Arusha Campus News – 26 Sep 2020

The massed ranks of national flags billowing in Arusha’s September sunshine!

 What a week! We started on Monday 21st September. If this date meant nothing to you before, it does now. Each year the International Day of Peace is observed around the world on 21 September. The UN General Assembly has declared this as a day devoted to strengthening the ideals of peace, through observing 24 hours of non-violence and cease-fire. With the mission of striving for world peace as the mission of UWC, the movement adopted this date as UWC Day. Here on Arusha Campus we celebrated in style with a grand performance form the Diploma students followed by a gaggle of flags on the field, photographed by someone at the top of the watertower (see image above).

In the middle of the week we had MAP testing, Fun Primary Sports and of course the nitty gritty of just ‘school’. Now, this week I have been thinking about how many many people around the world no longer have boring, normal ‘school’…….and how they miss it. We are so lucky to have a school that is operating as normal.

The end of the week was marked by Fun Frenzy of Sport. A magnificent event organised by Ian and Katanu and the rest of the House Council. Basketball and volleyball and football were played throughout the afternoon. The football had its fair share of thrills and spills. Lots of specatcular goals and saves, plenty of knocks and spilt blood and even a scrap between the Head of Campus and our star U19 footballer……..well, lets just call it friendly disagreement!

Anyway, a few x-rays and stitches later and most injured personnel were able to return to campus at the end o fthe day. Spare a thought for Lukas and Tembo (pictured above) who endured a prolonged hospital visit. For Lukas he learned the hard way that when a 2m 100kg Kenyan is bearing down on you, maybe the best idea is to just get out of the way!

Have a super weekend.

Phil

UWC day is held annually across the globe on the 21st of September by over 5000 people; with students, staff and alumni all celebrating the UWC mission and its values.

“United We Can”
As members of this international community, students at the Arusha campus immediately began having discussions on how we would incorporate the theme into fun but meaningful activities.
School turned into a firework of students, with colours and outfits ranging from different parts of the world, excitement buzzing.

We began our celebrations on Saturday, where the Diploma batch accompanied by Mr Phil and staff members walked down to the dried-up Riverbank and cleaned up all the litter. We started our ambitious clean up walk at 8 AM, and after 45 minutes we reached a dusty, rocky dried-up river. After the fulfilling cleanup, we walked our way to Shwari to have a refreshing breakfast courtesy of the PTA.

The evening kicked off with a Vegetarian BBQ prepared by Mezabine and team to symbolise how the world must sustainably move forward regarding its vast consumption of meat. Later on, we had an amazing Talent Show to display all the new talents that have joined our school; from traditional Indian and Indonesian dances to poems that pressed the effects of the CoronaVirus.

On Monday, cladded in colourful national dresses, we took group pictures and started meaningful discourses. With high energy and constant laughter buzzing through the air, it was indeed a weekend to remember.

Garv Chadha (D1)  & Mariya Putwa (D2)
Journalism Club

We have had an incredibly busy week in the Primary School. On Monday Miss Alina Z’s student council organized a Mix-it-up lunch to encourage students to get to know students from the other classes. On Tuesday Miss Alina F and Miss Ann-Joyce celebrated a Cultural Food Festival with delicious dishes from around the world. The P4/5 class created a recipe book that has been shared with the class so they can try their favourite dishes again. 
On Friday the Nursery, EC, P1 P2 and P3 classes participated in a Fun Sports Day with running, jumping and throwing of an excellent quality. The parents obstacle race had many participants and great talent. Finally on Friday the P4/5 class finished the week with gymnastic performances and an excellent drumming performance with the support from Mr Tyler. What a great week!

Next week
Wednesday 30th September- 3 Way Conferences – Please see your class teacher for more information if you are uncertain of your time.
Thursday 1st October- P3-6 Inter House Sports  Day 8.00 – 10.00 am
Friday 2nd October – End of quarter. Assembly @ 11.00am. School closes at 12.00

Amanda

Jumping, tossing and giggles all round! The PYP sports day was a massive success as the little ones took part in various physical activities in order to earn points for their respective teams. Mixes of blue, yellow and green sprinkled around the field and you could feel the energy and excitement radiated by the primary children as they approached their stations. Students were reminded to keep their hat on and water bottle in place and were very obedient to follow those rules before the games got under way. From long jump and ring toss to through the cones and water splash. It was loads of fun and you could sense the competitors were ready to tackle anything. With the help of the staff, D1 students and of course parents cheering their children on, this day wouldn’t have been possible. We finished off by having moms and dads do a silly relay before announcing that Mawenzi had been victorious! What a way to conclude the sports day!

Makeya Van D1

P2/3 enjoying our fabu;ous library

Every week, our Primary classes visit our school library. In a discussion with Mr Ali this week we agreed that we all take this routine for granted. Our library is simply beautiful (thanks to our PTA) and Miss Bernadetha looks after our books so carefully and Miss Neema keeps the whole place spick and span every single day without a speck of dust in sight. Arent we lucky?

