Molly's World Ustream Event

BETTINA LUESCHER: Hello, I'm Bettina Luescher from the World Food Programme.
Welcome to this really amazing event that we are starting right now, live here on Facebook.
We are having a very global thing.
It's our first-ever live school meeting on Facebook.
It's something very special.
We're bringing together school kids from Nairobi and school kids from Rome, Italy.
Yes, we're creating a virtual classroom.
And maybe this would be the biggest international play date ever.
We?re giving also a big shout-out to our friends from the Egham school in Surrey, England, who are watching us right now.
They are sending us questions on Facebook.
So I want to check in now and show you the kids.
Kids in Nairobi, are you there? Show us that you're there -- scream and holler and shout.
STUDENTS IN NAIROBI: Yay!
BETTINA: All right! There you are, wonderful. It's great to have you.
And now we're checking in with Rome. Roman kids: give us a big shout-out! So that the folks...
STUDENTS IN ROME: Hi!
BETTINA: All right! Everybody's in a good mood. You're much more awake than I am -- it's 5 o'clock in the morning here in New York.
Well, we want to bring you this event, which has been helped so tremendously by the Cisco corporation.
You all remember those wonderful little Flip cams?
Cisco gave us thousands, and we shared them with people all over the world.
And one of the Flip cams was given to Molly.
Molly is a 13-year-old girl from Nairobi, she lives in Mathare, that's the capital, it's a slum in the capital of Kenya, and she started to film her daily life.
And we put out a series called "Molly's World," and it's a really amazing series.
You get a real sense of how life is in Nairobi, how life is in those slums.
And school kids from all over the world are checking in, and they're comparing notes, how life is, and they get a first-hand look at something that they probably have never seen before.
And it showcases, really, what WFP does all over the world.
The most important thing is school meals.
You know, it costs twenty-five cents a day to feed a kid in school, five dollars a month, and it totally changes the lives of all these children.
So we wanted to do this little event today, because this week is International Women's Day, where we cheer on girls and women all over the world, because they are the ones who are the key to ending hunger and to really eliminating hunger forever.
So, if you want, join us, send us your questions on Facebook. They will send them to me and then we?ll spread them out to the kids.
So go to the WFP, send us the questions, and then we'll pass them on.
And now I want to send it over to our London team. Please roll the tape.
ADULT'S VOICE: It's great to film your friends in school, your life at home, your family at home. You can also get somebody to film, OK?
CHILD'S VOICE: Thank you.
MALE CHILD: One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten.
FEMALE CHILD: This is my cousin. He also knows how to read and write one to one hundred. He is now practicing how to read them.
MOLLY: My name is Molly. I learn in a school. I learn in Valley View Academy in Mathare Slums in Nairobi.
FEMALE CHILD: He is now writing his name, though he does not go to school. But I just coach him in the house.
My cousin and the other one from our neighborhood are playing football.
MALE CHILD: I want to sing Michael Jackson. I like Michael Jackson!
MOLLY: Most children spend most of their time watching television. But they do not know that they are just destroying their lives.
This is my shoe. It is too old. But I can't throw it because I don't have another shoe.
I spend most of my time doing schoolwork, and when I come home from school, I first of all wash the utensils.
Then wait for my aunt to come and prepare for the dinner.
This is place is very dirty. When children come to play, some of them leave their waste product here.
How funny is it that even children can conserve the environment?
The elders are just leaving the environment to be destroyed.
But we know that the children can even conserve the environment better than the elders.
My father and my cousin were feeding the monkeys.
This is known as sim sim.
Many people like it because it's too sweet.
These are what my parents send for us to earn our daily bread.
I used to wake up at 5:30 AM, then prepare for school.
At home, when we have been given some work, I use this table to write.
And at night, I sleep on this chair.
Today, being on a Monday, I'm very happy that I'm back to school.
This is my school. It's called Valley View Academy. It's in Mathare Slums.
This is my class.
Many children like coming to Valley View Academy because of the very good program.
