student and faculty help from UWC students’ commitment to youth can do, in a practical and caring way.

UWC-USA, New Mexico Highhelping those in need goes belands University, and Luna Comyond the hours of service they put munity College. Every evening an average of between eight and twelve in. Listening to students chat, play dominoes, or watch a video with those people were provided with a warm meal, a cot or mat, and breakfast the who are homeless and live on the street, people who not only need a next morning. Some families were stranded because of vehicle problems, warm meal and a place to sleep but also need personal contact and underlack of cash, or other reasons, and Samaritan House provided food for standing, is heart-warming. UWC students provide empathy, but as only them and paid for motel accommodations. youth can do, in a practical and caring way. Alex Van Wyhe, a first-year This winter the Cold Weather Shelter opened November 21, 2009 and is currently housed at the United Presbyterian Church. We are open from 6 pm until 7 am. We are also working at renovating a building so we will have a permanent facility. The Cold Weather Shelter has worked on helping solve some of the problems individuals have had to confront. Among many other services, we have provided assistance for a family to return to Roswell, a stranded man with a bus ticket to Florida, a train ticket to Missouri for a young man without work and no way to get back home, and families involved in car accidents or with vehicle problems. By trying to assist those who are stranded, we have kept our numbers for the shelter down—we have housed between four and seven people a night this winter. One man has gone to detox and two more are in the process of completing the requirements for a detox program. We have also helped several chronically homeless individuals to find permanent housing.

UWC student from Alaska, speaks to this empathy as he talks about his commitment to this service: I’ve been volunteering at the cold weather shelter for the past month about once a week, and even in that short time I have come to regard this project as the most important one that I am involved in at UWC. The relationships that I’ve developed with other volunteers, classmates, and especially the men [at the shelter] that are ‘usuals,’ have been so important to me. Every week I look forward to this great opportunity and I look forward to my continued involvement in the Cold Weather Shelter in the next year and a half.

For more information about the Samaritan House or the Cold Weather Shelter, contact Vince Howell at vincehowell@yahoo.com.

The Cold Weather Shelter is currently supported by local contributions from churches, civic groups, and UWC-USA. The City of Las Vegas has recently made a commitment to assist the Cold Weather Shelter, and foundation grants will also be helping to sustain the shelter. Food donations from Rio Gallinas School and local restaurants, as well as a canned food drive held by the student group at Luna Community College, help to keep a warm meal ready for those who use the shelter.

RECENT UWC-USA STUDENT SERVICE PROJECTS

Fundraisers also keep the shelter going. We had a large fundraiser put on

by UWC-USA students in January 2009. The Montezuma Castle was a flurry of activity as students prepared foods from their native countries, ran booths such as picture taking and belly dancing, and ran both a silent auction and a live auction. At the fundraising event, Good Samaritan Awards were presented, honoring eleven local individuals and couples who have made a difference in the community, including former UWCUSA employees Pat and Cordell Halverson, and Bob and Pat Amai.

UWC-USA students constructed posters, printed tickets, and worked diligently to make the fundraiser the success that it was. This year, our major fundraiser was the Black Tie-Blue Jeans Charity Ball at the Plaza Hotel. UWC-USA students again designed and printed posters and tickets although they were on their winter break at the time of the ball.

Adaptive Skiing

Additional opportunities for extended community service are offered on Project Weeks. Recent Project Weeks have included:

Austin Refugee Caritas Int’l and Texas After Violence Copper Canyon Cultural Exchange Los Angeles Homelessness Madrean Sky Ecological Conservation Mideast Peace Summit Native Non-Native Youth Exchange New Mexico Homelessness No More Deaths US – Mexico Border Northern New Mexico Local Food US – Mexico Border Trip Wise Fool May Day Community Art Action

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My Night with the Homeless Hadiya Jones ’11 USA - Kentucky You hear of the homeless. You see them holding their signs and beging from alcohol withdrawal. It was then that I realized there was more ging for money. You call them hoboes and wonder why they cannot keep to him than just being homeless. themselves off the street. You look down on them, and rarely ever think about their I saw him after he woke up from his flashback and all he could mutstories, their past, their history. UWCter was, “I’ve killed so many people … so many people.”

USA has allowed me to experience many new things, from meeting people from all over the world to hiking down the Grand Canyon. However, it has been That night I learned that my job at the Cold Weather Shelter was more the community service aspect of the campus which has made the hugthan just warming up food and answering the door. That night I learned est impact on me so far. Two UWC-USA staff members who also serve so much more, more than any textbook could teach me. That night I on the Samaritan House Board, in collaboration with the churches in talked with a homeless man. I saw first-hand the effects of alcoholism.

Las Vegas, New Mexico, created a Cold Weather Shelter which houses That night I met a man who served two terms in the Gulf War, suffers the homeless throughout the cold winter nights. When I first volunfrom frequent flashbacks, and was kicked out of his house by his family teered to spend the evening at the Cold Weather shelter, I had no idea because of his addiction. He lost his wife and children, for they refuse what to expect. to see him. He lost his job and he does not have a home. He lives on the My job was to answer the doors of the church for potential guests and to street and eats his meals at the local soup kitchen. provide them with food. I felt that my job was simple; it was mindless.

The man is a veteran and obviously suffers from psychological stress from I would have time to read my book and drink tea. My opinion changed his time in the service. I saw him after he woke up from his flashback and quickly. Despite the freezing temperatures that night, the shelter only all he could mutter was, “I’ve killed so many people … so many people.” had one guest. In the beginning he told me and my classmate that he I saw his eyes as one of the other volunteers spoke to him about going was suffering from a slight cold and that all he wanted was something to rehab for his alcohol addiction. I saw the self-defeat, and heard as he warm to eat, and then he was going to bed. We warmed him up a plate continually said, “I can’t do it.” of food, and relaxed.

That night, fiction became reality in my mind, and for this reason I conOur night really started when we went to check on a guest and distinue to volunteer at the Cold Weather Shelter. covered that he was sick. My classmate asked me to alert our faculty $3.7M sponsor. En route I found out that there was a nurse in the church. She overheard our situation and agreed to help. The nurse came out of the room and told us that on top of suffering from a cold, he was also suffer-

U W C - U S A A N N UA L LO C A L S P E N D I N G

Nearby Las Vegas, the seat of San Miguel County, was established in 1835 by a group of settlers who received a land grant from the Spanish government. Las Vegas was a stop on the Santa Fe Trail, which brought trade and growth to the community. In 1846, General Stephen Watts Kearny claimed New Mexico as US Territory from the rooftop of a building on the Old Town Plaza, and in 1879, Las Vegas became the first railroad stop in New Mexico.

Today, Las Vegas enjoys beautiful architecture and a rich history. The city is a frequent film location, and many artists and nature enthusiasts have settled in the area. Las Vegas has a population of just over 15,500 (US Census Bureau data 2008), and the median household income in San Miguel County (first quarter, 2008) was $30,073 (Las Vegas-San Miguel Economic Development Corporation).

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$1.1M

$498K

$354K $100K

Local vendors

NM vendors

Capital Expenses

Student Spending

$50K Employee Spending

UWC-USA Business Office estimates, New Mexico Workforce Connection 2008, and Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce 2008

COMMUNITY SNAPSHOT

Summer Programs Participant Spending

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Building Community Rena Sapon-White ’10 USA - Oregon The sun is making its ascent over the foothills that backdrop Montezuma Castle. The campus is distinctly quiet, save for five Saturday morning warriors, evading the warmth of dorm blankets to brave six hours of restoring

tion, Habitat for Humanity and volunteering at the annual literacy fair. Workcrew offers me a unique opportunity to get involved in the broader community.

I am consistently struck by the dedication the school’s After an arduous week of academics, it is rewarding to projects have garnered in the community of Las Vegas. At the Cold Weather Shelter, you can walk in and see UWCbe able to give something back to our neighbors in the USA students working side by side with a local plumber to install a toilet, or with a carpenter, from the carpentry busiLas Vegas and Santa Fe area. ness down the street, to assemble cabinets for supplies.

With the isolation of the school’s campus, it is reassuring the Cold Weather Shelter in Las Vegas, New Mexico. Paint splattered pullto see the smooth and eager integration of students with members overs and worn Levi’s are their uniforms. They are armed with trowels, of the community. On various days, I have sorted dozens of bags of brushes, and paint, prepared for a long day of sanding and scraping. clothing and linen donations for the shelter, put together a steel fence, I have often taken part in these morning rituals of Community Workcrew, and learned to plaster a wall. Although the appeal of sleeping in runs UWC-USA’s outreach labor service. Some of the best memories of my strong, the satisfaction of painting a bookcase or delivering a space UWC experience have had their genesis during a long session of Work heater is insurmountably stronger.

Crew. The day I spent arranging stones and weeding the circular maze of When we have concluded a day of work, the sense of accomplishment is a community labyrinth remains one of the most inspiring stories—a true prevalent among participants. Whether the group has laid the foundation testament to the power of collaboration. We began with piles of rock and a for a new home or painted the finishing touches on a wall, the success of an tangle of smug thicket. By the end, we had conquered the jungle of weeds excursion is measured in turpentine paint fumes and dozing students on and created a place for natural meditation in the broader community. the bus ride home.

After an arduous week of academics, it is rewarding to be able to give something back to our neighbors in the Las Vegas and Santa Fe area. I have been lucky to participate in church and shelter restora-

For more information about Community Workcrew and current projects, contact Sharon Seto at sharon.seto@uwc-usa.org.

