If you are looking for any
examples of people flying in the face of every gender and age-based stereotype,
you need look no further than the Sabra Sisters. To say that these girls are
three, young, bright ‘kidpreneurs’ would be a vast understatement. JuJu, GiGi
and JoJo (all pen names) are all award-winning inventors, best-selling authors,
and professional bloggers and vloggers and the eldest, JuJu, is only 13 years
old. Their favourite subjects are science and math-based, they are keen on
healthy eating and possess a maturity of thought and moral code that would put
some adults to shame.
Their latest venture, BitKidz, is
a three-book series, aimed at children to help them become interested in
bitcoin and teach them what it is, how it works and some of the benefits and
uses of digital currency.
Written by themselves, with a
little help from their mom, Ponn, and edited by prominent bitcoin advocate and
entrepreneur, Trace Mayer, the books are now available to buy for bitcoin and
also for sale on Amazon and Barnes and Noble.
It is not their first foray into
publishing as they have previously written a range of books on subjects, from
blogging to smoothie making, all aimed at making learning fun for kids.
It comes as no surprise because
all three girls clearly gain a lot of enjoyment from learning themselves -
something that takes place wherever they are in the world and anywhere but sat
at the back of a classroom. They call home Connecticut, USA, where their
grandfather is based but when we interviewed them, they were travelling in the
Middle East. The girls are prime examples of how to turn learning into
something fun and profitable. “This is the beauty of home schooling,” explains
JuJu. “We blend our “work” into our “school” and vice versa.”
Their “work” to date includes
eight separate blogs as well as their books. Each focuses on a different area
of interest including nutrition, blogging, web designing and what they call
STEM subjects: Science, Technology Engineering and Math. They say the latter is
their “biggest passion” and so the concept of bitcoin was something that
triggered their imaginations.
“May 30, 2013 was a life-changing
day for my girls and I because my younger brother, known as Uncle I.J.,
introduced cryptography and bitcoin to us,” says their mom, Ponn Sabra. “We
openly discussed the possibility of this truly fascinating innovation, and he
never got bored by our many questions.”
That introduction led to a
challenge to write a Bitcoin For Kids Fun Facts book and less than 24-hours
later, BitKidz.com was born, dedicated to their bitcoin learning journey. So
far, that journey has seen them grasp some of the concepts of bitcoin that many
adults struggle to comprehend.
By Kids For Kids
They say their interest in promoting bitcoin to kids is because they believe it will be children driving forward the bitcoin economy. “Sure, we may invest, save and keep some,” says JuJu, “but we’ll be the driving force of reducing its volatility and making it viable money. Kids will circulate the money and force mainstream businesses to accept it. Therefore, people will stop speculating on bitcoin as an investment and start using it as a value transfer in our daily lives, making the world smaller, safer, more secure and a happier place to live.”
They say their interest in promoting bitcoin to kids is because they believe it will be children driving forward the bitcoin economy. “Sure, we may invest, save and keep some,” says JuJu, “but we’ll be the driving force of reducing its volatility and making it viable money. Kids will circulate the money and force mainstream businesses to accept it. Therefore, people will stop speculating on bitcoin as an investment and start using it as a value transfer in our daily lives, making the world smaller, safer, more secure and a happier place to live.”
Like them, they also hope that
bitcoin will inspire children’s entrepreneurial spirit and whereas some people
may be deterred by the idea that bitcoin or finance is confusing, particularly
for children, the Sabra Sisters believe valuable life lessons can be learnt by
exposing children to money from a young age, particularly if they have earned
it themselves. They cite money management, comparing budgeting to spending and
investing to saving and international financial markets as some of the key
areas in which children would gain knowledge, stating that “[Kids] become more
informed consumers.”
“Kids will spend money more
wisely because when they learn to watch the international market rates they
will learn to be frugal and only spend when the rates are in our favour and
holding it if the value dips a bit,” JuJu explains.
They are the “real-life hands-on”
experiences that they think will enable their generation to appreciate the
value of something as well as learning “subjects most kids hate and life
lessons in a fun way.”
Their book primer, (“Kids Making
Money Online. 12 (17) Inspirational Bitcoin Stories That Will Motivate You To
Action!”) introduces bitcoin by way of telling children’s own stories of how
bitcoin “changed their lives” and the sisters say this was not just monetarily
but also through the relationships forged with colleagues and friends, young
and old, all over the world. “It was about the feeling of getting paid from
someone online for a computer program a kid developed all by himself, then
buying a computer with his profits. It’s about getting excited about becoming
closer to an uncle we always loved but never talked to, or saw often
enough—like in our case,” they say.