Here's the kitchen.
MATILDA: My name is Matilda. I'm 12 years old.
LAVINIA: I'm Lavinia, and I'm 12 years old.
FRANCESCA: My name is Francesca, and I live in Rome. I'm 12 years old.
LAVINIA: I saw your video about you, and I really enjoyed it.
FEMALE STUDENT 1: In our school, we have lots of people from many different countries.
FEMALE STUDENT 2: This is the Italian flag next to the Kenyan flag.
FEMALE STUDENT 3: This is my class.
LUKAS: I'm Lukas.
MALE STUDENT: I'm Lukas's best friend.
FEMALE STUDENT 1: Now I'm making an omelet for my family for lunch.
I like to draw. It's my imagination that is in my head.
I sleep in this bed that is over me. And now, I'm imagining what you are doing now Molly.
BETTINA: This is so cool, imagining everything.
Alright. This is my wonderful colleague Rose speaking with the kids, Rose from the World Food Programme.
Alright. I think I'm back live. Hello, welcome back.
This, I think, was an amazing little insight into what we're doing, and what the life of these kids is.
I want to take you now once again to Nairobi, where Molly and all of her friends are.
Molly, why don't you introduce us to your friends, and tell us exactly who they are and what they like, and what's special about them.
MOLLY: My best friend is a footballer. She also participates in the school team, and she's loved by most of the pupils in our class.
She's my classmate and also my desk mate.
She's from class five. She's a ballet dancer and also a creative girl who gives speeches in the parade.
She is my neighbor. She likes jokes. She's also a dancer, and she's usually happy of her talent.
He is a dancer and also he beats the drums, and also likes fun.
He is a musician and creates songs of his own, then practices them. He practices them and shares them in our class.
He's our class teacher. He teaches us Swahili. Normally he is used to telling us that we should not speak badly, and he is also the deputy teacher of our school.
BETTINA: Great, wonderful. And I love it how many artists you have, and how many dancers, from break dancers to ballet dancers. And you guys are composing songs. This is wonderful. Thank you for joining us.
And now let's go to Italy. Matilda, why don't you tell us a little bit more about who's there with you and what they love to do.
MATILDA: OK. This is Lavinia. She's in class 7DT. She likes to play soccer, or football, and she's really tall.
This is Francesca, she's in class 6D. She likes to draw and go horseback riding.
This is Lukas. He likes to do sports. He's in class 7DT. And we did a drama project together once.
That?s Agis. He's in my class, 7T. He's a dancer, as you saw in the video, and he likes taekwondo, like me, and he likes hip-hop music and rap.
That's Mr. Evans, he is our teacher, and he's Australian.
BETTINA: Cool, we're really bringing the whole world together here.
So tell me a little bit, because, you know, what we're interested in is also what we do about school meals.
So let me go back to Molly for a moment. Molly, tell us a little bit what kind of school lunches you are getting from the World Food Programme and what you like about it.
MOLLY: I like the World Food Programme because it helps many children go to school, because parents cannot take their children to school and also provide lunch daily, because that gives a lot of hard time.
World Food Programme has been helping me since I joined Valley View because it is hard to get food at home, and World Food Programme helps someone to concentrate in class after they have got a meal, and you enjoy that class together.
BETTINA: That's very cool. What do you eat for lunch?
MOLLY: We do eat maize, and peas.
BETTINA: And now I want to turn it over to the kids in Italy. What is your special lunch? What do you bring to school or what do you have at school?
MATILDA: We eat a lot of pasta, and soup, and vegetables.
LUKAS: Mostly pasta since we're in Italy.
MATILDA: Some of us, like me and Francesca, we have home lunch, so we bring our lunch from home, and I usually bring a banana, and water, and almonds. I like almonds.
BETTINA: Cool. I'm going to step out now, but you guys, you know, Matilda and all of you folks, ask our friends in Nairobi some of the questions that you are curious about.
