A young girl is smiling at me from a picture on my desk.

我桌上一张照片里的小女孩正对着我笑。

She is a child sponsored by me from the Philippines.

她是我资助的一个菲律宾小孩。

Even though I have never met her in person, she has founded a special place in my heart.

即使我从未见过她本人，她已经在我的心中建立了一个特殊的位置。

It doesn't cost me much to help her, about a dollar a day.

帮助她并不会花费我太多的钱，大约一天一美元。

But the joy of helping her is beyond money. It connects me to her, to life, and to love.

但是帮助她的快乐是超越金钱的。它将我与她、我与世界、我与爱连接起来。

I can still remember the first time that I decided to help a child overseas.

我还能想起第一次我决定要帮助一个海外小孩的时候。

It was many years ago. I was only a teenager myself and for the first time in my life had a little extra money each month.

那是很多年前的事了。我自己还是一个青少年，我人生第一次每个月拥有一些额外的钱。

I didn't feel like buying anything, though.

不过，我不想买任何东西。

Because we had lost almost everything we had in a house fire a few years before and going through that had taught me a lot.

因为在几年前我们在一场家庭火灾中失去了几乎所有的东西，经历这一切教会了我很多。

I had learned that I didn't need a lot of "things" to be happy.

我学会了我不需要很多“物品”来变得快乐。

I had also read a lot about the suffering of children in poor countries around the world.

我也读到了很多讲述世界上贫困国家孩子们的苦难遭遇的文章。

It seemed like a better thing to give what I could to help them.

给予他们我力所能及的东西似乎是一件更好的事。

It felt so good being able to reach out and help another in need.

能够伸出援手帮助有需要的人感觉非常棒。

I could feel the kindness growing within me and beginning to change me.

我可以感受到善意在我的身体中滋长，并且开始改变我。

Kindness does change us. It turns us into better people with bigger hearts and a broader view of life.

善意确实能够改变我们。它将我们变为拥有更宽广内心和更广阔人生视野的更好的人。

It helps us to love, to be kind, and to make this world a better place.

它帮助我们爱别人，变得善良，并且让这个世界变成一个更好的地方。