Thinking About Peace
by Ayaka Tanaka, 7th Grade
Chiran Junior High School, Kagoshima Prefecture
Messages of Peace from Chiran
13th Annual Speech Contest, 2002
Third Prize, Junior High School Division
Everyone, what do you think "peace" is?
Last summer I did research about UNICEF in my general studies course at
school. The simple reason for thinking to investigate this was that I wanted
to know something about UNICEF. UNICEF is the United Nations Children's Fund,
which primarily engages in various support activities for disadvantaged
children.
When doing research, I found out that currently one child in the world dies every three
seconds.
I did not know even a little about such a world. I always eat
morning, noon, and night, and I can sleep soundly. That
happy life is natural in Japan, but it is not common in other countries. It
has turned into such a world.
I became very sad. And from this I began to think seriously whether there isn't anything
else we can do.
In the beginning I did not have much interest in peace,
but while doing research during my general studies time I started to think a
lot about whether there was something I could do. And since we learned from
those around us about the many unfortunate people in the world, we decided to
do fund
raising and try starting quickly. Also, we gave a presentation about what we
researched in general studies so others would know about our ideas.
I collected money with my class friends in front of the Tomiya Restaurant
Museum. Being my first time, I quickly lost my voice due to my shyness, but
afterward I recovered my voice when I thought about wanting to aid many
people. The reason I wanted to do fund raising was because every day lives of
disadvantaged children in the world were being lost. Although only being one
person, if the lives of many were helped, then I thought I would be working
toward peace.
However small, if we make people happy, that is something that works toward
peace. Even so, wars between people still occur. The
lives of people involved in them are being lost. It
is very regrettable that good people die.
War is not happening in Japan, but
I think even in Japan there are people who try to change people's feelings by
military force. People's feelings cannot be changed by force. When people in
the world do not understand this, I think the reality of many lives being lost
through war will not disappear.
Through my studies, I feel like I came to learn the meaning of a phrase
that had been on my mind from before. That
saying on my mind was the following, "Japan is a rich country, so
we can do things." It sounded cool when I heard it from my friends. I did
not think about it any more than that, but through what I learned in peace
studies, I found out today's meaning for this saying, "It
is good that we have been born in a rich country. Not only that, we can live
for other countries." In
only one world. In a place where several billion people are living. Since I
also have been born in this world, I must support others and understand their
viewpoints. If we can have mutual understanding with people near us, then
as that grows, the people on this planet called Earth can understand their
neighbors.
Everyone, what do you think "peace" is?
I think it is a world
filled with everybody's smiling faces. Even if impossible now, I surely hope
someday there will be a world full of smiles.
That is my hope for
"peace."
Translated by Bill Gordon
September 2004
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