This Blog was written at some point in July ~ can’t remember exactly when and its sat in ‘My Documents’ for ages!!

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Well, being on the block has been exciting so far.

One of the highlights of the past few months (after finishing my undergraduate degree) was going on a trip to Southern Africa with ACTSA, which used to be the anti-apartheid movement. Of the current NEC, Ama, Stephen Brown and Stephen Findley were also on the trip. The things that we saw and the people that we met were an inspiration to me and taught me something invaluable: A student movement like our own can affect real change in the world. Our internationalist agenda should be focused towards practical objectives. This would on the one hand be good for us because we could actually measure the success of our policy, and save the NUS from endless debates about things that we have no power to influence (though of course, we should be free to take a stand on any issue that we want). On the other hand, it would be good for the people whose lives we, as a student movement, have the power to change for the better.

It is my hope that throughout the year, the relationships that I forged and the contacts that I made on the trip to South Africa will bear great fruit. We stood in solidarity with South Africa over apartheid, but though apartheid ended, the country is still faced with a legacy of racial division, and the continent is ravaged by the affects of HIV/AIDs … our solidarity must continue.

I have also taken part in Priority Campaign training, which was really productive. I look forward to seeing through, under Gemma and Wes’ leadership, NUS’ regeneration into an effective campaigning body with a realistic hope of achieving success in our continued fight for free education.

There was also a residential for the NEC in Southport. The training was of a very high quality but what was even more impressive was the unity of purpose amongst the executive. We discovered that there is a lot more to unite us than to divide us. I hope the NEC takes this lesson to heart and refrains from tabling motions aimed at nothing more than scoring points and creating division ~ I’m certain that some people on the NEC are still more eager to tear things apart than they are to build bridges. I will be looking to my colleagues to work with me this year on all that we stand together on. Of course people can disagree with my politics, but I hope our disagreements can be put into perspective rather than be used for political mileage.

Finally, this optimistic blog must end on a tragic note. This month saw the brutal murder of Alan Senitt, who was killed whilst trying to protect his female companion from a savage attack in Washington DC. I had the pleasure to have known Alan who was a tireless campaigner for peace and understanding between people, a leader in interfaith dialogue, a wonderful advocate for the state of Israel, a fantastic student officer at Birmingham University, a chair person of the Union of Jewish Students and was a young man with a bright future. His loss is tragic for all of us in the Jewish community, the student movement and beyond. He will be missed.

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PS. I wrote this Blog ages ago and didn’t get round to sending it in. I wrote it before the unfolding of the tragic violence in the Middle East and before a very eventful, though constructive, NEC meeting. Perhaps I’ll discuss those topics next time.

PPS. There are very exciting plans on to drawing board for a National RAG week in December. Please get in touch with me if you want to get on board with these plans or want to chat about anything else.

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