ALBUQUERQUE, NEW MEXICO – Tobyn Pulice, a 9-year-old third-grader, never expected to get a visit from someone half way around the world.

But Wednesday, an Ethiopian man with a special mission made an appearance at Georgia O’Keeffe Elementary School.

Yohannes Gebregeorgis is the co-founder of Ethiopia Reads, a program that builds libraries and supplies books to the children of Ethiopia.

Gebregeorgis was named one of CNN’s top ten heroes of the year for his work, and is nominated for the network’s Hero Of The Year designation.

Pulice first learned about Gebregeorgis’ project after reading an article about it last year.

“When I read that article that they didn’t have any books and 99 percent of schools don’t have libraries, I was really touched by that and I wanted to make a difference,” Pulice said.

Pulice started rallying his classmates to raise money for the program.

Students at the Pulice’s school raised $6,000 to pay for the construction of one of the libraries in Ethiopia.

“This is an outpouring of love and care and dedication, and really, this is going to be something that will change the world,” Gebregeorgis said.

Gebregeorgis said he’s overwhelmed by what Pulice and the school have done for him and the children of Ethiopia.

He gave Pulice a photo of the finished library as a token of his appreciation.

“I didn’t even need anything for doing it,” Pulice said. “Just knowing that I did something good for the world.”

Pulice said he wants to go to Ethiopia to see the library someday.

– KOAT7

On The Web:
CNN Heroes Of The Year
Yohannes Gebregeorgis profile
Ethiopia Reads