Week 6-Learning and Dreaming with Henrry

There were many times throughout my undergrad college career (and, quite frankly, my graduate program), I thought, “I don’t need this; I don’t want to be here! Plenty of people find jobs without college degrees!” Thankfully, my parents encouraged (“threatened” seems like too strong of a word… “coerced”?) me to stay in school—especially since it was free for me.  In the end, I received my degree and was extremely appreciative for my time at Ohio Valley University. Did I talk bad about it then? Of course. But, God used my time at that institution to shape who I am today in some small and large ways.

For the past three weeks, one of our boys, Henrry, and I have been meeting twice a week to study English. Unlike many of the boys here, Henrry’s English is not very developed. Though I am an English teacher, my students, with two exceptions, have already spoken English before they arrived in my classroom. Granted, their English is not always good or even decent, but they do not have to learn the most rudimentary parts of the language. Because of this, I was a nervous about our English lessons—I could completely screw something up and ruin his English-speaking skills forever! Maybe, that is a little dramatic, but it was still a concern. However, I have really enjoyed our lessons. I can tell that he takes the notes and studies them on his own, and I can see the “wheels” spinning in his head as he tries to think of the correct words.

During our first week of lessons, Henrry told me that his dream was to go to the States to study. The word “dream” is not used frequently here. Immediate needs take the place of future goals always. It is hard to “dream” about an idyllic future when hunger pangs wrack your body. In a battle, starving will always beat dreaming. Thankfully, Henrry is in a place where starvation is not an option—he will always have food, shelter, affection, and the other essentials when he needs it. Henrry can now dream. And his dream is to have something that I took for granted.

I could not just live knowing what Henrry’s dream was. So, I took action. That week, I e-mail a friend at admissions at a university. The good news? The school has several international students and is equipped to meet their unique needs. The bad news? This dream is not cheap—in fact, it costs more than what I take home in a year as a teacher.

To be able to attend a school in the States, Henrry will have to acquire a passport, be granted a student visa, pass the TOEFL (a test that assess student’s English proficiency), be accepted into the university, and be able to prove that he or a sponsor can pay for an entire year of schooling less any institutional scholarships. At the university that I contacted, that would mean that Henrry would have to be able to prove that he can afford $27,000. If you read my post two weeks ago, you know that Henrry came to us via Breaking Chains, a homeless ministry. If he had $27,000, he would be doing extremely well. Heck, if I had $27,000 in my account, I would feel like I am doing extremely well.

So, here we are: a kid with a dream, an ignorant gringo, and a roadblock. But, I also know that there is a God who has placed the stars in the sky just so we can shoot at them. I am determined that Henrry’s dream can become a reality. Obviously, Henrry is not going to magically come across $27,000, but I know that there are people out there that could help with this endeavor.

Over the next few days (weeks, months…) pray for us—that we can find the best way to make his dream happen. When Henrry first mentioned this dream of his, he lit up. When I told him last night about the obstacles in the way, he became deflated; but I told him that I still had hope and so should he. Greater things has been accomplished on hope alone.