LUKAS: You can first Matilda, since you're the presenter.
MATILDA: Um, so, what games do you play?
MOLLY: Basketball.
MATILDA: Us too. And do you play football?
STUDENTS IN NAIROBI: Yes, we do play football.
MATILDA: Us too.
STUDENTS IN NAIROBI: Yeah, we have a footballer. We really enjoy that game.
LAVINIA: I love playing football.
LUKAS: Italians really like to play football.
FRANCESCA: Who is a Michael Jackson lover?
LAVINIA: Who likes Michael Jackson?
MATILDA: We saw your cousin really likes Michael Jackson.
STUDENT IN NAIROBI: What would you like to be when you grow up?
MATILDA: Um, wow, I dunno. A lot of things.
Yeah. Doctor. Or famous person.
LUKAS: Um, I want to be, maybe an actor. Yeah. 'Cause I like acting.
STUDENT IN NAIROBI: Why do you like acting?
LUKAS: Because, I think I see it, um, it makes me change persons. And so I can go into another person's life and then go back into mine, so I'm not always the same person. It's kind of like a change thing.
MOLLY: Who is your best actor or actress?
LUKAS: I don't really know. I like many actors, but some are different than others.
STUDENT IN NAIROBI: What is your favorite food? The food that you like most eating?
STUDENTS IN ROME: Pizza! Pasta!
LAVINIA: Do you guys, do you eat pizza?
STUDENTS IN NAIROBI: Yes.
LUKAS: What lessons do you have at school? Like what lessons, subjects?
STUDENTS IN NAIROBI: We have mathematics, English, Swahili, science, social studies...
LUKAS: And Molly, what's your favorite subject?
MOLLY: My favorite subject is mathematics.
LUKAS: Mine too.
MATILDA: Mine is English.
LAVINIA: Mine's English.
AGIS: Science.
STUDENTS IN NAIROBI: We also like science.
MATILDA: And I like art, and music too. I like to draw.
FRANCESCA: In fact I brought my notebook.
STUDENTS IN NAIROBI: [clapping]
MOLLY: And do you have slums in your country?
STUDENTS IN ROME: Um, kind of. Not really. Um... They're near sometimes the river. Yeah, in some little places. It's not like a real super-slum, but it's a kind of slum.
MATILDA: Like in some of the regions of Italy, in one of the regions of Italy, near the sea, if you live near the sea, you might have a little mini house on the hills, kind of like that.
LUKAS: Yeah, but that's not really a slum.
BETTINA: If I can chime in, this is Bettina in New York. We've been getting questions really from all over the world on Facebook, so I want to channel those questions to you.
Let's start with the school kids from Egham in Surrey in England.
And a question for Molly: Molly, if you were to go to one country anywhere in the world, where would you go, Molly?
MOLLY: If I was to go in any country in the world, I would like to go to America.
BETTINA: That's very cool, we would love to have you here, we would love to have you.
Another question is from the kids from Egham. What sort of hopes or wishes do you have for the future that may change your life Molly? And the other kids?
MOLLY: I would encourage other children to work hard so that they may have a better life in the future.
BETTINA: That's very good, thank you.
And now let?s go, we've got a question from Australia. Look at that! People from Australia are chiming in to this. They want to know: what's your favorite book? Molly and her friends?
MOLLY: I like reading storybooks. And my favorite storybook is "Never Again."
BETTINA: And some of the others? What are the others' favorite books?
STUDENT IN NAIROBI: I like reading storybooks. And my favorite storybook is "The Ghost of Garba Tula."
BETTINA: OK, and now you just saw one of our other colleagues here in town. You can see we're having lots of people working on this.
Jennifer Curtis from Facebook is asking Molly and her friends: who are your role models? Can you tell us who your role models are?
STUDENTS IN NAIROBI: My role model is... Because normally she has good examples and also tells us to obey our parents at home and other people in the community.
Mine is Martin Luther King, because of his staunch beliefs about human rights.
