Koru Hospital Fund was awarded £2,500 and Ballakermeen High School won the Frances Davidson Cup for the first time in 5 years of OWCC. The Koru Hospital Fund is a Manx registered charity which works in Kenya to provide access to sustainable and effective healthcare. Judges commented that the team were enthusiastic and good humoured, they felt that the team delivered a powerful testimony of the Mary Stewart, the charity’s founder, and showed a good all round understanding of development issues and the work of Koru Hospital Fund.

The judges had a difficult job choosing the winning team and the competition between the runners-up was so close that the judges decided to award each team with a grant of £1,500 for their charity.

Last year’s winners Castle Rushen High School were first up to deliver their presentation about Action Saves Kids to a full house at the Manx Museum. ASK works in Bangalore, India, helping rag-picker street children. The team gave a very slick presentation, kicking off the evening and really setting the scene with a video they had made showing the contrasts between rich and poor in India.

Isle of Man College followed representing another Manx registered charity, the Pahar Trust, which works to provide education to children in the Nepalese hill regions. The team were well rehearsed and gave a sensitive role play depicting the life of a young blind girl and how the Pahar Trust has helped to change her life. The team wowed the audience quoting the the cost of building the new Bemahague school on the Island would have paid for 4,250 schools in Nepal.

King William’s College gave a professional looking formal presentation about the work of Ro-Man-Aid. They showed a good understanding of the historical context and the cultural issues which had lead to some of the problems in modern day Romania.

Namaste Childrens House, which is also a Manx registered charity working in Nepal, was represented by Queen Elizabeth II High School. The presentation was started by a solo singer and guitar player which caught the attention of the audience, the team went on to show a clear understanding of the work of Namaste and why that work is important to people living in Nepal.

St Ninian’s High School treated the audience to a TV News style role play which was very effective. Through their ‘news team’ they explored the work of Malawi Mission Projects and the impact their work has had on people in Malawi. It was lively and creative, each student had a clear role being either their anchor man, live reporters and roving reporter who explored the Millennium Development Goals.

The prize fund initiated by the H&S Davidson Trust was matched by the International Development Committee, providing a total of £21,500. The 22 charities whose teams did not reach the finals each received smaller amounts from the prize fund. £11,000 was awarded to the six finalists. Lieutenant Governor Adam Wood presented the Frances Davidson Cup and the Hon David Anderson MHK presented the cheques.

Four teams from Ballakermeen came up with some creative approaches to the presentations.

Koru Hospital Fund had a relaxed style with a exciting introduction, their slides we smart and easy to follow. Some fun props introduced the young person helped by this charity and the audience was treated to a taste of some Kenyan food. The team had clearly understood the work of the charity and it’s sustainable nature.

Humanitarian Aid Relief Trust (HART) “Serving forgotten people in forgotten lands” was the second team of the evening. They involved the audience from the start and showed a clear reason for the choice of charity. This team introduced us to areas which do not often feature in OWCC including East Timor, Russia, Burma and Nigeria, their subtle use of music to introduce these places was a nice touch.

Third up was Drop Inn Ministries, a charity with a clear Manx link. The team chose to focus on one area of this large charity’s work, instances of cerebral palsy in Belarus as a result of the Chernobyl disaster. The team had a excellent interview style role play to show the differences between UK treatments and Belarussian treatments of cerebral palsy. This clearly showed empathy and a really deep understanding of cerebral palsy treatments in different places.

The final team of the evening represented Hands of Hope. Their introduction involved the audience and got us thinking about what we take for granted such as running water and electricity. They compared us to Maria a young person growing up in Romania. This team showed a really deep and clear understanding of the Millennium Development goals and showed us a graph demonstrating how and where the MDGs were being met. They linked the MDGs to Maria throughout their presentation, they showed a clear connection to their charity referring to themselves as representatives of Hands of Hope and they closed with a positive celebration of the work of Hands of Hope.

There were only five points separating all the teams when the judges put their scores together and after some discussion Koru Hospital Fund was the team nominated to represent Ballakermeen in the final. As a reflection of the close scores the three teams not reaching the final were each awarded £500 for their charities.

Castle Rushen will represent Action Saves Kids in this year’s OWCC final. The judges liked the balance of content, with well rehearsed delivery, good pacing and pauses. The team had a great introductory video which they had produced themselves showing the contrasts of living in India. The team had a powerful take on the Millennium Development Goals and showed empathy for each other and their charity.

Pestalozzi was awarded £600, the team had a smart, corporate look. Setting the stage up as a classroom was an innovative approach which demonstrated clearly the work of Pestalozzi. The judges liked how the team showed the ripple effect of Pestalozzi students and they thought the Skype interview was very effective.

