"Mom, Dad, I am going to travel South America by bike!" Silence on the other side of the line. My mom sighs, while my dad is probably on the floor, gasping for air.
"Well, we know that it will make you happy, which means we are happy for you. But at the same time we are worried about you!" my mother mumbles. Still no word from my dad and I can't blame him.
It isn't the first time, that I am leaving the country with a one way ticket. But this time I wan to travel differently. I don't want to just fly to foreign countries, to be a backpacker, until I run out of money. I want to give something back. And this is how the fundraiser was born.
During my cycling trip through Poland and Czech Republic, I collected 1.000€ with a small fundraiser. How much money would I be able to raise, if I would be on the road for a long time, use the power of Social Media and the experience of three years of social media management, working for PETA Germany?
I had already been on fire for this trip, but now there was a proper bushfire inside of me. I started brainstorming, researching, illustrating, working out a plan, to make this thing big. It was a no-brainer, that I wanted to raise money for latin american kids. Which led me to SOS-Kinderdorf e.V., an amazing NGO, that also cares for children in Latin America.
When I think back, I remember being a happy child. I grew up without any kind of sorrows. I went to school, played catch with my friends, built forts with my brothers, ran around and collected stickers. Stuff, that children do. Back then I thought, that every kid is having a childhood, like I was having. Today I know, that this isn't the case.
Worldwide there are 218 million children and adolescents between the ages of five and 17, who are working, including exploitative child labor and legal employment. It was a non-brainer to me, to create this fundraiser for SOS children's villages.
So often grownups look at kids and say stuff like "Oh, you are just a child..." But kids have so many qualities, that fade during the process of getting older, until sometimes they just vanish or change to the complete opposite.
In all my travels, it was always the children who came to me first, without prejudice, without intentions and without fear. Our childhood shapes our lives and makes up a big part of who we are. Children should grow up without worry and to be able, to just be a kid. And that's what "Wheels Of Fortune" is all about.
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