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CNN Student News
Aired May 09, 2002 - 04:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ANNOUNCER: You're watching CNN STUDENT NEWS seen in schools around the world because learning never stops and neither does the news.
MICHAEL MCMANUS, CO-HOST: Your Thursday STUDENT NEWS takes you to the U.N. Special Session on Children, an historic event that's being held just for you.
SUSAN FRIEDMAN, CO-HOST: And we'll have more on kids in "Chronicle" as two very different generations share the same space and some smiles.
MCMANUS: From building friendships to building cities, hear from the would-be architects and engineers of the future.
FRIEDMAN: Finally, find out about cultures around the globe in our mini world tour at one college campus. Student Bureau takes us there.
MCMANUS: And welcome to CNN STUDENT NEWS. I'm Michael McManus.
FRIEDMAN: And I'm Susan Friedman.
A three-day United Nations summit is underway in New York. Officials from around the globe are there for this Special Session focusing on children.
MCMANUS: That's right, Susan.
Secretary-General Kofi Annan opened the U.N. Session on Children with a strong message for adults. He spoke up for young people saying the world's grownups have failed children miserably.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KOFI ANNAN, U.N. SECRETARY-GENERAL: These rights are obvious, yet we the grownups have failed you deplorably in upholding many of them. One in three of you have suffered from malnutrition before you turned 5 years old. One in four of you have not been immunized against any disease. Almost one in five of you is not attending school. Of those of you who do go to school, four out of five will never reach the fifth year of classes. So far many of you have seen violence that no child should ever see.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MCMANUS: As the U.N. Special Session got underway, the Children's Forum came to a close. We've been following both events all week.
Our Kathy Nellis has more on the interaction between world leaders and children representing their countries and their peers.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KATHY NELLIS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Nelson Mandela was on hand for the close of the Children's Forum at the United Nations to receive a message from young people around the world.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Please, Mr. Mandela, tell the General Assembly that if they are wondering if anyone cares about what they do or don't do that more than 94 million people are watching and waiting for their leadership.
NELLIS: Those 94 million include children who pledged their support and voiced their concerns online or by paper ballot as part of the Say Yes campaign, a global movement for children.
The Children's Forum is a prelude to an event that brings together the heads of state and official delegations from around the globe.
(on camera): The Special Session on Children is an unprecedented meeting of the United Nations General Assembly dedicated to the children and adolescents of the world.
(voice-over): The event was originally scheduled for mid- September 2001, but was postponed after the 9/11 attacks. U.N. leaders say violence like that only underscores the need for the conference.
ANNAN: When you read the newspapers and look at the names, we are so focused on peace and security and violence. But to deal with that we need to tackle the root causes which is a show (ph) of economic development meaning preparing the future leaders, help (ph), education for the young and the children.
NELLIS: To bring that point home, children addressed a Special Session of the U.N. Security Council for only the second time in history.
WILMOT WUNGRO (ph), AGE 16, LIBERIA: My name is Wilmot from Liberia. I am 16 years old. At age 5 I fled from Liberia with my mother to Sierra Leone. I was too young at the time to really understand what was happening. I heard sounds of guns, I saw people running, I saw people shooting. I saw people being killed, I saw people dying. People as young as I was were dying.
ELIZA KANTARDZIC, AGE 17, BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA: I have brought a message with me from all of the children from the Children's Forum, war and politics have always been an adult's game but children have always been the losers.
Thank you very much.
(APPLAUSE)
NELLIS: The Special Session provides a voice for young people and a chance to rub shoulders with world leaders.
ZAKKEETYAH BINTI-ZAINDDIN (ph), STUDENT: We come from all around the world just to see you and we are very excited to be here today.
ANNAN: The fact that you are here today participating in this children's summit is important. And I think I'm really happy that you have started becoming engaged in issues of the world and issues which affect you and the future right now, but we are working hard to make the world a better place.
KAFUKI MYIENEGHANGA, STUDENT: What is the United Nations doing to help children who are HIV positive?
