Round Square News August 2011 - Issue 8

INSIDE

RSIS Project News

-July/Aug Projects

- Dec Projects

Regional News

- Australasia

- Europe

- Africa

- South Asia & Gulf

- Amercias

Obituaries

General News

- A face of Round Square

- Blog: RS Global Affairs Forum

- Alumni

- 2012 Africa

- Governance Matters

- New Staff Rep

Teachers Escapism

His Majesty King Constantine, President of the Round Square Schools, has invited Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II to open the Annual International Round Square Conference to be hosted this year by Wellington College. Her Majesty has graciously accepted the invitation and may be accompanied by the Duke of Edinburgh and Duke of York. This will be a unique honour for all our students.

Wellington College, England

Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II to open Round Square 2011 Conference

Visit the conference website for all the details as it is being updated regularly. www.rsc2011.org.uk Or follow them on Facebook

Wellington College Crowthorne, Berkshire, England 17 – 23 October 2011

Winner of the 2011 Kurt Hahn Prize Each year Round Square seeks nominations from the 85 member schools for its highest honour, the Kurt Hahn Prize, awarded for an exceptional act of service or bravery.

The award has only been given 25 times in Round Square’s 50-year history.

The prestigious Kurt Hahn Prize has been awarded to Colette Ankenman in 2011 for her exceptional act of service.

Colette is from the Athenian School in California.

Colette will officially be awarded the prize at the Round Square Conference at Wellington College in England. His Majesty King Constantine, the president of Round Square, will make the presentation.

Colette was inspired into action by reports of babies being sent home wrapped in newspaper and plastic from the Baragwanath Hospital in Soweto, South Africa. So Colette began sewing blankets and knitting hats for the babies. Over 200 blanket and hats were delivered to mothers and babies at Baragwanath Hospital.

Colette kept sewing and travelled to South Africa the following year to deliver hundreds of blankets and hats. Colette got others involved and started an organization called Baragwanath Blessings that supports people in 17 countries.

A full description of Colette's achievements can be found on the website

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Greetings from the Round Square office in Bath where we have been toiling away and bringing schools the opportunity to get involved in some really great Projects!

The mid year has seen three wonderful Projects, with teams that have far surpassed all expectations in terms of work completed, mixed in with good humour and dedication!

Liz Gray

RSIS Projects Co-Ordinator

Round Square Bath, U.K.

RSIS PROJECT NEWS

Read all about it! July/August 2011 Projects a great success! South Africa The Project has been a tremendous success this year with students from 14 schools taking part! It was the best team that the local Project Manager could remember having, and the two leaders reported that the students worked incredibly hard to finish off a community centre and make plenty of time to really interact with the community of Philippolis.

The group also did a great overnight weekend rafting trip on the Orange River, spent time at a Tiger Sanctuary and spent 3 days around the Kruger National Park! This is the last year that RSIS will be working in Philippolis as it’s time to move on to other worthy communities, so it’s a good time to say a huge thank you to Kate Groch from Future Nature who has been a passionate supporter of bringing youth projects to the communities in Philippolis. Thanks Kate, and thanks to Damien and Toby for leading the group in such a dedicated and inspirational way.

Ladakh The group in Ladakh this year returned to the fantastic community of Thiksey, just outside Leh. The students worked incredibly hard to complete a 4-room dormitory for the school which will enable more children from remote communities to come to school.

The team was made up of students from 15 schools across India, and from many other global members. After the Project work, the team completed a high altitude trek for 5 days, and also visited the Taj Mahal in Agra. Thanks to the amazing team at Snow Leopard Trails for all their hard work putting this trip together, and of course thanks to Tony and Claudia our amazing leaders for their impeccable leadership.

Peru The team has had another fantastic trip to Peru this year, with participants from 14 schools taking part. They’ve been working very hard in the community of Pampa Corral (around 4000m high in the Peruvian Andes) building two basic greenhouses for the community to be able to grow more nutritious food. They’ve also spent a day climbing a 300m via ferrata in the Urubamba Valley; learning to play the pan-pipes en masse and have visitied Machu Picchu and joined in with the locals for Peruvian Independence Day in Aguas Calientes. Many thanks to Charlotte and Kate who have led the trip so brilliantly, and thanks to all our amazing tour operators and activity providers as well as our Project partners EcoAn and Markham College.

More information about all our projects will be in the next RSIS Newsletter

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What’s happening on the December 2011 Projects?

RSIS PROJECT NEWS

There are an incredible SIX Projects taking place in December, all of which are outlined

in much more detail in the RSIS Newsletter. However, as a summary:

India (still a few places left on the team!)

Working in the community of Katapathar, 100km’s from Dehradun in the north of the country.

Work ranges from road and river shore-line repair, creating a school playground, making tables and chairs for the school and doing some socio economic surveys.

Other activities include trekking in the Himalayan foothills, white-water rafting and 4-day tour of the sites of Agra and Jaipur including the Taj Mahal.

Honduras (still a few places left!)

Working in the community of Nuevo Paraiso to build a much-needed food storage room for the children cared for by the Sociedad Amigos de los Ninos (SAN)

Work will be mostly cement mixing, brick laying and finishing the building up to roof level!

