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August 29, 2017

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Home » Feature » Education

Learning Ubuntu in S. Africa

By Tom Kwon | 00:01 UTC+8 August 29, 2017 | Print Edition

Humans do not need advanced technology to flourish. Would you agree with this statement? This summer, I had the unique opportunity to debate this topic with peers from around the world at the 4th annual Global Alliance for Innovative Learning conference hosted by Prestige College in South Africa.

There were 100 students and staff representing the seven different GAIL schools (Prestige College in South Africa, Woodstock School in India, Robert Gordon’s College in Scotland, Kristin School in New Zealand, Scotch College in Australia, Kimball Union Academy in the US and Western International School of Shanghai). The theme of the conference was “Ubuntu” which is an African word meaning “humanity towards others.”

The students were placed into eight mixed groups with students from all of the different schools. Each group was given a topic that was connected with how humans flourish. For example, our group had to debate ‘how humans don’t need advanced technology to flourish.’ In addition, we had the opportunity to engage in different activities such as rock climbing, archery, meditation and a safari tour.

The reason why I decided to join the trip is because it was a great chance for me to fulfil my Duke of Edinburgh International Award requirements and meet up with new people to share opinions on many different topics. Mostly I think the location of GAIL 2017 motivated me the most. I always wanted to visit South Africa and I thought might be my only opportunity to visit.

I feel like 10 days of this amazing experience in South Africa has changed me into a more positive person. Now I try to think of everything positively rather than negatively and try to behave with more responsibility so that I can be prepared for society. My new perspective will be able to help students in WISS community who are having a hard time with their school life or studying. I would definitely recommend this trip to other students because it is a great chance to widen their mind and vision. Also, it looks good on their university application. It might be physically hard during the trip because of the tight schedules but after accomplishing all of the tasks they will feel proud of themselves.

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