The words of hope

Here are some excepts from my last assignment (write an autobiography from the year 2019, telling what you will have done between 2009-2019) that I found powerful/interesting:

“To help is my favorite verb but help without love is nothing. I love my country. I am not saying, "I am ready to build Haiti, and you?" I am saying, "I am building Haiti, could you help me?" I will collaborate to rebuild Haiti. I will give for free the instruction that I received for free…” (Billy)

“While working, I made many plans to help the children of Haiti. To realize my plans, I started to ask for help because one of my plans was to create an orphanage. Every day, I found new people who wanted to help me accomplish this project. Finally, in 2016, I created the orphanage. This project was very successful, I found many children in the street and helped them. They consider me as a mother. Today, I am still looking at the progress of my orphanage. Today, I can see the children receiving an education like mine. I did what I had to do; I participated in the improvement of my country by helping children. I didn’t stop here, I continued to plan what I should do next. Every day I want to do something else…” (Vanessa)

“Haiti lives in one of the most awful moments of its story. It’s not time for eloquent speeches, but time for lots of feats to save this country. This country needs trustworthy people who drive out violence and injustice, people who sacrifice themselves for the common good. Therefore, I am one of the volunteers. Time is no longer for the troublemakers, it’s for truthful people. Hence I will talk to others about it and make one with them to get solutions for those problems. It is arduous work, of course, but by the grace and help of God, we will overcome…” (Anold)

“I remember that it was a sad day, the day that I was leaving classic school forever. Especially, at Louverture Cleary; it’s a special place. There, it’s a world, a funny and instructive world. To eat, to sleep, to live and to work with people of different nationalities, different talents, is not a simple thing. I can never forget those days.

I had to leave anyway. However, I am still at LCS. I have a history there and great memories are not so quickly forgotten. My spirit is still connected to all the graduates and the Louverturians, whether I knew them or not, because we still stand as a family. We are bound together by our will to change Haiti, the education that we received we are to give freely as a gift. I said earlier, it was a sad day for me when I left LCS…” (Manasse)

Needless to say, I was pretty impressed by the responses. More so, when I remembered that these essays were written in English, the third language of my students (after Kreyol and French).

I am being honest when I say that these kids are special, that this place is special. Sometimes it's hard to have hope, to find hope, in places where problems seem endless and overwhelming. But there is hope here at this school.

Peace.