2019/10/11 / Published in 2019年报导, 新闻媒体, 联合国SDGs/SE4ALL青少年外交官全球培养计划, 联合国青少年外交官2018训练营

外交官们的“新”故事︱Messages from Africa

2018届联合国青少年外交官
Mr. Zimichael Damtew Gebeyehu

Mr. Zimichael Damtew Gebeyehu ，他是我们2018年度的青少年外交官，2018年度的中国学员们都认识他。他来自非洲这片大陆，他是个勤奋继而优秀的人。近日，我们收到了一封来自他的信，这份信让我们产生了跨越地域的共情——喜悦！

他的来信

Dear WOSL:
I wanted to tell you that I have been invited to be a delegate for the Space Generation Congress 2019 happening this October on the 17th – 19th at Lockheed Martin Global Vision Center in Virginia, USA. It is organized by Space Generation Advisory Council (SGAC) in support of UN and sponsored by Lockheed Martin, NASA, ESA, and other space industries. I have competed for only 150 spots from more than 13,000 applicants. I am excited to be part of this global space industry-focused conference and also I will be able to promote the prominent uses of space technology to the fulfillment of the SDGs.

我想告诉你，我已受邀成为10月17日至19日在美国弗吉尼亚州洛克希德·马丁全球视觉中心举行的2019年空间世代大会的代表。它是由空间咨询委员会（SGAC）组织的，以支持联合国，并由洛克希德·马丁，美国太空总署，欧空局和其他太空工业赞助。能从13，000名申请人中最终被选拔成为幸运的150人之一，我非常的兴奋。我很高兴能参加这次以全球航空工业为主题的回应i，既能够促进航天技术的广泛应用，也得以实现可持续发展目标。

SGAC与SGC

SGAC（The Space Generation Advisory Council）空间咨询委员会是支持联合国空间应用方案的一个全球性组织。

SGC（The Space Generation Congress）是SGAC最主要的学术会议。来自世界各地的顶尖青年每年聚集一堂，就重要的空间议题与各联络点进行交流。大会与国际宇航大会（IAC）联合举行，是IAC的一项重要活动。

他的故事

“The Journey: from strong passion to future space leadership”

“Be the change agents”, a quote from my instructors at the UN Junior Ambassador 2018 summer program, guides my endeavors to take initiatives and help others to reach a common good. When I was ten years old, watching the Apollo 11 documentary ignited a well-fortified passion for space travel and rockets. That moment gave me the ultimate purpose to contribute to mankind’s efforts to explore outer space by advancing rocket technology.

To upheld this passion, I started to sketch my own spacecraft designs and engines. I was fifth grader when my general science teacher advised me to join the elite scientific society: The Ethiopian Space Science Society, a community which fostered my passion for space travel. On the first day I joined, the society gave me the chance to present my own design of a “Spy UFO spacecraft”, which at that time I was engrossed with ufology. I was really obsessed with new technologies and speculations about UFO’s flight systems. I even had a “UFO” as a nick at 5^thgrade due the fact that I presented my own articles about UFO’s at class presentation and morning sessions. My presentation at the 5^th General Assembly of the Ethiopian Space Science Society opened a new window for my space science career to grow. From that day, I am a prominent member of the Ethiopian Space Science Society and presented more than 13 researches in aerospace engineering and propulsion for the past 9 years. My reputation and involvement on community outreach activities at the society led me to win The Youth Leadership Award, which is organized by the World Organization for Sustainable Development (WOSL) in collaboration with the Ethiopian Space Science Society (ESSS). The award enabled me to be part of an intensive research summer program at Claremont Graduate University in CA, USA as UN Junior Ambassador for Sustainable Development. The program changed my whole career to professional level. With multidisciplinary lectures focusing on implementing UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), I got the opportunity to work on goal #9: Innovation, Industry, and Infrastructure. The independence nature of the program enabled me to connect the SDGs to space exploration and elimination of space debris in the end.

After the summer program, I continued my work in spreading the voice of the SDGs and the importance of space science in fulfilling those goals. Through this leadership program and my success at the Ethiopian Space Science Society, I was honored to be the Youth Space Ambassador, promoting and creating awareness about the uses of space science in my country. In conjunction with the responsibilities as a UN Junior Ambassador for Sustainable Development, I have been giving public lectures about my research on SDGs and the importance of space exploration to achieve those goals. I have travelled to universities outside the capital, Addis Ababa, and presented research experience on the SDGs and the significance of space exploration to students in the countryside. The UN Junior Ambassador program taught me teamwork and success can be easily achieved through collaboration and partnership. I used this principle to engage the youth in space activities, because I believe that the overall contribution of the youth in space science is crucial to support our space program. I have been able to bring the leadership skills I got form UN Junior Ambassador Program to my internship at ESSS. Overall, the UN Junior Ambassador program is a life changing experience that widened the glasses I used to view the world, and it gave me hope and fortitude to strive and solve global problem. After all, we, the youth are the change agents and future leaders that the world has been waiting for.