Other activities include playing sports with the SAN children, running a fiesta for them, and visiting the jungles, national parks and beaches on the coast at Tela.

Cambodia (places only available for Indian students)

Working in partnership with “A Mine-Free World Foundation” and “The Banyan Learning Tree” to build a one-room school for a poor rural community.

Work will include plenty of cement mixing, brick laying and finishing the building along with the teacher who’s going to work there!

Other activities include donating bicycles to local families, donating chickens to start a small-holding for local families, making bracelets for local women to sell, visiting Angkor Wat and spending Christmas

Kenya (places only available for Indian students)

Working at Riandira Primary School in Sagana, north of Nairobi.

The team will be building a new classroom for the year 7 class.

Other activities include a white-water rafting day, visiting local homes and the church and doing a 4-day safari in the Masai Mara.

Thailand Student/Parent Project (places remaining for the Africa, Australia and India Regions only)

Working alongside the Pakanyor Foundation to bring clean drinking water to a Karen hill-tribe

Tasks will include damming the water-source, laying pipes to the village and building two new water tanks to store the water in.

Other activities include plenty of interaction and small tasks for the villagers, visiting the night market in Chiang Mai and spending a day at an elephant conservation organisation.

Cambodia Leader Training Project (places remaining for teachers from the Europe, Africa and Americas Region)

Taking part in a 2-day leader training and project planning workshop in Takeo, then working with AMFWF in Bakot Village to build a new one-room school for the community.

Plenty of brick-laying and cement mixing, plus plenty of scenarios to put the workshop skills into practice.

Other activities include donating bikes to the community, making bracelets, talking to local parents and teachers and cultural tours in Phnom Penh.

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Peace One Day!

Peace One Day Education provides FREE Education Resources to educators and young people across the globe. POD’s objective is to activate young people around the world on Peace Day 21 September and, specifically, Peace Day 2012 – a Global Truce. They hope to inspire a generation to

become the driving force behind the vision of a united and sustainable world.

Global Truce 2012 For Peace Day, 21 September 2012, Peace One Day is calling for a day of ceasefire and non-violence – a Global Truce. Peace One Day hopes that this will be the largest reduction in global violence in recorded history, both domestically and internationally.

“Our goal is to institutionalise Peace Day around the world - the Global Truce on Peace Day 2012 provides an opportunity for young people to become the driving force behind that vision. Your students can help POD launch the 365-day countdown to the Global Truce 2012 – we hope our brand new Global Truce 2012 lesson plan will inspire young people and teachers to get involved”

RSIS PROJECT NEWS

Newsflash!

Leader and adult participant vacancies

in December

There are vacancies on all the Projects (Kenya, Cambodia,

India, Honduras) for accompanying teachers.

Check out the RSIS website page to download the appropriate forms and

paperwork http://www.roundsquare.org/

index.php?id=79

The RSIS office has recently been chatting to an amazing organization called ‘Peace One Day’ www.peaceoneday.org which has, in many ways, a natural link in with Round Square.

A fantastic opportunity for students of the world Peace One Day founder Jeremy Gilley speaks with school children around the world via Skype on a weekly basis to support the countdown to a Global Truce on Peace Day 21 September 2012. Students are able to listen to Jeremy’s inspirational story, and get the chance to hear from other students across the globe as they too use Skype to engage in intercultural dialogue. Given the emphasis that Round Square places on Global Citizenship, and our amazing network of Global and Regional schools, we hope that you will take a look at their website and free resources, and consider taking part in a Skype video call with other schools and Jeremy.

To get involved access the free POD Education Resources at http://www.peaceoneday.org/en/education/POD-EDUCATION contact Peace One Day Education through Skype in the Classroom (http://education.skype.com/) or email skypetalks@peaceoneday.org to register your interest, and start planning your Peace Day activities. *Please note that POD may not be able to meet all requests, so register your interest early and avoid disappointment!

Please sign up to the Global Truce 2012 at www.peaceoneday.org follow @PeaceOneDay on twitter, and ‘like’ POD’s Facebook page, to show your support; don’t forget to encourage fellow teachers and students to do the same!

If you think about it - the theme for this year’s Round Square annual conference is “Reaching Beyond Our Limits” and for the Kenya conference in March 2012 the theme is “No existence without co-existence”. You don’t need to be a genius to see how well both of these themes fit into the work that Jeremy and his organization are doing and what better time to take the initiative and get involved!

We hope that all the students and teachers in our Round Square

Schools will be part of Global Truce 2012 so check out the POD website (which also

contains some great films, more information and events to take part in) and let’s contribute to this great idea!

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Fiji building project During the mid-semester break two members of staff from Radford College in Canberra headed off to Fiji to work on the building project there. One member of staff – Mark Gannon is a returnee and eagerly set off for the warmer climates armed with panels ready for the construction of a children’s playground.

Bec and Mark returned with many wonderful stories and the enthusiasm has crossed into the High School, with a huge interest being displayed in the Fiji Student Building Project during the Sept-Oct vacation period.

Five students are now counting off the days until departure! Fund-raising for these ventures has begun by students.

Radford College has also received recent news that one of their students and his mum were successful applicants in the Thailand project. They are sure that the mother & son team will contribute & gain much!

