２学期に入って初めての定期テストが終わり、ほっと一息･･･という３年生も中にはいるかもしれません。が！今月末２９日は英検IBA、また来月６日には天草市の補助を受け、多くの生徒がチャレンジする「英検」のテストがあります。英検の試験内容が来年度からリニューアルされる、ということで、今のうちに資格取得を目指そうと励んでいる人も多いかと思います。
「英語能力の向上」は今後の生徒たちに多くの場面で求められる課題です。その英語力向上につながる「熊本県中学生英語弁論大会」へ、今年度は本校３年生生徒会長の上口絵麻さんがチャレンジすることになりました。
夏休み期間中から、弁論の内容について考え、それを英文に訳し、スピーチ練習に励んできました。本番は今月の２８日（木）です。応援よろしくお願いします！（以下にスピーチ原稿を紹介します。ぜひ彼女の思いを共有して下さい。）
From a piece of chocolate
Hondo J.H.S. 3rd grade Ema Uwaguchi
I love chocolate. How about you? Chocolate always gives us healing and it’s so sweet and
delicious. It’s very cheap so I often go to the supermarket near my house to get it.
One day, when I went to the supermarket, I found that there was some chocolate that cost
about 500 yen next to the chocolate I always buy. I thought it was “high-class” chocolate, so I
didn’t care about it at all. Until I learned more. After I went home, I started to wonder why the
price was so different. So I decided to look it up and then I learned about “child labor” for the
first time. The raw material for most chocolate, cacao, is produced by children in Ghana because
they can be hired with cheaper wages. What they produce is exported at a low price and a fair
wage is not paid to them. These children work to support their families and many can’t even go
to school. My heart ached when I understood this reality.
“Fair trade” is one of the ways to improve this reality. It is a movement that encourages
trade with developing countries based on justice, equality, and sustainability. The chocolate I
saw in the supermarket but avoided buying is one of the products that contribute to fair trade.
After I learned this, I felt somewhat embarrassed. Ideas like “buying because it’s cheap” and
“not buying because it’s expensive” are very common ways of thinking. But I now think there is
one more way of thinking that we should take into account. It’s that the price shows not only
the cost of ingredients and quality, but the truth behind the labor. We often tend to care too
much about the word “cheap”. But behind that cheapness, a harsh reality that we don’t know
well exists.
If I said to you “I will give you 100 yen, so make some chocolate for me please”, I’m sure that
you would answer, “Sorry but I can’t do that.” or “100 yen isn’t worth it.” From now on, I will
buy fair trade chocolates whenever I have the chance. I won’t avoid them because I know that
my choice, even though it’s small, will make a difference in my heart and contribute to fair trade.
I will buy them with pleasure because I learned this action can help children in Ghana. Also,
fair trade is not limited to chocolate, but there are other various products such as coffee, spices,
clothes and cosmetics. Every person’s actions count, even if it doesn’t feel like it. So even if
you make the choice to buy only one product, it will have meaning. I know that this is an
industry that will take decades to change, but I will do my part, and I hope that you will too.
It is my wish that my speech helps more people learn about fair trade. The price is higher,
but it’s not a waste of money –It’s an investment in our future so that we can have a more
prosperous society．
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