How a Little Piece of Paper Can Make a Big Difference

Luckson is one of 4 of our youth who made the decision to put on Christ in baptism this past year. He is tall, lanky, a great soccer player, and an extremely reserved and quiet young man, at least around me (I hear otherwise from his brothers at Emmaus House.) If you can get him to smile, I promise it will light up the room. He has been with Emmaus House from the beginning, and it has taken me the full 4 years to break through his protective shell and begin getting to know him, and the more I get to know him, the more I really like him.

Luckson has always dreaded the days we would sit down and contemplate his future. He sat, shoulders hunched over, looking down, as I strained to pull the words out of him to write down on that little piece of paper. The hours we would spend creating goals, objectives, and a solid plan for his future were arduous. As I stated previously here in this blog post, contemplating their futures has been difficult for all of our youth on some level. However, for Luckson, it always seemed to be particularly difficult and scary. He never seemed to know exactly what he wanted to do, how he was going to get there, or who would fully support him along the way.

While on my last trip to Haiti in January, I overheard an unusually cheerful conversation between Luckson, Gerome (our administrator), and Jonathan (his house father). I didn’t catch all of the discussion, however, I knew they were talking about the entrance exam Luckson had taken that day to determine whether or not he would be admitted into the university he wanted to attend in order to study agronomy. Later, Gerome filled me in. On part of the exam, students had to state why they wanted to study the particular field they were interested in. Luckson was sharing how the other students taking the exam felt lost. Many of them had never really taken the time to sit down and contemplate what they wanted for their future. Some were so indecisive they were changing their minds regarding their major as they were taking the exam. This part of the exam was easy for Luckson. It was easy because he had already spent years contemplating these questions, we had spent all those hours together coming up with a realistic plan for his future. We had taken the time together to determine what HE wanted to do with his life and how HE was going to get there. Gerome said that Luckson felt more confident, motivated, and more prepared to enter university and begin this new and exciting stage of his life than his classmates. He finally saw the advantage of making a plan and was actually appreciative of all those hours spent making one. That little piece of paper made a big difference.

Luckson passed his entrance exam and was accepted to this nearby university to study agronomy. He is excited to use his education to make a difference for his country. Luckson has worked hard to get where he is and now he just needs your support! Luckson is still in need of a $300 one time donation and $125/month to support him during his 4 years at university. An investment in Luckson is an investment in his future family, the church in Northern Haiti, and in the future of Haiti itself.

If you are interested in helping Luckson, please EMAIL JILLIAN for more information.

-Tanya Pirtle