The sisters also hope that through
these stories, the world will see “how ingenious and inventive [children] can
be—if given the opportunity. Bitcoin affords kids from all over the world the
opportunity,” says JuJu, who describes bitcoin’s inventor, Satoshi Nakamoto as
“a genius”.
“We really
believe Satoshi was a kid-at-heart, because everything stopping us from
entering the free global market was crushed the day he released bitcoin.” She
adds, “Never before in history have kids had the power to earn and spend their
own money without a third party, such as parents, credit cards, banks, PayPal,
etc. legally. With the right parental moderation, kids have the power to affect
the world by preventing social harms caused by the lending industry and fiat
currency, such as divorce, defaulted loans, foreclosures, and even world wars.
Kids CAN make a difference one bit or bitcoin at a time.”
For them, bitcoin is the vehicle
to get children interested in not just earning money but doing good with it as
well and they believe learning about bitcoin could promote more charitable
giving. “Never in our short lives and mommy’s longer one, have we witnessed so
much charity given, be it publicly or anonymously, until the Bitcoin community
came to existence,” say the sisters. “It’s hard to see which came first:
charitable people using bitcoin, or bitcoin making charitable people. People
need to hear these bitcoin stories more often, and we’re eager to share them!”
To prove they are backing up
their words with action, they are donating ten per cent of the BitKidz book
profits to charity, split between SeansOutpost.com and TheBitcoinAcademy.com.
During November, they were also donating a percentage to the victims of the Philippines
typhoon. Although they don’t know anyone personally affected, it was a cause
close to their hearts. “Our late Gramma was Filipino, and we’re extremely close
with our extended Filipino family, so this was really devastating news to us,”
they say. “We wish we could help more.”
“We’ve travelled in the poorest
of places, and we see homeless kids begging for money [out of] necessity,” says
JuJu. “While we can’t give them bitcoin (yet), we can definitely donate more to
them because as kids we can give our own money.”
She also thinks that the technology of bitcoin
will be another big attraction for youngsters. “We see very poor kids tinker
and play in the garbage in the streets, as if to build—which is technology at
its best. If we can donate even more technology, like electronics, to them as a
means of education (which is already being done with ideas such as laptops for
kids), more opportunities can be made, by those whom desperately need aid.” She
sums it up with: “Put bitcoin in kids’ hands (digital wallets) and let them
explore all the ways to help others!”
Despite the time they dedicate to their entrepreneurial ventures; their blogs, books, and bitcoin, they are not, they say, “stuck on screen” for hours. Their mom, Ponn, a bestselling author herself, ensures they get a well-rounded education and they embrace the concept of the world being their classroom.
“The girls have experienced every
kind of schooling available, and we continue to explore other methods as we
travel throughout the world,” she says. They have trialled both the public and
private education systems, tutors, online classes, various methods of schooling
around the world and even participated in the Stanford University EPGY
(Educated Program for Gifted Youth).
“[My husband and I] are extremely
strict with them,” she admits but adds, “we do our best to keep them grounded
at all times. That’s why they see volunteerism and donating to charities as an
obligation.”
With herself a biologist, her
husband a biomedical engineer and with grandparents having worked in the fields
of chemistry and engineering, it is no surprise that an interest in science and
technology was “highly encouraged.”
The girls say their parents are
their biggest inspiration, however despite their mom’s guidance, the children
are encouraged to gain a mastery of a subject and explore the answers for
themselves rather than having them spoon-fed.
“We don’t like superficial knowledge, or bits and pieces gained for
fact-based tests. We prefer assessments that they have to report, write or
present the whole topic in simplified terms for any lay person to understand,”
Ponn Sabra explains. “I always ask them would their six year-old cousin
understand this or that explanation. If not, try again.”
Bitcoin has without doubt changed
their lives and their mother has found it also provides many different learning
opportunities. “For example, JoJo and I
spent a fun hour playing with fractions and decimals, then applying our
newfound knowledge to the current bitcoin rate. GiGi is learning more about
investments, when’s the best time to buy, how to read market charts, etc. JuJu
is insatiable about learning more computer languages, software programs, and
seeing how she can be a better asset to the bitcoin community. She’s always
been into Tech News, but now she watches it with bitcoin and the world of
finance in mind and the implications the two have together.”