Sharon Seto

q Peter Smith ’10, USA - MA, Marc Figueras ’10, Spain, Derek Kief ’10, USA - MA, and Kiki Joubert ’09, USA - MA install a ceiling in a Habitat for Humanity house in Santa Fe.

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Mind the Gap Elizabeth Morse Director of Development Economic downturn. Financial crisis.

Unemployment. Tightening belts.

The last few years have been rough for many of us, and we’ve had to be more careful in our spending. Some may assume that UWC-USA, because of the tremendous support of Armand Hammer, Shelby Davis, and others, is getting along fine and doesn’t need the financial support of its broader base of donors.

MIND THE GAP

Not true.

The financial health of UWC-USA can be thought of as a roller-coaster ride through the school’s 27-year history. In the early days of the school, Dr. Hammer provided very generously for nearly all of the needs of the campus, its people, and its programs. As a result, there was little need to develop an annual fund or spend a great deal of energy on cultivating philanthropic support of the school. After his death, the Armand Hammer Trust continued to provide significant funds for the school, though these funds did not cover all annual operating expenses, and the school had several years of belt tightening and operating deficits.

Dr. Philip O. Geier III became president of UWC-USA at a time of economic hardship and began to seek new donors to fill the gap between the Hammer Trust and the annual need. Dr. Geier focused his time and energy on raising money for the school. He met Shelby Davis, and a new era began at UWC-USA. Mr. Davis’s generosity resulted in capital improvements, including the restoration of the historic Montezuma Castle, a far larger endowment, new facilities such as the Lansing Field House, and merit-based scholarships for US students.

Because of Davis’s support and Davis-inspired philanthropy, the school shifted from a more tuition-based revenue model to offering greater scholarship support, which allowed greater cultural and economic diversity of its student body. This was an extraordinarily positive step in fostering the school’s mission.

We need even more alumni support, along with the support of parents, grandparents, and friends in order to see us through this transition— growing from an institution reliant upon the Armand Hammer Trust to one solidly supported by a broad, deep, and loyal donor base.

To be a part of our donor base, or to learn more about ways you can contribute to UWC-USA, contact Tim Dougherty, Vice President for Advancement, at tim.dougherty@uwc-usa.org, or Elizabeth Morse, Director of Development, at elizabeth.morse@uwc-usa.org.

THE IMPENDING GAP Armand Hammer Trust Income for FY 2009 21% Endowment Income, Annual Philanthropic Contributions, National Committee Contributions, Summer Programs Income

A COMMUNITY OF SUPPORT Recent Donors to UWC-USA

Current Challenge

452 International Donors 22%

Armand Hammer and Shelby Davis built wonderful foundations, but viable institutions that are sustainable in the long-term have broad bases of ongoing support. This is all the more crucial due to two new challenges: • The recent downturn in financial markets has affected the school’s endowment income, from which it had previously drawn 40-50% of its annual budget.

• The Armand Hammer Trust, which served the school so well for many years, will be exhausted by 2013. The school will lose this annual funding of $2.25 million, over 20% of its annual operating budget.

In the next few years, the school needs to fill the gap left by these revenue sources. UWC-USA alumni have begun to step up to this challenge and are giving in greater numbers and amounts than ever before, but given the relative youth of both the institution and its alumni (the oldest are in their mid-40s), it may be a challenge to stabilize the school’s financial situation.

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1634 US Donors 78%

143 San Miguel County Donors 35% (of NM)

406 New Mexico Donors 25% (of US) 7

Phenomenal Women Shruti Korada ’10 USA - Connecticut

I was deeply excited to sign on to the yearlong commitment when I was chosen by my second years in May 2009. Phenomenal Women seemed like the perfect service opportunity: mentoring adolescent girls in Las Vegas, creating for them an afterschool program that would inspire them. At first I believed that solely by spending a couple of hours with the preteens each week, I would open up a world of opportunities to them.

Daisy Trudell-Mills, a 5th grader at Rio Gallinas School, shares her enthusiasm and tells us “Phenomenal Women has been a great experience. It is enlightening and often gives me a sense of clarity. I personally think that every girl should be a part of this group!” Sometimes, it takes me by surprise that the girls are always so enthusiastic to see us. But in voicing my thoughts to my peers, and hearing their similar responses, I realize that change and impact come in small ways. Ways that may not immediately recognizable. Phenomenal Women mentor Yu “Phenomenal Women has been a great experience. be Mei Lay He ’10, Chile, comments, “It’s an interesting experience It is enlightening and often gives me a sense of clar- that reminded me of the girls in my country, who usually do not ity. I personally think that every girl should be a part have the privilege of living in a caring household, which makes me question whether an afternoon per week with them solves the of this group!”

—Daisy Trudell-Mills root of their problems.”

Tara Trudell

Continuing the activity over these two semesters has also conPhenomenal Women is a mentoring program run in Las Vegas, New Mex- stantly reminded me of one thing: as students of the UWC movement, ico. Each Wednesday afternoon, a group of nine second-year UWC-USA we must remember that we are here to learn. These two years are filled girls ride to Rio Gallinas School to meet with girls who are between 10 and with experiences that we take from, and apply in the future. My time at 15 years of age. Half of us spend time with the younger girls, half with an older group. It is up to us to plan the weekly activities—everything from body image workshops to origami sessions to holiday baking days. Through these activities, we get to know more about each of the girls week after week. The intimate setting, where each member is there voluntarily, makes for a relaxed atmosphere that serves as a departure from daily academics and gossip.

Being a member of the community service has been a unique experience, highly varied from the other work I have done in Las Vegas during my time at UWC-USA. Working with the younger group of girls, I notice that the conversation perpetually stays lighthearted and energetic. We always begin the afternoon in a circle, opening the floor to whoever wants to talk. This usually results in a wild display of karaoke, an impassioned poem, or a summary of the daily drama.

Still, many times I leave the school feeling uninspired, wondering if I have made any real difference. After all, how significant can two hours a week be, when other influences surround p Daisy Trudell-Mills, 5th grader at Rio Gallinas School the girls the rest of the time? My peer, Katie Wiebke ’10, USA-North Carolina says, “I always look forward to Wednesdays Phenomenal Women edifies me just as much as it impacts the girls, and because no matter how tough the first part of the day was, I always return it is up to me to employ this personal growth as a tool for perpetuating from Phenomenal Women feeling better. Working with the younger girls change in the future. has this magical energy about it, perhaps because the girls themselves are so energetic. It is sometimes difficult because they are not as focused, but work- For more information about Phenomenal Women, contact Adriana Botero at adriana.botero@uwc-usa.org ing with them has confirmed the good feelings of helping others.”

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Nourishing Community Sharon Seto Dean of Co-curricular Programs

Photo from the book ONE SMALL FLAME by www.MarkZelinski.com

The UWC-USA Tuesday dinner at the Comunity Soup Kitchen was initiated on September 9, 2008 to augment the existing Thursday meal. The Soup Kitchen is staffed by UWCUSA Registrar Nina Marquez-Johns, community volunteer Carol Durham, UWC students, and many community members. About 30 to 40 people are served every week. Students are

2009 – 2010 This year, UWC-USA students have taken responsibility for organizing the Soup Kitchenbased food pantry and distributing bags of food to needy families twice a month. Students clean the entire kitchen thoroughly, rotate stocks in the pantry, shop for produce, and learn about nutrition and the reasons that people need this kind of service. They also continue to take on increasing responsibility for the planning and execution of meals.

Grants, donations and fundraisers keep the Soup Kitchen going. UWC-USA received a grant that funded the purchase of a commercial stove and hood for the Soup Kitchen. Food is often donated by individuals and local restaurants. However, fundraisers ensure consistently stocked cupboards at the Las Vegas Soup Kitchen, and UWC-USA students also p UWC-USA students from Germany, Mexico, and Spain gather with help to initiate and contribute to fundlocal New Mexican artists and local veterans to work with clay raising efforts to keep the Soup Kitchen and share life experiences. Students and veterans meet weekly to make bowls and clay objects for Empty Bowls, a project to raise going. One recent successful fundraismoney for the local Soup Kitchen and the Cold Weather Shelter. ing event, Empty Bowls, was initiated

by Jen Kim ’10, USA-Pennsylvania who encouraged to sit with the guests to eat, providsays she was inspired by a similar event she ing good conversation along with a warm, nuparticipated in at home. tritious meal. They have been given the opporOver 40 UWC-USA students were involved in tunity to meet and hear many stories from all Empty Bowls. Tickets for the event purchased kinds of people—senior citizens, people with homemade soup and a hand-thrown, locally various disabilities, families who are economimade bowl. UWC-USA student groups, such cally stressed, transients looking for work, and as UNICEF, Pottery, and Soup Kitchen, staffed the homeless. the event. The fundraiser benefitted the SamarUWC-USA students involved with the Soup itan House food programs, as well as the ComKitchen are extremely enthusiastic about the munity Soup Kitchen. Forty-two community project—not only are they learning new skills residents, artisans, and UWC-USA students and meeting new people, but they can see that made and fired their own bowls, donating a they are affecting positive change. Claudia Natotal of 275 bowls to the event. Time and again, gel ’09, Germany, wrote of her experience, “I attendees commented on the energy, sense of sometimes was afraid of just sitting down with service, and goodwill that the students brought people from town, because I was unsure of how to the event. Stacks of dirty cups and bowls and they would react to us. But it never was a probtired, rumpled students were the cumulative lem; they openly accepted us. I learned about effect of the year-long fundraising initiative. the situation of poorer people in Las Vegas, that But the hard work paid off—the Empty Bowls they sometimes even have a job but are still in fundraiser brought in over $4,500 for the Soup need of food, because they are not paid enough.

