Lynn Amende Abhulimen, 16
«As I read through the Declaration of Human Rights, one particular article intrigued me,» writes Lynn, a pupil in the second year of senior high school at Ilion, «because I see it being violated daily and it involves me directly due to the fact that in a few years I will be joining the work force. In this country, it’s bad enough that most foreigners aren’t given jobs with just and favorable conditions of work, but what’s worse is that even foreigners with high levels of education are rejected. Instead they are forced to accept employment at low pay in exchange for hard labor and unfair and harsh conditions of work.» Lynn relates how she was talking to a black street seller when he and his fellow salesman scrambled to collect their wares and flee when the police approached. Later, she told Kathimerini, she heard the same street seller telling the audience at an anti-racism festival how, since his qualifications were not recognized, he had no choice but to sell CDs in the street. In her essay she suggests: «We should influence people to donate money to special funds that have been opened to help people living in poverty or with low jobs. All governments should establish offices where people living in poverty can be helped to gain occupations, support, homes for themselves and find work according to their abilities and education.» «I don’t care what other people think about my origins,» says Lynn. «I don’t get angry and it doesn’t upset me.» She received her prize on April 24 at her school from Education Minister Marietta Giannakou, who handed her a certificate of achievement signed by UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour.
