Give a Chance to Others

The following is an edited version of a four page paper that I received from a student who was asked to write about what inspires and represents him. I was completely astounded by the size of his heart:

What motivated me was visiting my country Bangladesh. It changed me into a caring person that thinks that everyone should get an education and a good future that isn't based on how much money you have or what you own.

The day that I started was in February of 2008 during President's Week. My parents and I went to Bangladesh for my mother because my grandmother had passed away. It was my third time to Bangladesh. I was not that excited because I got tested alot when I went there and it was hot...I mean HOT and there are mosquitos, a whole lot of them. I went to Bangladesh to pay my respects to my grandmother.

When I got there it was something that you couldn't imagine in America. It was crowds of people, police officers with AK-47s and the heat was just crazy. But out of all of this drama, the thing that stands out was the poor people. It wasn't like it was one, it was hundreds of them begging for money or food. What shook me the most was that I was as I was getting into the taxi to my Auntie's house, there was a little boy. He was not begging for money or food. He said to me, "Can you take me with you when you go to America, so I can have a good education." I didn't say anything and I just walked away to my taxi.

On the way to my Auntie's house I thought about the kid that was begging. As we were going, I saw a lot more people that were in need. It made me have a feeling that I never had in my life. It was like I lost my heart and replaced it with a new clean heart without anything in it. Staying there a couple of days made me feel like something you can't describe, but it feels good. I spent most of my time playing with my cousin and the poor kids. We played cricket, swam and even caught chickens. As I was playing I learned about so many of these kids. Like most of them don't have parents, they didn't live in a home, they lived outside in the streets. Seeing them just made me feel really bad and I wanted to help them but I couldn't. They didn't have clothes on their backs, no shoes, but one thing that just shocked me was that every one of them wanted to learn. It just made me feel serious about my work. I said to myself, I am going to do this for them and become something. I hope I can go back and give everyone the education so they aren't just hanging around on the street begging without clothes on their backs.

The picture that comes to mind is of three kids that will do anything to learn for school. They don't have money so they hide in the bushes next to the classroom window and write on the ground. It showed me how far kids will go to learn.

I think if every child around the world was helped there will not be so many problems in the world like poverty, hunger, and wars. I believe that if everyone helps each other there won't be any problems in the world.