In New York on 20th March 2014, eight Friend Our World Peace Ambassadors from across the world presented their peace messages to the United Nations Headquarters.
Walking down the corridor of the UN you will be amazed to see the message of a 10-year-old Mauritian student, Rahul Matabudul, a 6th Grade pupil from Alexandra House School in Floreal, a COBIS Member school.
In New York on 20th March 2014, eight Friend Our World Peace Ambassadors from across the world presented their peace messages at the United Nations Headquarters. The event was organised by Friend Our World, which is a global peace programme for children and schools with a focus on the International Day of Peace, 21 September. School children and teachers from more than 130 countries created messages of peace and participated in online friendship games of geography, languages and global citizenship. Every point scored on Friend Our World games resulted in a ticket in the draw. The more children played, the greater the chances they had. Points were accumulated and one child was then selected from Africa, Asia, Caribbean/Central America, Europe, Middle East, North America, Oceania and South America. The lucky winners travelled to the United States of America where they met the other Peace Ambassadors and presented a speech at the UN.
“On 8th of October 2013, we were thrilled to find out that Rahul Matabudul from Alexandra House School was selected to represent Africa,” says Mrs. Soobrattee, the ICT Teacher who was in charge of organising the games.
“It is such a great pride and honour that one of our students represented Africa at the United Nations. With his gentle, friendly nature and his firm grasp of the values of peaceful cooperation and respect for all people, Rahul is the perfect choice as a Peace Ambassador.” says Mrs. Langlois, Headmistress at Alexandra House School, who recommended that students enroll for the games.
On hearing the news, Rahul was overjoyed, “I am really excited to be chosen to represent Mauritius and Africa at the United Nations. Participating in the Friends Our World games allowed me to play with children from different countries and cultures around the world through a variety of activities”.
“I started playing for fun and that is when I got hooked on the game and played nearly every free second I had. I am extremely excited about this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. I can’t believe that I am actually going to the UN. It’s such a grand event! I am looking forward to making new friends of different nationalities.” When asked what he liked about Friend Our World games he stated, “It was fun but at the same time it was educational. It was an enjoyable way of learning about other people’s cultures.”
Rahul shared with the UN how Mauritius is an example to the world in bringing together people of different cultures and religions in perfect harmony. He believes that if we can live together, everyone can live together. His favorite quote is “Ene seul le pep, ene seul nation” – “United we stand.”
Rahul’s UN Speech
I come from a beautiful country called Mauritius, which is a small island in the Indian Ocean. Mauritius is a living example of peace and harmony, bringing together people of different cultures and religions. Mauritians come from a variety of backgrounds including Hindu, Christian, Muslim, and Chinese. I believe peace is tolerating and respecting our neighbour so that we can live happily. Peace is a sign of harmony which everyone needs. If you respect people, you will be respected. Peace prevents war.
People these days are at war because they don’t agree. If people agree on issues or try to find a solution, life will be much easier. Peace removes pain and brings harmony.
I believe if we can live together, everyone can live together. In my country we say “Ene seul le pep, ene seul nation”, which means “United we stand”
Let us live in peace together!
The children also shared how their school promotes peace. Rahul wrote:
At Alexandra House School, pupils come from 32 different countries and are of different religious and cultural backgrounds. Our school encourages respect for all cultures by explaining and celebrating various festivals throughout the year according to current pupils (e.g. Easter, Divali, Eid, Hannukah, Chinese New Year) and acknowledging the equality of all people. Nearing cultural festivals, teachers prepare classwork and artwork on the various festivals. We not only learn about the different cultures from our friends, but also have the opportunity to explore them further in class. These are then displayed across the school for everyone to see.
Class 6 pupils take on more responsibility such as being prefects, sports monitors etc., to help us manage smaller children, teams and peers. In so doing, we realise the importance of peace and tolerance and helping children with their differences. Peace, tolerance and values are the foundations of good citizenship. We also have a weekly assembly where our headmistress Mrs Langlois talks about such things. Finally we were encouraged to play peace games on Friend our World at school. We are lucky to live in a country where we have such diversity yet live harmoniously together.
Rahul was both humbled and proud to have had this unique opportunity among the millions of children who participated in Friend Our World. He was very dedicated in the online friendship games, accumulating slightly over 75,000 points to achieve 8th place on the global Leaderboard. He made many friends online, and considers himself very fortunate to have been able to make new friends with other Child Peace Ambassadors during the trip to New York, where he also learnt a great deal about peace, history, science, and different cultures. He shared with us his experience, “I had a great time in New York. I met 7 other children who came from across the world. It was amazing. We were all very friendly with each other. I actually learned a lot from them. Thank you once again to Friend Our World association for giving me the opportunity to go to New York! I had a wonderful time. I learned that New York is huge. I never imagined it to be so big. I visited the UN, UNICEF, UNIS, National Museum of American History, Statue of Liberty and Empire State. It was the best experience in my whole life so far. I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw all of them. I had a fabulous time.”