Humanitarianism in Education Conference focused on the role education plays in shaping socially responsible individuals and opened with the presentations of the 2019 Young Aurora finalists’ projects, followed by other sessions. Drawing on their personal experience with different educational systems, the panelists tackled the issues of motivation, action and empathy, agreeing that having educators who are personally engaged is key to transferring those values to the younger generations. The event was held on October 18, 2019 at the UWC Dilijan in Armenia, also marking the fifth anniversary of the school.
The event began with opening remarks by Gabriel Abad Fernandez, Head of UWC Dilijan College, who greeted the guests and participants of the conference by saying: “We’re here today celebrating two different things that are connected. Aurora is about saving lives, celebrating people who committed their lives to the ultimate ethical decision – saving others. Education is the same. Education changes lives.”
Noubar Afeyan, Co-Founder of the Aurora Humanitarian Initiative and UWC Board Member, also addressed the audience: “I cannot be happier and more proud of being here on the fifth anniversary of the school, the school that, just as many other undertakings you’ll hear about later today from some of our finalists, started out as a sense of a possibility and an obligation. And then what results kind of reaffirms that and what we see today with all of you here is really a terrific thing.”
This was followed by the presentations of Young Aurora finalists’ projects. Young Aurora is a partnership between the Aurora Humanitarian Initiative, United World Colleges (UWC), Scholae Mundi and Teach for All. It provides an opportunity for UWC schools and colleges to design projects that will drive positive change in the community through humanitarian solutions. This year, teams from UWC Atlantic College, UWC East Africa and Pearson College UWC had made it to the final.
While the judges deliberated, Veronika Zonabend, Founding Partner and Chair of the Board of Governors of UWC Dilijan College, took the stage to explain the logic behind the theme of the conference: “Why humanitarianism, why education? How are they connected? What does it mean? So, what’s the main purpose of education? Education is about helping everyone to find a passion for life, the purpose of our lives. <…> And humanitarians are people who think and take care not of themselves but of others, their communities, the people around them.”
For the discussion that came next, Aurora Humanitarian Initiative Chair Dr. Tom Catena was joined on the stage by UWC alumna Ekaterina Guryeva, Global Politics Professor Jaime Miguel Nieman and Teach for Nigeria CEO Folawe Omikunle.
“Growing up, I was faced with two very different narratives. You could say I’m culturally confused a little bit. I mention this because I thought it was important to study with people from all around the world and from various backgrounds. You are forced to deconstruct your view of the world and you’re forced to rebuild it in a way that takes other people into account,” stated Ekaterina Guryeva.
Dr. Tom Catena, a Catholic missionary, explained how religion has helped him to make the decision to dedicate himself to others, although he did add a caveat it might be different for other people. “It was what pushed me over the edge, what made me take a leap. If you want to call yourself a Christian, you’ve got to do certain things. What holds people back [is the fact that] they like the idea of humanitarian work, the idea of going somewhere, helping, but fear is what keeps them back,” he said.
Indeed, it wasn’t the same for another panel member, Professor Jaime Miguel Nieman, who has described his experience in a Catholic primary school as really strange because he was “getting mixed messages” all around. “Most of my memories of the faces [of the nuns that were teaching us] were of frustration and anger and not one of Christian values and love, like Marguerite [Barankitse] would say. And the non-religious teachers were warmer than they were,” he recalled.
“One of the things that I took from my teacher, Mr. Tunu, was empathy. He did deeply care about us and he was selfless about it. He did believe that everyone, not just the teachers, but every student had some talent and had some purpose,” said Teach for Nigeria CEO Folawe Omikunle while elaborating on what has drawn her to the humanitarian activity in the first place.
The discussion was summed up by its moderator Julia Middleton, Founder and Chief Executive of Common Purpose, who gave a perfect description of the mixture of hopefulness and despair the people working for a better future feel sometimes: “To be a humanitarian, you have to live most of your life in failure, because however much you want to change the world, you will not change it enough.” Of course, that’s never a reason to give up, she emphasized.
After a competitive final, UWC East Africa’s Smokeless Kitchens team were selected as the winners of the Young Aurora competition and went home with $4000 to further develop their project. “All three projects presenting today touched each of us, both intellectually and emotionally. This made for an extremely tough decision and we did not reach a consensus immediately, which is a reflection of the remarkable quality of each of the projects and presentations. We can’t wait to see where the teams will take their projects next with the prize money and recognition you received today,” said Noubar Afeyan, Co-Founder of the Aurora Humanitarian Initiative and jury member. And in a last-minute twist of the competition, showing just how impressed the jury were with all three projects, both runner-up teams were awarded $2000 each.
You can watch the full video from the conference below.