07 October 2009

Ambassador Fouéré "interviewed" by children

On 7 October 2009, a group of children, their professors and parents met with Ambassador Erwan Fouéré at the EU InfoCentre. The visit was a part of the Children’s week activities organised by the "Alliance for Care and Education of Children of Macedonia".

Children from 4 till 10 years old addressed their sincere questions to Ambassador Fouéré. Dalila Cekic, Teodora Stojkovska, Mihaela Lazarevik, Leonid Karaginov, Kjara Kravik, Bora Alili, Zekir Zekirja, Pakiza Ibraim, Remzi Ramadan, Kostadin Nastovski, Lorian Gracian Van Der Stejne, Antonija Gnastovik, Kristina Lotik, Arta Kerimi, Altina Kerimi and Fotjan Nebi were some of the children that "interviewed" the Ambassador about his childhood and career. The following are the highlights of their conversation:

1. What was your favourite sport when you were a child?
- I grew up in the western part of Ireland, by the sea. In my early age I learned how to swim, and that was my first sport. I was even swimming in winter, too. Later I had a bicycle and I loved to go out and visit different places, because my place of birth is surrounded with beautiful nature, and with my bicycle I could see it all. You are also blessed with beautiful nature here and you should preserve it and take care of your environment.

2. Have you been a member of any children’s organizations?
- Yes, I have been a member of many organizations. During my childhood I took part in different charity events, and my main goal was to help and give support to the old people, the people that had special needs, the poor… and I think that everyone that can help another human being should do so.

3. What was your favourite book?
- My favourite book was “The Jungle Book” with Mowgli and the different animals; also “Alice in Wonderland”, Enid Blyton books, and many others.

4. What was your favourite subject in school?
- My favourite subject in school was Geography. I loved Geography because I liked to travel a lot, and my family also travelled a lot, we practically 'lived in a suitcase'… There was always a suitcase ready in my home. With Geography I could have dreamt and learned about different continents, different places and learned about the beauties of the world. History was the second subject that I was fond of. My country had a difficult past and by learning the past, you can know your roots and know yourself. But I always learned from different angles and about other countries. History teaching must help you to forgive the past and prepare for a better future. Mathematics was not among my favourite subjects.

5. What was your favourite pet?
- My favourite pet was a shepherd dog. I had one when I was a child and I loved it a lot. This dog was not as big as the Macedonian "Sharplaninec" but it was a good dog. We had a several cats, too. Now, I don't have a pet. There are four turtles in my garden and several cats that are coming to visit and to drink water from the swimming pool.

6. Did you dream of being an Ambassador when you were a child? Is it difficult to be Ambassador of EU in our country?

- It is very important to dream. Every child should have dreams about her or his future, about his ambitions. But I realised that I wanted to become an Ambassador when I started going at University. I studied Law and I think that this was a good ground to begin with. I wanted to become an Ambassador, to represent the European Union abroad, to convey positive messages to people. This has given me the opportunity to travel and to work in various countries such as Latin America, Africa and many others. Being Ambassador is a challenging job and very enriching as you meet many different cultures and peoples.

7. Did you like science and making experiments when you were in school? Did you make them alone or together with your teacher?
- I think that science is very important, because it shows us how different things are created, how different substances are made. But during our lab experiments I was afraid not to cause some explosion from the different mixture of liquids and other substances. I made all the experiments with the surveillance from my teacher.

8. Would you like to come to our school?
- Yes, if you invite me.

9. Do you keep in touch with your friends from childhood?
- Well, in my time there weren’t any cellular phones or e-mails. We had one phone line at home and it was used by the whole neighbourhood. Each family had a phone receiver and when phone was ringing we didn't know who they are calling and we all pick up. In this way, we knew what was happening in other families in the neighbourhood. I remember that when we had a letter the mailman would ride his bicycle for 6 km in one direction and another 6 to return back to the post office.
Now I keep contacts with a few friends from my childhood and some friends from my university days. Now it is so much easier to keep in contact with friends from all over the world

10. Where did you spend your childhood?
- As I mentioned in the beginning, I grew up in the western part of Ireland, near the sea. The weather was often very stormy, so I cherished my home even if it was very primitive. At the beginning we had no electricity and no running water – we had to bring it in buckets from the lake nearby. So you also should cherish your home and your environment.

11. Which is the happiest year of your life?
- This is a difficult question. Every year must be a happy year. You must be positive about the future. Even when I have a bad day, I see it as a challenge and a test. But even though I don’t remember, I believe that my happiest year must have been the year when I was born.

12. Who is the youngest member of your family?
- I have 1 brother and 3 sisters, 9 nieces and nephews, 2 grand-nieces (the youngest is 10-year old) and 3 God-children. The youngest one is two and a half years old, she is Macedonian. So, I have Macedonian family, too.