Some of you may remember reading a post before we moved to Thailand in which I interviewed Olivia.  She was 7 years old then.  You can read her interview in our blog archives.  It’s called “Olivia Speaks“.

Now she’s 8, she’s back, bigger than ever and much more mature… :0

Over to you Olivia…

Dad: What do you want to talk about today?

Olivia: “Well, dad.  I want to talk about how I felt when I came back.”

Dad:  Okay, good idea.  How did you feel?

Olivia: “When I was in the truck heading to Bangkok on our way home, I cried because I was beginning to miss Nao Mai, my little 2-year old friend and my other friends at the migrant schools.  When I arrived in Vancouver, I traveled to West Kelowna and I discovered a movie on the shelf at home called ‘Beyond Rangoon.’ I asked my dad if I could watch it.  He said ‘OK’.  I began to watch the movie and halfway through the movie I realized how I can help people in Burma even when I’m in Canada.

There is a girl in Beyond Rangoon who heard a crowd yelling in the streets while she was staying at a guesthouse.  She got dressed and went outside and then she was following the people until she got to a big group of people who were holding up signs and cheering.  The signs had pictures of Aung San Suu Kyi on them.  A girl invited her up on a little platform and she saw Aung San Suu Kyi walking down the road.  Burmese soldiers ran in front of her.  They didn’t want to let her pass but she walked right through the guns.  When I saw Aung San Suu Kyi walk through the guns, I realized even more how much those people needed help and I decided that I would be someone who would help them.”

“When the movie ended, I asked my mom and dad to come into their bedroom so I could talk with them.  I brought Hannah, my 10-year sister with me.  When they came in, I told them that I wanted to start my own organization to help raise money for poor people in the world.  Then I started crying…bawling my eyes out.  I asked my sister to finish for me because I couldn’t talk.  We called the organization MFK…Money for Kids.  I started to look for ideas on how we could raise money.  I found one!  It was selling playdough!”

“The next day my mom and I made playdough of different colors and we put the playdough into ziploc bags.  Then my older sister painted paper bags.  We put the ziploc bags in the paper bags.  We added cookie cutters and a roller in each paper bag to make them into Birthday Playdough Kits – perfect for birthday presents.  Then we brought the bags to one of the churches where we were speaking and put them on our Imagine Thailand table.  We sold them for $5.00 and we sold them all!”

Dad: Thanks Olivia.  Great story!  Time to make some more playdough…   What are some other fundraising ideas you have?

Olivia: “Selling hot chocolate and lemonade at the end of our driveway.”

Dad: Any closing remarks?

Olivia: “I feel sad about what is happening in Burma and I feel happy that I am helping them.”

So that’s it.

It’s as simple as that.

Sadness brings a response and the response brings happiness.

Feeling sad about the state of the world?

Use your talents and your heart of compassion to change the course of history.

It may not be playdough, but I’m sure you’ll think of something…