REGIONAL NEWS - AUSTRALASIA

Pattaya to Peru Challenge

Last year The Regent’s School Pattaya held an event in order to fundraise for the Phi Phi International Community Centre. The idea: between all participants cover the distance from Pattaya to Phi Phi by walking, cycling or rollerblading around the school oval or swimming lengths of the pool.

As the distance was covered 8 times there and back this year the decision was made to attempt to cover the distance from Pattaya to Peru, where the furthest away Round Square school from Regent’s is located.

57 teams of students and staff signed up to the challenge to walk, cycle, rollerblade or swim for four hours. The Father Ray Foundation brought along 20 Vocational Disabled School students and 10 Blind School students to the Pattaya to Peru challenge. These students / athletes competed with our own students, staff and parents and promoted that living with a disability does not mean you are actually disabled. Some of our students were challenged to go around the school oval in a wheel chair or even blind folded. This provided a great educational experience for all involved.

Although we did not quite make the 19, 225km, over 15,000km was covered and over 80,000 baht was raised.

Paul Crouch of Regents would like to thank everyone for their continued support of the International Community Resource Centre Project on Ko Phi Phi Island. Stage 11 & 12 of the project took place in Feb/March. Bermuda High School for Girls worked on the project in Feb and also do-nated 60,000 Baht to the trust fund. In March Regent’s Pattaya Key Stage 3 students participated on the project .

The Regent’s School Pattaya contributed 100,000 Baht to the trust fund for these projects. Phase 2 of the project begun in June and in October Regent’s Pattaya year 10 and 12 students will participate in a residential programme at the centre and other schools are welcome to join us.

A Facebook page has been set up to view news about the centre: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Phi-Phi-International-Community-Centre-PICC/213045262044851 Any school, organization or individual that would like to support the PICC in the future please contact Paul Crouch: pcrouch@regents.ac.th or on mobile +66 (0)899026286

REGIONAL NEWS - AUSTRALASIA

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The concept of a Young Round Square has been developed to facilitate the introduction of the philosophy to students at an early age.

Bunbury Cathedral Grammar School (BCGS) have designated that Young Round Square students will be in the 10 to 12 age group. In 2011, for

Young Round Square Conference in Australasia the first time, all member schools in the Australasian region have been invited to a Young Round Square Conference hosted by BCGS.

This is an exciting time where the younger members of schools will have the opportunity to share and explore ideas with other students from within the region on a number of issues and concerns. The Conference theme is "Beginnings". Some of the opportunities students will be participating in are: coast care, building native wildlife habitats, exploring limestone caves and local river systems, tasting indigenous bush tucker and making friends from all over the region.

Harry Potter Magic at Box Hill A little bit of Harry Potter magic came to Box Hill School recently, with a celebrity-filled charity cricket match, starring the Weasley Twins amongst others. The Bunbury’s Invitation XI took on the Headmaster’s XI, in a match which saw Darren Gough bowled out by teacher Richard Parker, in the fifth ball of the first over! The event proved very popular, with families enjoying the school’s High Ropes course, along with a bouncy castle, laser quest course, range of craft stalls and of course the cricket. Students from the school helped out in manning the food stalls, and found that their crepe making skills went down very well with the crowds. Sadly, in the end, the final score was Bunbury’s Invitation XI 237 off 30 overs with the Headmaster’s XI replying with 182 off 30 overs. Proceeds from the event will be divided between the NSPCC, Box Hill School’s chosen charity – Round Square International Service Projects, which support development projects in places including Peru and South Africa and the English Schools Cricket Association which works to bring cricket into schools.

REGIONAL NEWS - EUROPE

BCGS is in the process of organising a regional Young Round Square Conference (grade 5 & 6 students) . We have had much interest and about six Australasian schools are planning on joining us on the west coast in October to investigate all sorts of issues and ideas.

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The day began with the entire school gathering together for their official Round Square photograph. The scholar committees put together various activities using one of the six Round Square pillars as their theme. All scholars had the opportunity to involve themselves in one of the activities.

Laughter, determination, concentration and a wonderful community spirit were the order of the day as scholars painted

T-shirts, cleared alien vegetation, gumboot danced, tested their international and environmental knowledge or raced against the clock.

The activities came to a close with an extravaganza of Penryn’s finest gumboot and hip-hop dancing talent. The day ended on a high note with a winter wonderland social.

REGIONAL NEWS - AFRICA

ROUND SQUARE DAY CELEBRATED IN SOUTH AFRICA On the 5th May Penryn College celebrated International Round Square Day

Internationalism: Many and varied costumes depicting an association with countries from all over the world were worn to show what a truly international South African school they are. Democracy: Pupils voted for a mascot from three final submissions drawn by pupils. Environment: Mrs Carin de Villiers was the speaker and she talked about Eskom’s environ-mental initiatives and policies. The Money collected from the civvies day was donated to the Cape Leopard Trust. Adventure: Pupils engaged in adventurous activities at all the annual camps, such as canoeing and climbing. Leadership: Alex Weber, Chairman of the Round Square Committee, led the pupils in an assembly which was organised by the pupils for the pupils. A number of Grade 8s had the opportunity of speaking at the assembly.