A very busy last couple of weeks for our Diploma students!

Having enjoyed my first OP trip (Flatland, level 1, in Monduli) a couple of weeks ago with a group of students from Arusha and Moshi, I was impressed with the D1’s cooking skills and how well they looked after the younger ones during the hike. We had a great time discovering a new part of Tanzania together. The day before we went off to Monduli, all the D1 students had organised an hour of fun activities for the primary students on the Friday and I can honestly say that they looked like they were having as much fun as the younger ones!

In the meantime, the D2 have been busy attending virtual university fairs and presentations in the last couple of weeks (European Universities Consortium Presentation for UWCs, Exploring medical careers and study in the US, the UWC Davis Scholar Partner Institutions Fair to name a few) with more to come. It is currently all hands on deck with their college essays and university applications with a number of them applying for Early Decision or Action in the US, or to follow a medical path in the UK.

Still last weekend, the Diploma students took the time to pick up litter during a river walk before enjoying a fantastic PTA community breakfast in Schwari, and to organise a wonderful Talent show prior to UWC Day last Monday which ended with a whole school picture.

No wonder they are looking forward to the October break, which is just around the corner!

Nathalie

Welcome fellow UWCEA pupils, to Album of the Fortnight. As the name suggests, each fortnight I will be taking a quick dive into the depths of different albums from over the years and see what they have to offer. I will do my upmost to suggest albums in a variety of different genres, so that the different demographics who are subject to these articles are satisfied. To begin, Unknown Pleasures by Joy Division, a pioneer in the bridging of punk to new wave, the precursor to New Order. Unknown Pleasures explores the deeper personal struggles within members of the band, more specifically the lead singer Ian Curtis who is now deceased. Through songs such as She’s Lost Control and Day of the Lords, eerie guitar plucks, and wrenching guitar phrases immerse the listener into the bleak atmosphere of the project. The punk influence, can clearly be heard in Shadowplay and Interzone, with Disorder alternatively being a track more of the catchy and upbeat sort. The album is one filled with industrial guitar sounds, as well as a mix of new wave instrumentals. Unknown Pleasures is one for the ages and I highly recommended.

Bram Davidson, D2

On the 12th of September, a group of about 25 students from both Moshi and Arusha campuses participated in a Level 1 Flatlands Trip to Monduli. It was a 2-day trip and we hiked from Monduli Juu town to the camp site at Enguiki, a Maasai village, with a short lunch break at noon. We hiked at a deliberate pace with water breaks every 20 minutes, keeping in mind that there were younger students with us all the way from M1-M5 who would find it more challenging than the D1s.
The view, as it is always while hiking, was incredible. Trekking through flat plains and greenery, an excellent view of majestic mountains, winding valleys and towering hills surrounded us, with the occasional glimpse of sand storms in the distance. Every few meters, little children who lived in the mountains would wave hello or sing us a song until we disappeared from their view leaving us with a heart-warming feeling. We trudged uphill and downhill, across sand, dust and rocks, through flat and not-so-flat land but as challenging as it was for the younger students and the first-timers (like myself), we made it to the camping site around mid-afternoon.
After half an hour of rest we began to pitch our tents and sleeping bags for the night. Soon after sundown, we quickly helped to prepare dinner and then clean up after dinner, with students of both Arusha and Moshi campus working together with efficiency. Once everyone completed their tasks, we called it a night and turned in early to catch the sunrise the next morning.
At 6am everyone was wide-awake sparkling with energy for the day to come. We woke up to a spectacular view of the sun coming up magnificently right beside Mt. Kilimanjaro and Mt. Meru. We silently marveled at the epic view before us, snapping pictures to hold onto for years to come. The day then began with everyone packing up their tents and making preparations for breakfast. After a healthy and nutritious breakfast to prepare for the journey ahead, we began making our way back to the starting point and after that, back to school. A big thank you to all the teachers who accompanied us on this memorable trip; Mr. Isack and Ms. Vignard from Arusha and Ms Kashasha from Moshi, thank you so much for your support and for making sure each and every one of us was well taken care of.
Zahra, D1

As part of Unit 1 in P4/5 we have been working about food and especially the different food we eat in the different continents and countries. We have also studied recipes and have ended up cooking a very good BANANA BREAD. Yummy!

To fight against the dust and make sure our beautiful shoes remain as clean as possible, the Boarders have decided to work together. Two shovels, a wheelbarrow and a lot of efforts, and we now have a better path. But it is not over yet. Story to be continued!

Last Saturday this prestigious tournament was held in Arusha and some of our UWC East Africa students entered the fray. I am very proud to announce that we had no less than three winners come from UWC East Africa Arusha Campus! FYI

Garv in D1 attained the lowest gross score, Buranudin in D2 was the overall winner of division A and Umei was the overall ladies winner.

What talent! I will try and get some photos of these amazing athletes in action for next week’s newsletter.

Click on the image above to find out more