Ladies and Gentlemen:
Honored guests:

It is pleasure to be able to give this short speech to you today.

Many things have been said about the virtue of charity in different religions. Without the virtue of charity, all other virtues lose their supernatural value. How can it help us if we believe in God and hope in God but do not love God? If a real love of God overflows in our soul then we will be able to touch the hearts of those around us and be generous to others. Through charity, we can do the most for God, the most for our fellowmen and the most for ourselves.

The late Mother Teresa of Calcutta, India, an important religious figure, and also a formidable social-worker, said she prayed often so that she could see God in each person. Because = we are all children of God = she could not have done such great charity without her faith in God.

The chief and cofounder of Microsoft, Mr. William H Gates III, is one of a good example of a 21st century business philanthropist.

I admire Bill Gates because the Bill and Melinda Gates charitable foundation, that will soon rival the Ford and Rockefeller Foundations in size and wealth, is purchasing and distributing vaccines to prevent disease from spreading or starting among the children and adults in developing countries. how many thousands of young precious lives will be saved by that? Maybe, quite a few.

Ladies and gentlemen, honored guests, why wait until you die before you do charity? Even if you are not rich, there might be some charity that you could do.

Why not do charity new and live to see the results of it and even live to see that it is done properly and effectively?

Why do we have to die first before other people can get the benefits of our riches if we have riches?

Let's enjoy helping others now while we are here on earth.

Besides teaching our children to be charitable we must also think about how to reduce poverty in our society the essential education begins at the elementary school level because if children are not competent in reading writing and arithmetic they will become a "Lost Generation" we should teach them respect for human rights in order to make the 21st century a century of dialogue, mutual understanding peace promotion reconciliation goodwill and harmony. Let's teach our children about other people and countries too.

As for me, I would like to help build more elementary school and dig more deep water wells not only in my country of Benin or in African countries but also for other developing countries such as China (where I have stayed for 7 years) or Guatemala, as we enjoy our beer, wine, and champagne, why don't we think about helping the people in developing countries at least enjoy drinking clean water?

In order to carry out my dream, I might have to establish a foundation with the help of others. Since I am not as rich as Bill Gates!

But, even without being rich, I could do a lot with the royalty income from two of my books published in Japan in Japanese. I built three equipped elementary schools and provided them with school supplies for 1,020 students, dug three school wells and one village well and donated money to some regional and international NGOs such as Caritas International, and United Nations institutions like UNICEF.

In closing, I would like to say "Thank you and may God bless you all".