Miner Becomes Millionaire Overnight--Decides To Build A School For His Community

In a crazy plot twist, Saniniu Laizer, a Tanzanian miner, became an overnight millionaire. At 52 years old, he never thought this would ever happen to him.

Tanzanite is a rare stone only found in Tanzania

Tanzanite is one of the rarest gemstones on Earth and according to a Tanzanian geologist, its supply may completely run out within 20 years.

Only found in Northern Tanzania, the stone is widely appreciated for its various shades of red, green, purple and blue and is particularly used for making jewelry.

Mr Laizer found the stones while mining, and determined that they weighed 9.2kg and 5.8kg respectively. Until the moment of his discovery, the heaviest Tanzanite stone ever discovered weighed a mere 3.3 kg. Laizer's two stones combined weighed over 33 lbs.

The lucky miner found himself $3.4m richer almost overnight.

What he decided to do with the money

While such a huge amount of money is exciting and opens up a door of possibilities for personal project, Laizer had different plans in mind. In fact, the money was not going to change his lifestyle. Instead, he wants to invest in his community.

"I want to build a shopping mall and a school. I want to build this school near my home," Laizer said. "There are many poor people around here who can't afford to take their children to school."

I am not educated but I like things run in a professional way. So I would like my children to run the business professionally.

Saniniu Laizer in BBC

Giving back can be more rewarding

Laizer's selfless decision to give back to his community is inspiring to say the least. It would be easy to take a more selfish route and use the money for our own ends. But Laizer knows he is also a part of the community that he wants to uplift and help. We all thrive when we help each other.

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