Russian Girl Invited to Africa to Help Starving Children (VIDEO)

Young Daniela Gareyeva, who’s become a new Internet celebrity after her father uploaded a video of her getting really upset and threatening to run away to Africa, was invited to attend a special dinner at the Embassy of Sierra Leone in Moscow, John Sahr Yambasu, the Ambassador of Sierra Leone to Russia, told Sputnik in an exclusive interview.

After an argument with her father, 4-year-old Daniela had enough of her father's constant naggings and decided to go to Africa, where she would share the fate of poor African children and eventually perish from starvation. Her father recorded the video of their argument and uploaded it to YouTube. So far, the video has gotten close to 1.5 million views.

The dramatic video went viral and ended up tugging at the heartstrings of the Ambassador of Sierra Leone to Russia, John Sahr Yambasu. The Ambassador then contacted Daniela's parents and invited them to attend a special dinner at the Embassy of the African nation dedicated to the 55^th anniversary of Sierra Leone's independence.  

Yambasu was delighted to meet the little Russian girl, whom he liked very much for her honesty, smarts and the desire to help children in Africa.

During the dinner, Daniela's interest in Africa and her desire to help children didn't leave anyone indifferent.

"There were officials from over 25 African countries at the dinner party and they were all fascinated by little Daniela," Yambasu told Spuntik during a phone interview.

Daniela told the Ambassador of Sierra Leone that she dreams about riding on elephants. Unfortunately, a civil war during the 1990s in Sierra Leone pushed all the elephants out of the country, but Yambasu and his fellow African officials couldn't leave the little girl's dream unfulfilled.

"Daniela said she wants to ride on elephants and see crocodiles. But since we in Sierra Leone don't have elephants, the ambassadors of Rwanda and Uganda invited her to visit them," Yambasu said.

The girl and her parents were invited to visit Freetown, the capital of Sierra Leone, next year. According to the ambassador, the little Russian girl could bring more attention to the fate of underprivileged children around the world.

"Children are the symbol of love and unity. Children are the same, everywhere in the world. When the girl visits Africa, she can become symbol of peace and humanity," Yambasu shared his thoughts with Sputnik.

After the end of a brutal civil war that destroyed much of the country's economy during the 1990s, Sierra Leone was quickly recovering before 2014, when the West African nation hit by the Ebola epidemic that killed close to 4,000 people.

Fortunately, with the help of the international community, the government in Freetown managed to curb the deadly virus. According to Ambassador Yambasu, Ebola is "now completely over in Sierra Leone."

The Ambassador thanked Russian scientists and medical professionals, in particular Anna Popova, Russia's Chief Sanitary Physician, who helped to develop a vaccine to cure Ebola, providing major help to Sierra Leone.