Kitchen and Samaritan House, and simultaneI also learned something about the social strucously raised awareness among students and ture, because I saw the gender, ethnicity, and community members alike. ages of the guests, contrasting with that of the For more information about the Las Vegas organizers and other helpers, which reflects on Soup Kitchen, contact Nina Marquez-Johns at how privilege is distributed in New Mexico.” nina.johns@uwc-usa.org.

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Alta Vista Hospital Internships Animal Welfare & Shelter Art with Veterans Arts, Crafts & Fun CARE Unit at New Mexico Behavioral Health Institute onstrutive Engagement of C Conflict: Beyond Borders onstrutive Engagement of C Conflict Facilitation Chess Service Children’s Chorus Community Workcrew HIV/AIDS Peer Educators Las Vegas Medical Center Support Montezuma Castle Tours Peace & Justice Center Internships Phenomenal Women Quilting Recycling Rotaract Samaritan House/Cold Weather Shelter Soup Kitchen Special Olympics Basketball Tutoring at Rio Gallinas School Tutoring at Robertson High School Tutoring at West Las Vegas High School UNICEF 9

Beneath an Endless Blue GuoJun Lee ’10 Singapore The section of the acequia we worked on after lunch was the the cows and the horses. There was also a garden not too long ago, but most difficult of all. The silt that had accumulated over the winter the lady who tended to it has moved away. A friend of the school, Mr. Joe stretched nearly from one wall to the next, complying in its softC’ de Baca has over his thirty-some years of association with El Cerrito ness but rendered stickier and many times heavier for its wetness. seen the population of the village dwindle, so that although every spring We would throw a shovelful over the wall and half of it would come rolling back down the side.

The ache in my arms translated to an aching tenderness for the I felt sorry for my classmate Pipe because what I place and the people. The tamales and enchiladas … threw would always land where he was digging.

But along with the motion and the rhythm and the exertion, the sweetest devotion bordering on exhilaration was born within me. We came to a place where an iron brings family and friends back to the acequia with their shovels and timegrille lay across the ditch blocking off our access to the silt beneath honored tradition of working together for the common good, additional it, and I knew that come summer, wherever in the world I might be, help has been required of late to maintain the ditches. Over the phone, I would picture the water flowing through the ditches and wonder Mr. C’ de Baca recalls how impressed he was by the friendliness and digover and over if it was passing well through that very stretch. nity with which we had carried ourselves as helpers in the acequia. He tells me how beautiful it was to see people from the world over uniting in The ache in my arms translated to an aching tenderness for the place the acequia for a common cause; that the world would be so much better and the people. The tamales and enchiladas and a dozen other dishes a place if such things could be happening all the time. from the lunch that the El Cerrito community had prepared were still

warm in our stomachs, the promise of the band that would play at the close of the day a smile across our imaginations.

The New Mexico sky was an endless blue.

Brought to Spain during the Arabs’ occupation of the Iberian Peninsula and later by the Spanish to the American Southwest, the acequia is a community-operated waterway for irrigation that carries river water into fields near and far, and is passed down from generation to generation. In El Cerrito, the water goes to crops grown to feed 10

Arielle Hawney ’08, USA-WA

Arielle Hawney ’08, USA-WA

q Community members & UWC-USA students clean the El Cerrito acequia. Acequia cleaning is an important annual tradition in Northern New Mexico, sustaining community & crops.

Almost a year has passed since we were in El Cerrito. In the high desert of Northern New Mexico, it is winter. I watch from my dorm room window each day the golden light of the morning and evening draw shadows from the cottonwoods of such length they would span the entire winteryellowed field. On particularly warm days, tender young leaves peep out from the chokecherries and the lilacs thinking spring has come, only to turn the brown of fall with the next frost. But eventually spring will come, and with it another round of acequia clearing in rural New Mexico. Ditch U W C — U S A

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A L R E A DY FA M O U S Novels with scenes in the Montezuma Castle and nearby Las Vegas, New Mexico: Child of a Rainless Year Cottonwood Saints Hermit’s Peak The Night Journal Tierra Red

Arielle Hawney ’08 Arielle Hawney ’08, USA-WA

Some of the films made in and around Las Vegas and Montezuma:

p Luis Fernando Sandoval ’10, Mexico, Mia Moisio ’10, Finland, and Chimi Dema ’10, Bhutan, pose with their shovels at the El Cerrito ditch clean up.

days are normally held the first weekend after Easter in El Cerrito, the number of people needed equivalent to the number of acres covered by the acequia. Provided no leaks or collapses occur, it will take 42 or 43 people a full day’s work at this point. Perhaps we will again be among their number.

I remember the walk I took as the evening ripened, singing along the bank of the Pecos River which runs parallel to the acequia. Everyone else was gathered on the lawn, save a man collecting rocks containing a curious yellow mineral, and two ladies sitting deep in conversation on an old pipe. The glow of the setting sun on the river and in the ditch was very beautiful; the ditch was a work of art. The shovel-strokes that had straightened its walls were still visible, and echoing still was what each one represented—the laughter and the befriending as it was made, the blessings for the year from everyone, be it someone living in the village, someone who had left, or someone just passing through, and the soft thumps from people simply and literally diving in wherever they were needed.

We left after the dinner potlatch. I was dozing on the bus, but not without first witnessing the sunset flood the mesas as I soundlessly rolled the words “El Cerrito” around and around on my tongue. The name had started out with the day as a promise of the outdoor work and community I had been craving, but still merely a name, without the lovingly traceable, dust-textured roundness it was to take on for me.

I remember that the band was still playing as we left, waving back to our hosts until they were out of sight.

For more information about acequia clean-up events, contact Sharon Seto at sharon.seto@uwc-usa.org K A L E I D O S C O P E

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All the Pretty Horses Astronaut Farmer Beer for My Horses Blind Horizon Brothers Comanche Moon Convoy Cultivating Charlie Due Date East Meets West Easy Rider The Evil Fanboys The Hi-Lo Country John Carpenter’s Vampires Kites Last Stand at Saber River The Longest Yard No Country for Old Men North Country Not Forgotten Red Dawn Speechless Wild Hogs Wyatt Earp

Habitat for Humanity-Las Vegas & UWC-USA Present:

United Community Day APRIL 17, 2010 8:00 am–4:00 pm UWC-USA soccer fields For more information: Adam Berg at 505-425-6680

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Common Ground Reflecting on Community Tessa Nasca ’11 USA - New York For me, being at UWC-USA has been an incredible experience—the opportunities this school has opened for me are unparalleled. However, one major aspect of UWC-USA that has not quite been what I expected is our involvement in the surrounding community. On both the UWC-USA campus and in the greater Las Vegas area, I believe that we should have a stronger unified effort towards promoting our mission of peace and sustainability community-wide. I asked several members of the UWC-USA and Las Vegas communities to share their thoughts on the matter. Do students consider themselves residents of Las Vegas? Do staff members who live in Las Vegas feel like part of the UWC community? Are the two communities well-connected? These are some of the questions I sought to answer in the following interviews.

Princess Daisy Akita ’10, Ghana Student TESSA: Where do you live?

DAISY: I usually say I live in Ghana. Yeah. I live in Ghana, but I am schooling in the United States.

TESSA: Even though you identify as living in Ghana, do you still feel a connection or a community here in the US? DAISY: At UWC? TESSA: Yes. DAISY: I guess I do feel a connection. I like the fact that I can say hi to anybody and have a pretty decent conversation with people even if they aren’t my best friends. In this place, of course it can’t be the same thing [as a community in Ghana], but I think that on its own, UWC is a special community.

TESSA: Could we do more?

DAISY: We could remind ourselves more of it, and keep it at the back of our minds when we do stuff like the Choose Your Weapon Summit [Fighting Nonviolently Conference] and CAS. But we also need to realize that everyone is tired here, and sometimes people complain a lot. Seriously, if you think of it, we are not making complaining a force to unite people! We are making education a force, so education needs to be emphasized. But for many people, education means different things. For me, in Ghana, things like service, and activity, and creativity are kind of given. Once you are in a community, you help the people in the community, and you do something creative. It’s not so much part of the definition of education. So I don’t think that doing CAS is really education, as compared to other people who are coming from different backgrounds.

TESSA: Do you identify with the Las Vegas community?

DAISY: No, not really.

TESSA: Do you think that you should? Or, I should say, would you like to be more connected to Las Vegas?

DAISY: It would make this place more fun, but I feel that I have to make full use my UWC-USA community. Increasing the quantity would not necessarily make it better. I think what makes a community great is the kinds of relationships you have. I don’t see how increasing my attachments to Las Vegas as a community would help that.

TESSA: As a UWC-USA student do you think we have an obligation to give back to the Las Vegas community?

DAISY: Yes of course, absolutely. We are eating their food and drinking their water and everything else. And I feel that this is a great experience I should be sharing with everyone. If I were in Ghana and I could meet people from all over the world I would love that. And they are sharing their home so I think that gives them the right.