ManASVI received £400, the team used Indian props and introduced the audience to their presentation with hard hitting facts about life in India. They showed a clear reason for choosing this charity, being an all female group gender equality was important to them. The judges thought the team had produced a thoughtful video with a good use of camera angles to set the scene. Their teamwork was good and they had a clear message, which linked directly to Millennium Development Goal 4 and was a real measure of the work of ManASVI in that there had been no child deaths in over 12 months as a result of ManASVI.

It was a difficult choice for the judging panel as all the teams had produced superb presentations to a very high standard. Well done to all students at Castle Rushen for such a great effort.

The winning team, representing the Malawi Mission Project, chose a
television news programme setting for their presentation. It was lively,
creative and engaging, with each student having a clear role including a
strong anchor man, a project reporter, a live roving reporter investigating
the Millennium Development Goals, and a sports correspondent. The amount
their production raises for the charity will be determined at the final.

Two teams received £600 for their charities:
a) Grace Third World Fund
The students chose to represent this charity because of the empathy they
could feel with children in the orphanage and school built and run through
the project They were impressed by the charity’s work towards
sustainability through growing food for the children, and the lack of admin
costs because of the commitment of volunteers.
b) Excellent Development
This presentation had an arresting start with a video of beautiful pictures
of Africa segued with negative images of the challenges facing the
continent’s poor. There was a clear explanation of the simplicity of sand
dams as a way to provide clean water involving the local community rather
than through expensive external aid.

The final two teams received £400 for their charities:
c) Send a Cow
The audience was treated to a chat show which had a persuasive script
presented enthusiastically. Research led to a good application of the
Millennium Development Goals, and it was encouraging to learn that 55,000
families had been direct beneficiaries of the charity over the last 25
years.
d) Tackle Africa
This whizzy presentation showed how the charity uses the plan of a football
field and the position of the players to teach about HIV/AIDS. The graphics
were good and the audience was left to consider whether it was a good idea
to use 25 percent of the charity’s income on fundraising.

All seven teams at QEII produced excellent, well thought out and informative presentations yesterday. The judges had a difficult task deciding which team would go through to the final. After much deliberation Namaste Children’s House will be represented by QEII in the final. The team clearly identified why they chose their charity, treated the audience to traditional Nepalese food and had even raised additional funds for their charity by making and selling Nepalese style bracelets.

Second on the running order was Self Help Africa, the team had very clear aims, nice images and a good understanding of cultural issues across the African continent. With team T-shirts and a well co-ordinated a lot of thought a practice had gone into this presentation. Self Help Africa was awarded £750 by the judges.

Rotary International has not featured in OWCC before, but this year a team from QEII put forward an excellent case for RIBI’s polio eradication project, which included an interesting video the team had made about the Millennium Development Goals. They also talked about empathy and really made the audience think “how would you feel “. RIBI were awarded £500.

Africa Educational Trust was up next. This team opened with some hard hitting figures about life on the African Continent and gave a detailed overview of the work of the their charity. They demonstrated a clear understanding of AET’s work. AET was awarded £250.

Presentation number five was Global Action Nepal, the team used props, traditional dress, Nepalese food and music to really give the audience a taste of Nepal. An awful lot of work had gone into this presentation, the slides were interesting with clear images and plenty of movement. The team had clearly understood the work of their charity and involved the audience with their approach to the Millennium Development Goals. GAN was awarded £750.

HOPE for Children was represented by the sixth team, who explained clearly how the charity spent it’s money showing it to be an effective charity. They also demonstrated how HOPE is working toward the Millennium Development Goals through specific projects. £250 was awarded to HOPE for Children.

The final presentation was Leonard Cheshire Disability. The team explained the background and history of the charity. The team understood the link between disability and Millennium Development Goal number 1. A case study of school attendance by disabled people in Kenya clearly demonstrated the effective work of this charity. The team had really understood the LCD message of overcoming barriers. LCD was awarded £250.

Tuesday evening saw six teams at King William’s College battle it out for a place in the final.

First up was Azafady, a charity working with people and the environment in Madagascar. The judges liked their question and answer style approach and slick graphics.

Next was Manx registered charity School for Uganda, this team showed a good understanding of OWCC, Uganda, the Millennium Development Goals. The judges enjoyed the video that the team had made, which captured the life of a young person well.

HOPE for Children was represented by third team. HOPE is a charity which has received a grant from the Manx Overseas Aid Committee. Again they showed a thorough understanding of the Millennium Development Goals and which ones the charity is able to meet. An interview giving a first hand account of life in South Africa worked very well and helped put their point across.

