An Eight-Year-Old Saving The World Better Than Our Government

Looking for article inspiration this week, I came across an article from USAToday explaining an eight-year-old's week long fundraising event to help Syrian refugees in their journey to find peace. Currently, more than 11 million Syrian refugees are traveling from Syria to Germany, England, France, and other places in Europe to escape the danger and civil unrest back home. Since 2011, Syrian citizens have been fleeing their country and its dangerous and violent atmosphere, but the exponentially increasing amount of refugees and the lack of essential resources inspired one eight-year-old girl to make a difference.

Of the more than 11 million refugees, half of them are children who desperately need access to potable water and medical care. After reading emotional news stories about these refugee families, Charlotte Tristan from Bothel, WA decided to create a fundraiser to provide the necessary resources for a few refugees and their children to safely reach their destination.

Charlotte launched a fundraising video on YouTube with the goal of raising $500 to help a few refugees have access to food, water, shelter, medical care, and other necessities. Charlotte knows she is a young girl, but she is proud and adamant in her dream to help as many refugees as she can: "When I think of myself being cold, tired, or hungry, I would not enjoy being in that position." She is breaking down the idea that in order to make a change, you have to be someone in the government with power. Charlotte is eight! And, in fact, she has hosted numerous fundraising campaigns on YouTube and raised over $10,000 for charity!

Her mother says it all started when their family sponsored a little girl from Mali, and from this experience Charlotte learned an extraordinary degree of empathy and compassion for others. Charlotte represents the hope for humanity in the younger generations, and that politicians are not the only ones who can change the world.

France, England, and Germany and their governments have already made accommodations for large numbers of the refugees, and an eight-year-old girl from Washington is already making a huge difference all the way from the U.S. I am not saying I think our government should or should not welcome refugees in the states, but do you see how amazing it is that a young girl wants to help these refugee families? And certainly if Charlotte can create such an impact, I would hope our government could do the same. Just think if $500 can help a few refugees have access to proper living conditions and necessities, then imagine how much we could give to help these people settle into their temporary homes?

Charlotte clearly has a passion for helping people, and she is ambitious. If you wish to help Charlotte in her fundraising campaign, you can donate here.