Rihanna at Harvard: ‘When I get rich, I’mma save kids all over the world’

     

The Grammy award-winning singer received Harvard University’s Humanitarian of the Year award and got a standing ovation for her philanthropic speech.

Rihanna swished her hair, struck a pose and said the words “so I made it to Harvard” drawing a massive cheer from the crowd gathered to see the singer honoured by the university as their Humanitarian of the Year.

The Grammy Award-winning pop star has been involved in several charities including building a centre for oncology and nuclear medicine to diagnose and treat breast cancer in Barbados, where she is from.

In her acceptance speech on Tuesday she spoke about how her philanthropic attitude was fostered in childhood watching TV ads about people suffering around the world .

“And I would say to myself you know, ‘when I grow up, when I can get rich, I’mma save kids all over the world.’ I just didn’t know I would be in the position to do that by the time I was a teenager.”

“All you need to do is help one person, expecting nothing in return. To me, that is a humanitarian.

Others previously honoured for the award include late physician-statistician Hans Rosling, former UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, and gender rights advocate Malala Yousafzai.