And he’s only 8 years old

I wish you could see his face. He is the cutest little boy. He has the sweetest smile and the brightest eyes. Whenever Steeve is around, this little boy is right by his side, wanting to show him something, wanting to tell him something, just wanting his time and attention.

And he’s a prisoner at CERMICOL.

He is not in the Friday English class, but he wandered in recently, watching from the back, a bit shy.

And I asked him if he wanted to participate, to do a Find A Word puzzle like the big boys were doing. And he timidly nodded yes.

Watching him do that puzzle, I saw that he’s not only a handsome little man, he’s also a very bright one. The Find A Word was in English, but he had no problem finding the words and marking them.

And he wanted me to look - he needed me to look - each time he found another word. He smiled broadly, proud of his effort. I let him know I was proud of him, too.

How does an 8-year-old child end up in prison? How does one who has never lived a life of extreme poverty even begin to comprehend all of the moments that together brought him to this place?

And how do we explain that perhaps being a prisoner is possibly a better life than this child would find on the streets?

We at Haiti Awake know him by name, and so does Jesus, even if we’re not free to share his name with the rest of the world.