Eleven years old Anoop A. Rao, a student of class 7, at St. Aloysius English Higher Primary School, Mangaluru, has been selected as Junior Ambassador to participate in the 28th Asia-Pacific Children’s Convention (APCC) to be held from July 10 to July 24 in Fukuoka city, Japan.

He has competed with the six children selected as Junior Ambassadors from the country by the Junior Chamber International (JCI) India. Chaperon Meenakshi Bhatnagar would lead the children towards the event in which children from 44 countries participate every year.

According to J. Anil Kumar, Anoop’s father. Mr. Kumar had been the President of JCI, Mangaluru,  while respective governments select junior ambassadors in other participating countries, it is the Junior Chamber that selects participants in India. The event would be supervised by the Fukuoka Junior Chamber and supported by the Fukuoka Prefectural Government, the Fukuoka Municipal Government and many other organisations.

Mr. Kumar said that the aim of this convention is to have inter-cultural exchange, make the children “Global Citizens,” wherein they learn to respect different races, people, culture and beliefs, and make them think of the world beyond national boundaries and foster “peace and co-existence.”

No selection criteria is there. The students skilled in classical dance, singing, sports, sociability, inter-personal relationship and other extracurricular activities, apart from their academic performance, are selected.

Anoop has a hobby of showing magic and he is also an avid stamp collector with a collection of over 1,000 stamps. Japanese families will host the children for home stay during the entire programme.

Aspiring students have to submit the proof of their talent in different fields and also their academic records to the selectors, as the selection process takes nearly one year.

By Prakriti Neogi