名稱：changing the world with a glow-in-the-dark bandage
內容簡介：
Dear Arizona,
　 My uncle and some other people started a group to bring clean water to African villages. I want to do a big thing to help people, too. Do you have any ideas?
　 — Hoping to Help in Houston

Dear Hoping to Help,
　 I think you’re totally cool for wanting to help others! And speaking of doing big things, we recently learned about Martin Luther King, Jr., in our social studies class. As I’m sure you know, he was an amazing man who believed that all people should have equal rights. He believed that, no matter what color or age or anything you are, you have the power to make this world a better place.

While we were studying Martin Luther King, my teacher gave us a different kind of homework assignment. We had a week to come up with things that we could actually do to make the world a better place.

At first, I thought, Ooh! This is going to be the easiest assignment ever—no books to study or spelling words to memorize.

But when I got home and started thinking about it, my mind went completely blank. I wrote “How to Make the World a Better Place” at the top of a page in my notebook, and that was it. Not one great, good, semi-decent, or even terrible idea came into my head. I thought, Little me—helping this gigantic world? The whole thing was way too overwhelming! I sat just staring at the lines on my notebook paper for about an hour straight. Normally when I need help with a problem, I ask my cat, Cow, for advice. You’d be surprised at how often he’s had the right answer. But this time, he was no help whatsoever.

“What would you do to make the world a better place?” I asked as I scratched behind his fluffy little ears.

He thought about it for a minute, then, without so much as a meow, he hopped off my lap and scampered away.

“Thanks a lot!” I called after him, then shut my notebook. “Forget it. There’s just no way a regular kid like me could make a big difference.”

And that’s when my little sister, Indi, came running in with tears in her eyes. “I was playing outside, and I tripped and scraped my knee! It really, really hurts!”

So I gave her a hug, wiped away her tears, and helped her clean up the scratch. Then I put a glow-in-the-dark bandage on her knee. Since she was still crying, I took her into the coat closet (where it was super-dark) to show her how the bandage glowed bright green. At the exact same time, we both said “Awesome!” and then cracked up laughing.

“’Zona,” Indi said when we came out of the coat closet, “thank you for helping me. You’re a nice big sister.”

I paused and thought about what she’d just said. “Well, thank you for helping me!” I cried.

“Huh?” Indi looked confused. “What did I do?”

“You helped me with my homework!” I told her. “I might not be able to think of one gigantic way to make a difference, but I can definitely do a bunch of little things—you know, just by trying to be thoughtful and kind. And maybe, if a bunch of people do a bunch of little things, the world really will become a better place!”

“’Zona,” Indi whispered in my ear, “if you ever fall and scratch your knee, I’ll put a glow-in-the-dark bandage on it. And go look at it in the closet with you.”

This time when I sat down with my notebook, I thought of ideas faster than I could write! I came up with a list I called “31 Little Ways to Make a Big Difference.” It included things such as cleaning up without being asked, writing thank-you notes, giving other kids the first turn at games—stuff like that.

So, dear Hoping to Help, if you’d like a few bigger project ideas, here are ones that kids in my class came up with: picking up trash; recycling; donating clothes; starting a change jar to donate to a charity; and making care packages for people in the hospital. Maybe you could even sell crafts to raise money for your uncle’s group.

Anyway, I’m completely sure that anything you do will be great. My whole theory is that as long as you are trying to help— even if it’s by doing something that seems small—you really will be helping to accomplish something big!

Ciao for now,

Arizona