Ryan Hreljac

I had never heard of a boy who wanted to help other people so much until very recently. It all started when a six-year-old boy named Ryan Hreljac was in his first grade class and his teacher, Mrs. Prest, told the class about the sad life of children in Africa. His teacher explained that hundreds of thousands of African children die each year just from drinking contaminated water. She also told them that if they donate just 1 dollar it would buy them a hot meal, they could also buy them a blanket for $2 dollars, and if they donated $70 dollars it would build them a well.

Ryan was bothered because of what was going on in Africa and he wanted to help more than anybody else, so he asked his parents to give him $70 to build a well. Ryan's parents said that he could earn the money by doing chores. Doing chores is exactly what Ryan did for the next four months and raised the $70 dollars. When Ryan took the $70 to Watercan he found out that $70 dollars is not enough to build a well it is only enough for the well pump, and it would take $2,000 dollars to build 1 well. Knowing this, Ryan didn't slow down raising money, and he asked for more chores. "Most kids would have been disappointed with that -- Ryan wasn't," recalls his mother, Susan. Once people heard how this one boy was trying to make a difference, people started to donate more money to help this special young boy.

Once Ryan found out that he needed $25,000 dollars for a well drill he began raising funds for the drill. Ryan just would not let anything stand in the way of his goals. Before long he had raised the money for the drill and the well was built. In the summer of 2000 he went to Uganda, Africa for two weeks and he got to meet the children who looked up to him because of what he had done for them. Ryan also got to see the well that was built and, of course, it was named "Ryan's Well."

"I'm just a normal boy," Ryan says when people ask about his achievements. The reason he says this is because anyone can do what he did; you just have to want to help. Not everyone is like Ryan but after you read this article about him it might make you want to do something for somebody else. Ryan has inspired a lot of people around the world and maybe he can make a difference in you to. The reason I was so shocked when I heard about this young boy is because it made me think this little boy must have a big heart to do something like he has done for others.

Ryan is now ten and within three years he has raised over $70,000 dollars for clean water and school-related projects in Africa. He has also spoken to more than 8,000 students about how to help and the importance of helping one another. In the year 2000 he attended the Millennium Dreamers Global Conference at Disney World in Florida. Ryan sure does know how to raise money and so far the money that he has raised has built more than 30 wells. The reason that Ryan Hreljac is a hero to me because he was so young when he wanted to help others and I think that you have to be very special to want to help other people that you don't even know. He has done more for others than I have done and hearing about him just makes me want to help in any way I can too.