It’s been just over a year since Fedner was welcomed into the Lighthouse. Some days, I still question the decision to bring him in, doubting my adequacy in making such a pivotal choice for his life.

At the end of the 2013-2014 school year, Adriano was the only student at the Lighthouse who failed his grade. His score made it obvious that he had hardly tried. He was, nonetheless, defeated as the other kids celebrated their passing scores.

Although the details of their first chapter are still unknown, I imagine it begins like this.

Her story begins in the town of Cabaret, just north of Haiti’s capital, Port au Prince. She spends the first several years of her life with her mother and her brother, who is just one year older. She attends Grace Emmanuel, a school that educates around 60 students when she starts kindergarten. Her mother works at the school as a cook. Daily she prepares the rice the students eat for lunch. Life is simple, just the three of them, and although her father is not around, Kimberly feels loved.