Thank you.
ANNAN: The HIV/AIDS is one of the big problems that we have in the world today. And it is also one of the issues which I have made my personal priority. And we are trying to ensure that we can get assistance informal (ph) educating people about prevention, giving them care and giving them material assistance around the world.
BIBHA SHAM, STUDENT, NEPAL: We want no young person to live in poverty. We want all young people, regardless of gender, color or creed, to be treated equally and to ensure that their basic needs are met. We challenge all people to eliminate discrimination and to promote peace and tolerance through intercultural understanding.
NELLIS: The Children's Forum and the Special Session on Children are a catalyst, a call to action for the nations of the world.
ANNAN: If we are going to improve the situation and save societies, we should start with the children. They are the leaders of tomorrow.
NELLIS: And children are already helping to build those tomorrows today.
Kathy Nellis, CNN, The United Nations.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MCMANUS: As you just heard U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan say, AIDS is a top priority among many leaders. South Africa has the world's highest number of people living with HIV/AIDS. Between 70,000 and 100,000 babies are born HIV positive in South Africa each year. Recently, the South African government provoked international controversy by blocking access to drugs it deems costly and toxic.
As Charlayne Hunter-Gault reports, many women say this denies them the right to protect their babies.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHARLAYNE HUNTER-GAULT, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This 7- year-old boy doesn't go anywhere without his oxygen machine, otherwise he might die. A consequence of being denied an operation at birth that would have fixed a heart defect, denied because he was HIV positive. Now he, like many of these children, may die anyway because they've all been denied medication that would have increased their chances of survival.
That's why Stella Dubazana and Cotlands Baby Sanctuary, an AIDS hospice, joined the suit to compel the South African government to provide nevirapine to all HIV positive mothers, especially poor ones.
STELLA DUBAZANA, COTLANDS BABY SANCTUARY: These children life will be enhanced because they'll get it at an early stage and they won't be faced with having to come to Cotlands and die this very painful death that they experience.
HUNTER-GAULT: The constitutional court has been hearing about the suffering of these children as well as of mothers who have lost theirs. A court made up of men who helped write the country's new constitution at the end of apartheid, one taking cognizance of their errors (ph) discrimination, especially against its poor black majority, especially their lack of access to health care.
AIDS now providing one of the first tests of the interpretation of that right. Hundreds have joined in protests against what they see as government failure to adequately address the issue, supported by a lower court ruling in December ordering government to speed up and expand its programs aimed at reducing mother to child transmission of HIV.
ZACHI ACHMAT, PLAINTIFF, TREATMENT ACTION CAMPAIGN: And that means that any woman or man who needs treatment in our health care facility should be able to get it where state resources are available. And so from that point of view, we believe that we have a just price (ph).
HUNTER-GAULT: The government disagrees and appealed to the constitutional court, arguing the lower court had no jurisdiction in the matter.
DR. AYANDA NTSALUBA, GOVERNMENT HEALTH MINISTRY: So that debate around separation of powers is the central issue that the constitutional court has to deal with.
HUNTER-GAULT (on camera): The court is expected to hand down its decision any time between June and August. Meanwhile, the government is under an interim court order to provide nevirapine at any public hospital capable of administering it.
Charlayne Hunter-Gault, CNN, Johannesburg.
(END VIDEOTAPE) FRIEDMAN: A young Afghan girl who appeared on a 1985 cover of "National Geographic" is now captivating the world with her story. Photographer Steve McCurry, who took the original picture, found the young girl again after all these years. She's once again in the spotlight along with the tragedy of war.
Gordon Robison has our report.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GORDON ROBISON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It is one of the world's most famous images. Photographer Steve McCurry took the haunting picture of an Afghan refugee girl in 1984. It appeared on the cover of "National Geographic" magazine in June of 1985 and has often been reproduced in the years since.
STEVE MCCURRY, PHOTOGRAPHER: I've been looking for this girl for pretty much since I photographed her back in 1984. I don't think a day has gone by in all those years that I didn't get a letter or some kind of request wanting to know what happened to her, where is she, how can we help her.
