Bhuwan Giri, a 17- year old science student, will attend the Pacific Educational Conference (PEC) in Honolulu, Hawaii, on July 9 as the winner.

The Nainoa Thompson Fund and the East-West center are paying for the travel and five nights accommodation to attend the conference.

The contest was organised by the Asia Pacific leadership program of the East-West center in partnership with the Nisei Veterans Endowed Forum Series of the College of Arts and Sciences, University of Hawaii at Monoa.

Students between the ages of 14 and 18 years from around the world were asked to write essays that answered the question: “What values are essential for a world characterized by peace and social justice?”

Bhuwan Giri wrote on problems in the world because of economic inequality and deteriorating respect for other cultures and religion in his essay titled, “The peace we have never known.” “I thought, for world peace and social justice one has to understand the issue of economic inequality and develop tolerance for other religions and cultures,” said Bhuwan Giri.

Soon after spotting the announcement for the Values for Life International essay contest on the school notice board, Bhuwan said he started working on the essay. He submitted his entry on May 30 via email.

Bhuwan said that he received a call on June 13 that he had been selected as the winner. Students from countries including India, Indonesia, Japan, Vietnam, and the United States competed in the essay competition.

Bhuwan, whose favourite subject is English wants to study medicine after high school. You can read the winners’ essay on the website http://pvshawaii.squarespace.com/essay-bhutan/