Ken Baeza Ogawa, Grade 11
UWCEA (Moshi)
While UWC is a movement rather than just a group of 18 international schools, we often find ourselves so focused on what happens in our UWC school that we forget what those three letters represent.
I’m well aware that you must be tired of reading about COVID-19, and while the reflection I want to share with you revolves around the pandemic, its main focus is on how powerful the UWC spirit and its values are.
My reflection starts with a brief narration of the events of the last week before UWC East Africa closed due to the pandemic.
The mood in UWC East Africa was very calm, we all knew that many of the other UWCs had closed due to the virus, but we never thought it would come to us in Moshi (which is basically in the middle of nowhere). We had our community concert, we were studying for tests, making plans for the spring break, and even going out to town. We thought we were safe, and we thought we were isolated enough to not be affected by COVID-19. But we were wrong.
The chaos started on March 14th, when a video that allegedly showed a COVID-19 patient being taken into a hospital near Moshi began circulating in social media. Everyone was alarmed. We knew that we weren’t in our bubble of isolation anymore. While the video turned out to be fake, two days later the first case of COVID-19 was confirmed in Arusha (the city where the other campus of UWC East Africa is located). That same day, the first group of people left, and on the following days, everyone started to call their parents and desperately book flights in fear that the borders would be closed.
I was very lucky, for I was able to get a flight. Minutes after I finished my booking, the prices skyrocketed, and a couple of hours later they had all sold out. I left Tanzania on Thursday, March 19th, flying from Kilimanjaro to Qatar. My original flight plan was the following: Tanzania -> Qatar -> United States -> Guatemala. But before I left, I was informed that my flight from Los Angeles to Guatemala was cancelled. I couldn’t believe it. I was shocked. The flight was cancelled because the Guatemalan government banned all incoming flights; the only way to get into the country was by land.
Now, you might be asking yourself, how does this even connect to the awesomeness of UWC? Just wait, because we will get there very soon.
While my parents and I did extensive research on possible ways to go back to Guatemala, I realized that my chances of getting back home were extremely low. Only one flight had been cancelled, but at any moment the other ones could also be cancelled. There was a way for me to get back home, but that involved crossing the southern Mexican border by land, potentially having to ride public transportation in one of Mexico’s most remote cities - Tapachula. My parents weren’t very happy with the idea of me going back through Tapachula, but I convinced them explaining that there was no alternative. That’s when the awesomeness of UWC showed itself. My Mexican classmate Ximena Gordillo offered me help. While she couldn’t go back to Mexico herself, she helped me to find a way to get back home safe.
She didn’t have relatives living in Tapachula, but she reached out to her fellow Mexican UWCers. Surprisingly, there was a future UWCer living in that city, and Ximena introduced them to me. After exchanging a couple of messages with them, she offered to ask one of her relatives to take me from the airport to the Guatemalan border. The story ends with her uncle taking me to the border and me safely arriving at my home in Guatemala.
But let’s go back a little to the part where Ximena offered to help me - none of this would have been possible without her willingness to help me, which represents the UWC value of compassion and service. She even offered to host me at her house if something went wrong. Doesn’t that really show how UWC has achieved its goal of uniting people all over the world, to the extent of them willing to help one another as if they were brothers and sisters? But the true awesomeness of UWC is reflected with Ximena’s future first year… she had never seen my face, she had never heard my voice, she barely knew who I was, and she offered not only to take me from the airport but to also host me if I had complications getting back home. Isn’t that truly amazing? Doesn’t that really show a different level of empathy and personal example? Just think about it. She is not even a UWC student yet, and she barely knows Ximena and doesn’t know me at all. She offered to help me because there is something bigger than us that connects us. She offered to help me because we are both parts of the same big movement that UWC represents.
I have no words to express how grateful I am to Ximena and her first year; without them, I would still be stuck in Tanzania. I must congratulate the Mexican National Committee for having selected such exemplary students, whose commitment to the movement goes beyond what anyone could expect. My heart is with all of those students who couldn’t make it back home - not only the ones in Tanzania but in all 18 UWCs.
From this experience, I have learned that UWC definitely goes beyond the fancy campuses and cool cultural activities. I learned that UWC is more than a group of schools, more than a movement, and even more than a set of values. UWC is a family.
