Putting the book down, he pauses. Right then, the inspiration kicks in—money for a mission. Since his reading, Sidhart Krishnamurthi (10) has gone on to fundraise a total of 2,040 dollars for a donation to build a refugee shelter home in Afghanistan.

“I read The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini last spring, and I thought that these people are unnecessarily suffering,” said Sidhart, referring to the Taliban and Russian fight for power in the Middle Eastern country. “Many of these people have been uprooted from their homes and split from their family. Thus, I wanted to help them.”

To launch his fundraising campaign, Sidhart first contacted the Khaled Hosseini Foundation, a nonprofit organization which provides support for projects promoting shelter to refugee families and aids further education and healthcare support for women and children in Afghanistan.

Sidhart then moved to fundraise through the Interact Club before gathering further support from his family and friends. When author Khaled Hosseini came to speak as a guest of the Harker Speaker Series, Sidhart and the Interact group succeeded in raising a total of 579 by the end of the evening.

“I thought it was great that he took on such a big project all by himself,” said advisor Jane Keller, who helped Sidhart connect and communicate with the Interact Club. “I appreciated him reaching out to other clubs at Harker to try to help him with his efforts and to coordinate it with the school when the speaker came.”

Next, Sidhart began his own campaigning efforts in which he sent out emails asking for donations for his project, in hopes of achieving his mission of raising enough money to build at least one house.

“The goal was to help these people get their lives back together and build one shelter. I have built a shelter for a family of six, and I will try to do what I can to improve on that,” Sidhart said.

Although he will not be able to see the shelter that will be built due to the unstable and dangerous conditions of Afghanistan at the moment, Sidhart anticipates that he will visit one day to see the building he donated.

He hopes his fundraising project will inspire students to join him in his quest, eventually making a larger difference in Afghanistan. The Khaled Hosseini Foundation also encourages the participation in similar projects.

“Every dollar raised makes a huge difference in the lives of the returning refugees, most who are women and children,” SOS Program and Product manager Cristie Burr said. “People need to remember that the need may be large, but that even the smallest contribution will still affect positive change for someone living as a refugee in Afghanistan.”

Though he has not thought about plans for future projects, Sidhart hopes to stay in contact with the Khaled Hosseini foundation and aid them in working towards a greater change.

This piece was originally published in the pages of The Winged Post on May 17, 2013