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It was quite an honor when
members of the Bookmakers and Dreamers club were invited to United
Nations headquarters in New York for the first time in September of 2008
to participate in the observance of the International Day of Peace
observations. The students were asked to give a
presentation to the annual international
youth conference with over 800 attendees in New York and with
participation with students from Afghanistan, Liberia and Sudan at UN
peacekeeping missions in those countries taking part through satellite
communications. Students were addressed by Kiyo Akasaka of Japan, United
Nations Secretary-General for Communications and Information and
listened to the welcome address from United Nations Secretary-General
Ban Ki-Moon of South Korea in addition to an address by Miguel d’Escoto
Brockmann, Nicaraguan diplomat, politician and Catholic priest who
served as president of the 63rd session of the General Assembly.
Students were also addressed
by UN Messengers of Peace, actor Michael Douglas, Nobel Laureate, writer
and Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel, primatologist and anthropologist
Jane Goodall, and renown violinist Midori Goto. Highlights of the
ceremony included the ringing of the Peace Bell and the flag ceremony.
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