A common need posted on: 5 November 2012 by: Daniel Bourdanné This post was originally posted on the Ichtus Belgium blog leading up to their week of prayer. What is it like to be a student today in Belgium? In Brazil? In Burkina Faso? In Britain? At the start of a new academic year here in the UK, universities and student life feature more prominently in the press. Alongside news that students at Cambridge University can now get up to 60 free condoms a week, there is debate whether the fall in demand for university places is related to the rise in tuition fees, and also discussion about what changes in university rankings might mean for the future of higher education. The headlines may well be different in another country, yet, as I travel and meet students around the world, I encounter common themes. Friendships and relationships matter. Community is important. More and more people feel the need to be living in community, to belong. Given