Bridge House also celebrated Round Square Day

CANtribute

Every year St Stithians Girls’ College takes part in a fundraising initiative ‘Can Drive’

The learners in each of the schools are encouraged to bring tinned foods which are collected and eventually distributed to various institutions that support disadvantaged communities around Johannesburg. The various schools run a competition to see which school collects the most cans.

This year, the St Stithians decided to create a “CANtribute” drive competition within the competition. Each grade in the College worked together in attempting to be the group to collect the largest number of cans. This resulted in the Grade 11s collecting the largest number, 586 cans, and the total number collected by the College totalling an astounding 1800 cans.

As the event coincided with Round Square’s birthday, the various grades and staff were allocated a letter from the word ‘IDEALS’. The cans were placed on the field, successfully spelling out the word.

All the staff and girls dressed in an item of red clothing and contributed some money towards the Prince Alexander Project Fund.

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‘NEVA 2 YOUNG 2 LEAD’ African Regional Conference 2011 - St Stithians Girls’ College

REGIONAL NEWS - AFRICA

Crowned Plover, Cormorant, African Sacred Ibis...to many of those reading this, these may just be bird names but to the delegates of the 2011 Africa Regional Round Square Conference these birds represent the baraza groups that allowed for the theme of "neva 2 young 2 lead" to take flight and realise that there is no age limit on leadership.

The conference was aimed at helping the delegates understand that we are "dream warriors for Africa" and it was through our amazing guest speakers, outings and workshops that the theme of being "neva 2 young 2 lead" was emphasised.

Speakers ranged from Aloysias Maimane, whose speech showed how even the smallest action makes an impact, to Bradley Waldren, a 9 year old who inspired the delegates to question "if he can do it, why can't I?", since he started leading in his community in grade 1 with his STOP AIDS CLUB.

The leadership skills of the delegates were tested and enriched throughout the conference through various JUMP sessions run by Justin Bedard as well as through workshops such as the creative thinking workshop run by Ruth Everson that encouraged these future leaders to challenge and question their skills and those around them.

The conference was more than just workshops and guest speakers but also giving back to the community. The delegates were given the opportunity to help in many ways, one being working with dis-advantaged children in Soweto. The faces of these grateful children are something that will never be forgotten.

The delegates were also given the opportunity to go on outings to various historical sites that are

“The guest speaker Allyson Towle who spoke to us about her 360 km cycle

and her climb to the crater of the Ojos Del Salado. What impressed me with

her speech was when she said Ordinary life becomes mundane knowing that

you’re capable of so much more.” Emily Makhlouf

“In between all our activities there was a lot of time to interact and meet all the diverse and lovely people from all over Africa. I made many friends and built great relationships! I loved

the theme and felt it was very relevant to us as we often think that our age does stop us from leading. We think

it’s only for people older than us. The conference highlighted the theme very well and has changed my mind set on

young leadership completely! Emily Makhlouf

Brian Dawson’s Dream for Africa

important to the South African heritage; such as Constitution Hill, the Apartheid Museum and Liliesleaf Farm, which gave the delegates the chance to learn more about the past leaders, like Nelson Mandela, that shaped our nation.

The conference ended with the delegates themselves composing a statement to reflect the theme of "neva 2 young to lead". It clearly states how we all plan to move forward in leadership as we promised that "as the youth of Africa, we will never let age, race or gender prevent us from being inspiring servant leaders. We are dedicated to changing the lives of others. We believe that we have infinite potential and that we have the power to stand against all odds. Being a leader is not only about changing others but also about changing ourselves.

“I am never too young too lead. It starts with me. It starts now."

by Dale Heyns

The Dreams for Africa Chair invites people from all walks of life to sit in the chair and share their dreams. The chair was created two years ago by 160 women from the Valley of 1,000 Hills in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, who created the chair through Woza Moya, an income generation project of the Hillcrest AIDS Centre Trust. These women use their crafting and art skills to earn an income, with Woza Moya currently representing over 200 crafters, marketing their goods.

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A week full of action & adventure

REGIONAL NEWS - SOUTH ASIA & GULF

KURT HAHN PORTRAIT

Kurt Hahn’s birthday falls on 5th June and as a tribute to him, the

students of Dhirubhai Ambani International School, Mumbai planned a unique activity that

involved all students from Lower Kindergarten to IBD 12. The

students put together a 5 ft x 5 ft portrait of Mr. Kurt Hahn using

only their finger prints and palm prints. The portrait was made on

canvas using oil.

Each of the 1000+ students marked the portrait with their

finger prints resonating Mr. Kurt Hahn's philosophy and the IDEALS of RS. The objective was to get the

entire school to collective pay tribute to the founder.

The picture was mounted on a jute canvas and displayed in the

school atrium with information on Kurt Hahn and his philosophy.

The Sanskaar Valley School, Bhopal, India became a Global Member of the Round Square in March 2011 and they recently organised a Round Square Week offering students plenty of ways to immerse themselves in activities related to the IDEALS.

Students of the Round Square Committee made a presentation during assembly in school on Round Square, the theme was “We are a Round Square School, but are you a Round Square person?”

A talk show was aired on the local radio station ‘94.3 My FM’ where students carried forward the message of experiential learning and informed listeners about the various initiatives taken up by the Sanskaar Valley School (TSVS) which draw inspiration from the IDEALS of Round Square. They also spoke about their experiences during participation in conferences, exchanges and service projects.

