Education: the key to unlocking a better world

Celebrate our differences! That is the motto of United World College (UWC) Maastricht. Students from the ages of four to nineteen from across the world come to UWC to complete their education and, above all, to learn how they, as caring citizens of the world, can make the world a little better together day by day. Nedlin is happy to help them succeed!

UWC is an international educational organization founded by Kurt Hahn in 1962. He wanted to use education as a tool to create a peaceful and sustainable world. To achieve this, he brought together students of different ages, nationalities, cultures, religions, and socio-economic backgrounds to teach them the beauty and value of diversity. The goal was to teach students the knowledge and skills needed to become adults who inspire change and make a positive contribution to society. Today, UWC has eighteen locations across the world.

More than just an international school

UWC Maastricht was founded in 2009 and has around 900 students. It is "more" than just an international school for expat children; the school also houses around 200 students on the UWC campus. "They were selected from different countries based on their motivations and potential to change the world," explains Sandra van den Tillaard, director of advancement at UWC. "Diversity is also part of the selection procedure, so that we create a diverse student body. This means that students from poorer backgrounds or who come from war-torn countries and refugee camps are welcome here. They are given a partial or fullscholarship. This is a very meaningful contribution to their future, which is why we are always looking for sponsors who can give these students the opportunity to continue their studies after secondary school by following the special two-year International Bachelor Diploma Programme.”

Proud sponsor

Nedlin is one of these sponsors. "Two years ago, the Board of Nedlin got in touch with us," continues Sandra. "The company was celebrating its 65-year anniversary and wanted to give something back to society. The Board members were immediately sold after they visited the school, and so were we. Nedlin is a commercial company that is committed to sustainable and social innovation and wants to be meaningful to clients, the local environment, and the people with whom they work. This is very inspirational. Their motto, "A new day, new opportunities" fits in perfectly with our vision that you can make the world a little more beautiful every day. We are therefore very happy that Nedlin decided to sponsor us. This sponsorship helped Sama to start her studies at UWC Maastricht in September 2017.”

A unique opportunity

Eighteen-year-old Sama Saleem comes from Baghdad in Iraq. There, she attended a good high school where she already took many classes in English. ”One day the state secretary of education visited the school,” explains Sama. ”We discussed the education system in Iraq with him and critiqued the limited options available to girls to further develop themselves. He responded that we should just get married and flee to a different country. This was a trigger for me to do something to improve women's rights in Iraq. A teacher told me about UWC, and I was immediately convinced that this was the opportunity I needed to really achieve something. I received mixed reactions from my family. My father and my brothers supported me, but my mother didn't want me to go. She believed that it was not acceptable in our culture for a sixteen-year-old girl to travel abroad alone and worried about what other people would think. But I convinced her that I would not have my future spoiled by other people's opinions. So, I filled in the registration form and I was selected by UWC Maastricht to attend.”

A life-changing experience

Sama came to Maastricht in August 2017 and immediately felt at home. ”The school was very welcoming. There are 109 nationalities at the school, meaning that pretty much everybody is far from home and in the same boat. That quickly teaches you to interact with different people and different cultures. The most important thing I learned is that stereotypes do not exist. Everyone is different and considers things from their own point of view. In class we learn how to start up social projects and do volunteer work in the area to get practical experience. I work at the local public service broadcaster RTV Maastricht a few hours per week, and I absolutely love it! I will be sitting my final exams soon. After that I am going to study in Berlin or in the USA, or I might take a gap year to develop my language skills. I eventually want to return to Iraq to start up projects related to women's rights. Whatever I end up doing, my time at UWC has changed my life. The fact alone that my mother is incredibly proud of me and that together we have been able to change the prejudices of our environment, made it worthwhile. I am very grateful to Nedlin for giving me this opportunity.”