One Goal.

Do You Remember?by Fatoumata BahDear Guinea and Senegal,Do you remember when my father died? It was 2006; I was only 12 years old. Myviolent uncle came and took everything that belonged to my father. He then decidedto sell me into a marriage with a man old enough to be my father. The old manalready had three wives and children older than me. You did nothing to stop himbecause in this part of the country, money and land is more important than ourchildhood. My mother could do nothing to stop my uncle because women's ideas andopinions did not matter. I cried day and night, nothing made sense to me. I had nohope or chance to escape from this marriage and I almost gave up my life.Fatoumata is a remarkableyoung woman. She came to theUnited States on her own fouryears ago and has not had anycontact with her family sincethen. At English High School,she is a member of the soccerteam and has helped raisemoney for a shelter.Fatoumata hopes to studyeconomics and has applied toschools such as SuffolkUniversity, Boston University,and Manhattan College.Do you remember when I outsmarted the man who wanted to marry me? The daybefore I was to be given to the old man, I told my mother that I had made up mymind to kill myself as soon as they gave me to him. I had no idea what he would doto me once we left my country and I did not want to find out. However, my motherand my older sister came up with the idea of convincing my intended husband topay for a trip to America for a summer vacation. Before I left with him he promisedto give me anything I wanted. I told the man that what I desired the most was tohave a trip to America. He told me that he would try once we got to Senegal.The day we left my country was the worst day of my life. My mother and sisters werecrying; my brothers stood by hopelessly. I was scared and feared that the old manwould poison me or sell me to other people along the road. He took me to his aunt,who was to teach me how to be a house wife. I lived with this family for almost sixmonths in which I suffered from physical abuse.Do you also remember when I made my final escape? On September 12, 2006 mysoon-to-be husband told me that he had arranged for me to go to America. I was tostay with an old couple that my "husband" had arranged for me to stay with. Afterthree days with the couple, I snuck in the bathroom to call my sister's friend whowas living in America. She said she would pick me up the next night. I was stillscared because I did not know her, but hours later she came and took me to Boston.Two months later, I found out that my uncle threw my family out of the villagebecause they were responsible for my escape. Since then I have not heard from thembecause I am afraid to contact them and give my uncle an idea of where I might be.Guinea and Senegal, I am writing to you from America, where I finally have achance to gain an education. I am safe and I have the opportunity to create my ownlife. I am making my own choices. I am no longer abused and mistreated. I amsurrounded by nice people who tell me they are happy to have me. I am determinedto finish my studies and make a change by helping women in my community. I wantto find a way to make you understand the gravity of your mistakes. If you cannotremember the things you have done, I hope that you at least remember me because Iwill be back and I will create change.6