It is said that ‘Life is either a daring adventure or nothing’ TSVS organised a special session of rappelling to offer students not only thrill of adventure but also the experience of stretching beyond their comfort zone.

Similarly, they had activities scheduled to subscribe to their

environmental responsibilities and students engaged in ‘Van Mahotsav’ meaning ‘Forest Festival’ and planted more than 300 trees on campus.

Promoting Internationalism, they had 8 students leaving for Korea on invitation by the CheongShim International Academy to participate in the World Youth Model Congress followed by service at the Habitat for Humanity site in Korea. They also plan to visit the flood affected areas in Korea if safety permits.

Service before Self is a calling in life which exemplifies devotion and commitment beyond personal agendas. Students made friendship bands and Rakhi’s (a decorative item tied on the wrist by a sister to a brother on the day of the festival) and organised a sale in the local mall. The proceeds were donated to social causes supported by school.

3 R PAPER PROJECT – An Earth Day Initiative to Reduce, Reuse & Recycle Paper waste) This year as a combined celebration of the Earth Day and Kurt Hahn’s

birthday a 40 day long activity was planned for Dhirubhai Ambani International School. The objective

was to build awareness about paper usage, wastage and applying the 3 R’s to make the best use of the waste paper. Paper is a necessity in all schools all levels but it does result in a substantial amount of paper misuse/waste. The school initiated a 3R paper project. A poster campaign was developed by students to build awareness of the environmental

impacts. Children painted recycled cartons and placed them in each classroom, labs, printer points. Paper was sorted into ‘usable’ to make stationery items etc. and ‘non usable’. This activity is now an on-going process in the school. Several groups are in the process of undertaking the Recycling of the waste by making handmade paper, scribble pads for teachers.

Two weeks in India - courtesy of Round Square Schools Mrs Scheherazade Asdar Ahmad, Head of Lyceum School, Karachi, Pakistan reports on a recent visit to India.

walking with their dogs, children playing, adults reading.

I visited Nizamuddin Aulya’s tomb not knowing that his urs was being celebrated. It was deja vous. I was listening to Amir Khusrau's qawali as I left Karachi and the next day the qawali was in full swing at his mazar in the same compound. Mirza Ghalib is buried just outside. I also visited Ajmer Sharif as Mayo College is there. It is a place I had been wanting to go to for years as my mother had visited it in ‘74 separated by her three children for 3 years because of the second sub continental division. She joined us next month. Though I went in with fear and trepidation for it is Him I yearn for minus the trappings of place and people, I found an inner peace where my own inner noise, judgment, conflicting desires and fears settled more easily and His light seemed brighter. I realised how far I was away from finding Him. It is a long journey for me.

Our trips to schools started after a few days in Delhi. The first school was Mayo College for boys in Ajmer. Mayo was built for the elite of India. We were put up in a spacious rest house with beautiful lawns on the 72 acre campus. That evening was the graduation ceremony of 7 graders from Jaipur House to senior school. The event was managed entirely by the students themselves. The MC throughout was a student who held his own with dignity, and confidence. The student’s band a medley of the traditional and western was beautiful. One met some wonderful people there. There was a humility and commit-ment, a centring and a desire to genuinely contribute to the young. The school's commitment to art and music in the junior school made me realize how it tames and channelizes these young boys energies and their

egos and how this creativity must work on the hearts, minds and souls of these young men. The stay at Mayo would not have been the same without Mahboob the young music teacher whose form of expression was through warm renderings of the most poignant lyrics sung in a voice that seemed to come from another world.

At the station we could not find the ticket. Bags were being thrown open by Dilnaz. My calm composure made it clear that I did wish to leave Ajmer if it did not wish us to leave. Dilnaz was not amused. The tickets were found just in time for us to jump into the first bogey. I hope I can return to that soil soon some day.

Our next stop was Dehra Doon. A place with a very different reverberation. A school which boasts of an alumni dotted with politicians, authors and journalists. Doon was built by an Indian to ensure a more rooted, organic education versus the colonial and elitist in Mayo. We stayed at a History teacher’s house. I sat in her class which was a wonderful experience and saw that there was no power floating around. It was not knowledge being poured from one receptacle to another, it was being shared, debated, argued, reflected upon, chewed on. Students were able to feel the ability to empower themselves as a natural phenomenon without seeking permission or being able to say things without fear. Each opinion was valid and important as learning is a process. The same boys would come to her house and classes in an informal setting where all would sit and chat in her garden. Family life carried on and students were considered part of the extended family by all.

The Doon students took us around the school and to some of the social

My last visit to India was 40 yrs and 2 mths ago. It was the place where we received love from every quarter, a place which seemed as natural and integral to our lives as our own parents.

Born in Dacca where my parents settled, annual and bi-annual visits meant that one quarter of life was spent in India till I was 12. Then Bangladesh happened and holidays became a thing of the past. By the time one could begin to think of revisiting the semi haunted homes, visas were difficult to get.

So many of us from our parents' generation on both sides of the border have strong memories of a past, a life that was harshly uprooted. For some this end, it happened twice with the creation of Bangladesh. Sometimes I wonder whether the intrinsic schizophrenia that many sense is not a by product or the inevitable of the extrinsic circumstances that the common man was forced to deal with.

