Global Concerns

Global Concerns (GC) is an organisation within UWCSEA that seeks to integrate an awareness of global development and environmental issues into the College's education programme. Global Concerns aims to increase students' awareness of these issues and to enable committed students to do something about their concerns.

Through the motto 'Turning Ideas into Action', Global Concerns aims to:

• promote desirable values and action among pupils
• raise awareness and educate students about broader issues relating to specific projects
• encourage pupils to be aware, informed and active
• highlight the values of service and environmental awareness
• foster amongst the students the sense of belonging to an international educational movement with twelve member Colleges, and a very definite ethos and mission

All GC projects involve either caring for the very poor or disadvantaged or getting involved in environmental issues. Financial assistance is given to support the poorest communities and most needy families. GC projects also aim to empower recipients, to help enable them to take control of their lives. More importantly, Global Concerns develops a sense of lifelong responsibility within the students throughout the College, so that they will always perceive these issues as important ones and grow into caring citizens who take action to support those less fortunate than themselves.

GC currently supports over 45 projects worldwide and provides material support for a wide variety of endeavours in Asia, Africa and elsewhere.

Global Concerns benefits from the initiatives of development and environment groups in the College, and employs these to focus thinking and action - locally and globally - on these issues. Problems relating to development in the developing world, as well as global environmental issues, are thus taken beyond the classroom in an attempt to realise solutions.

How does GC engage students?

Its success as a way of life lies in the ability of the project coordinators and the projects themselves to inspire students, and empower them to take an active role in seeking solutions to what they perceive as problems.

Each year, the diversity of issues, regions and groups involved continue to grow, giving students the opportunity to develop their skills in leadership, management and communication, and experience first-hand, the positive results of focused group effort.

Who manages GC and how does it work?

The College encourages active participation from students, teachers and parents. Any student, member of staff or parent may propose a project to the GC Management Committee. Students on the Management Committee decide which proposals deserve funding. Once approved, a Project Group is formed to establish and maintain correspondence and links with the potential organisation and the project. Care is taken to choose reliable organisations with trustworthy management to ensure that GC donations reach the most needy people, usually in third world countries.

There is a representative from the Parents’ Association Committee for both Middle School and High School Global Concerns.

Contacts are usually made through existing High School Global Concerns groups who present information about their projects so that students and teachers together select a project that best suit their particular age group. This gives children ownership over the projects they have chosen.

Each term, Global Concerns aims to focus the efforts of the entire school on one project. The smaller, individual projects are repeated each year. In the case of a major event requiring the support of the entire school, such as the earthquake in Gujarat, India, GC organises appropriate action and aid.

How is it funded?

Fund raising strategies begin with small endeavours such as bake sales and Mufti Days (where students pay for the opportunity to dress in their own clothes, instead of their school uniforms) and progress to larger scale initiatives such as the design, production and sale of GC calendars, note cards and T-shirts. There is a broad range of active student involvement in fund-raising efforts, including United Nations celebrations and the Arts Festivals whose profits are directed towards Global Concerns.

Projects and funding is reviewed from time to time to assess whether they continue to merit GC support, and to determine if the money/resources could be better utilised elsewhere.

How is GC introduced to Primary and Middle School students?

• Focused fundraising, through activities such as Mufti Days and various sales.
• An annual Primary School Funfair where children from each class plan and run two stalls to raise money for their grade’s GC.
• Introduction to recycling issues and good practices regarding consumption and recycling.
• Exposure to concepts such as an Environment Week, coinciding with the World Environment Day.
• Designing and packing shoeboxes filled with essential supplies - Christmas gifts for the various projects supported at grade level.
• Compiling packs of stationery and school equipment to donate to the project’s children.
• Meeting and interacting with visiting adults and High School students who are working for a particular project.
• Students of the Primary School work with various local Special Needs schools such as the Minds School, Horizon and Genesis to build awareness within our students about the issue of living with disabilities.

Action		Education and Health
Environment		A Light for Sri Lanka
GloFund		Bombay Leprosy Project
Green Action Group		Cancer Patients' Aid Association
Recycling		Catalyst
Children		Drug Free Indonesia
Bali Bridges		Kalahari
Bombay Street Kids		Korean
BOSCO Street Kids		Ladakh (Lamdon Project)
Casa Alianza		Lavalla
Child Workers in Nepal (CWIN)		Link
Christina Noble Children's Foundation		Pakistan
Half the Sky		Pinoy
Himalayan		Promoting Asian Literacy (PAL)
Hope For Children		Shilpa
Hope Foster Home		SEAWater
Jakarta Street Kids		Vietnam Hope
Kids in Cambodia		Environment
Mercy Centre		Panama Project
Underprivileged Children of Vietnam (UCOV)		Promoting Animal Welfare (PAW)
Villa Martha		Tiger Watch
Empowerment		Tioman Turtles
Delhi
GOONJ
Kolkata Concerns
Tabitha
Yodifee