Josephine Maestas Cafeteria Employee

TESSA: Do you see UWC-USA as a community united to follow the mission statement? Or is it more academically focused?

DAISY: Let’s see… mission statement. I’m trying to think. I don’t know if we’re really following the mission statement. In the literal sense we are because what goes on at UWC doesn’t go on elsewhere. Like having people from all over in my classes—you really learn something. So I guess the simple answer is yes, but in some ways I feel we could be better. That shows by the magnitude and amount of conversations we have about whether or not we are following the mission statement.

TESSA: What would your suggestions be—to follow the mission better, or promote it a little more?

DAISY: That’s quite a hard question because, personally, I feel that just by being here we are following the mission statement.

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TESSA: Where do you live?

JOSEPHINE: Las Vegas, NM, near the Plaza.

TESSA: As a citizen of Las Vegas, do you think UWC connects well with the community?

JOSEPHINE: I think so. You guys go out to the churches and the Soup Kitchen and you invite the community here. That’s good.

TESSA: Are there ways in which we can be more involved?

JOSEPHINE: Yes, I think it’s important to [help] the little kids, like in the U W C — U S A

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elementary schools because they are going to have to go to college too.

You guys can tell them your experiences and your ideas. I think you guys can help them a lot.

TESSA: Do you see UWC as being a community? Or just a bunch of individuals studying and living together?

JOSEPHINE: I think we’re like more of a family at UWC-USA. I’m sure it’s hard having to live in this one area, having to get along with everybody, but I think you guys do pretty well. I’ve never really seen any fights or conflicts.

TESSA: Do you think that starting a recycling program would be a good way for the UWC community to connect with the Las Vegas community?

JOSEPHINE: I think so. They really need it out there. We just see so much trash out there, it’s disgusting! And where is all of that trash going to go? In our lungs, in our kids, in the air. It’s not good, it’s not healthy.

You could get involved with middle schools and elementary schools and start recycling programs. Pretty soon all of Las Vegas would be doing it.

All of the schools would be doing it, all residents would be doing it, you know? And it would save a lot of waste.

TESSA: Do you feel like part of the UWC community?

GuoJun Lee ’10, Singapore Student

JOSEPHINE: Oh yeah.

TESSA: Our mission statement is “UWC makes education a force to unite peoples, nations, and cultures for peace and a sustainable future.”

Do you think this community unites to do this? Or do you think there could be more of a drive?

TESSA: Where do you live?

GUOJUN: Do you mean where right now?

JOSEPHINE: More. I think the students—especially being international students—can teach a lot of people in Las Vegas about life elsewhere in different parts of the world. A lot of people here don’t realize about what goes on out there.

TESSA: Well, I guess I mean wherever you identify with. It can be more than one place.

TESSA: Do you have any more comments on the connection between the UWC and Las Vegas communities?

JOSEPHINE: I think that everything goes well here, especially the way you guys go out there to shop—things like that. It’s kind of hard to say, because in my last interview they asked me what I would change here.

I guess I wouldn’t change anything. I would just add things. Like an amusement park I said, or like some type of activity. You guys are out on the weekends and you have nothing to do and sometimes you can’t get to town so you need something here to do. Something like games, or a game room or something—because you’re teenagers! You can’t work all the time.

GUOJUN: I guess I can say either where my heart lies, or in the universe.

TESSA: Do you feel well-connected to the Las Vegas community?

GUOJUN: I feel connected in terms of an emotional connection. I think of them a lot and when I walk the streets, I like to talk to strangers and have random conversations with people, and I really enjoy that. In that sense I feel very connected. At the same time, with each time I talk to people, I get a new insight into what life is like for people in Las Vegas, so I think that there is a lot more to learn.

TESSA: I know that you are interested in sustainability. Do you think that we should give up more luxuries for sustainability?

TESSA: Do you feel like UWC is a community?

JOSEPHINE: I think that there should be a lot of changes in the kitchen.

A year or two ago we had trays that used a lot of water. But last year we were trying to use trays with little portions for each kind of food. I think we should use those types of trays because it would eliminate a lot of food waste; people just pile food up right now. This was a big issue for a while; we should we get rid of plates and just use trays. Then we wouldn’t have all those little plates.

TESSA: Do you find that the UWC community and the Las Vegas community interact well with each other?

Also, another change we could make is eliminating those little packets of ketchup. [We could] order a box or two a month for expeditions and pack lunches, but we should get pumps. They are simple things to wash by hand. I think pumps would eliminate costs and waste.

I also find so much in the compost that doesn’t get eaten—don’t waste fruit! I try [to waste less] with that compost—I put coffee grounds and salad clippings in there. I think it’s really good that you guys are doing that here. I wish that Las Vegas was more into doing stuff like that. Or even just recycling. We should have some kind of recycling place, somewhere, where we can put our plastics and stuff. Right now we have to pay the dump and it’s like $40. I came from Phoenix, and we recycled everything, but they don’t do that much in New Mexico

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GUOJUN: Yeah, I would think so.

GUOJUN: Well, we do have regular means of interaction through CAS, but sometimes I feel like people are not really taking the initiative to interact. For example, I have had long discussions, sometimes among groups of people who criticize the IB curriculum and how some people think it takes time away from us going into the community and interacting, but I feel as though the deepest interaction is always a very personal connection.

So however many activities the school organizes as a group, its still up to the individual to make personal connections. So for now, we do have many good connections, but it could be better. It’s up to personal initiative.

TESSA: Do you think UWC-USA is just an academic community or a community dedicated to its mission statement?

GUOJUN: Do you mean right now, or how I want it?

TESSA: I guess we’ll say how you feel right now, then how you want it.

GUOJUN: Right now, to be very honest, I think our mission statement definitely could be explored more. Today I was in a conversation where I was voicing some concerns about not being able to finish assignments because I was doing something that would have a greater impact on the 13

rest of community and I was told to be clear about priorities. And the “priorities” definitely meant homework, academics, and grades. For me, it is just not my priority to focus on something that just affects me, something that is just this number that is attributed to me personally. I know that this mindset I previously mentioned is very rampant. A lot of people— because of their grades, which I know are very important and I really respect how important it is to different people for their own reasons—a lot of people feel that there is nothing much more than academics, and people encourage them to think that it is the most important thing. I find it very sad. Besides academics, there are other ways we can connect with each other. We gravitate towards people who maybe think the way we do.

Or sometimes I think we are just trying to reinforce the image people see of ourselves. Or sometimes we are in conversations and we don’t bother to try to make what we say relatable to everyone else who holds different opinions. I think those are all things we can work on.

TESSA: So do you think that you have any ideas of how the UWC-USA community can work closer with the Las Vegas community?

GUOJUN: A great part of my answer would be what I mentioned just now, making personal connections wherever you go. Even taking the currently existing options and using those chances to go out and explore the community. Community Workcrew really works, and people who work at homeless shelters, who help to build homes, and who help to clear the acequias when spring comes—all of these people really have the option to form personal connections.

Tim Crofton Faculty, Theatre Arts TESSA: Where do you live?

TIM: I would say I live in Montezuma, but I’ve lived in loads of other places as well.

TESSA: As a faculty member at UWC-USA, do you see the school as being a community or just a collection of individuals living and studying together?

TIM: It has communities in it, but I think it struggles to operate as a single community.

TESSA: Why do you think this is?

TIM: I think there are a few components. One is that the structures at the school don’t promote community. In fact, often they sort of break it down. Examples of that might include having two levels of campus [upper and lower campus], having dedicated space for every single activity rather than having shared space, and being constantly distracted by needing to attend to IB assignments rather than discussing issues of broad-based community concern. We very rarely meet in any significant way as a whole group. I think that if you want community, you have to create an environment that promotes community. I also don’t think community happens just by chance. You have to create vehicles to make that community happen. I am a great believer that it doesn’t matter what we do together, we just need to find things that will share our collective skills and perspectives. If we do this, it becomes no longer 14

about the individual, but about the success of the collective project. I hear that community is what is desired, but I don’t see the structures in the organization facilitating and promoting that desire. I think it is important to define what community is, though. I think what you are alluding to is the idea of a campus-wide community. We often have smaller communities within UWC-USA, but we very, very rarely experience community as a whole campus.

TESSA: In regards to the greater Las Vegas community, do you think that we, as a UWC, share a strong connection with the Las Vegas community?

TIM: It is definitely getting stronger, but there is a lot more progress to be made. For me, there is often the perception that Las Vegas is there to serve our needs and the needs of the International Baccalaureate rather than UWC-USA being a shared resource for both students and Northern New Mexico. Often there is a slightly paternalistic approach to interacting with Las Vegas. It often seems like we are coming in to “save” Las Vegas rather than asking what we can do together.

TESSA: Let me ask, what do you think about the Choose Your Weapon Summit [hosted by UWC-USA in conjunction with Rio Gallinas Charter School and the Las Vegas Peace & Justice Center]? Was that a step in the right direction?

TIM: Absolutely, yeah. It was a prime example of creating good community. We said, here is an issue, everyone is openly invited to contribute in any capacity they would like to, whether it be as a participant, a workshop host, an activist—any way they could contribute. So it didn’t become about any one particular individual’s agenda, but about the community agenda; about contributing whatever you can to making a single event happen. If you did that same activity in a different community, a completely different project might evolve. But the point is—you are using your collective resources to create a sense of unity. I think it is a good model; there isn’t a sense of paternalism. It’s equal because everyone in the community had something to offer rather than UWC-USA taking on a role of instructing Las Vegas.