ROBISON: Recently McCurry returned to Afghanistan to look for the girl not knowing her name or even whether she was still alive. New retinal scan technology offered a hope of finding her. Photographs of women taken today could be compared with McCurry's original image. McCurry began in the camp where the girl lived 18 years ago.
MCCURRY: One man -- after looking and looking and false leads and disappointments, one man came forward and said you know that girl used to live next door to me and I know where her brother lives. He's living in a small village in Afghanistan. He offered to go in. And to our astonishment, he came back three days later, not only with the brother but with Sharbat Gula, the girl in the picture, and she brought her two young daughters. It was just the most miraculous thing.
ROBISON: Her name is Sharbat Gula, and McCurry's search for her is the subject of a new documentary. She is again on the cover of "National Geographic." McCurry says the magazine is setting up a fund to help her and her family. Gula, he says, wants to see her children educated and she wants to make a pilgrimage to Mecca.
Gordon Robison, CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MCMANUS: Kids are making a difference, sometimes even without knowing it. Our next story takes you to a nursing home of all places. A movement called the Eden Alternative (ph) is catching on in retirement communities. Pets, plants and children are brought into these homes to provide cheer to the residents.
Kathy Slobogin has the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KATHY SLOBOGIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The children are arriving for school. And the ones they call the grandmas and grandpas are waiting for them. It's a typical day at the Grace Living Center in Jenks, Oklahoma. It's a school and a nursing home. Sixty children between 4 and 5, and 110 residents whose average age is 85.
DON GREINER, OWNER, GRACE LIVING CENTER: How are you?
SLOBOGIN: It all started two years ago when Don Griener, owner of a string of nursing homes, saw a school playground across the street and thought it might be nice to bring children in to see the residents.
GREINER: And I went and net with the Jenks public school people and we -- from there the idea just escalated.
SLOBOGIN: Don Greiner thinks his nursing home is the only one in the country that actually contains a school. He put more than $200,000 into building classrooms, which he rents to the school district for $1 a year. But he also built bridges between young and old into the design.
Classroom walls stop short of the ceiling, so residents can hear the children's voices. The residents' beauty parlor looks into the children's rooms. The playground was built with a track that accommodates tricycles and wheelchairs. There are joint activities that are good both for little fingers and for arthritic ones. Every morning the children have reading time with the residents.
GREINER: When you put elders and children together, there's a magic there. With children and with elders, there is -- they don't have the veil that you and I might have. They have nothing to hide. They're not trying to be anything that they're not. And they're just such a gift to each other.
SLOBOGIN: Griener believes one of the greatest gifts the children bring is simply their unpredictability for those whose lives have become so predictable.
LEONA ALSIP, NURSING HOME RESIDENT: I don't want to move to any other nursing home. I've got acquainted with the children here. I just love all of them. I watch them play. And you watch their little faces. There's something in their eyes and faces. That's what I like to watch.
UNIDENTIFIED CHILD: Yes (UNINTELLIGIBLE) they makes us all rich (ph).
ALSIP: I don't think there's a one that I can't say is a friend to me. And that's what I like.
SLOBOGIN: As for the children, by the end of the first year, there was a waiting list to get into the school.
Griener says it's not just the residents and children who benefit. The Grace Living Center has no problem with staff turnover in an industry plagued with staffing shortages. He admits not every nursing home operator can afford to do this.
But to him, the payback outweighs the substantial cost.
GREINER: Can I point to where on a financial statement it's working? No. But am I being paid back? Absolutely.
SLOBOGIN: Judging from the number of smiles around the place, he's not the only one.
Kathy Slobogin, CNN, Jenks, Oklahoma.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANNOUNCER: Exploring our world, here now is CNN STUDENT NEWS "Perspectives."
FRIEDMAN: Our special week of United Nations coverage continues now with a check up on the health of children all over the globe. Polio and smallpox are two diseases health officials have all but wiped out, but there are many other health problems that the U.N. and UNICEF are making priorities.
