MONTHLY NEWS Japanese Girl Speaks at United Nations Meeting |
Ten-year-old Moe Nagahama lives in Tokushima, on Japan's mid-western island of Shikoku, with her mother, father, and grandmother. Last year, Moe learned on TV about an essay competition for kids in which the prize was to go to New York for the United Nations Special Session on Children. It was a chance to visit a foreign country, so she decided to give it a try. Moe never dreamed she would end up giving a speech in front of hundreds of people from all over the world - and in English, too! "I wasn't thinking of making grand speeches at the time. I just wanted to travel overseas," she says. The United Nations Special Session on Children was organized so that world leaders could discuss making the world a better place for children. The idea was to have children represent themselves at the meeting. Nickelodeon, a TV company that broadcasts children's programs, launched the competition as part of the "Say Yes for Children" campaign run by UNICEF (the United Nations Children's Fund). Kids were asked to write an essay on "What You Can Do for the World." Moe says: "I wrote that it was important to make friends in different countries of the world. That way, everyone can live together as friends." She was surprised when she was chosen to go to New York.
Then the bad news came. Originally planned for September 2001, the United Nations Special Session on Children was postponed. This was because of the terrorist attacks in New York - another sign, perhaps, that the world run by adults has some serious problems. After an eight-month wait, the Special Session was rescheduled to take place from May 8 to 10, along with hundreds of related events. Moe would spend a whole week in New York as one of the 12 kids chosen - one each from Australia, Brazil, Britain, Hungary, India, Japan, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Russia, Spain, Sweden, and Zambia. Once in New York, Moe found herself thrown into a busy daily schedule, shuttled from one event after another as a child representative. In many cases, the security was so tight that her interpreter - and even her mother - weren't allowed to come with her. It was a lonely experience. "Kids from other countries were speaking English fluently, and I could barely introduce myself. Being unable to converse was really tough." On May 5, Moe was given an hour to write a speech. She asked the interpreter to translate her speech into English and write down the pronunciation in Japanese, so she could practice.
The next day, Moe was invited to a meeting of religious leaders, attended by an audience of around 200. "I was pretty nervous going out there, and felt shy, so I spoke with my eyes cast down." Moe urged everyone to stop children's suffering because it leaves a big bruise in their hearts even when they become older. "Please treat them right, with lots of love!" she said in her speech. "When I finished, the audience applauded. They understood me, I was able to get through," Moe says happily. Although Moe was more excited about traveling at the beginning, she played an important role representing children everywhere, especially those who are less fortunate than her. And since returning to Japan, Moe has stayed in touch with other kids who attended the Special Session. "I'm exchanging e-mail with children from Malaysia, Spain, and Kazakhstan," she says. Moe dreams of becoming a planner of amusement parks that both children and the elderly can enjoy. "When I grow up, I want to become an energetic person who's always flying around the world on airplanes." Her trip to New York this year marked the beginning of Moe's quest for making friends everywhere in the world. Photos: (Top) Moe with other kids at the meeting; (middle) Kids from all over the world gathered in New York; (bottom) Moe delivers her speech. (Junko Nagahama) |
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