TESSA: Do you have other suggestions for how we could connect with Las Vegas and Northern New Mexico?

TIM: What I am going to advise, sadly, will probably never happen, but I think the structure that we use for classes and for learning is a rather archaic one. Ultimately I think that by compartmentalizing each subject, you create a form of isolation. If we make learning more focused on the know-how required to fulfill particular projects, like experiential learning or expeditionary learning, both very Kurt Hahnian ideals, we can achieve considerably more. Again, I think we have a structure which doesn’t promote the creation of large-scale community projects.

We need to have the daring to break out of this constricting traditional structure. Currently, we have very little time for community focus because we are distracted by a time-consuming, isolating, compartmentalizing approach to learning. My dream case-scenario would be to get rid of the IB and get into something similar to what is done at Rio Gallinas [School], which is expeditionary learning. Say, for instance, our project might be to make our campus self-sufficient in terms of energy and food consumption. All of our know-how, skills, and experience could go into a collective project. It would be integrated and interdisciplinary— you would learn your mathematics, your English, your language, your community building through the project rather than sitting in a classroom mechanically learning each of your six subjects separately. I have U W C — U S A

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always felt that it is far more realistic in regards to the real world. An analogy that I like to use is this: when I fix my car, I don’t do the math bits, then the English bits, then the physics bits. It’s holistic. And I think learning should be holistic. By definition, if it is, it can be a powerful tool for community building, too.

TESSA: If we were to take this approach, would this community building just be within UWC-USA or should it extend to the greater community?

TIM: I don’t think community should just be limited to the campus. It should extend to Las Vegas. Las Vegas businesses, Las Vegas churches, Las Vegas schools. Everybody should be involved. It should not just be us operating with a sort of disconnect [ from Las Vegas]. And if you have a curriculum that is taking up 80% of students’ time, you have the wrong structure. If you want an outcome, you have to give yourself the resources to facilitate that outcome, not to make it impossible or frustrating. There is a disconnect between what we want and how we go about getting it.

Upon reflection of these interviews, I believe it is time for us to get more involved in the Las Vegas community. Though my peers and fellow community members do see the good we already doing, there is always room to forge a much stronger bond. UWC-USA is unique in all the resources it has to offer—its gifted students from all corners of the world have so much to give to Las Vegas and, likewise, Las Vegans have so much to teach us. I think that we so often forget this fact. At times, we become somewhat enamored by our diversity and our community and thus fail to see how essential it is to listen, live, and learn from the people of our New Mexican community.

It is time to stop focusing so much on where we are from and instead think of where we are. Let’s make this school, this place, and this town the best we possibly can. It’s time to become Las Vegans, New Mexicans, and UWCers all at once, but more importantly, it’s time to build something where the distinctions between these things need not be so sharply defined.

Community Data

CO M M U N I T Y PA R T N E R S :

UWC-USA Campus Annual uses and student hours logged

21st Century Afterschool Programs Acequia Associations: El Cerrito and Villanueva, North and Main Alta Vista Regional Hospital

500 visitors on tours

1400 guests

Amnesty International Chapter 463 Association of American University Women

Montezuma Castle

Dawn Light Sanctuary

Casa de Cultura

5250 event attendees

City of Las Vegas Recycling Program

Kluge Auditorium

Community Soup Kitchen Habitat for Humanity (Las Vegas and Santa Fe)

4000 community members attend athletic events

Las Vegas Animal Shelter Las Vegas City Schools Las Vegas Peace & Justice Center

Athletic Field

Las Vegas Rotary Club Luna Community College Mora Schools

27 servicelearning opportunities

240 hours

500 hours

Cold Weather Shelter

sustainability/recycling

New Mexico Behavioral Health Institute – CARE Unit New Mexico Department of Health Northern New Mexico Literacy Council Old Mission Church Taskforce Roots and Shoots

200 students participate in community svcs.

Las Vegas Old Town Plaza

1400 hours community service

Samaritan House West Las Vegas Schools Wise Fool New Mexico Youth Media Project

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Action for Education Naomi Swinton ’89 Director of the Bartos Institute for the Constructive Engagement of Conflict The Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) Foundation of New Mexico awarded an educational outreach grant of $15,000 to UWC-USA for the Las Vegas –UWC-USA Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) Service Learning Partnership. The LANL Foundation grant supports UWC-USA implementation and development of after-school programs for Las Vegas youth. These programs include a collaborative FIRST LEGO Robotics team competition, and a pilot learning-lab/college-prep program for Las Vegas middle school and high school students and teachers, in conjunction with UWC-USA students and teachers.

To complement this award, Alumni Council member Mark Hodde ’89 has facilitated the donation of several hundred thousand dollars worth of new books, games and manipulatives focusing on literacy and math skills. These materials will be utilized with local youth groups and educational partnerships to enhance math and language learning in afterschool programs. Currently UWC-USA students are helping to create a curriculum and design a distribution and tracking system to make best use of the donation.

math and applied sciences ensures a practical application, with the following goals: • 20% improvement on AYP math and science results for Las Vegas participants • Improved tutoring, communication and team-work skills among UWC-USA participants • Increased skills as measured by entry and exit student and teacher surveys • At least 50% of the Las Vegas youth participants will gain assistance to move from ‘underachieving’ to performing at or above grade level • Strong partnerships among participant schools • Participation in national FIRST Robotics and Lego competitions

For the past several years UWC-USA students have worked with local youth to help them prepare for their AYP and other annual standardized tests required for graduation. They have also been involved in local, state and national science fairs and math competitions, including Science Bowl, ACTSO, Science Olympiad and the UNM/PNM Math ComThe Las Vegas-UWC-USA STEM Service Learning Partnership will enpetition. Last year we began work to participate in a national robotics hance our current afterschool tutoring program and provide for greater competition. Recently our student peer-health educators were invited collaboration and educational impact for local youth. An emphasis on to present at the National Service Learning Conference. q Rio Gallinas students and teachers gather around one of the robot obstacle courses at the New Mexico State’s

Robin Castell ’10, Germany

First Lego Competition.

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Our mission and our students’ skills and interests are a good match for the LANL Foundation’s education outreach funding priorities because our students bring exceptional energy and mentoring skills combined with a real valuing and understanding of the importance of education to their peers in Las Vegas. By creating more opportunities for collaboration focused on STEM skills, UWC-USA and Las Vegas youth will be able to enhance their learning and achieve mutual goals that can have a life-long impact. Local teachers and students tell us that our tutoring programs make the value and purpose of education come alive for local students and that our students provide strong role models for local youth.

If you have expertise in STEM education and would like to assist with this partnership, contact Sharon Seto at sharon.seto@uwc-usa.org or Naomi Swinton at nswinton@ mac.com.

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Smart Moves Robots and Drunk-Driving Robin Castell ’10 Germany needed it to do at least a few obstacles on the playfield. In the end, the robot didn’t perform that well, but what these three kids learned in 30 minutes about programming and teamwork outweighed the results by far.

In these meetings, the kids not only learned to work with the legos but also started to prepare for a local competition. The competition was split into two separate challenges.

The first one was to develop, build, and program a lego robot that would fulfill certain tasks on a predetermined playfield. The kids worked in small groups and created a robot that would later become the linchpin of the group. The second challenge was to prepare a presentation about a movement problem. Rio Gallinas students came up with countless ideas but what struck them the most was the problem of drunken driving in their local community. Jesse, one of the kids said, “Drunk driving is a really big p Robin Castell ’10, Germany helps a Rio Gallinas student with the robot obstacle course. problem here in Las Vegas because it does not only endanger the drunken people, but also completely innocent Although our robot only performed satisfactorily, the teamwork and the people.” Then, when Nick [another Rio Gallinas student] started talking group’s drunk-driving presentation in the Smart Move Challenge overabout a recent car crash in which two people had been killed due to drunk whelmed the judges, and secured the third-place trophy, thus qualifying driving, the group was clear that that would be our challenge. Not only did the robotics team for the Tri-State Robotics Competition. The disenchantthe group come up with devices in cars that would prevent people from ment about placing 17th out of 22 overall, was outweighed by far with the driving drunk, but we created a presentation focused on the use of these pride in our hard work and a competitive spirit for next year’s Robotics devices as preemptive education.

Competition. The drive home was a party where pizza, sweets, third-place After getting up at 5 am on the day of the competition and meeting with the kids at the bus at 6 am, we were on our way. During the bus drive my co-years and I did our last coaching before arriving in Santa Fe, where the challenge took place. When we got there, the time started to speed up.

Not only the kids but also we, the coaches, were super excited. After the opening we were given about one hour (which felt like five minutes) to go through last improvements for our first challenge for the movement presentation. We used this hour to finalize our educational play—we still had lines to learn and a cardboard house to paint.

in the Smart Move Challenge, and general enthusiasm let the morale fly through the space. The First Robotics program has been and will be a great learning experience not only for Rio Gallinas students but also for UWC-USA students.

When we had mastered our play we had to deal with our biggest problem at the competition, the holy grail of the group, the robot. The robot was still in a developing phase and needed all kinds of work. The robot was the piece that worried everybody in the group. It was completely built and we

For more information about the First Robotics program at Rio Gallinas, contact Sharon Seto at sharon.seto@uwc-usa.org or Rick Mobbs at rickmobbs@gmail.org.

