Visit to UWC Mostar - Red Cross Nordic United World College

Visit to UWC Mostar
June 12th to June 19th, 2012

Background to the visit
In recent times UWC International as a movement
has been strengthened by an improvement
in inter-college collaboration. Several
members of the teaching staff at UWC Red
Cross Nordic have had opportunities to visit
other UWC Colleges and we wanted members
of RCN’s non-teaching staff to have a similar
chance to learn about the basic principles of
UWC through seeing UWC ideals in action in
another College.
Last year Stig Moltumyr and Arne Ophaug
travelled to UWC Atlantic College in Wales.
The people they met, the new ideas they
were exposed to and the experiences they
had made their trip very worthwhile.
Following that visit, expressions of interest
came from other members of RCN’s support
staff who were wanting to learn more about
life and work at the other UWC colleges.
Valentina Mindoljevic,
the Principal
of UWC Mostar
was contacted
by Rektor John
Lawrenson about
the possibility
of a staff trip to
Mostar; she was
delighted to
invite us.
Aim
We hoped that networking, teambuilding
and learning about different work procedures
through the meeting of counterparts in UWC
Mostar would give UWC Red Cross Nordic
staff a better understanding of our shared
educational philosophy.
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The 17 staff from UWC Red Cross Nordic who participated in the visit:
Irene Hagen Accountant
Svein Peder Rundereim Chef
Ann Kristin Svartefoss Chef
Solfrid Myklebust Cleaning
Anne Kristin Vågenes Cleaning
Helga Åsnes Cleaning
Stig Moltumyr Director Finance & Services
Robert Grønning IT
Else Marie Antonisen Kitchen
Heidi Myklebust Kitchen
Gunvor Norddal Kitchen
Wenche Svendsen Kitchen
Liza Jumao-As Øverås Kitchen
Vidar Jensen Maintenance
Ragnhild Tveiten Outdoor department/Camp school
Arne Ophaug Service leader
Håvard Indrebø Transport/Library/Reception
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The Itinerary
The outward flight took us from Bergen to
Dubrovnik. Our first stop was the mediaeval
coastal city of Ston, where we went on a boat
trip into the Adriatic Sea, during which we
were served delicious fresh oysters and clams.
It was a wonderful start to our visit.
The next two days were spent at UWC Mostar.
We met our counterparts at the college and
saw how they work. In the afternoons we
went sightseeing and learned something of
the recent and current political situation that
affects the lives of our Mostar colleagues. On
our second evening our Mostar colleagues
hosted a farewell party for their Norwegian
visitors. Thank you from all of us!
On the fourth day we went to Sarajevo.
Irene and Stig, with Velema Roksa - the
UWC Mostar Bursar, had a meeting with
their book-keeping agency and we heard
about their financial routines and systems.
The day included a visit to a vineyard and
ended with dinner in the old part of the city.
On the fifth day we walked the streets of Sarajevo.
We were told the story of a city caught
in the middle of the terrible Bosnian war and
we listened to harrowing stories from eyewitnesses
to the madness of the mid-1990s. As
part of this we were given the opportunity
to walk through the narrow little tunnel that
supplied the city with all it needed during the
war. Later that day there was further sightseeing
by bus - passing buildings still showing
the signs of war-damage - and a walk through
the old city.
Sunday was our big team-building day. There
was rafting down the river Neretva, giving all
of us an exciting adventure through lovely
scenery. Afterwards we stopped at the spectacular
Kravica waterfalls to swim and relax.
Monday was the day for shopping, swimming
amd more sightseeing in Dubrovnik. Some
of us went on a guided tour and we were
surprised when the guide told us that the
city was ruled by Norwegians for a couple of
decades around 1000 AD!!
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Reflections
In our busy daily lives it is easy to forget
that we are part of a wider UWC movement.
Travelling to Mostar helped us to see that the
idealism of staff and students is not unique to
Red Cross Nordic.
The trip left the RCN participants feeling
humbled and grateful for our own working
conditions. We were struck by how much our
Mostar colleagues have accomplished with
far fewer material resources. We returned
feeling that we have to rise to the challenges
and opportunities that our fortunate situation
offers.
RCN needs good, motivated workers. Everyone
needs to be given attention and to feel
that their contributions are valued. The way
the UWC Red Cross Nordic staff handled the
different challenges on the trip brought us
closer together and there is a now a deeper
appreciation of, and trust in each other. The
ideal of teaching and non-teaching staff
working together as one cohesive unit has
also come a long way, being given a real
boost with this visit. We know we can learn
from, and help each other.
The trip was inspiring, motivating and bonding.
It brought many new experiences leaving
us with a lot of very good memories. Some of
the experiences were instructive and will be
very useful in the work we do at RCN.
We are appreciative of the generosity we were
shown and would be delighted to host members
of staff from Mostar here in Flekke.
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