Our Kathy Nellis once again, this time with a look at kids and health the world over.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NELLIS (voice-over): When you think about it, the world is a dangerous place for children. In country after country they battle disease, run risks from land mines and simply don't get enough to eat.
DR. YVES BERGEVIN, HEAD MEDICAL OFFICER, UNICEF: In many countries, especially in sub-Saharan, Africa and in South Asia, only four children out of five reach their fifth birthday. And this is hard to believe that this is still occurring in -- the biggest problem is clearly one of survival, of simply being alive.
NELLIS: While those statistics are grim, there has been progress. The World Summit for Children in 1990 put a global focus on improving health. In the past decade, there has been a massive campaign to stamp out polio.
BERGEVIN: In 1988 we had about 350,000 cases of polio throughout the world, and now last year we've had less than -- about 3,000 cases. So that's a 99 percent decrease -- 99 percent decrease in the number of cases each year.
NELLIS: With continuing campaigns, doctors say it could be possible to wipe polio from the planet in the next few years. That would make it the second disease in history to be eradicated through health campaigns. The first global victory was over smallpox.
Another success story, the universal use of iodine. Iodine deficiency is a big contributor to mental retardation. Before 1990, only a small portion of the world's salt had iodine in it. But since then, UNICEF has been working to put more iodine in salt.
BERGEVIN: Over two-thirds of the world's salt is iodized. And fairly soon, we hope by 2005, we will complete this job and have all of the world's salt iodized, thus preventing probably the most important cause of mental impairment in the world and raising in those populations which were deficient in iodine the IQ by an average of 10 points.
NELLIS: When it comes to children's health there are progress points and counterpoints. Plenty of numbers still need improvement.
(on camera): Nearly 4.5 million children under age 15 have been killed by AIDS. Thirteen million have been orphaned by the disease.
BERGEVIN: Over three million children die each year of pneumonia, one to two million die of diarrhea, probably around one to two million die of malaria. Immunization currently saves two to three million lives, but there's still two to three million lives that could be saved if we were to immunize every child.
NELLIS (voice-over): The numbers are staggering and hard to comprehend until you go beyond the numbers and put a human face on death.
BERGEVIN: Each day 30,000 children die of largely preventable causes. And if you think of -- if we had an air accident, you know, each day causing the death of 30,000 people, well it would make CNN, and yet it's very difficult to interest people about the preventable death of 30,000 children each day. Our mind gets dulled and we forget about it, but for that child, for that mother, for that family, that's a real death.
NELLIS: Despite these tragedies, there is hope and help. The 1990 World Summit on Children left a legacy living on in the millions of young people saved by global campaigns. Now the United Nations Special Session on Children has the chance to move forward to give even more children a future and a present, the gift of health.
Kathy Nellis, CNN, The United Nations.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FRIEDMAN: Take the three R's, reading, writing and arithmetic, then add an E for engineering. What do you get? The Future City Competition. It's sponsored by the engineering community to foster interest in math, science and engineering among middle school students nationwide. Ready for a glimpse of tomorrow and the young visionaries who are creating it? Let's go.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The personal transportation system is called the Uniwheel (ph) Transport Cruiser. It has one wheel and uses computerized gyroscopic control systems.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This payload will be propelled toward the sun by perpetual motion and will burn up once it nears the sun.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Our sewer system, the people -- we get this -- the waste and we'll take out the sludge and we'll also use that as a fertilizer substance for our alfalfa.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Clean air, good jobs, family environment, clubs and activities for all ages.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think the coolest thing about our city is the way we have our APCS which is our air pollution control system.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Kind of like Epcot Center except for, you know, without Mickey Mouse. And it's really cool because we have like different buildings from all over the world.
NANCY ROUSSIN, (ph) TEACHER: It's a great way to learn because it's project based so they have this exciting opportunity to dig in and get involved and work together and really not be afraid of solving problems.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I have learned a lot of building aspects of cities and how to run a city and how you need to include everybody's opinion and have teamwork. And I think that will help me later on in life.
