Before taking the final decision of enrolling in the Climate change activist 6 months program of Richmond Vale Academy, I was asked to write 5 essays. To make sure that I know what I’m signing up for and that I agree with the ideas of the school and the program.

This post corresponds to the first essay that I wrote, based on the reading of a newspaper article about RVA’s history.

The Assignment: From DRH to OWU a Movement of schools – of which Richmond Vale Academy is a part of – has come a long way. It started in the 1960’s in Denmark with a few teachers who decided to start traveling, as a form of educating themselves about our world. From this small group of people a whole movement got started.

Read the file. Write a short summary and try to answer a few of the following questions.

1. What does OWU ISET stand for and where was it started

2. When and where was DRH Started

3. What do you think about this article History DRH to OWU

My essay:  From DRH to OWU

In the late 1960’s, early 1970’s, a group of 7 curious, adventurous and optimistic Danish dreamers, set out on a year-long journey around the world. From different backgrounds and professions, they had one dream in common, meet the people of the world, discover how they live in different parts of the world and learn from their experiences. The journey through Europe, Eurasia and India, was made on a bus equipped with basic commodities for the travelers. This trip was going to change these people’s lives forever.

After a year of meeting people from many countries, with different backgrounds, especially much poorer than what they were used to in Western Europe, and living many experiences together, the group of adventurers returned home. But only to find themselves wondering how to spread the word about what they had learned and imagining ways to give this traveling/life-enriching opportunity to many more people. That’s how the Traveling folk High School (DRH) was born.

They imagined a school of life, a school of popular learning and sharing: a learning process for the students and by the students, taking place in a variety of locations in an unconventional and untraditional way. In the next 10 years (1970s decade), the DRH spread from 1 to 4 schools and enrolled up to 100 students per program who had the opportunity to discover many destinations around the world.

After spending so much time traveling, and meeting so many people in need, a new idea started to make its way in the school: The Solidarity Workers, also called Development instructors. As a result, the students get to learn, but also give back, by Fighting with the Poor or becoming climate Activists and spreading knowledge to the less privileged communities. In the last part of the evolution of the school, and thanks to another alternative school’s pioneer idea, the One World University (OWU), the DRH is now able to offer a university degree to its students as a valuable addition to their curriculum. OWU stands for One World University, and its official name, given after it was recognized as a private university by the government of Mozambique, ISET stands for Instituto Superior de Educação e Tecnologia.

Thanks to this article, I have a clearer idea of the philosophy and background of the DRH and hence of the program, I wish to enroll in. It allowed me to understand how the school started and how by taking one step at a time, with of a set of simple actions, great things can be achieved. These people didn’t dream it big from the beginning but made this whole program possible little by little. It is amazing how a whole new perspective can be brought to the world with dreams, optimism, and perseverance. These 7 people were pioneers and created an incredible opportunity for many students and people around the world who benefited from their actions. The fact that we can learn from each other and not only in the classroom by passive listening is still not very common, but it’s an idea worth exploring and spreading! Learning about the history of the School and its objectives made me even more convinced that I want to get involved!!!