Gibraltar Student Receives Second Prize In UN Universal Postal Union Letter Writing Competition
Local student Alana Sacarello has received second Prize (Silver Medal) in the United Nation UPU 2019 Letter Writing Competition.
Millions of young people all over the world, up to the age 15, have participated in this annual International Letter-Writing Competition for Young People since its launch in 1971. Each year, the UPU International Bureau announces a theme. The theme selected for the 2019 competition was: "Write a letter about your hero".
The participating countries worldwide then organise the competition at the national level with support from its Postal Services and the Education Departments. All entries must be submitted through the National Post. Each country chooses a national winner and submits this entry to the international round, held by the UPU. An international jury, chosen by the UPU International Bureau, judges the letters and selects the winners and entries worthy of a special mention.
The 2019 Results were as follows:
Gold Richemelle Koukoui BENIN
Silver Alana Sacarello GIBRALTAR
Bronze Leyla Dadashova AZERBAIJAN
Minister with responsibility for Postal Services, Vijay Daryanani, said: “Gibraltar has been participating in the competition since 2013. The competition is an excellent way of encouraging letter writing and create awareness of the Postal Services among younger generations. It also helps develop their skills in composition and the ability to express their thoughts clearly. The fact that Ms Alana Sacarello has achieved a 2nd Prize (Silver Award Winner) in such a prestigious international letter writing competition, in which many thousands of young people participate, makes us all very proud. Alana has set the bar very high.”
Ms Alana Sacarello, silver medal winner of the 2019 UM UPU Letter Writing Competition, said: “I was shocked when I found out I had won the Gibraltar letter writing competition so you can imagine how amazed I was when I heard I had won the international silver medal. I still can't quite believe it. I wrote my letter about how inspirational Greta Thunberg is. She showed us nobody is too small to make a difference. I guess even though I was only 10 when I wrote the letter, I wasn't too small to achieve such a great award!”
The title for the 2020 competition will shortly be announced and children up to the age of 15 are encouraged to participate in this most worthwhile event.
Here is her letter:
Dear Daisy,
I have just returned from our local strike for climate action and feel so happy with how many people have joined together to protect for climate justice. I cannot believe how quickly the movement has started and all because of Greta Thunberg. You mentioned that you had not heard of her last time we spoke as I wanted to tell you a little bit about her so that you realise how amazing she is.
A few years ago Greta became really sick because she could not understand why people were destroying the planet but were doing nothing about it. She stopped eating and stopped speaking and was diagnosed with a type of autism, OCD and selective mutism. She decided she needed to do something and started skipping school on Fridays, sitting outside the Swedish parliament, protesting for more action against climate change. People started to notice her, scientists supported her, her message was shared on social media and students all over the world joined her protest.
I feel that she is amazing for many reasons.
She has made so much impact at such a young age. At only 15 years old, she stood in front of World Leaders at the UN and told them that they had failed our generation. At 16, she has led over a million students on strike.
She believes in it so much that she now vegan and she doesn’t fly on airplanes. Greta is so brave and courageous and she does it because she cares about our planet, but she doesn’t care about being popular.
I also admire her because she does not just look up her speeches on the internet, she works hard on them and makes sure all her facts are correct. She has millions of followers from all over the world and has already made a change, for example, the EU have said that they will donate millions of euros towards climate action. This is the reason Greta Thunberg is my hero.
I hope to see you soon.
Kind regards, Lily
