Jakob is seven years old and goes to Year 1 at an elementary school in Upper Bavaria. There are 17 other children in the class with him: eight boys and ten girls. Jakob is one of the smallest - but with his red tousled head, he immediately catches everyone's eye. His best friend is at least a head taller and insists on tying his blond hair into a plait. So sometimes he looks a bit like some of the girls. Just a little more natural.

Every morning, their teacher Mr. Maier is delighted when he comes into the classroom and looks at the many different faces - but they all have one thing in common: they like to laugh a lot. And when "his" children leave the school building at the end of the day with a smile on their faces, it is the greatest gift for him.

Although there are so many different cultures in our world and every person is an individual, laughter is perceived as something positive and beautiful everywhere - unfortunately, adults often lose this wonderful ability very quickly. Sometimes bad weather or an annoying driver is enough. Not so with children: when children no longer laugh, there are deeper, more serious reasons for this. Hunger, existential fear or health problems can silence even children's laughter - and unfortunately this is not at all rare.

Yet it would often be so easy to bring this laughter back to life. Because the poorest children in particular don't need much at all to be happy. A fresh piece of fruit or a new toothbrush is often enough to bring a smile to their faces. Even for supposedly serious illnesses, simple and inexpensive therapies often help - often "pennies" for us in Germany, but not affordable for many families in Bolivia, for example, Myanmar and Tanzania.

With our projects, we try to restore precisely this laughter through the targeted use of donations. Today, on World Children's Day, we would therefore like to explicitly thank all the donors who make this possible. Because for us - like for Mr. Maier - the best thing at the end of the day is to see children laughing.