North Wales 10-Year-Old Raising Money for Trip to Ethiopia Via Italian Soda Stand

Hannah Nguyen | North Penn Now•

On a random hot day in North Wales Borough this summer, you’re likely to see a stand for ice-cold Italian sodas on South Eighth Street. For just $2, you can buy a "tiger’s blood” or a "tropical paradise,” among several other flavors available. It’s a sweet deal for those who want to cool down during summer heat waves, but it’s an even sweeter deal for the 10-year-old entrepreneur behind the small business.

Every $2 goes directly toward Biruk Sawtelle’s plane ticket to Ethiopia this September — a trip his parents have planned since they adopted him from the country when he was seven months old.

It’s part of their efforts to connect him and his younger sister — both who are adopted from countries outside the U.S. — to their cultures. Biruk’s parents promised that when he and his sister turned 10 years old, they’d get to visit the countries they were born in — Ethiopia for Biruk and India for his sister.

The small business originally was just something fun to do in the summer, with no goals for how much money he wanted to make. He made $80 on his first day, which was enough to take him on a trip to Hershey Park. Eventually, he decided he wanted to work toward something bigger, so his mom Andrea suggested that he try to raise $1,200 for his plane ticket.

"We feel like both of our kids are a total gift to us,” Andrea said. "This trip to Ethiopia is more than just a trip. We're hoping that he can see where he came from.”

His parents are also hoping to visit places that have ministries to help people in need, whether it’s by providing food, clothing, or other basic necessities.

"We're going to nail down a couple of those and be able to take our kids there, so they see all the different aspects of it,” Andrea said.

Since he started his business in June, Biruk has been out more than 15 times selling Italian sodas. He doesn’t follow a strict schedule and comes out when he wants to. Like any other 10-year-old, he often has to decide whether he wants to sell sodas or go to the pool, but he always makes sure that whenever he’s out selling sodas, he’s having fun.

Customers can find out when he’s out selling through the North Wales Borough Community Facebook group, where his dad occasionally posts about it.

Even if he doesn’t reach his goal, it’s still a great learning experience, said Andrea. The experience teaches him how to earn and save money, while also teaching him how to treat people who have supported him kindly and have conversation with them, she added.

"That's the kind of stuff that you're not going to learn just anywhere,” Andrea said. "You learn that stuff from experience.”