Manx registered charity Ro-Man-Aid was presented by the girls team, who clearly demonstrated a huge amount of research had gone into the project. The team linked the charity with their school and showed a real passion for their charity.

The next team represented another Manx registered charity, Bridge Builders. This team had a creative introduction with building blocks representing different aspects of the charity’s work being used to construct a bridge. The team’s conclusion was also strong and left the audience to thinking “teach a man to fish and you feed him for life”.

The final team was representing the Small Countries Financial Management Centre which is a relatively young charity with a new approach to overseas development. The boys understood this new approach as being a “catalyst for change” where the charity seeks to help small countries at government levels.

The judges decided that the team which would represent KWC in the final would be Ro-Man-Aid.

School for Uganda and Bridge Builders were awarded £750 each for their charities. Azafady, HOPE for Children and SCFMC were each awarded £330.

First up is King William’s College tomorrow night. Five teams will battle it out for a place in the final and a share of the grant money. The charities being represented are School for Uganda, Azafady, Ro-Man-Aid, Bridgebuilders and the Small Countries Financial Management Centre.

A total of £2,500 will be shared between the charities not reaching the final.

The One World Centre is delighted to announce that the Isle of Man Overseas Aid Committee have pledged £10,000 to this year’s One World Charity Challenge. The funding will be added to a grant of £11,500 from the H&S Davidson Trust meaning that £21,500 will be distributed between the 28 charities being represented by students this year.

One World Charity Challenge (OWCC) is an initiative, created by the H&S Davidson Trust and co-ordinated by the One World Centre, which gives Year 12 students the opportunity to speak out for young people in the developing world. Working in teams students are challenged to create a lively and interesting multi-media presentation analysing the work of a charity in the developing world.

For every team that completes the Challenge the H&S Davidson Trust donates £500 to an overall grant pool. The grant pool is usually divided between the six teams reaching the final. The additional funding from the Isle of Man Overseas Aid Committee allows the grant pool to be extended to all the charities taking part. OWCC Co-ordinator Jenni Quillin is delighted that the Overseas Aid Committee have pledged funding for the third consecutive year. “OWCC is all about speaking out for those less fortunate than ourselves and encouraging young people to consider what it might be like to grow up in the developing world. The additional funding pledged by the Overseas Aid Committee really empowers the youngsters by giving them some say in how some the Overseas Aid Budget is distributed to charities”.

This is an exciting time for students who will now all generate funding for their chosen charities. Grants will be awarded to each charity based on the merits of each presentation.

A record 28 teams from the Island’s secondary schools and the IOM College are taking part this year. The featured charities are either Manx registered and working in the developing world or they are charities based elsewhere that have received a small grant from the Isle of Man Overseas Aid Committee in 2011 / 12. One team from each school will be selected to take part in the final on 11th March at the Manx Museum. Please see www.oneworldcharitychallenge.com for full details of the project.

A grand total of seven teams from QEII High School have signed up for OWCC this year. Congratulations to QEII for fielding the largest number of teams from one school this year.

Manx registered charities repersented by QEII teams are Leonard Cheshire Disability who work globally to help the disabled and Namaste Childrens House which helps orphans and young people in Nepal. LCD have been represented in OWCC in the past but have not yet made it to the final, maybe this could be their year? Namaste Childrens House was represented in the 2009 final by King William’s College.

Five charities receiving funds from the Overseas Aid Committee have been selected by students at QEII. They are; Global Action Nepal, Self Help Africa, Rotary International (Polio Eradication Project), Africa Educational Trust and HOPE for Children. All these charities were awarded small grants from the Isle of Man Overseas Aid Committee in 2011 / 12, which made them eligible for students to represent them in 2012 / 13 OWCC.

The second largest entry this year comes from King William’s College where six teams are taking part. Five Manx registered charities are represented here. Azafady works in Madagascar to help protect people and the environment. School for Uganda is a small Manx charity working to provide education in one area of Uganda. Ro-Man-Aid is another small Manx charity doing very effective work in Romania. All three charities have been represented in OWCC in previous years, although none have reached the final to date.

Other Manx charities chosen include Bridgebuilders which provides educational bursaries to underprivileged children in Knysna, South Africa and a new charity based and registered on the Island, the Small Countries Financial Management Centre, the boys team looking at SCFMC will have an interesting take on the work this charity does.

Finally the last charity represented at KWC is Trocaire which received a grant from the Overseas Aid Committee. Trocaire is an Irish based charity providing support in different areas across the globe.

Rosemary will be visiting KWC this afternoon to give students a talk on the Millennium Development Goals.