“I wanted to help kids to be happy and not sad anymore.”
Tariku is a 9 year old stud who has been supporting charity: water for more than half of his life. He gave up his 5th, 7th and 9th birthdays to help fund water projects for people in need and has raised more than $20,000 so far.
His story is different than most. Tariku spent the first four years of his life in Ethiopia. He experienced firsthand what it’s like to walk for and collect dirty water, and he saw waterborne diseases from that dirty water claim the life of his younger brother. When he was adopted by his incredible parents in 2010, he had parasites in his blood, too. But clean water and access to medication quickly solved that problem.
In talking to him, it’s immediately clear that the first half of his story fuels his passion to make a difference — especially for children.
“I told people it’s fun to help kids in Africa! You can see the joy in their faces. And you can see when they get happy.”
But here’s what you really need to know about Tariku: It doesn’t stop with clean water.
His desire to give and to make the world a better place knows no ends. And that’s the second half of his story. A half that I imagine is destined for an epic future.
T (as I call him now that we’re friends) recently visited our office. In sitting down with him, he talked about donating clothes to people in need, helping the poor in his community and inspiring his fellow third graders to give. It was a recurring theme… again and again he stated, “It’s fun to give!”
When I asked why he thinks giving is important, he very simply said:
“It’s important to give money! If I had a million dollars, I’d give it to the poor people that live close to downtown. One day, my mom and dad and me took sandwiches to people and gave them to them, and they were happy.“
Soft-spoken and always smiling, he’s just one of the kindest and most impressive kids we know. It’s hard to believe a heart so big can live in that little body. T has inspired all of us at charity: water, and we hope he inspires you too.
“It’s fun to give away stuff you have a lot of.”
-Tariku Savage, age 9
