Overview

"Education without social action is a one-sided value because it has no true power potential. Social action without education is a weak expression of pure energy."

- Martin Luther King Jr.

For years, UWC students have taken "gap years" between their UWC experience and university studies. In the last few years, at the initiation of Pearson UWC and RCNUWC, many in the UWC movement have begun to envision a "UWC education" as a three year experience. To truly make "education a force to unite peoples, nations and cultures for peace and a sustainable future," UWC students would spend two years within the rich academic, service-focused, and social environment learning and augmenting their understanding of the UWC values; then UWC students would dedicate a year volunteering their time with and learning from an organization that practically enacts the UWC mission and vision in their daily practice. For now, that vision is still an "option" - the "3rd Year Option."

The MUWCI Triveni program (Triveni is a Sanskrit word referring to the confluence of the three holiest rivers in India: the Yamuna, the Ganga, and the Saraswati) encourages students to engage, through a variety of contexts, with concrete issues facing the majority of the world's population. Students face issues complicated by hunger and poverty, environmental injustice and degradation, gender and social violence, among others, in their weekly Community Interaction (CI) activities and CI Project Weeks. To expand the depth and range of educational experience, the Triveni program will also offer a variety of 3rd Year Options for all UWC students.

In order to maximize the opportunities available to UWC students, MUWCI's Triveni program is partnering with the RCNUWC Volunteer Programme. Rather than duplicate resources, we encourage you to visit the RCNUWC Volunteer Programme page, in particular the following links: "Introduction," "To think about," and "When you have decided to volunteer." Please visit the RCNUWC Volunteer Programme page at: http://volunteers.rcnuwc.no/

If you have any questions, please email us at 3yo@muwci.net

The Options

  1. Akshara (Maharashtra, India)
  2. Agragamee (Orissa, India)
  3. Aliñambi Foundation (Quito, Ecuador)
  4. APSA (Karnataka, India)
  5. Banyan (Tamil Nadu, India)
  6. Goa Foundation (Goa, India)
  7. Himmat (Gujarat, India)
  8. Irula (Tamil Nadu, India)
  9. Nuestros Pequeños Hermanos (Ometepe, Nicaragua)
  10. The DoorStep School (Maharashtra, India)
  11. Programs at other colleges:

More to come!

How To Apply

Download:
application form (.doc)

Note: deadline extended.Applications due April 30th!

If you want to apply for a 3rd year option placement, you should submit an application form preferably by the end of January. If you submit an application after this, you will still be eligible to be placed on a third year option, but if and where you are placed will depend largely on the number of others who have already submitted applications by the deadline.

The application form is made up of 3 parts - basic information about yourself; information on your preferences regarding options, and a personal letter, detailing why you are interested in doing a Third Year Option and explaining your interests in your number one choice of project.

As well as this you must include in the form the contact details of 2 referees, and a copy of your CV (for more details, follow the link to view the application form.)

All completed application forms should be sent to - 3yo@muwci.net before March 1st.

The selection process is handled jointly by the organizations to which you are applying and Mahindra UWC, and we will notify you when a decision has been made.

Download: 3rd Year Option Application form (.doc)