Edwige
Edwige was home from school she was being sent on errands by her extended family member. Without another living situation, Edwige had to comply with her aunt’s wishes, all the while agonizing as day after day her homework was not being handed in and week after week she was doing poorly on tests. Edwige was discouraged as she saw her dream of one day becoming a doctor slip away.
At the end of the trimester her grades were awful. In the course of discussions with Edwige the reasons why came to light. Since then, Edwige has been living in the home of PHC’s Africa-based Director Alexandrine Zokoe. The calm environment and time that she has in-between her reasonable load of chores (all African kids have chores to do no matter where they live) has allowed her to really apply herself to learning.
One trimester later, at the end of the 2nd trimester Edwige received the highest grades of any PHC orphan teen in secondary school!
Meanwhile this is a lesson for PHC staff, that while the desire and willingness to work hard may be present, sometimes the home situation can utterly sabotage a teen’s dreams. We’re so glad that people like Alexandrine and so many others are close-by to protect the dreams of orphan kids in the Central African Republic.