Why do you deliver the speech?

 

The reason is very simple. Because it’s fun!

I enjoy thinking about the idea of new speech.

I enjoy talking about how to make my speech better with my club members and friends.

I enjoy sharing my idea and passion with everyone in the hall.

That’s why I devote all of my passion to speech activity.

Since speech contest is a “contest”, I would do my best to win a prize. But above all, I would like to enjoy the moment standing on the stage.

 

 

The Chain of Illiteracy

 

 

Pak Sai, a boy from Indonesia, once said to his father.  “Dad, I want to go to school!”  But his father replied, “No, son.  We don’t have any money.  You must work instead of going to school.”  As a result, Pak Sai remained illiterate all his life.  40 years have passed, and his son said the same thing to Pak Sai: “Dad, I want to go to school!”  But sadly, Pak Sai’s answer was the same as his father’s: “No, son.  We don’t have any money.  You must work instead of going to school.”

 

              This is a story which I read on the website of a certain NGO.  I felt so sorry for Pak Sai when I read his story and saw his picture.  So I started to think about what can be done to save people like him.  Today, I’m here to talk about the cycle resulting from the lack of education and poverty in developing countries.

 

              In developing countries, hundreds of millions of children are denied decent education.  The United Nations says that there are more than 700 million people in the world who cannot attend school, and the main reason for this situation is poverty.  As a result, they have great difficulties throughout their lives.  For example, though they dream of working in a company, they lack the basic academic skills which are the so called Three R’s: reading, writing and arithmetic.  Consequently, they are condemned to a life of physical labor and the low wages that go with it.  They have to spend their entire lives mired in poverty.  And this situation repeats itself over and over again.  If parents were poorly educated, their children end up in the same situation.  Many people in developing countries are simply part of the chain of illiteracy.

 

              Now, some of you may wonder what this problem has to do with us.  The answer is nothing, if we choose to ignore it.  But should our consciences allow us to ignore it?  Please imagine yourself stuck in that chain of illiteracy.  How would you feel?  Hopeless and helpless.  I’m sure.  The solution, of course, is education. Education is an indispensable source of power enabling us to broaden our path through life, and in all fairness, everybody should receive it.  Ladies and gentlemen, I believe that we who live in developed countries are the only ones who can cut this chain of illiteracy.  Actually, governments in developing countries are too inexperienced, too understaffed or simply too poor to do it.

 

              So—what can be done to help them?  The best way, of course, is direct action: Go to developing countries and help with NGO projects such as teaching children on the spot!  But I guess you are too busy to do that, and that is simply not a practical solution.

 

              An excellent substitute is to help out from here in your home country, by participating in projects run directly from Japan.  For example, there is a project named “World Terakoya Movement,” which is handled by UNESCO.  You can start from a donation of just 1,000 yen per month!  That will certainly not break the bank—you’ll still have plenty of money left.

 

              According to the Nikkei Newspaper, in developing countries, it costs about 500 yen per month to let one child go to school.  Please think about it.  With your 1,000 yen, two children can go to school for a month.  In other words, you can help break the chain of illiteracy just with some of your pocket money!  Your donation money would be used for many purposes such as buying stationary, supporting families, training teachers, and so on.  Actually, I am already a supporter of this project.  After donating, I received a report from UNESCO about the project.  I was really happy to read it because it made me realize that some innocent lives were saved from a terrible destiny through my small donation.  Now, I took my very first step to break the chain of illiteracy.  And next, I would like all of you to join me.

 

              Around the world, there are a number of supporting projects including “World Terakoya Movement”.  Thanks to them, many people have come to lead happy and satisfying lives.  Talamati, from Nepal, couldn’t go to school in her childhood, but thanks to donations, she eventually became literate.  Now she is part of a project supporting children in Nepal to get an education.  Of course we still have a long way to go to cut all the chains of illiteracy.  But if you and others join this kind of project, you can turn Pak Sais into Talamatis!  We can certainly go one step forward.

 

Although all of us know about the poverty in developing countries, there seems to be very few people who are actually taking action for this problem.  Many people think that this is a problem happening somewhere else.  But is that really the right thing to shut your eyes to this situation?  This is my last contest and I want to emphasize that our small actions can change the world.

 

Ladies and gentlemen, let’s give illiterate people the power that comes with education, the power that breaks the chain of illiteracy, the power that will finally let them lead full and satisfying lives of their own choosing!