Irena Sendler

Hello. My name is Irena. I was born a long, long time ago, in the year 1910. When I was a little girl, my papa was a doctor. He taught me something very important. He told me that if you see someone who needs help, you should always, always help them. That was a big lesson. I kept his words in my heart my whole life. I loved helping people and being a good friend to everyone. It made me happy to share kindness, just like my papa taught me to do. Helping was my favorite thing.

When I grew up, a very sad and difficult time came to my city of Warsaw. Many families were scared, and they needed help. I knew I had to do what my papa taught me. I had to help. So, I decided to become a secret helper for the children. It was a very big secret. I found clever ways to bring children from unsafe places to safe, new homes. In their new homes, they would be cared for and loved. I wanted to make sure we would always remember each child's name. So, I wrote down each name on a tiny piece of paper. I put all the tiny papers into glass jars. Then, I hid the jars in a safe place, under a big apple tree in a friend's garden. The names were our secret treasure, waiting for a happy day.

After the sad times were over, all the children I helped were safe. It made my heart so happy to know they were okay. I found the jars I had buried, and we could remember every single child. I lived a very long life, and in the year 2008, my story ended when I was 98 years old. Today, people remember me for being brave and for being kind. My story shows that even one person can make the world a little brighter. You can make it brighter, too, just by helping others whenever you see they need it. A little bit of kindness can make a big difference.