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Rio Gallinas students involved in the First Robotics Team named their group “Team Fawaz” in memory of one of their first coaches from UWCUSA, Fawaz Lukman, who passed away unexpectedly last fall. Fawaz was very enthusiastic and dedicated to the robotics team, and the students hope to continue to honor him and his name at future robotics events.

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Photo courtesy of Robin Castell ’10, Germany

Students at UWC-USA have started a service teaching robotics to kids in the local community, Las Vegas, and have competed in the First Lego League Competition. Apart from the extension of the already well established math tutoring program, my co-year, Daniel Yeboah from Ghana, and I took the initiative to promote robotics at the local Rio Gallinas School. Together with several of our co-years, the science teacher, John Thayer, and many enthusiastic kids, the program was quickly established and weekly meetings started taking place.

It’s Not Easy Being Green Katie Wiebke ’10 USA - North Carolina UWC-USA has recently taken a turn for the best towards the movement for a sustainable future. The past two years mark a significant change in the cultural values towards the environment on our campus, shifting towards awareness and activism. While there is still plenty of room for improvement, the school has developed a growing interest in the issue of sustainability and has implemented the first steps to model change.

Last year, under the initiation of passionate students, we officially abandoned the use of cafeteria trays. We could not have done this without the support of cafeteria manager Matthew Miller, and the entire cafeteria staff who helped us to overcome some of the resistance we experienced. Getting rid of trays reduces food waste, and, more importantly in a desert climate, drastically reduces water use in the dishwasher. While this may seem like a small step, it represented a giant leap towards our shift in values.

Shortly thereafter, the beginnings of a composting system were set in place. A small group of students worked after classes to dig holes behind the cafeteria to be used as composting pits. By the springtime, all organic waste was recycled back into the Earth. This system remains a student-led initiative; each evening a few volunteers take the compost bin out to be emptied into the pits and occasionally on weekends the pits are stirred and aerated by a larger group of students. While the system is still a workin-progress, we have been able to drastically reduce our landfill waste by an average of 35 lbs. per day and at the same time create some desperately needed nutrient-rich soil.

Sustainability is becoming quite an exciting topic here on our campus.

With a third of the student body involved in our Wilderness Program— where we lead teams backpacking through the New Mexican wilderness, emphasizing an appreciation for the natural world—there is without a doubt a strong, campus-wide concern for the future of our environment.

However, the greatest challenge is finding the time in between our hectic academic and CAS schedules to dedicate to this growing concern.

Ben Gillock, our new Environmental Systems and Societies teacher and most passionate sustainability advocate, sums it up nicely: “It is easy to talk about sustainability—we do it every day at UWC-USA. However, talk is not enough—institutional changes are required, and many of them are difficult. As Gandhi said, ‘we must be the change we wish to see in the world.’

At UWC-USA we are slowly, but definitively moving toward that goal.”

As a member of the Sustainability Task Force, these issues are omnipresent in my life here at UWC-USA. I realize I am lucky to be so involved, because despite all that we learn in the classroom, I am sure that I have learned so much more through sustainability work. I’ve learned how to organize an informational meeting, recruit volunteers, conduct a survey, raise awareness, and encourage involvement—all valuable skills that can be applied to making any kind of change!

But it isn’t easy. There have been many, many, bumps along the way, and I’m sure there are more to come. After loads of effort from our entire student body, faculty, and staff in tackling problems, improvisations, and frustrations, I am delighted to say that we now have a functioning composting system in place, one of this year’s major projects. Of course it will forever be improving, but at least we now “recycle” all of our food waste rather than sending it to landfills.

“It is easy to talk about sustainability—we do it every day at UWC–USA. However, talk is not enough—institutional changes are required, and many of them are difficult.” —Ben Gillock At the institutional level, there is the Sustainability Task Force, a small student-faculty coalition led by Facilities Manager (and former Biology instructor) Fernando Mejia, which works to improve all aspects of sustainability on campus. Previous projects have included the changing of all light fixtures to LEDs, the switch to water-reducing toilet flushers, and the installation of automatic light switches.

Most recently, the Sustainability Task Force has begun to plan the construction of a campus greenhouse. Designed by faculty, staff, and students to use recycled construction materials, the greenhouse will represent UWC-USA’s emerging institutional commitment to making sustainability a core part of its curriculum. The humble 12 x 30 passive solar greenhouse will produce some veggies for campus consumption, but its core function will be as an educational resource for life sciences and CAS. Students will have a small space to experiment with personal projects, biology and environmental systems classes will have a small space dedicated to lab investigations, and the community will have the rest of the space for gardening and food production.

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The biggest obstacle for me has not been the continuous work required to set up a proper system, but the difficulty of trying to understand the different perspectives and motivations we all have at UWC-USA on sustainability. I guess I could be considered slightly obsessive when it comes to reducing food waste; I once made someone retrieve the trash they’d thrown into the compost bin (sorry about that).

It’s been hard for me to understand that not everyone else is quite as adamant about reducing waste, composting, or saving heat energy. We aren’t completely ignorant here, but we are not a sustainable example in the community. Just consider water: the school has a permit to use up to 45,000 gallons of water per day (for about 300 people), and we are in high mountain desert. New Mexico gets an average rainfall of 13 inches a year.

The good news is that even though we are not a model “green” community, we are making the changes to acknowledge our need to reduce our environmental impact, and perhaps one day come closer to that ideal sustainable community we strive to be. It is important to remember that we come from very different backgrounds, and in “creating change for a more sustainable future,” we will have very different approaches to the important issues that we hope to change.

For more information about the Sustainability Task Force, recycling, or composting, or the upcoming greenhouse, contact Fernando Mejia at fernando.mejia@uwc-usa.org.

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January 24, 2010

A Family Away from Home Charlotte Benishek ’11 USA - Wisconsin The Get-Away Family Program was started in 1983 and offers an opportunity for UWC-USA students and the families of the greater Las Vegas and Northern New Mexico communities to become acquainted and build ties. Get-Away Families offer UWC-USA students a chance to visit their homes, share a meal, or participate in family trips and events. These opportunities provide students with a chance to learn about US families, and the vast range of diversity and cultures in New Mexico. In turn, the students share their own cultural heritages with local families, and often invite Get-Aways to campus for special events.

“Ray and I have been a Get-Away Family since Hilda Wales began the program with the first graduating class. We had a student named Chang from China and enjoyed him so much.

That first graduation with the Beach Boys playing was a never-to-be-forgotten event! I think having Get-Away students has enriched our lives far more than we have enriched theirs. We have managed to keep in touch with most of them, and have been privileged to visit them or their families in their home countries, attend their weddings, and share their experiences as they go on to college and then find meaningful work to fulfill the lives of service they learned at UWC. We frequently reunite with them when they return for their reunions.

We love seeing the students participate in special events at the college. And we have only missed one or two graduations! I hope we have always made students feel welcome in our house—a little bit of a ‘home away from home.’

UWC has been a wonderful opportunity to bring a little bit of the rest of the world to Las Vegas, and our schools, Girls Scouts, elderly, and many others have been greatly enriched by its presence.

We have been privileged to have had 33 Get-Away students since 1983. Thanks for the opportunity to express our thoughts, and our thanks!”

-Joyce and Ray Litherland, Get-Away Family “My Get-Away mum is Deborah Blanche, one of the most amazing people I’ve met in beautiful New Mexico. She makes me feel like I’m right at home whenever I’m with her.

She’s such a beautiful person both inside and out, and I wouldn’t trade her for the world.”

-Sivhanyaa Kamalanathan ’11, Singapore “It has been one of the only chances I’ve had to take a break from the crazy and busy UWC life. I just have to look at my Get-Away mother’s cute little wooden house and I feel at home and relaxed. My Get-Away mom has definitely broken stereotypes. Although she K A L E I D O S C O P E

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is the same age as my grandparents, she is so active. She volunteers, sends emails to me, bikes everyday and is so active in the community and world around her. On top of this she is the most hospitable person I’ve ever met.”

-Tine Paulsen ’10, Denmark “I suspect my Get-Away dad is MacGyver in disguise” -Bård Drange ’10, Norway “The Get-Away program for me is awesome.

When I go to my Get-Aways I feel like I’m home. In mid October my Get-Away mom cooked me an Ethiopian meal. That was really nice of her. She went to Albuquerque to buy an Ethiopian cookbook and recipes. That is how far she went to make me happy! When I was back home, I thought of US citizens as racist, but I came to realize that’s not true. People are nice here, and most importantly they don’t look down on you because you’re Black. I guess what I realized is that stereotypes are not always true. I’m really glad that I came to see that.”

-Bereket Zekarias ’11, Ethiopia “Words can barely express how dear each one is to me, the meals around the dining table with vegetables from the garden, the chats by the fire in the boisterous company of dogs and cats, preparing breakfast with Mom as she watches through the window my brother help Dad with the hot tub, or getting to know dear New Mexico intimately through our trips and conversations graced always by an overflow of laughter. My Get-Aways make my feeling of being embraced by this place very literal for me, and every visit with them reminds me of the songs I have always sung. The very thought that they live close to campus is comforting to me and I am ever more grateful each time they insist that their doors are always open. We love you, Zelda and Stanley!”

-GuoJun Lee ’10, Singapore For more information about the Get-Away Program, contact info@uwc-usa.org.

