Dear friends,
     As you know, the Ship for World Youth has brought together a very intelligent and exciting group of young people; people of many different backgrounds and cultures. I strongly feel that we should use this wonderful opportunity to discuss problems that we all face together on the earth.
     In this age, the world is faced with a number of serious issues which threaten the future of this planet for us and for our children. These problems include the daily ruin of the environment, the continuous threat of nuclear weapons,serious poverty all over the world - including in the richest of countries, violations against womens rights and basic human rights, overpopulation, and terrorism and corruption from which no country or region is safe. AIDS and drug epidemics have also become critical world problems. All of these issues do or will affect each one of us in some way.
     I am not writing this letter to depress anyone, nor to say that the world will end tomorrow. I am writing to urge each one you (us) to talk to each other as much as we can while we are together. We should talk about the problems which threaten our future. I am certain that in this way we can all learn many different ideas which will be helpful when we deal with these crises in the future. Thank you.

                                               Brian Doerner


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