There was once a small town in a poor country. The town, if it could even be called that, seemed helpless. It consisted of a few feeble huts, a small dirty river, and a soccer field. The town may have been a disaster but the town’s people refused to give up. Every day they would meet up in the soccer field and talk. They would talk about their lives, their families, their problems, their happiness, and their sadness. They would discuss ways on improving their community. They were convinced that if they worked together CHANGE COULD HAPPEN. One day, a group of children from the community decided it was time to stop talking and start doing. They knew that they didn't have enough money for any extreme changes, but they knew they could at least improve their living conditions. The children tried saving up the little money they received each week, but by the end of the month they only had enough money for one small can of paint and a little box of nails. The children had bought a bright yellow can of paint, because they thought it was the happiest color, and that it gave them the most hope. The towns people greatly appreciated what the children had done, but knew that there wasn't even close to enough materials to fix all the huts. After much debate on which home would be fixed first, they decided to fix one small thing in everyone’s home. A group of volunteers went from house to house, with the small box of nails, a rock, and the small can of paint. Some houses had a loose wall board that needed to be fixed; some had a broken door frame. The volunteers helped fix these small problems until they had fixed all the houses and ran out of nails. To remember what huts they had fixed they would paint a bright yellow stripe across the front door.

The children convinced the parents to start to put a small amount of the money they earned away each week. At the end of the month the town had raised enough money for another small can of paint, two boxes of nails, a hammer, some screws, and a screw driver. This time, the children had picked an orange can of paint, simply because they thought it would look pretty with the yellow. So the group of volunteers, which had grown significantly since the last month, set off from hut to hut fixing little problems, and painting orange stripes beside the yellow ones.

When the next month started the townspeople decided, seeing most of the small problems around their homes were fixed, they needed to do something about the water. It wasn't clean and was making people sick. As hopeful as they were they knew that they would never be able to come up with enough money to build a well, so they looked to the neighbouring town for help. A letter was sent to the leader of the town next to them. This town was wealthier than their little town, but was still struggling. The leader sent a letter back, explaining that they would give what they could, but that may not be very much. A group of people from the small town set off on a journey to collect the money and thank the thoughtful leader.

They now had a lot more money than they could ever had collected, but they knew they were going to need more to build a well. So they looked to their other neighbours, a large city, that was even wealthier, but were still having financial issues. The city said they would give as much as they possibly could. They loved the hope the town's people had and they wanted to help and encourage the fact that CHANGE CAN HAPPEN.

The town finally had enough to drill a well, but didn't have the resources to do it. They were heartbroken. They couldn't believe they hadn't thought about it before. It broke the children to see their parents so sad, so they put the little pocket change they had together, went to the store and bought a red can of paint. They didn't know why they chose red, perhaps because of the anger they were feeling about the well; red seemed angry just like them. During the night the children got out of bed and went from hut to hut, painting a red stripe beside the orange one on everyone's doors. When the morning came the adults were all so touched by what the children had done, they began feeling hope again. They began believing that CHANGE CAN HAPPEN.

Well it turns out, the larger city had told an even larger city who had told the largest city about this small town, and how they needed help. The largest city decided it was time they gave back, and sent a letter to the town's people explaining how they wanted to help them out in any way possible. The town's people were thrilled by the amount of help being offered, but wanted to make sure that the largest city understood that they wanted to be a part of the change. They wanted to prove to themselves that CHANGE CAN HAPPEN. The largest city understood and agreed to start sending down supplies and volunteers the next day. The children were so excited that they went down to the store and bought another colour of paint, purple this time, because it was as happy and joyful a color as they felt. They went around painting yet another stripe on everyone's doors.

The next day the volunteers and supplies began arriving. The town's people met them with open arms and smiles. They were so happy people noticed they needed help. The town's people and volunteer's came together and drilled two wells. After all the hard work, they were all able to have a big glass of cold CLEAN water. The volunteers went back to the largest city, and left the town's people with some extra money, clean water, and hope.

With the money the town's people fixed the insides of everyone's huts so that they were clean, safe, and liveable. They fixed the soccer field so that it was a better meeting place, and possible to play soccer in. They fixed the roads and with the extra money and then they bought all the paint the store had left. They continued painting everyone's doors, until everyone's door was a rainbow.

What the town's people didn't know was that the large city and the largest city had come together and raised an unbelievable amount of money for the small town. A letter arrived in the mail explaining that they two cities were going to come in the next day. They were going to knock down there huts and build homes. They would pave their roads and build a sports arena for them to play soccer in year-round. The town's people didn't know what to do. They were shocked by the money and thought the cities had put in for such a small town, but were scared of such big change. They liked the way their town worked. They liked the soccer field and the roads, and now that the huts were safe and colourful, they like them too. They were afraid that if the town became a larger city, they would lose the feeling of love. They were afraid that the relationships they had been building by working together would fade away. If each family had everything, they wouldn't need each other anymore.

When the large cities arrived the town's people thanked them for the thought, but turned them down. They liked their town and the thought of rebuilding the town after such hard work was a waste. They suggest splitting the enormous amount of money up and distributing it around the other small towns, that way, everyone could experience the help. They knew they didn't need the help and the money, because CHANGE HAD HAPPENED and things were truly good enough.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

What happened in this story?

This story shows how if a community comes together, no matter what condition they are in, they can make a change for the good. The people from the small town took charge as active citizen's because they knew change had to happen. The neighbouring towns and cities sent volunteers to temporarily help the town. The neighbouring towns and cities also give us a good example of charity, they donated money when they could.
In the beginning the little village was a unhealthy community. They people had good relationships, but with the lack of money there was always a stressful feeling. The living conditions weren't completely safe and they weren't able to live comfortably with what they had. After change had happened the community was a much healthier environment. With help from charity and volunteers, they were able to make their living space comfortable and safe, while still keeping their strong relationships with one another.