10
Children From Around The World Selected to Plan International
Children's Conference on the Environment
UN Event Will Attract 600 Children from 100
Countries to Connecticut in July
NEW LONDON, Conn., April 27, 2004 — Ten
young environmentalists from around the world have been selected
to serve on a board that is integral in planning the 2004 Tunza
International Children's Conference on the Environment. A signature
event of the United Nations Environment Programme, the prestigious
Conference will attract 600 children ages 10-13 from 100 countries
to Connecticut in July.
The Junior Board consists of four representatives
from the United States and one each from Iran, Kenya, Ghana,
Colombia, Australia, and Canada. The next generation of environmental
leaders is helping to plan everything from the conference's
workshop to dinner menus. The Junior Board includes:
• Adrian Mahoney, 12, of Miami, Florida,
who has helped raise money to send four giant solar cookers
to refugee camps in Afghanistan. He is also protesting the
pollution of the Everglades.
• Alice Ofosua Abaassah, 12, of Accra,
Ghana, who was inspired by the volume of littered plastic bags
where she lived to start her own clean-up program. She promotes
fuel-efficient stoves that burn local materials to conserve
energy and firewood, lowering pressure on forests.
• Christian Birky, 12, of Glenn, Michigan,
who runs an environmentally-friendly lawn mowing service using
a pony and reel mower. He is actively involved with a Roots & Shoots
Club of the Jane Goodall Institute that promotes community
service.
• Jay Pradeep Shah, 11, of Nairobi,
Kenya, who has been selected to attend the World Summit on
Sustainable Developments in South Africa. He has won many essay
and art competitions focused on the environment.
• Jenna Charles, 12, of Martinsville,
New Jersey, who is a leader for Roots & Shoots and is helping
to enhance a 6.5-acre wildlife habitat at her school. She helped
create the cookbook "Book of the Cooks: Stirring Up People
Around the World" that has raised $6,500 for children
living in poverty.
• Lauren Kirk, 13, of Central Queensland,
Australia, who has developed a web log about her environmental
experiences to raise awareness about environmental issues.
She participates in Clean Up Australia Days and other events.
• Nikoo Sadat Momensade, 12, of Tehran,
Iran, who cleaned up a trash-filled area around his school
with his classmates. He is working on a children's book about
simple and practical ways to protect the environment.
• Paige Barnett, 12, of Southington,
Connecticut, who has taught young children about recycling,
worked with her Girl Scout troop to clean a park, and, with
her classmates, wrote a children's book called "Pollution
Pete Learns a Lesson."
• Patrick Simpson, 12, of New Brunswick,
Canada, who is actively involved in the Children's International
Summer Villages, New Brunswick Fish and Game Association, and
Scouts Canada.
• Manuela Jaramillo, 12, of Medellín
City, Colombia, has served as a scout for the last five years.
Her projects in school have included researching plants and
animals.
"The group of 10 is representative of
the other 600 kids who will be attending the conference," said
Conference Senior Planner and Advisor Kimmie L. Weeks. "They
have made immense contributions to improving the environment
where they live and they are instrumental in planning the conference."
The Conference, which will be held at Connecticut
College from July 19-23, 2004, is striving to develop future
ambassadors for the environment who will work as leaders in
their own communities and eventually as a large, global network.
400 adult delegates will accompany the children.
The Conference will be held in conjunction
with a majestic Tall Ships® Environmental Festival. The
Festival will feature a fleet of international vessels with
a parade of sail into the harbour on July 22, docking at the
Environmental Festival at State Pier in downtown New London.
The Festival will include a large environmental expo. For more
information on the Tall Ships Festival, visit www.NewLondonTallShips.com.
The Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation is the
Founding Sponsor of the Conference. Other sponsors include
Cross Sound Ferry and Pepsi-Cola. For more information on the
conference, visit www.icc04.org.
Two years ago at the age of nine he won the
first prize in a United Nations Essay contest. The essay was
entitled "Forests and their importance". He
got a fully sponsored trip to Victoria, Canada to attend the
International Childrens Conference on the Environment. In two
years he has done a lot for the environment and this year he
was selected as one of ten children from the whole world as
a JUNIOR BOARD MEMBER for the International Childrens Conference
on the Environment. The Conference has just concluded and ran
from 19 July to 23 July at Connecticut, USA.
Jay's achievements are far from over. At the conference he
acclaimed great fame and everyone at the conference admired
his oratorical and project skills. At the end of the conference
and after rounds of selection and interviews Jay was once again
selected as a JUNIOR BOARD MEMBER for the whole of AFRICA.
The next conference will be held in the summer of 2005 at Aichi
Prefecture, JAPAN.Jay is only 11 years old now and a regularly
attends of Jain classes here in Nairobi. He has also won numerous
Quiz, Essay, Poetry,Oratorical, Debating Contests throughout
his Primary career.
25 September 2004 |