I’m well aware that you must be tired of reading about COVID-19, and while the reflection I want to share with you revolves around the pandemic, its main focus is on how powerful the UWC spirit and its values are.
My reflection starts with a brief narration of the events of the last week before UWC East Africa closed due to the pandemic.
The mood in UWC East Africa was very calm, we all knew that many of the other UWCs had closed due to the virus, but we never thought it would come to us in Moshi (which is basically in the middle of nowhere). We had our community concert, we were studying for tests, making plans for the spring break, and even going out to town. We thought we were safe, and we thought we were isolated enough to not be affected by COVID-19. But we were wrong.
The chaos started on March 14th, when a video that allegedly showed a COVID-19 patient being taken into a hospital near Moshi began circulating in social media. Everyone was alarmed. We knew that we weren’t in our bubble of isolation anymore. While the video turned out to be fake, two days later the first case of COVID-19 was confirmed in Arusha (the city where the other campus of UWC East Africa is located). That same day, the first group of people left, and on the following days, everyone started to call their parents and desperately book flights in fear that the borders would be closed.
I was very lucky, for I was able to get a flight. Minutes after I finished my booking, the prices skyrocketed, and a couple of hours later they had all sold out. I left Tanzania on Thursday, March 19th, flying from Kilimanjaro to Qatar. My original flight plan was the following: Tanzania -> Qatar -> United States -> Guatemala. But before I left, I was informed that my flight from Los Angeles to Guatemala was cancelled. I couldn’t believe it. I was shocked. The flight was cancelled because the Guatemalan government banned all incoming flights; the only way to get into the country was by land.
Now, you might be asking yourself, how does this even connect to the awesomeness of UWC? Just wait, because we will get there very soon.
While my parents and I did extensive research on possible ways to go back to Guatemala, I realized that my chances of getting back home were extremely low. Only one flight had been cancelled, but at any moment the other ones could also be cancelled. There was a way for me to get back home, but that involved crossing the southern Mexican border by land, potentially having to ride public transportation in one of Mexico’s most remote cities - Tapachula. My parents weren’t very happy with the idea of me going back through Tapachula, but I convinced them explaining that there was no alternative. That’s when the awesomeness of UWC showed itself. My Mexican classmate Ximena Gordillo offered me help. While she couldn’t go back to Mexico herself, she helped me to find a way to get back home safe.
She didn’t have relatives living in Tapachula, but she reached out to her fellow Mexican UWCers. Surprisingly, there was a future UWCer living in that city, and Ximena introduced them to me. After exchanging a couple of messages with them, she offered to ask one of her relatives to take me from the airport to the Guatemalan border. The story ends with her uncle taking me to the border and me safely arriving at my home in Guatemala.
But let’s go back a little to the part where Ximena offered to help me - none of this would have been possible without her willingness to help me, which represents the UWC value of compassion and service. She even offered to host me at her house if something went wrong. Doesn’t that really show how UWC has achieved its goal of uniting people all over the world, to the extent of them willing to help one another as if they were brothers and sisters? But the true awesomeness of UWC is reflected with Ximena’s future first year… she had never seen my face, she had never heard my voice, she barely knew who I was, and she offered not only to take me from the airport but to also host me if I had complications getting back home. Isn’t that truly amazing? Doesn’t that really show a different level of empathy and personal example? Just think about it. She is not even a UWC student yet, and she barely knows Ximena and doesn’t know me at all. She offered to help me because there is something bigger than us that connects us. She offered to help me because we are both parts of the same big movement that UWC represents.
I have no words to express how grateful I am to Ximena and her first year; without them, I would still be stuck in Tanzania. I must congratulate the Mexican National Committee for having selected such exemplary students, whose commitment to the movement goes beyond what anyone could expect. My heart is with all of those students who couldn’t make it back home - not only the ones in Tanzania but in all 18 UWCs.
From this experience, I have learned that UWC definitely goes beyond the fancy campuses and cool cultural activities. I learned that UWC is more than a group of schools, more than a movement, and even more than a set of values. UWC is a family.
www.unitedworldwide.co