Whatever they learn for
themselves, they share with their followers online and are already planning
content for the next books to come out. International finance markets,
economics, math and decimals, the protocol, cryptocurrency and cryptography are
among the topics they are studying and will be included in the series expansion.
Aside from bitcoin, the girls are
also exploring other avenues, stating they would “all LOVE to be polyglots, but
we have a long way to go.” They are currently fluent in English and Arabic and have
a growing vocabulary in American Sign Language.
“We always tell people we’re
mastering Math as a language,” says JuJu. “We’re trying to pick up as many
computer languages as possible; right now we know html, CSS, Visual Basic, and
just started Java Script and Python recently.”
Away from learning the girls say
they enjoy cooking and hiking together as a family and also trying out new
sports such as soccer, rollerblading and martial arts. They say their friends
are “their biggest fans!” when it comes to reading and commenting on their
blogs and although they are not bloggers, authors or entrepreneurs themselves,
they give them a lot of support. Bitcoin seems to be the one area that is
capturing the most interest among their friends. “We’re telling our friends one
by one, and they’re taking bigger steps online based on our advice and
encouragement than any topic we’ve personally shared before,” JuJu says.
The future
Despite the girls’ voracious appetite for all things science and technology, they say they are desperately lacking in their own hardware. JuJu says,” My sisters and I have laptops from 2009 and mom’s is a clunky one from 2006! Even though we’re Kindle publishers, we don’t have our own ereader, Kindle or tablet.”
Despite the girls’ voracious appetite for all things science and technology, they say they are desperately lacking in their own hardware. JuJu says,” My sisters and I have laptops from 2009 and mom’s is a clunky one from 2006! Even though we’re Kindle publishers, we don’t have our own ereader, Kindle or tablet.”
With ambitions to head to a
bitcoin conference next year and have their books translated, there is plenty
they are saving up for in their “savings wallet”.
Just a new concept to the girls a
few months a go, bitcoin is now a fundamental part of
their lives and they have
each found their own interests within it. JuJu finds the protocol “fascinating” and
believes there is much to be explored “beyond just money transfer.” GiGi finds
online shopping has become easier and when the value of their bitcoin went up
she says, “We were able to buy three times what we planned and gave gifts to a
friend, and four family members.” For JoJo it is all about the money and the
math. “Counting in decimals is so cool, watching the daily market values, and
playing with different Bitcoin apps on mom’s phone is awesome,” she says.
For the sisters there is a lot
more at stake than just learning at home. Their business looks to be taking off
and the BitKidz series will be the first of their Kindle books made into
paperbacks. The Bitcoin Academy and Bitcoin Bootcamp plan to use them in their
curriculum and they are trying to raise up to $3000 to self-publish them so
that they can be used in a pilot after school programme in San Diego,
California.
“It’s truly an amazing time in
our young lives,” says JuJu, “and we really want to encourage all kids to get
involved—it’s NOT limited to white, high-tech, Libertarian, freedom-loving men
either. My sisters and I are breaking the mould since we’re three tween
sisters—yes, we love technology; but most of all, we’re just girls interested
in making a difference in this world and bitcoin couldn’t have come at a better
time to help us out!”
She and her sisters are not just
breaking the mould, they are smashing through it and proving that bitcoin bears
as much relevance to them as it does the IT wizards and “hi-tech, libertarians”
they describe.
Where people so often struggle to
come up with a simplified explanation of what bitcoin is, these three tween
sisters have made the job look easy:
“Bitcoin is digital money that
can be used by anyone of any age, anywhere in the world, anytime. It’s the
safest, most secure, cheapest, easiest and most fun way to transfer money no
matter how small—even a single US penny can be sent all the way to China
online! It’s as easy as sending an email or SMS text message. How cool is
that!?”
- The Sabra Sisters
They are fortunate enough to
claim Trace Mayer as one of their “biggest bitcoin mentors” and say they are
“honoured” to have met Jason King
and his family from SeansOutpost.com. The third book in their bitcoin series
also has interviews with some of the world’s best-known bitcoiners including
Mike Hearn, Vinny Lingham and David Johnston.
If there was one other person the
girls could interview, I expect it would be the bitcoin creator himself. “We
think Satoshi Nakamoto is a genius on many levels,” says JuJu. “He took two
things kids love most —technology and money — and combined them together! We
believe it’ll be kids that will drive the market into full adoption.”
With kids such as the Sabra sisters
paving the way I have no doubt they could be right.
By Louise @ BitScan
