UC students start their 21-day International Challenge

Canterbury students start their 21-day International Challenge tomorrow

May 3, 2015

Thirty students tomorrow start their 21-day International Challenge tomorrow, working with New Zealand business leaders to change the lives of a struggling community in the Philippines.

The 21 Day Challenge is a new competition where 30 students in six teams join forces with 30 New Zealand industry leaders to help solve issues in a Filipino community. They will be assisted by the College of Business and Law’s Senior Fellow and Entrepreneur in Residence, Linda Cruse, who has carried out humanitarian aid work in several natural disaster areas around the world.

The winning team of students will receive an all-expenses-paid trip to help implement their solution in the community they designed a plan for during the Challenge. The business leaders in the winning team will have the option to participate in the trip at their own expense.

The village at the centre of the Challenge is Barangay Tarong, which is located in Carles, Iloilo, a municipality in the Western visayas region of Central Philippines. It is a coastal community that was badly damaged by Typhoon Haiyan and Typhoon Hagupit. The village is reliant on fishing.

Locals lost their fishing boats and their livelihood from the typhoons. The Challenge has a local contact person from the village who the teams can talk to and ask questions. Cruse has worked in this community since Typhoon Haiyan and the university wants to build on the work that she has done over there.

The students have been selected from across all five of the university colleges, Challenge manager Associate Professor Sussie Morrish says.

“We had wanted this to be a cross-disciplinary composition so that everyone brings a different perspective to the problem and decision-making. Each student will be assigned a business mentor whom they can go to for help.

“Tomorrow the 30 students will attend a workshop which will cover a briefing, cultural competency, design thinking and business planning to help prepare them for the Challenge.

“The official launch will be held on campus on Tuesday and students will find out which team they belong to and meet their individual mentor. The launch will be fronted by honorary doctorate Antony Gough, a University of Canterbury alumnus and a well-known Christchurch business person.

“The teams have 21 days to complete their business plan. After May 25, there will be preliminary judging and three finalists will be chosen. The closing and award ceremonies will be held on May 29. The highlight of the evening is the final heat between the finalists. They will have 15 minutes to present to the panel of judges. The winning team will be chosen and announced during that evening.

“The Challenge is an initiative of the university’s College of Business and Law to promote social awareness and entrepreneurship. Since the 2010 and 2011 earthquakes, Canterbury students and the Christchurch community collectively have a shared experience. They have a unique understanding from having experienced what it is like to go through disaster and ongoing recovery.

“The Student Volunteer Army was only the start of a life-long learning for many of our students. Education is not only about being in a lecture theatre. The world is a live classroom and we want our graduates prepared to change the world.

“The challenge has been particularly supported by the Philippine ambassador Virginia Benavidez who says it will be an eye opener and enriching experience for the participants,” Associate Professor Morrish says.

ENDS

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