Jun 17 - Letter Writing Competition Winners Announced
The winners of the Gibraltar leg of the United Nations’ Universal Postal Union, letter-writing competition, 2015, were announced at the John Mackintosh Hall this morning.
There were 89 entries from five schools, and Minister for Postal Services, Neil Costa awarded the prizes.
The winning entry by 10-year-old Nicholas Grech from Bishop Fitzgerald Middle School will now be entered into the main competition in Berne, Switzerland. He walked away with a trophy and £300 prize.
The theme for this year’s competition was “Write a letter about the world you want to grow up in”, and second place was awarded to Charlotte Wilson, 14, from Westside School, and third place went to Morgane Jacobs, 10, from Bishop Fitzgerald Middle School as well.
David Ledger, CEO of the Royal Gibraltar Post Office, said: “The United Nations Millennium Development Goals for the period 2000-2015 are coming to a close and the world body is getting ready to adopt its post-2015 sustainable development agenda to further the tremendous progress already achieved in education, life expectancy, poverty reduction and disease control.
“The competition is a very worthwhile effort to keep the art of letter-writng alive and, of course, apart from the local prestige and excellent prizes, there is always the chance of a medal in Berne.”
The standard shown throughout the competition was very high, making the judges’ work very difficult. They also awarded Certificates of Merit to the following entries – Hannah Nahon, 13, from Gibraltar Girls High, Salma Salem, 14, from Westside School, Kiera Finnie, 12, St Joseph’s Middle School, David Cohen, 11, Hebrew Primary School.
The Royal Gibraltar Post Office would like to thank all participants, encouraging them to try again next year if they were not successful on this occasion. Thanks also goes to the Department of Education, participating Schools and Vivien Dawson, Peter Dawson, Rosemarie Bruzon & Tony Wonklyn for their assistance throughout this venture. Also Romina Saccone from John Mackintosh Hall.
Nicholas’ letter is included below:
33 Iberis House
Westview Park
GIBRALTAR
To The World
Dear World,
I want to grow up in a place of peace.
In my World everyone has a warm home with food on the table and running water. This is quite different from the shanty towns of, for example, Brazil and South Africa, where people get sick and there are no medicines, where children have to walk for miles, often through dangerous territory, for water. In my World the poor are not to be taken away from their homes to make way for expensive Olympic Stadiums and shopping malls.
My World is full of smiling children and proud parents. There are no wars and people do not hate each other. My World is not what we see in Palestine, Afghanistan, Sudan and Mexico. It is not a World of guns and bombs. Instead I imagine Jews and Muslims, all of us, playing football together in the same team. Like happens in Gibraltar now. My World has schools filled with happy students, of all ethnic backgrounds, of different religions, respecting each other. My World has green fields and snow-capped mountains.
There would be no drugs in my World and no alcohol. People would not go out to kill others, explode bombs or crash aeroplanes into Twin Towers. Terrorism would not exist and there would be food for all.
The World I want to grow up in is a World of happiness and love, where people respect each other and nobody feels superior. There would be no greed; instead people would be generous and use only what they need. We live in a world where everyone wants more, a material world where Governments want to show off their power and want more land. I imagine a World of respect, where people are allowed to believe in God, or not believe. My World is friendly and safe.
The people in my World create no pollution and look after the environment. They do not smoke. They spend more time outdoors, breathing fresh air. They exercise and are healthy. They recycle because they realise that this is important for the long-term survival of our planet.
In my World whales would not be hunted down for their oil, elephants would not be killed for their tusks, tigers would not be shot for their skins. Animals would survive and live long, happy lives. The seas would be free from contamination and oil spills. My World would have no forest fires or melting glaciers. Polar bears would continue to have a home. Snow leopards and pandas would not be almost extinct.
My World would have clean energy, with no rising smoke from chimneys. People would walk more and leave the car at home. Land would not be over-farmed or extensively built on. Trees would be protected and replanted when used. Rain forests would not be under threat of disappearing.
My World would not be overpopulated. It would have more schools and parks and less factories and roads.
I imagine a World where all diseases can be cured, where people do not suffer and die of Cancer or Ebola. I would like to help the lonely and the poor, and to convince others to do the same. In my World people would not bully, the strong would not beat the weak, there would be no racism.
Dear World – I know that we can do this together! I know that people can change their ways if we educate them and try hard. Hope should never be lost. We need to save this World of ours for the children of tomorrow. We need to save YOU.
Yours sincerely,
Nicky Grech
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