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Dear Lisa Darling, We hope our work with UWC-USA is a gift that supports your mission and all the individuals that make it possible, including students, staff, community supporters and yourself. We wholeheartedly support the school and hope to add our own efforts to its long-term success.

While we give to UWC-USA freely, an enormous thanks goes back to all of you.

Our family has gained so much by our involvement. For about 15 years we have had touching and enlightening relationships with our Get-Away students. Each of them has added such depth to our lives.

The myriad of cultural day productions we have attended over the years have given us a broader understanding of the world and a youthful energy that we cherish.

In the past year, each of us has gained a great deal by doing things with your students and staff. Jamie has developed his love of the outdoors and leadership skills with the help of Tom Lamberth and the Wilderness Program and Tim Shaw through the rock climbing CAS. In Las Vegas he has not found another group of young people to share his interest in the outdoors. He has also learned a great deal from your students by helping with Ben Gillock’s class. Lea has loved working with Ben Gillock and his students to not only facilitate their connection with our natural world but also to help the community of Las Vegas better understand the ecological condition of our watershed.

Dave enjoys contributing his design and construction skills to building sustainable communities and lives, including your future greenhouse.

So, a big heartfelt thanks to you and UWC for providing us with such meaningful opportunities. We cherish being involved with your community of caring, loving, and insightful people striving to improve our world.

With Love and Respect,

Dave, Lea, & Jamie Knutson Reprinted with permission from the Knutson family

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Keeping the Course A Graduate’s Commitment to Community Emily Withnall MUWCI ’01 Communications Coordinator, UWC-USA Arielle Hawney ’08, USA-Washington, was named the 2009 Honoree the Las Vegas (NM) Peace & Justice Center to nominate Arielle for the of the Amy Biehl Youth Spirit Award. She received the award during a 2009 Amy Biehl Youth Spirit Award. ceremony in Albuquerque, New Mexico on October 23rd, 2009. The Arielle initiated contact with the Las Vegas Peace & Justice Center in AuAmy Biehl Youth Spirit Award honors youth aged 13 to 26 for their outgust of 2007, during her second year at UWC-USA, by requesting an standing contributions in the public interest. The award is named for internship. She devoted one day a week out of her already rigorous UWCAmy Biehl, a graduate of Santa Fe High School and a Fulbright Scholar, USA course-load to community service with the Center, and she recruited who died in 1993 while working to end apartheid in South Africa. The award honors Amy’s memory and introduces “If we all related to each other from a place of open-hearted service, the world young New Mexicans to would be a beautifully changed place, and it is this potential that I choose to her story, challenging contribute to.”

—Arielle Hawney them to even greater service. The award program is sponsored by New Mexico Voices for Children, an organization fellow classmates from UWC-USA to volunteer at the Center as well. She dedicated to improving the health and well-being of New Mexico’s chilalso chose to spend her 2008 Project Week serving Las Vegas full-time dren and their families. for ten days, wanting to do as much service as possible “to have the best When asked by New Mexico Voices for Children to write, in a single sentence, why volunteer work is important to her, Arielle wrote, “If we all related to each other from a place of open-hearted service, the world would be a beautifully changed place, and it is this potential that I choose to contribute to.” It is this integrity and dedication to service that prompted

Spring Break ever.” Arielle went on to deepen her commitment to the Northern New Mexico community after her graduation from UWC-USA by giving an entire year (2008-09) to full-time community service. When she received a full scholarship to Earlham College, she delayed school for a year, honoring her more immediate calling to spend twelve months volunteering with the Peace & Justice Center.

Makani Nakasone

q Arielle Hawney ’08, USA-Washington receives the 2009 Amy Biehl Youth Spirit Honoree Award, sponsored by the New Mexico Voices for Children.

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ceived. A member of a group called 18-Options, Arielle encouraged young people to consider educational and career opportunities beyond the miliK A L E I D O S C O P E

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For more information about the Las Vegas Peace & Justice Center, contact Pat Leahan at lvpeacecenter@desertgate.com 21

Makani Nakasone

The list of services Arielle participated in and helped to run and coorditary. Arielle helped plan and lead a rally for workers rights in Las Vegas, nate could fill several pages. While it is not possible to mention them all and she was instrumental in forming a group called Community Power, here, it is important to touch on some of them to demonstrate the breadth with the purpose of helping Las Vegas residents work toward becoming a of Arielle’s service, not only to Northern New Mexico, but also statewide. self-sustaining community.

Arielle was chosen by a national election integrity organization to serve as co-coordinator for the non-partisan monitoring of the 2008 election. This community service position involved fielding live calls from voters across the entire state of New Mexico to the voter hotline on Election Day, assisting stressed-out voters throughout the day who called the hotline in need of assistance or advocacy. When the Peace & Justice Center’s Co-Director, Pat Leahan, was offered a weekly radio show, Arielle came up with the name “Community Peace Radio” and helped create the show from the ground up. Serving as co-producer and co-host, Arielle learned about the engineering aspects of radio. She developed the skills necessary to maintain and update the Center’s website. Arielle served as a member of the San Miguel County Detention Center Citizen Advisory Committee, with the goal of improving conditions for the detainees as well as the staff of the jail, including devoting significant time to help write a Taser policy for the facility. Arielle helped to plan and facilitate community forums on police accountability and public safety. She made the front page of the Las Vegas Optic for helping a Las Vegas citizen p Arielle Hawney ’08, USA-Washington congratulates another Amy Biehl Youth Spirit Award nominee. clean up his house after a fire. She eagerly volunteered when needed to help other residents clean up their homes as well, and even Las Vegas Peace & Justice Center Director Pat Leahan, an esteemed comrecruited fellow young people to accomplish some very challenging tasks. munity leader in her own right, speaks of Arielle’s service to the small When Arielle heard that the people of Mora County were beginning to Northern New Mexican community of Las Vegas: organize around saving that pristine region from mineral rights exploita I have never, in all my years, ever worked with anyone, youth or adult, tion, she started attending community meetings and learning what she like Arielle. She is a shining light in the world. She deeply cares. She could do to help. She continues to research the topic, and remains ingenuinely wants to serve, not to “fix” or “help” in a hierarchical kind volved in coordinating similar efforts in San Miguel County. of way, but simply to serve. She seeks no reward or recognition; she is fueled in her work by the inner feeling she gets when she’s serv“She is a shining light in the world. She deeply cares. ing. And she doesn’t even need to see the outcome of her efforts to the reward. She is empowered, and empowers those around She genuinely wants to serve, not to ‘fix’ or ‘help’ in the feel her, myself included, simply by being and doing. If I had to sum hierarchical/power differential kind of way, but simply up, in one sentence, how Arielle has inspired us, I would cite a to serve.”

—Pat Leahan quote that is attributed to Gandhi: “Whatever you do may seem insignificant, but it is most important that you do it.” That’s how Arielle lives and serves. It’s that simple.

Arielle self-initiated a number of projects; if she saw a need, she simply Arielle says the accomplishments are not about one individual or one learned the necessary skills and got the job done. Arielle assisted in formorganization. The focus, she says, needs to stay with the collective. Pat ing a group called United World College Students for Peace and Justice, agrees, yet adds that the community is grateful for Arielle’s contributions, linked them with the New Mexico Highlands University Students for pointing out that, even now as a full-time student at Earlham College, Peace, helped organize peace rallies, and set up a list-serve called “Peace Arielle continues to actively sustain her commitment to her community Train.” With Pat Leahan, Arielle submitted two successful workshop proin Northern New Mexico. posals for the National Peace and Justice Studies Association 2008 annual When asked what she personally finds gratifying in her service with othconference in Portland, Oregon. At the conference, Arielle co-facilitated ers, Arielle says, “As an individual, what I find to be most rewarding … are workshops on the topics of “Alternative Models for Non-Profit Organithe connections and relationships formed through coming together in zations” (Beyond the Non-Profit Industrial Complex), and “New Mexico selflessness. I feel radiant, filled with light, when I connect with another Election Integrity” which focused on the disenfranchisement of Hispanic person in this way, and every time it’s a reinforcement to continue keepand Native American voters in New Mexico. She helped with fundraising ing the course.” for the Peace Center, including co-writing two grants that the Center re-

Alumni Profiles I S S U E H I G H L I G H T: Alumni Community Work

Miguel Herrera ’88, Peru, works for ACCION International, a global pioneer in the field of microfinance. Microfinance is the business of providing small loans to entrepreneurs in order to help them work their way out poverty with dignity. These men and women who typically earn less than $2 a day have few or no alternatives to expand the businesses which they and their families rely on for subsistence. Commercial banks find these loans too small to be commercially viable while loan sharks typically charge inflated interest rates and have very unethical collection practices.

Against this backdrop, ACCION has developed innovative technology enabling specialized microfinance institutions to make these very small loans efficiently enough to provide an appropriate return to their shareholders over and above the social return that is intrinsic to the social mission of these institutions.

“The only way we see this gap being filled is by attracting some of the virtually unlimited private capital sloshing around in the international capital markets,” Miguel says. “My job at ACCION consists of channeling private capital into promising microfinance institutions and helping them scale up significantly with these resources. I currently help manage a portfolio of 13 microfinance institutions in Latin America, Africa and Asia.”

A week later he was coaching an executive on a major re-structuring process. “It was pretty scary,” he reflects, “to meet these people and to anticipate living in residence with them for a week. You have to learn to share. The coaching part, well, I’m a natural. I keep things straight.

