Young West Enders: Michael Bowes meets Kofi Annan in New York
When Michael Bowes participated in the United Nations Model Millennium Summit, earlier this year, he identified one of the highlights of the event as listening to a speech by Kofi Annan – “his speech was a true inspiration to all of the youths”.
Little did Michael realize at that time that he would be off to New York in September to meet Kofi Annan, Secretary General of the United Nations, in person. To his delight Michael was chosen from secondary pupils throughout Scotland to represent his country at the Youth Summit. Furthermore, Michael was asked to present to Kofi Annan a draft declaration of peace drawn up by the young people.
When he handed over the declaration he also presented the Secretary General with a gift of malt whisky. He asked him what motivated him in life and was thrilled by the answer he received, which is an old African proverb:
“the world is a treasure, the world is a gift that must be cherished”
He was genuinely struck by this answer, which he felt was very profound: “It was very impressive, most politicians would need a team of scriptwriters to come up with as as good an answer”, said Michael.
He was also pretty knocked out by New York and apart from seeing the sights and sounds of the Big Apple, during his five day trip he was also given a tour of the UN Headquarters. This was quite an experience and he saw some of the world’s treasures not normally on show to the public.
There will be no more trips for Michael for a while as he has just left St Aloysius to start a law degree at Glasgow University – So far, it’s been quite a year.
This section: People: Local Glasgow West End Characters
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