My role model is Akon, because he sings songs which you can even take and write a book, and you can explain to people what that song means.
Mine is Catherine Kasavuli. I like her very much, and she's also my namesake.
Mine is my class teacher. He teaches us social studies. I like his modern rules because he used to teach us more about social studies, and how difficult life used to be, and how life used to be the same or not the same.
Mine is the World Food Programme because they're very helpful to us, because they offer us our meals, and we also share the meals with other people. That's why I admire them.
My role model is our Prime Minister in Kenya, because he gives out speeches of peace. He announces to the Kenyans to have peace and to love each other as a country.
Mine is a singer. I love him because he sings Christian songs.
BETTINA: Those are wonderful role models. That's very impressive, and we're really inspired by what you just told us.
There's a question here from Anna. She's ten years old. She is from the Egham school. And it's something about what filmed in your video. She's asking, you said that the elders littered more than the children, so why do they do that?
MOLLY: Pardon?
BETTINA: OK, let me try that again.
There's a little girl, Anna, in England, and she noticed that in your video you talked about that the kids do not litter, do not throw away stuff, but the elders do. So why are the elders throwing away garbage? And why are they not as good and concerned about the environment as you guys are?
MOLLY: I don't know why the elders throw rubbish all over, but I think it is because they still don't consider the situation. Because that rubbish can bring some sickness to the younger children. Yeah.
BETTINA: Yep, that's good. I think the elders should listen to you kids much more. You clearly are very sensible.
So we've got another question here from Michael, also from the Egham school.
What were your first feelings when you got that little Flip camera, Molly, when you first got that thing and you played with it, what did you think and what did your friends and your family think?
MOLLY: When I got that camera, I was very happy, and my cousins were surprised, and some of them thought that I bought it, and all of them were asking me how much I had bought it for, but I explained to them the way I got it, and they wished that they had been the ones who had been given that opportunity.
BETTINA: Yes, so there was a little bit of something, but you know, you guys are all real rock stars. You've done an amazing job of bringing us pictures from Nairobi.
There?s a question here, she's asking: If you had a chance to go to America, Molly, what would be the first thing you would do when you arrived in America?
MOLLY: If I were to come to America, I would first of all come to where you stay and give thanks to you.
Then I would go to where my sponsor lives, who sponsors me for my school fees, and also congratulate her.
BETTINA: That's very cool. So you wanna dance for me? I would dance for you in a heartbeat, Molly. We could dance for each other.
I'm going to do one more question that we got here from the school kids in Egham. Why do a lot of people shave off their hair? Hair's important.
STUDENTS IN NAIROBI: Even girls, they shave it because they find it expensive to maintain it. That's why they shave it. Some think that only the boys shave, but even girls can shave. Some of them shave because in Nairobi, shaving is cheaper. Some of them also shave so that they may avoid, maybe when they have the dandruff, they will shave so they can avoid the dandruff.
BETTINA: So, now you?ve got it. We?ve got the hair advice to the world. Save your money, don?t spend it on hairdressers, shave your heads. [laughter]
I?m sure that the kids in Italy will think about it and consider whether they will do that too.
So, Italy, what did you think about this? Was this fun for you guys?
STUDENTS IN ROME: Yes. It was a very good opportunity to meet people around the world. It was awesome.
BETTINA: So I just want to thank you to all of you guys. Molly, all of your team, the teachers, Matilda and her friends in Italy. You've been wonderful friends and have made a real impact around the world.
People are following us right now, they're watching us on Facebook, we're going to put this out on International Women's Day a couple of days from now.
This really shows how the world can come together.
You guys are the future of the world.
I'm here in New York where the United Nations has its headquarters, and I think one of you easily could be the next Secretary General, so I cheer you on.
Go to school, study hard, keep on dancing, have fun.
And for all of the folks around the world who are watching, check out whether you want to make a small donation to our school meal program. It's the best investment into the future.
So kids, go back, do your homework, and thank you and goodbye from New York.
ALL: Bye!