2010 Yahoo! Contributor Award Acceptance Speech: Content of the Year

I was surprised and excited to receive news of winning the Yahoo! Contributor Award for Content of the Year. Previous winners of the YCA awards are writers I genuinely respect and admire. I was surprised to receive a nomination for my "Why I Feel Compassion for the Children of Haiti" article. It is an honor to receive such recognition from my fellow writers.

The decision to write "Why I Feel Compassion for the Children of Haiti" was a difficult one. I gave it much thought, as I knew it would be an emotionally difficult process.

I had to do my part to help Haiti and I was happy to see Associated Content organize a fundraiser. I made the choice to share my story in hopes of opening minds and hearts. My life is wonderful today thanks to charity and individuals who helped my family. I will be forever grateful and will always do my part to help other individuals in need.

I did and still do not seek pity for the events that took place in my childhood. I have chosen not to allow my future happiness to suffer from my past. As I have mentioned many times since publishing the article, I am at a much better place. I believe it was fate and a series of events out of my control. I have and will continue to use my experience as a war child to educate others.

I want you all to know that children do not forget good deeds. The children of Haiti will appreciate everything done for them. Do not ever deny someone help, especially not a child: no matter where they come from. I also beg you to not judge children based on race, religion or skin color.

I would like to thank Associated Content and Yahoo! for the opportunity to share my story. Thank you to the staff for everything they have done for me. I hope to see more opportunities such as this, where we can show off the power of our writing community.

I would like to thank my peers, my friends here at Associated Content, the most supportive group of individuals I have ever known. To MP members, I thank you for your friendship and continued guidance.

I also owe a thank you to my readers, who keep following my work, and of course many thanks to my family: for continuing to support my freelance writing journey. Thank you all from the bottom of my heart.