Sweet 16

Nubia Wilson and some of the students at Fregenet School.

Remember back to your teen years when you turned 16 years old (for the adults in the room)? Most people think of age 16 as rather special, a party, some sort of celebration, maybe getting that driving permit (if you haven't gotten it already) - it's all about you and your specialness.

However, there are other ways that teens mark the occasion. That was the case for Nubia Wilson, a teenager from Antioch, CA. You see, she's on a more altruistic mission. She's made several trips to Ethiopia since she was in fifth grade. So, when it came to having some sort of luxurious party, she was thinking more about the extreme poverty of the people she had come to know.

The decision was made to raise money for the FREGENET FOUNDATION, which had built the school for orphaned and impoverished children there. "I realized that I could give up my birthday and it wouldn't matter, because I still have the world compared to them. So I decided I wanted to do something different this year, and start raising money," remarked Nubia. In total, she raised $2000 for the school.



Nubia's inspiration has been her mother, Tigi Wilson, who entered this country as a refugee from the troubled times in Ethiopia, which included both war and famine, in the 1980s. The trips to the country have been a way for Tigi to introduce her children to the place from which their mother came, and that has so impressed daughter Nubia.

If anyone has thought that her 16th birthday celebration is the end of Nubia's contributions, though, you're wrong. Ms. Wilson has now embarked on another fundraising mission. She's selling Hershey bars and organizing a dinner and auction. She also has a CROWD RISE ACCOUNT. She calls this mission "Keep Hermela Smiling" after a young girl she met, who attends Fregenet School and has lost one parent and has another who is ill. Her goal now is to raise $10,000 for the school to add fifth grade, since it only goes up to fourth grade now.

By the way, Nubia is no academic slouch either. She's an honors student, who attends CARONDELET HIGH SCHOOL, an all-girls high school. She wants to become a humanitarian lawyer, and her choices of colleges include UCLA and Stanford. No matter where you end up, Nubia, you're already an asset to this world of ours.

Nubia and an ancient Ethiopian orthodox manuscript she wants to include in the auction.

Thanks to this article from Kindness Blog: http://kindnessblog.com/2015/01/20/this-teenagers-sweet-16th-birthday-is-not-all-about-her/, and this article from The Reporter: http://www.thereporter.com/general-news/20150121/antioch-girl-raises-2000-toward-expansion-of-ethiopian-school-for-orphans.

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