For me the experience was one I have never felt in any of my travels and I am still trying to process and unravel. The first feeling was of disbelief that I had actually gotten the visa to go and had arrived. There was an immediate sense of comfort for me as if I had come to a home I had once known as the Indians would say ‘in another life’. We arrived in Delhi the place my mother grew up and memories of my childhood visits brought nostalgia. Meeting her old neighbours was like visiting long lost family for the warmth and love poured out.

The numerous parks in Delhi and the well maintained lawns surrounding the tombs are a balm for the tired soul. An early morning walk more than an inspiration as nature greets you at its finest. People are busy walking, running, resting, or pausing; doing yoga, asanas and exercises or

REGIONAL NEWS - SOUTH ASIA & GULF

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Continued on next page..

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REGIONAL NEWS - SOUTH ASIA & GULF

As a part of the Round Square Exchange Programme, The Millennium School , Dubai hosted a Joint Exchange Programme during the second week of April 2011 for a week, involving 4 schools:

The Assam Valley School The Sanskaar Valley School The Vidya Devi Jindal School The Scindia Kanya Vidyalaya

On the first day the delegates were welcomed with an opening ceremony in which their school flags were presented to the principal, Mr. Michael Guzder. The next day the delegates were taken to the Manzil Centre for Children of Special Needs in Sharjah where they spent quality time interacting with these challenged individuals. Apart from attending classes, they attended various workshops , involved in group discussions based

Joint Exchange Programme at the Millennium School, Dubai

on the IDEALS of RS, visited Snow Park in Mall of the Emirates , the Indoor Aquarium in Dubai Mall and enjoyed the water rides at the Dreamland Aqua Park in Umm Al Quwain. They were also taken to the Burj Khalifa, the tallest tower in the world, Jumeira Beach and Heritage village .They went shopping to Oasis Centre and Deira City Centre. All the delegates enjoyed the Desert Safari where they gained an insight into Arab culture.

In the farewell assembly, the delegates spoke about their memorable experiences during their stay, The highlight of this assembly was the joint exchange dance performance. The flags of the respective schools were handed over to the delegates by the principal.

On the last day, the delegates joined the Best Buddies Chapter at Space City in Safeer Mall for "Manzil Day Out". This was followed by a formal lunch in school where the presentations of the 4 different schools

RS SERVICE PROJECT

As part of a Round Square Service Project, the students of The Millennium School in Dubai

collected the provision - Rice, Dal, Sugar and Tea to distribute

it to the Support Staff (conductors, maids, security and office staff) and to their labour

camps. The students contributed generously and the total

contribution is as follows:

RICE 1150 kgs DAL 540 kgs SUGAR 230 kgs TEA 135 pkts

On the 5th June, Round Square Day ,the students distributed it to the Support Staff and to the

LABOUR CAMP at Sonapur.

were on display. The delegates received their mementos from the principal.

The girls were outstanding in their conduct throughout the exchange programme. It was admirable to see them blend and adjust quickly to the family requirements and environment.

service projects in and around the city. They were excellent ambassadors and the sense of pride, grace, manners and protocol exhibited was par excellence. The 25 odd social service projects they had were running is an inspiration.

Our third major stop was Sanawar - the brother school of Lawrence College Ghora Galli. Sanawar close to Simla was built for the orphans of officers in 1847. The motto I am told was ‘never give in to the natives’. The motto 100 years later became ‘never give in’.

At Sanawar we stayed in the Headmaster’s house and their hospitality, magnanimity and generosity held no bounds. They had returned from a visit to Lawrence College and Lahore in January and for them the desire to open our doors to each other, to embrace siblings divided by the politics of the world resonated so strongly.

We talked at length about our common heritage and why one has had to bury a part of oneself and live. Jews were persecuted and driven out of their countries 7 times since the crucifixion of Christ till the 2nd world

war. 20 centuries later Christians and Jews are the best of friends politically. European countries have fought amongst themselves for centuries and today they are one in currency in holding one passport as Europeans. Whilst we in South Asia even within each nation are fighting over petty man made divisions. The spirit of religion is lost to man- made/interpreted forms. Exclusion and lack of respect for differences is the currency of an insecure people. We need to work on the intrinsic.

Mrs Scheherazade Asdar Ahmad Head of Lyceum School, Karachi, Pakistan

Continued...

12 | Round Square News | Issue 8 | Aug 2011

Free the Children’s Brick by Brick programme

In keeping with the service pillar of Round Square, the Bishop's College School (BCS), Quebec, Human Rights Group has completed its two-year project of raising money for Free the Children's Brick by Brick program to build a school in Eor Ewuaso, Kenya. In June, Melanie de Andrades and Jimmy Ung of Free the Children came to accept a cheque for $8861. Clara Dagenais, BCS 2010, who spearheaded the project in 2009 returned to the school to be present at the ceremony.

During the ceremony, Ellen Goldfinch, teacher/supervisor of the BCS Human Rights Group and Round Square rep for Projects thanked members of the community who donated as well as the BCS Human Rights Group who initiated a flurry of bake sales, penny votes, a silent auction and a variety of collections over the past two years. The Group then did a reading based on the book, If the World Were A Village. Mr Watt, Headmaster of BCS, was called upon to sign a very big cheque.