STEPHAN GANTERT, WINNERS ENGINEER MENTOR (ph): The creativity of it all, the concepts that they would come up with, some of them I'd barely even heard of. I found myself asking the kids, is that realistic, can you really do that. And you know and they would back it up with research and information that they had found and it's just amazing.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I want to be a biomedical engineer, a pathologist and a doctor.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think I want to be a pediatrician because I really like kids and I like helping people.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think engineering was fun, but my best subject that I like was biology so I think I'm going to become a doctor.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I want to be a lawyer, but I might be a city planner too, but most likely the lawyer.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'd like to be a pediatric oncologist, but engineering would definitely be may second choice.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I expect to be a CEO of an engineering company.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Each team will be asked to come up on stage to receive their prize.
(APPLAUSE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ladies and gentlemen, could I suggest a standing ovation for our new national champs?
(APPLAUSE)
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FRIEDMAN: Still in the dark about a career, tune in the week of May 20 when it's Career Week here on CNN STUDENT NEWS. We'll profile some fun, interesting jobs for you to consider.
Students at the University of Missouri in Kansas City are taking a closer look at each other. They're finding common ground outside the classroom through events and activities celebrating their diversity.
Our Student Bureau reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
J.C. DAVIS (ph), CNN STUDENT BUREAU (voice-over): It might take a seasoned traveler a lifetime to experience all the customs of different cultures around the globe, but these University of Missouri- Kansas City students have found a way to experience the world in just seven days without leaving campus, it's called Diversity Week.
GRACE ABENDJA BAGUNU (ph), STUDENT: And I think we have a lot of students that represent so many different cultures and so many different lifestyles that you know we have no choice but to be able to celebrate and that's what we do, a week full of events.
DAVIS: Tradition and custom are a big part of Diversity Week events. These students aren't really getting married, they're sharing a little bit of their culture by performing mock wedding ceremonies from their native lands.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: After the seven steps are taken, the groom now pulls out the red (UNINTELLIGIBLE) and places it in the part of the dried (UNINTELLIGIBLE) signifying the union of their courtship.
DAVIS: And this year's global village, a celebration of food, dance, music, clothes and crafts had student representatives from over 15 different countries, in Europe, South America, Asia and the Middle East.
SHERI NELSON, STUDENT LIFE (ph): Global village is basically to bring in not only our students but the community and have them open their eyes a little bit to other cultures around the world, cultures that are represented at UMKC.
DAVIS: September 11 has also increased student efforts to educate and understand.
TUAN ARRORYO, STUDENT: We open our eyes a lot more since September 11. We certainly take things not for granted for the way we used to.
GARRY BUYCKS, JR., STUDENT: I think that after 9/11 it's very important for the diversity to be exposed just plainly for the knowledge of different countries and different heritage and cultures to know -- you know to get a better idea for differences that we have.
DAVIS: Students participating in these events are quick to explain that diversity is more than just a cultural celebration. This model United Nations forum encourages students to speak out on global policies.
HABEEL GAZI, STUDENT: It becomes important when you're talking about their culture, their food, their music that you also talk about what other issues that concern them. And diversity is not complete if you really look at all the aspects of what affects life around the world.
DAVIS: Music artist Chuck D, co-founder of the rap group Public Enemy and a speaker at this year's Diversity Week, offered his take on cultural and political issues affecting young people today.
CHUCK D, PUBLIC ENEMY: I live here, all right, I love America for what it can be. That's what I think. You know what, I raise my kids to be worldly people and then American second because we're part of the world first.
DAVIS: With 80 different countries represented on the campus, these students are learning to share what some would call the trip of a lifetime.
J.C. Davis, CNN Student Bureau, Kansas City, Missouri.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MCMANUS: All right, that's another 30 minutes, huh, Susan?
FRIEDMAN: That's right, Mike. We'll see you here tomorrow.
MCMANUS: Have a good one.
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