They're Graduating!!!

By: Norka Avignon

It all started with a dream, one classroom, 3 teachers and 33 students

 

“We may be weak individually, but together we are strong.” This is something the people of Lougou say often and yes, together they are strong.  It is sad to ponder that had PAL not started many of the children now graduating would probably have been given into domestic servitude at a very young age. They would have spent their lives caring for others and neglecting their own.  The children of today are our future…how many times have we heard that statement? It is that exact thinking that led the community of Lougou to act. They built the school wanting to invest in the future of their children. Together they invested their time, sweat and tears to build their school. They stood by the students encouraging and pushing them to move forward. Each year a class was added and over the years the confidence of the students multiplied.

 

There is a national exam that all 6^th graders must take in order to go on with their education. In Haiti it is more than an exam…it is a rite of passage.  The 6^th graders have long prepared for this exam, and it is taken over a period of two days. Today, the 18^th of June was the final day.  Our driver Kessaire and I along with COFHED field directors Nick and Madeleine Avignon met with the students early in the morning to give them a ride to the location of the exam. The children joked and laughed along the way, and any sign of nerves was indecipherable. Their confidence was high and their energy even higher. Upon arriving at the testing grounds the 6^th graders amazed bystanders. They held their heads high, and as though a small army preparing to go into a battle, they marched into the gates. Ready. Prepared.

Please keep the Lougou 6^th graders in your prayers.  We also thank every one of our supporters who have kept the village of Lougou much in their hearts and minds over the years.

Please join us in congratulating the first ever graduating 6^th graders of PAL!