Finally, the representatives of Free the Children thanked the school and spoke of the importance of education in eradicating poverty and promoting progress in developing countries. They assured the students that Bishop's College School would receive a progress report on the school.

REGIONAL NEWS - AMERICAS

Universally Diverse

From April 8 to 12, Appleby hosted more than 70 students from 21 international schools for the Regional Round Square of the Americas Conference. Student delegates (Grades 8 to 12) from countries including Canada, the United States, Bermuda, Peru, Columbia, India, South Africa and Germany were welcomed to the Appleby campus.

Participants engaged in various workshops and had the opportunity to hear from renowned speakers including author Mark Zelinski, Susan Crawford, Executive Director, Founder, Blend Education & Training Inc., global, multicultural and inclusive educational specialist Leila Angod and Chris D’Souza, the previous Equity and Diversity Officer at the Dufferin-Peel Catholic School Board and current Course Director at the Faculty of Education at York University.

In keeping with the theme of this year’s conference - Unity in Community – in each session, students examined their role as global citizens in a multicultural and interdependent world, so

they can take action to benefit their respective communities. Events for delegates included an Urban Adventure Race; six person teams navigated their way through

Toronto calling upon friends, family and strangers for assistance.

The environment pillar of Round Square was represented by an afternoon activity focused on biodiversity. The students from each school worked with environmental leaders from the local community to enhance the biodiversity of the campus. This was done by planting trees that will provide food and shelter for a variety of wildlife and the installation of nest boxes to provide nesting sites for native cavity nesting species of birds. The contributions of each school will be commemorated with plaques identifying the trees and bird boxes installed by each school.

Appleby College hosts the 2011 Round Square of the Americas Conference - Unity in Community

13 | Round Square News | Issue 8 | Aug 2011

Michael Jenkins—former Head of Windemere School Michael was appointed in the early 1970s, from Gordonstoun and took St Anne's, as it was called then, into

Round Square. He retired in the 80s but was asked to go back twice finally leaving in 1996. He hosted two of the early RS Conferences at St Anne's and as such was well known by

His Majesty King Constantine, Jocelyn Winthrop-Young, Marion Farndale and Terry Guest. Our condolences go out to his family.

The former headmaster of a leading Lake District school died following a freak accident at his home. Michael Jenkins was believed to have fallen from a ladder while putting up a bird box in the garden of his home at Underbarrow.

Father-of-three Mr Jenkins, 77, affectionately known as Mr J by his pupils, was headmaster at Windermere St. Anne's School, now known as Windermere School, for 16 years.

When he took charge in 1972, he became only the second male headmaster of an all-girls' school in the country.

His widow Karen described the incident where Mr Jenkins fell as 'a terrible accident'. Mr Jenkins had two daughters, Kirste and Susy, a son, Tom, and ten grandchildren. "He was very charismatic and was loved by everybody," she said. "He loved that school and parents found him very approachable.

"His study door was always open for the girls and he was always there for them."

Paul Flint, bursar of Windermere School, said: "Whenever there has been a school reunion he's known to everybody and particularly to the students. "He's had a very large and influential impact on students' futures and I think they are very grateful for that."

Anne and John Sowerby, whose four girls attended the school, said Mr Jenkins was a 'brilliant and outstanding head' in a letter to Mrs Jenkins. "He helped them all enorm-ously with his scholarly, fatherly advice and was particularly kind and compassionate."

Before becoming headmaster, Mr Jenkins was housemaster at the prestigious Gordonstoun, Scotland, where Prince Charles and the Duke of Edinburgh were both educated.

The passing of Mira, the wife of our friend and colleague, Mr Sumer Singh

OBITUARIES

It was also the place where he was taught after his family moved up to Scotland from London. He studied geography at Oxford University, becoming president of the athletics club during his time there. It was through his sport that he travelled to Canada in 1957, where he met Karen.

He returned to marry her a year later, before moving to Scotland in 1960. Mr Jenkins looked after sheep and lambs at his Underbarrow farmhouse, and was a keen sculptor and artist.

Elizabeth Eaton, former arts director at Farfield Mill, Sedbergh, said Mr Jenkins was one of the nicest men she had ever worked with when putting on his solo gallery show last year.

Mrs Jenkins has requested that anybody wishing to donate money should give to the Meningitis Trust, in memory of Mr Jenkins's grandson Nelson, who died when he was 19.

Go to meningitis-trust.tributefunds.com/fund/Nelson+Jenkins/showFund.

We were extremely shocked to hear about the sudden passing of Mira, the wife of our friend and colleague, Mr Sumer Singh, Principal of The Daly College, Indore and Round Square Board member and are profoundly saddened with the untimely demise of such a wonderfully

talented, beautiful, and gracious lady. Our thoughts and prayers are with Sumer and their son Jasmer. May God give them the strength and courage to cope with their loss.

A Prayer meeting was held on June 17 at Geeta Bhawan, Indore.

On behalf of the Round Square family, we extend our deepest sympathy to Sumer, Jasmer and the families.

