Bob may have read this already, as I sent a copy via Chris. I was hoping to say a few words of introduction at Glasgow about the inspiration and influence that Bob and others like him have had on the youngest members of our society and I think it is important that he realises this and knows that what he is doing IS working. (But he was running late and everyhting was changed). I have been a teacher for 32 years now (scary thought) and I have never experienced such an awareness, understanding and empathy for those in the third world, as there is now from our youngsters. At the school where I work,(James Gillespies PS), we have the secondary, primary and nursery on one campus. During the Easter break, some 25 staff and children from the secondary school are going to visit a secondary school in a poor township near Durban, S.A. with much needed educational supplies. They were inundated by offers of help from other schools. Even my little nursery children were happy to donate some art equipment. The headteacher from S.A. is visiting us later this year. In the primary school, a class of 9 year olds approached their teacher to ask if they could become twinned with a primary school in Malawi, as they KNEW they could make a difference. Preliminary introductions have been made and last Tuesday the Malawian high Commissioner visited the class. Isn't it great that the children themselves made the first move? They felt it was important and they could do something to help. A student teacher, who was on placement wth me in the nursery in January is going out to Rwanda in May to help set up the country's first nursery school. These very children, who have this awareness now at such an early age will be the civil servants, the accountants, the aid workers, the politicians in the next 20-30 years and it can only bode well for the future. I have great confidence in the next generation, that they will continue the good work of Bob and other campaigners. I am just one person and all this is happening around me. How can anyone deny that events such as Live 8, Make Poverty History, Bob's tears and tantrums, and other campaigns have not had a major part to play in this awakening. Bob and friends have influenced governments, teachers, educational policy and parents too. It is now compulsory for every school in Scotland to teach global citizenship, with the hope of eventually all schools twinning with one from the thirld world. It is hoped this will in the future stop the  "me and them" philosophy that some people have. I had a conversation with a 4 year old today about Slobodan Milosovec, and one with a 5 year old about Bob Marley, but that is another story. So I would like to say to Bob, what you are doing IS working, here and now, and I personally think that is your legacy, hope for the future, a new generation looking for justice and peace. I extend an open invitation from the headteacher, that the next time he is in Edinburgh and has a window, (unlikely I know), he is welcome to come and talk to the children on the importance of what they are doing. (A lot of our staff are young blond and pretty). That might swing it.

Hope I have not bored you all too much

Irene