Haitian sardines. Two hundred students pack wall to wall in a small rural school. It’s overwhelming. Each one wants our attention — to play, to talk and practice their English, all the while hanging all over us. They want our love.
Exhausted and worn out, I sit down to rest, and in that still moment, amidst the chaos, I finally notice her — a small girl peeking through the bars of the school. But there’s something different about this girl. With an empty look on her face, she spoke of life outside the gates.
It suddenly dawned on me — this girl doesn't go to school.
Despite my surroundings, I bow my head and begin to cry.
I have to speak with her. I can’t just sit here and watch her gaze at the dream beyond her bars — I need to love on her. She’s the reason I came.
She didn't say much, but she didn’t have to. As she looks me in the eyes, I feel them say…
My name is Angelie.
I’m hurting.
I don't go to school.
I can’t. I’m bound by this life outside these bars.
My father tries to find work in the streets.
My mother died in the earthquake.
I stay home to raise my three younger siblings.
You have no idea how hard my life is.
I live next to the school.
Do you know how torturous it is to
look in on a life I can’t have?
Now, we cannot afford school.
I dream of it though; for the chance of
something more for me and my family.
Did you know that millions of children across the world face this same reality?
For most impoverished countries, a student must meet certain requirements to attend school. They must pay school fees (only $120 per year in Haiti), as well as purchase books and uniforms. All are mandatory for attendance — period.
When I encounter stories like Angelie's, a few questions come to mind…
What am I willing to do? What are you willing to change? How do we help?
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"Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth." –1 John 3:18
"If you give to the poor, your needs will be supplied!
But a curse upon those who close their eyes to poverty." –Proverbs 28:27
