On Tuesday, September the fourth, I became inspired and a person with a real goal. Sure it sounds very patriotic but it is true. On that day, I discovered a passion inside of me that finally hit like a bolt of lightning. Now, what is it you ask? I found out that I had a passion for helping kids.

It was a regular old Tuesday morning. I went to my first class, went to morning meeting where I listened to a speaker, and then went to my next class. On this day, the woman who spoke to us was named Miss Hilary. You are now wondering what she talked to us about? The truth is, she talked to us about one of the saddest and most joyful things I have ever heard of. Here is the happy part: she helps kids for a living. The sad part: those kids live in poverty in a place called Nicaragua where there are many families who live in trash dumps and are deprived of many necessities. Luckily, people like Miss Hilary come and help these families. These helpers make their poor lives worthwhile and put smiles on the kid’s faces. Miss Hilary talked about Nicaragua then she showed us this video. In this video, you could see the poor environment these families lived in. There was junk everywhere and it looked as though it smelled horrible. It was the definition of ghastly. I was struck just by looking at it. Everywhere, old cans, papers and I could not believe people actually lived like this. As she spoke to us, an alarm clock went off in me, making me look back on my life. Here I am, a girl with almost everything she can ask for, and here is a community, who survives happily with nothing. After her speech, it hit me. I needed to do something. I needed to help.

I decided that I wanted to sponsor a child. I told my mom about my idea, and she was on board with me. She helped me find a website called Christian Children’s Fund. As I looked on the website, it felt like someone jolted my heart. I was in complete awe at what I saw. There were some many kids with sad stories dragging along behind them. Do: age 5, has no running water and has poor health care service. Malfred: age 12, because of low income, does not have the basic needs of life. As I was looking at all of this, a pretty little girl spoke out to me. Her name is Mama Sayon Camara. She lives in a family of traditional farmers in the village of Bokaria in Guinea and is deprived of electricity and portable water in a two-roomed mud house. This innocent girl needed money, and fast. I decided to provide that for her.

On Thursday, the sixth, I became Mama Sayon Camara’s official sponsor. I am going to provide $24 a month for her and give her my friendship. Hopefully, on day I will have the opportunity to meet this girl. Knowing that I’m doing this makes me feel so joyful that it feels like there are fireworks going off in me. For me, this is the opportunity that will change my life, maybe in a small way, or maybe in a big way. I don’t know. But for right now, I’m glad that I am doing something that I know is the right thing. Right now, as I am writing this, I think about all the people who are missing this great opportunity to help kids. I wonder why so many people want to help, but never do anything. As Christian Children’s Fund say to their sponsors, “Many people talk about the difficult challenges that poor children face around the world. But you have done something more. You have acted and by your willingness to get involved, have made an enormous difference in a child’s life.”