When I first heard Ammu speaking at Think Annual Conference- an outstanding educational event organized by Oracle Education Foundation (www.oraclefoundation.org), 6-10 July 2006 in San Diego- I thought she was at least 20 years old! As she was sitting at the back of the meeting room, only her voice could reach me. It conveyed a mixture of self-confidence, insight, sincerity, commitment and humor. She introduced herself in a few significant, witty, playful and inspiring words. I was not the only one who fell under the spell of her distinctive voice and the drive behind her words. All the attendees, mostly educationalists and ICT stakeholders, were. Later on, I surprisingly found out that Ammu Irivinti (http://ammuirivinti.com) was only 16 although she was invited as one of ThinkQuest Advisory Group (www.thinkquest.org) and a representative of the Voice of Youth with her presentation entitled What Todays Kids Really Want. Ammu talked about youngsters needs and hopes in an energetic, ambitious and optimistic way. I thought of writing an article about Ammu, but when I made some research on the Internet, I found out that many things have been said and written about her humanitarian actions (http://www.netaid.org/global_action_awards/2005/finalists.html), her outstanding acts of volunteerism (http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0EIN/is_2006_May_8/ai_n16348590), her success stories, her active participation in many international events, (http://www.youthaward.org/wsya/) the numerous prizes (http://www.stockholmchallenge.se/projectdata.asp?id=1&projectid=657) and awards she had What could I say that hasnt been already said?! I cannot really find the suitable words to express my feelings towards people like Ammu. Im highly impressed and optimistic about the future. I do believe that thanks to these special people our faith in the future can grow stronger. Due to them, the world looks better and brighter for everyone! Many thanks to Ammu and good luck! |
