Hi everyone! I’m Hanon Kawamura.
I’m a 9th grader at Hiroshima Nagisa junior high school.
My grandmother’s first birthday was on the day when the atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima on August 6th 1945. On that day her mother was planning to take her to a photo studio in Kamiyacho which is only 500 meters away from the hypocenter. However, she became ill so they couldn’t go. If they had gone there, I wouldn’t exist now.
Let me tell you about what I’ve experienced in international interaction so far. When I was a 5th grader, I showed the Thai exchange students around the Peace Memorial Museum. Now I belong to the international club. We interact with international students and hold peace activities. American and Thai students came to our school this year and we were able to have an enjoyable time interacting with them. Recently, an exchange student from New Zealand stayed at my house for one week. Little by little, I am making friends from different countries.
Now, I’d like to ask you a serious question.
What would you do if your friends were caught up in a war? How could we help them? We could try to get them to safety, donate money or non-perishable food or join in a protest. However, it might not make that much of a difference during a time of war.
The answer is “not to start a war” in other words, “keep peace.” We can achieve it if we just take the time to learn about each other’s opinions and ways of thinking through international exchange programs, or making new friends regardless of the race, color or creed. Ultimately, I hope to create a world full of compassion. As the late John Lennon said “Just give peace a chance.”
So what I’m proposing is the KIZUNA PROJECT FOR PEACE. It is to build international friendships, and educational institutions around the world must partner with schools overseas. The plan starts with elementary school students. We will hold camps and events for a short period of time and support internationalexchange programs so that our staff, who are bilingual speakers, can help students build a better understanding of each others’ history and culture as well as their opinions and ways of thinking. For junior and high school students, we will implement a program to make international bonds even stronger. In the program, they learn to explore, discuss and consider the global issues from multiple perspectives and think logically and objectively using critical thinking skills.
Earlier in my speech, I asked you “What would you do if your friends were caught up in a war?“ If we young people, who are responsible for the next generation, build friendships through international exchange programs, we will be able to help each other in times of need. We need to expand exponentially and strive to be a strong network before anymore wars arise.
By cherishing your friends, you would also cherish your friends’ families, and by wanting to cherish your friends’ families, you would want to cherish your friends’ country as well.
PEACE BEGINS WITH AN INTERNATIONAL FRIENDSHIP!!
Thank you very much.