14 | Round Square News | Issue 8 | Aug 2011

Blog: Round Square Global Affairs Forum Last October a team of Round Square teachers decided to create an online blog titled the Round Square Global Affairs Forum (GAF).

The purpose of GAF is to provide students from RS schools the opportunity to share their ideas about contemporary global issues in an online environment. To date, students from Appleby College, St.Clements' School, Penryn School, Ivanhoe Grammar School, and Cate School have posted their ideas.

We would enjoy having more students from more schools share their ideas about the topics that are open for discussion. You can learn more about the Global Affairs Forum (school

involved, the two projects, student postings to date, etc.) by going to the website.

If you see a sidebar on the right-hand side of the webpage, simply click on the tiny arrow on the right-hand side of the VIEW/EDIT bar to make the sidebar disappear and to get a full-screen view of GAF.

Because the platform for GAF is not very sophisticated (it's free), students' writings cannot be longer than 2,000 characters (including spaces), and currently I copy-and-paste their written statements from a MS Word document into the blogsite.

Perhaps if the concept of GAF gains more widespread popularity

among us, then we could look for a more robust and interactive blog hosting platform.

Jim Masker, RS Rep History Teacher, Cate School, USA

GENERAL NEWS

A Face of Round Square Honorary Member Vijay Bhatnagar has been associated with Round Square since 1986. First as Head of the Lawrence School, Lovedale, Ooty, and then, from 1991 to 2007, as Head of the Indian School, Oman.

Vijay was Regional Director, South Asia and the Gulf, until October 2006 when at the Gordonstoun conference, Sumer (Head of the

Daly College, Indore, India) succeeded Vijay as Regional Director.

Vijay is on the board of Trivandrum International School, Trivandrum, in south India.Vijay and Meera now live in Gurgaon Delhi NCR, at E-043 Raheja Atlantis, Sector 31, Gurgaon, 122 001 and they can be contacted on (home) 00-91-124-2581590 or (cell) 00-91-981-8585904.

They would be delighted to welcome to their home all past and present members of Round Square visiting Delhi.

ALUMNI

In October 2010 at the International RS Conference at

Regent's School, Pattaya a group of RS alumni

came up with a pledge

“I pledge to uphold and promote the philosophies

embodied by the Round Square IDEALS wherever

I go. For the young minds of the world, I pledge to serve as

a mentor whenever the opportunity arises.”

Round Square is now hoping to develop an active alumni

association and would be grateful if you could provide us

with some feedback on how you would like to see this idea

move forward.

Please complete an online form

by 6th September 2011

If you have any queries please e-mail:

alumni@roundsquare.org

http://rsglobalaffairsforum.pbworks.com

15 | Round Square News | Issue 8 | Aug 2011

2012 AFRICA

NO EXISTENCE WITHOUT CO-EXISTENCE

Jambo! from Nairobi & Kenya. The Round Square International Conference 2012 will be hosted by the Africa Region in two diverse countries: Kenya in April and South Africa in October.

Brookhouse School is pleased to be hosting the conference in April 2012 with the theme “no existence without co-existence”.

Africa faces many challenges, none more pressing than the need to find ways to coexist - whether resolving tribal and ethnic divisions, or managing conflicting needs for land and resources between man and wildlife - or finding ways for peoples of different colour or creed to live in mutual respect, out continent will challenge you to confront these issues and hopefully help us to chart positive ways forward… as there is no future in selfishness, no sustainable gain in greed and no existence with out co-existence.

Visit the conference website www.rsc.brookhouse2012.ac.ke

A week of spirited adventure, meaningful service and lots of fun is in store for all.

GENERAL NEWS

Governance Matters

During July the Executive Committee of the Board of Directors, including our President King Constantine, met with our Executive Director Brian Dawson.

The role of the Executive Committee is to provide support to Brian between Board Meetings and to spend time preparing matters for further discussion at the upcoming Board Meeting.

Time was spent discussing the organisation’s needs in terms of Staffing, conference planning, risk assessment, governance and fundraising – specifically in support of RSIS Projects.

The full Board will reconvene prior to the International Conference in October this year.

Roderick Fraser, Chairman Round Square

New Staff Rep

Rod Summerton has run a very smooth and successful election to appoint the new staff rep on the Board. I am pleased to announce that Paul Crouch will be replacing Rod Summerton at the October conference this year.

“I would like to take this opportunity to thank Rod for his contribution to the Round Square Board over the last three years and in particular the work he has done to add value to conference participation and to welcome Paul to the Board. ”

Brian Dawson, Executive Director

Editor: Suzanne Bookless Advancement & Marketing Assistant

Round Square, PO Box 4371 Bath, BA1 0JD, U.K.

Tel: +44 (0) 1225 320 854 Fax: +44 (0) 1225 320 880

E-mail: admark@roundsquare.org

www.roundsquare.org

Registered Charity No.: 327117

Round Square News

Please send you news and photos to Suzanne Bookless

for the next edition.

If you would like to see something specific in the

Round Square News that is not currently being written about please let Suzanne

know.

Reminder: Aid for Somalia If you are in a position to help at your school, have a look at www.redcross.org.uk there is information there which details what is happening, why it is getting much worse and how to help. It is really easy to donate to the Red Cross.

16 | Round Square News | Issue 8 | Aug 2011

TEACHER ESCAPISM