When I was eight years old, learning to maneuver and pin a cloth diaper around my baby brother felt monumental. I didn’t like rinsing soiled diapers in the toilet before adding them to the nearby pail, but I never lacked warm water to wash my hands afterward. A sink, plus a tub/shower combination, were steps away. Our family of eight—and later ten—shared that single bathroom, mostly without complaint. My best friend, Re-Re, lived one block away in a home with two bathrooms. She had twelve in her family though, so a second lavatory seemed well deserved.

I was reminded of my idyllic childhood while reading about Xóchitl Guadalupe Cruz, a third grader in Chiapas, Mexico. Families in her community relied upon trees as a source of fuel to heat water for bathing. A seasoned science fair competitor, Xóchitl created a solar-powered apparatus that, in addition to heating water for her family and others, conserved trees. The Nuclear Sciences Institute at Mexico’s Autonomous University recognized her for her invention which could positively impact lives worldwide.

Cheers to Xóchitl Guadalupe Cruz. As O. Delgado wrote: “If this is what Xóchitl is doing at eight, we can only imagine what the future holds.” Her story and others, like that of Sweden’s Greta Thunberg who is crossing the Atlantic Ocean by sailboat to speak at the UN Climate Action Summit in September, bring me hope for the preservation of our Mother Earth. (View Greta’s sailing updates here.)