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| Young girls in Nairobi, Kenya, laugh after watching an educational skit by some older students. Courtesy of Lauren Prince |
One girl's global helping hand
Lauren Prince was just a teenager when an ocean tsunami washed away many Asian villages in 2004. But she was determined to help.
By Jessica Worfulfrom the December 24, 2007 edition
Page 1 of 2
Lauren Prince was an ordinary American teenager in 2004. She was busy with school, and she liked to hang out with friends at the mall. Then, halfway around the world, a tsunami struck India and neighboring countries on Dec. 26. The monster wave was so powerful that it wiped many villages and towns off the world map.
Lauren and her family wanted to help. But how? Soon, the name of a city caught their attention on TV: Chennai (Madras), India. They remembered that a friend of the family, Becky Douglas, ran a charity and a children's home there.
So they called to find out whether Ms. Douglas and the children were OK.
All was well for them, but countless nearby fishing villages had been destroyed. With no fishing equipment or supplies, survivors had no way to provide for their families. Eleven thousand dollars would be enough to rebuild one village, Ms. Douglas told them.
That news was a wake-up call for Lauren. Of course, $11,000 is a lot of money, but it's not that much considering that it could put an entire village back together. So with the help of her family, she set to work raising that money.
Lauren asked the headmaster at her high school in Potomac, Md., for permission to talk to the student body about helping tsunami victims.
Almost everyone at the assembly responded enthusiastically. Lauren thought she would collect donations for just 10 days – but that's not what happened.
Local newspapers ran stories about Lauren and her friend Sam Havaf, whom Lauren had asked to help with the fund drive. Some local businesses were inspired to donate to the cause.
Students from other area schools got involved, too. Lauren even had a friend in North Carolina who had her own fundraiser – and then gave the money to increase Lauren's total.
By the time the project was finished, $110,000 had been raised!
Lauren was amazed at what her idea had stirred in people. The entire community had gotten involved.
But she was most impressed by how many students helped. Everybody who took part "felt like they had contributed to something [important]," Lauren says. And because of the extra funds, "we were able to help out in so many more directions than we thought."
Lauren worked with Ms. Douglas in India to figure out where the money was most needed. They decided to use some of it to help rebuild several Indian villages.
Funds also went toward a microloan initiative of Rising Star Outreach, the charity Ms. Douglas runs.
Microloans are small amounts of money that are lent to needy people so they can start small businesses. The businesses generate income that the borrowers use to support their families and to pay back the loan.
When one loan is paid off, that money goes toward another loan to another person in need. So the benefits of microloans (which are often less than $100) are ongoing. The loans that folks in Lauren's town funded are still helping people today.
Microcredit – as microloans are also known – helps people in many parts of the developing world. These tiny loans have lifted whole communities out of poverty.
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