You have to basically really listen. People just need to talk.” Tyler now has a place to live, is working, and is selling his poetry with a more thoughtful, business-like approach.

Recently Ian and his colleagues have pushed their project in a new direction, running coaching workshops in the community of Mackenzie, and in the remote First Nations community of Kwadacha. In the future Ian hopes to see a roomful of First Nations elders, RCMP, doctors, nurses, teachers, teenagers, public servants and parents all coaching each other in their leadership practice. Ian, 27 at the time he became involved with The Gemini Project, says “I took a job that had me breathing air well beyond my competency level. I knew these folks were onto something important. I felt a ‘calling’.”

Emeka Dillibe ’93, Nigeria (posthumous), passed away January 18, 2010, from liver cancer. Emeka founded CareProvider.org, an organization that provides training to caregivers for disadvantaged youth. CareProvider.org is described as “a social and human service provider dedicated to strengthening and preserving

Ian Chisholm ’91, Canada, works as a startup specialist for The Gemini Project in Canada. The Gemini Project is founded on the principle that young people from disadvantaged backgrounds have real leadership potential and the capacity to move the community. This project is centered around the concept of dual mentorship, where street kids coach executives, and executives, in turn, coach street kids.

Tyler Hallett, a participant in The Gemini Project, was homeless, living in a tree in a local park, and selling poetry on the streets to pay for food.

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communities, families, youth care, groups, organizations and schools.” Emeka also operated CareProvider Children and Family Services—a human and social services resource centre. With a few dedicated staff and uncommon perseverance, he grew the organization over the past decade to become the highly renowned establishU W C — U S A

ment that it is today. CareProvider was Emeka’s pride and joy, so much so that his wife Chika referred to CareProvider as “first wife” and to herself as “second wife.”

Emeka also employed his gifts in his leisure activities as a successful soccer coach for the U-14 female league in Claremont, California. He was a volunteer for Big Brothers of Greater Los Angeles, and a member of the Covina Sunrise Rotary Club where he served as Director, International Services and played a very active role in rendering humanitarian services. Emeka will be remembered mostly for being a “man of the people.” He had a unique gift for working with the youth, a gift that made his group homes for troubled children quite successful.

Emeka was a selfless and generous spirit, constantly representing and promoting the interests of the defenseless and the voiceless.

Wahome Muchiri ’96, Kenya, is currently managing two online projects in what he calls “a privileged opportunity to act on my convictions in ways that scale and achieve sustainable impact.” Wosociety (www. wosociety.com) is a new online platform that makes it easy to find help for anything you need, or to discover and offer help to anyone.

On Wosociety people can create an online bulletin board to find and offer help: the entrepreneur in London who is building a new venture on a shoestring; the community leader in Tanzania who is pooling resources for a local project; or the student in the highlands of New Mexico seeking opportunities to serve.

Wosociety is committed to the idea that no one should lack or waste resources.

HOSAFA (www.hosafa.com), Wahome’s second project, is an online service dedicated to sharing, learning, and investing in African life worldwide, where people can publish or discover public events in numerous categories. As this platform evolves, it will become a resource for exploring local cultural life and for finding employment, public services, and other opportunities to experience and enhance African life.

Wahome shares, “My UWC experience was a watershed towards discontent and continuous inquiry. It entrenched personal responsibility to shape things as I wish them to be and fueled me with a lifetime of confidence to pursue my convictions against so much inertia in the “real” world. Despite the heavy cost of my /

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entrepreneurial transgressions, I count on an inner voice to remind me just what a privilege it is to act while I can.”

Sebastián Rogelio Ocampo ’97, Argentina, helped to create a group made up of university students called Inti Wayna (“young sun” in Kechua). Inti Wayna observed the need in the province of Tucumán, in Northern Argentina, and in particular in the town of Tafí del Valle, home to many indigenous communities, and sought to find ways to help with issues of poverty, unemployment, loss of rights and land, and the inability to access basic necessities, such as clothing. Responding to this need, Inti Wayna spent a year collecting school supplies, clothing, food, TVs, computers, and sewing machines, and other necessities.

In 2008 and 2009 Inti Wayna travelled to Tafi del Valle, a small indigenous village 1,000 km away, and distributed the items they’d collected. They offered classes covering topics such as health, sexually transmitted diseases, and education about their rights as Argentinian citizens. While they were in Tafi del Valle, they had the opportunity to experience local ceremonies and food, including a ceremony called “Pachamama” (earth mother) that involved offering gifts to the earth. Sebastian reflects, “I remembered all the time my experience at Copper Canyon during Project Week, when we travelled to the Tarahumaras native communities in Mexico. My UWC heart beats stronger when I am part of these kinds of experiences.”

Elian Maritz ’02, USA, has been serving for the past two years as a Peace

Corps Volunteer in El Salvador. She works in the small, rural town of Dolores, where K A L E I D O S C O P E

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she is assigned as a Municipal Development volunteer. Over the course of the two years, Elian has been involved in a variety of different projects, from painting murals of a world map, to helping rural schools obtain computers, to teaching English classes. Elian’s two biggest projects, however, have been her work with a local fishing cooperative and an artisan jewelry group. Elian started her work with local fisherman at the beginning of her service, and has helped them legalize their cooperative. She has recently helped them to acquire boats and motors, an acquisition that will facilitate greater economic independence and development for the town.

The artisan group is made up of unemployed women and youth. Using local materials such as seeds, they design and sell various types of jewelry in their community and in stores in the capital. This project not only helps develop economic opportunities for the women, but also helps to give them a sense of purpose and self-worth. Elian says “The experience of being a Peace Corps volunteer has been incredibly rewarding and interesting. I feel very lucky to have had the opportunity to live in this town and get to know more about the Salvadoran people, who (in my experience) are among the most friendly and generous in the world.”

Elian plans to attend law school in the fall of 2010 and hopes to work in immigration law and policy.

Jerome Axle Brown ’05, USA, volunteered extensively during his four years at John Hopkins University, helping at a local public school, serving on student boards, and establishing a local chapter of Campus Kitchens, an organization that donates surplus food from campus dining halls to homeless shelters. His commitment also spilled into his class work; in his sophomore year, Jerome planned a digital media project that facilitated dialogue between young Israelis and Pakistanis. Studying abroad in India the next year, he used what he had learned from the project to detail three refugee families’ stories of their flight in 2007 from Iraq to India. The families used his report to gain expanded services from the United Nations High Commission for Refugees.

“When I was younger I always thought college was not for me,” Jerome says. “It’s not some2 0 1 0

thing that was instilled in me. What was instilled was survival. We needed to live. We needed to pay the rent.” Jerome, the first in his family to attend college, graduated from John Hopkins in May 2009 and is now living in Washington, DC, working on the staff of the US. Under Secretary of Energy. “I consider my education a gift.

There are so many pieces of it that I am really thankful for; one is just to explore your interests,” Jerome says. “I’m involved in community service and civic work because I get so much out of it. I’ve found my passion.”

Aaron Bos-Lun ’07, USA, is currently a student at Wheaton College in Norton, MA. The year following his graduation from UWC-USA, Aaron served in the AmeriCorps national service program in Washington DC, immersing himself in running a weekend service-learning program for middle school students to learn about social issues and perform community service. He was also involved in elementary school assistant teaching, tutoring, teenage mentoring, and Spring Break Camps for elementary school children.

Aaron spent the summer of 2009 as an intern at the Amy Biehl Foundation Trust, an NGO in Cape Town, South Africa which seeks to “weave a barrier against violence” by running programs for thousands of township youth.

During his internship, Aaron taught English to 6th graders at Imbasa Primary School, worked at the Foundation’s holiday camps for township youth, and facilitated an HIV/AIDS peer education class for high school students.

Aaron has continued to dedicate himself to service on-campus as well, serving as a mentor to high-school students who will be the first in their families to attend college, as a Community Service Intern in the Office of Service, Spirituality, and Social Responsibility, and as the co-founder of SEA board, a student government group dedicated to service, civic engagement, and activism.

If you would like to be featured in an upcoming Kaleidoscope issue, please contact Emily Withnall at emily.withnall@uwc-usa.org 23

Kaleid scope

Nonprofit Org. US Postage PAID Permit No. 1 Montezuma, NM

V olume 3 9 UWC–USA Post Office Box 248 Montezuma, NM 87731-0248 USA (505) 454-4200 www.uwc-usa.org RETURN SERVICE REQUESTED

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Register online for JULY 30 - AUG 4

Carlos Varela ’95, Colombia

Go to www.uwc-usa.org and click on MY UWC to login and register.

The old alumni website will be taken down March 31.

Register for your NEW account today at www.uwcusa.org. Click on MY UWC and follow the prompts.

Questions? Email jeremiah.stevens@uwc-usa.org.

Graduation MAY 25, 2010

class of ’10

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Don Grey

For more information please email elizabeth.ashby@uwc-usa.org

E nvironmental I mpact This publication is printed on

Savings derived from using post-consumer

New Leaf Reincarnation, made

recycled fiber:

with 100% recycled fiber, 50% post-consumer waste, FSC certified, processed chlorine free, ancient forest friendly, and

6 trees preserved for the future 168 lbs. solid waste not generated 574 lbs. net greenhouse gases prevented

manufactured with electricity that is offset with Green-e certified 24

renewable energy certificates.

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2,764 gallons wastewater flow saved BTUs W W 2,000,000 W. U W C energy — U Snot A consumed . O R G