{"id":12222,"date":"2015-09-11T13:43:00","date_gmt":"2015-09-11T13:43:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www3.tusculum.edu\/for\/?p=12222"},"modified":"2015-09-11T13:43:00","modified_gmt":"2015-09-11T13:43:00","slug":"tusculum-student-represents-sri-lanka-at-united-nations-summit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www3.tusculum.edu\/news\/featured\/2015\/tusculum-student-represents-sri-lanka-at-united-nations-summit\/","title":{"rendered":"Tusculum student represents Sri Lanka at United Nations summit"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"

Tusculum College student Michael Fernando represented his home country of Sri Lanka on the floor of the United Nations in New York as part of the Youth for Human Rights International Summit.<\/p><\/div>\n

Michael Fernando, a senior Tusculum College student from Sri Lanka majoring in accounting, general management and economics and international business, attended the 12th annual Youth for Human Rights International Summit at the United Nations headquarters in New York City on August 27-28.<\/p>\n

Fernando served in his official capacity as youth ambassador of Sri Lanka. On Friday, Aug. 27, he delivered a speech about his work with the Youth for Human Rights International organization and the concept that freedom should be free.<\/p>\n

Fernando said, \u201cFreedom should be free; however, in most parts of the world it isn\u2019t. Because of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, we shouldn\u2019t have to fight for freedom. We shouldn\u2019t have to argue and we shouldn\u2019t have to convince someone else of our rights. As soon as we are born into this world, we should have those rights, and they are protected by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. It\u2019s important that governments are held accountable to those rights.<\/p>\n

\u201cHad the fundamental rights of the Sri Lankan people, all our people, been preserved and had the 30 inherent human rights been respected, we wouldn\u2019t have entered a civil war, and 100,000 people wouldn\u2019t have lost their lives. It started because one person thought they could oppress someone else. Whereas, there is a human right that says we are all born free and equal. Had we been respectful of those rights, we could have avoided a 25-year long war. That was all man-made.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fernando spoke about the accomplishments of the Sri Lanka model nations, including giving 300 bicycles to areas of need in Sri Lanka, so that children would have a way to go to school. He was also part of starting One World Volunteers, a program that connected students, who wanted to volunteer, to people who needed them. He participated in many fundraisers and awareness programs, and additionally, his group broke the Guinness world record of the largest human word formation by forming the word \u201cyouth.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"

Michael Fernando <\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cDespite our differences\u2014different schools, races, casts, religions, countries, socioeconomic classes, nationalities, languages \u2014 we were able to understand the importance of community service through civic engagement and be different but be together in order to spread the message of peace, freedom, love and unity.\u201d<\/p>\n

Youth ambassadors and delegates from all around the world attended the summit, as well. Several spoke about the accomplishments in their country, such as awareness walks and volunteer campaigns for those in need.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe learned about what they had done in their own countries, in their own communities to further the cause of human rights. It was amazing. The statistics show that the organization alone through their extensive volunteer network throughout the world conducted at least three events a day. That\u2019s a tremendous feat,\u201d said Fernando. \u201cIt was a great weekend, and I was just so privileged to be a part of that audience.\u201d<\/p>\n

Also in attendance was the former aid of Eleanor Roosevelt, Ella Torrey. Torrey gave a keynote address of when Roosevelt presented the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. At the summit, Torrey received a human rights hero award.<\/p>\n

He added that the world needs someone who will defend their rights no matter what. \u201cThat is our responsibility. I was standing in a room full of people who are the beacon of hope to a society whose voices were stolen and think that freedom isn\u2019t free,\u201d said Fernando.<\/p>\n

He added, \u201cThere are many people who go to prestigious schools identify that as their accomplishment. The beauty of Tusculum College is that there is a staff, faculty and student body that will support you and want to help you accomplish more than just schoolwork.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI would like to thank the administration and the school for supporting me in my journey to New York. I want to think the donors, the administration, the faculty, the student body and the community here that supported me in that journey. I would like to thank Dr. Mary Shuttleworth for inviting me, and Dr. (Bruce) Ferguson for sponsoring my stay in New York.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to specially thank Dr. (Nancy) Moody for doing everything that is within her power to ensure us, the students, can surpass even our own expectations. She puts opportunities in front of us, and we have to go take them.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Senior Michael Fernando represented his native Sri Lanka at the Youth for Human Rights International Summit at the United Nations. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[91,19],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nTusculum student represents Sri Lanka at United Nations summit :: Tusculum University<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www3.tusculum.edu\/news\/featured\/2015\/tusculum-student-represents-sri-lanka-at-united-nations-summit\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Tusculum student represents Sri Lanka at United Nations summit :: Tusculum University\" \/>\n<meta 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