Raulby Taiomi CruzTaiomi Cruz is a competitivesenior from Boston LatinSchool. She has participated instudent council, the CaribbeanClub and the Red Cross Club.She is the captain of the SouthEnd Dynamite competitivebaton, dance, and cheeringteam. Since 9th grade, she hasbeen a tutor at the BlackstoneCommunity Center, workingwith elementary school kidsand she has worked forKeylatch as a junior counselorwhere she created lessons plansfor elementary-aged students.Taiomi's experiences haveconvinced her that she wouldlike to major in Psychology andbecome very involved instudent life. She has applied toschools such as Boston College,Lesley University, BridgewaterState University, and LasellCollege.Police cars, ambulances, screams, lights, complete chaos and shock surrounded me.August 16, 2002 started as a typical summer day. I was eight years old and anxiouslylooking forward to my closest cousin, Raul, coming to visit me from New Bedford. Onour way home from the movies the day turned violent as a car turned onto my streetand raced towards us at eighty miles per hour. All of a sudden Raul and I heard loudnoises like fire crackers and familiar faces fell to the ground. Blood was gushing outof bodies and I recognized my friend's father screaming and agonizing in pain. I feltconfused; it was hard to understand how people had so much hate in their heart totake away fathers, brothers, and friends. However, Raul later told me that a situationsuch as this one should not torment me, instead it should serve as motivation tomake a change so children in the future would not have to see what I just saw. Thiswas the beginning of our dream to build community centers and programs to serveneighborhood residents, to lead them towards bright futures instead of violent ones.Being six years older than me, Raul had a head start on this dream. At just fifteenyears old, Raul spent most of his time at community centers doing everything in hispower to lead young people down the right path. Two years later, he was handedanother responsibility: cancer. At first, Raul remained active in community centers,but eventually all these tasks became a struggle and he could only talk longinglyabout all the great things he wanted to accomplish from his hospital bed. OnJanuary 1, 2005 my cousin passed away. That was one of the hardest years of mylife, but I knew I had the courage to continue pursuing the dream that we shared.As I grew older, I began to think about all the lessons I had learned from Raul, and Iconstantly thought about what motivated him. I spent even more time at theBlackstone Community Center across the street from my house and began to tutorchildren there. I realized that these children had so much potential, yet they lackedresources or a role model. I continued tutoring and accepted a job as a juniorcounselor at the Keylatch Summer Program. I enjoyed giving back to the programthat I grew up attending, providing a fun, educational experience for neighborhoodkids who could have been resorting to violence. Every week I came up withcurriculum that I would facilitate, which allowed me to take on a leadership role andteach campers lessons that they would always remember and could put to use intheir future. After that summer, I was one hundred percent positive that I wouldfollow in Raul's steps. His dream had become my own.Raul has had a major influence on my life by teaching me that change is really inmy hands. Even though he was only eighteen when he died, without having achance to complete his dreams, in my eyes he did accomplish his goals because hemade a difference in me. Witnessing that drive-by could have filled me with so muchanger that I might have resorted to violence, but instead Raul turned it intosomething productive. I wish that Raul was here to see how much I have grown andlearned from him. I know that I will continue to be a role-model and mentor toyounger children, and that someday I will start a movement in my community thatwill allow others to see the difference they are capable of and give them thestrength to strive for more.7

Big Brotherby Franny TejedaIt was a unique spring day; the only clouds in the sky seemed very far away and thesun radiantly shone on my seemingly perfect world as I began my short walk homefrom the bus stop. I was thinking of the great thing that had happened that day; Ihad finally spent a whole history class talking to the girl I had a crush on. I had itall figured out; my life could not have seemed much clearer. As soon as I got to myapartment door I stopped, savoring the feeling of happiness before giving the door agentle push to announce to my family that I was home. My smile quickly turned intoconfusion as I heard a wail. It didn't take long to figure out that the wail was mymother's.Franny is a motivated andathletic senior at Boston LatinAcademy. He is the captain ofthe football team and playsdefensive end and right guard.Franny is a Little Brother in BigBrothers/Big Sisters and is amember of the National HonorSociety. He also works at alocal restaurant as a busboy.Franny has applied to schoolssuch as UMass Amherst, TempleUniversity, Syracuse University,and Providence College.Confused, I asked my cousin, "What happened?" She wouldn't answer. I looked to myyounger brother for some facial expression that would give away the secret that wasbeing kept from me. At that moment I realized I had lost the person I trusted themost, the most important thing in my life; my best friend, my father, had passedaway. I was in denial, but the tears that rushed to my eyes told me otherwise. Washe really gone? No. No. No! He can't do this to me! He can't leave me all alone likethis! Every tear that rolled down my face symbolized a memory I had of my father.Memories-all the times I spent with my father were just memories now.Everything was different after that day. The sun shone less vibrantly, every type offood seemed bland, and school was boring; the world just seemed less interesting. Icouldn't focus, praying that this was some cruel joke he was playing on us. But Ididn't realize one thing, losing my father opened the doors to a very specialfriendship with my Big Brother, Matt.When I was 12, I was enrolled in a program called Big Brothers Big Sisters and metMatt, a mid-thirties businessman who, in my eyes, had the world in the palm of hishand. After my father passed away Matt told me that his own father had passedaway when he was sixteen; he opened up to me and I knew that if there was anyonewho could understand what I was going through, it was him. We instantly becamevery close; we started talking about everything when we hung out: our thoughts,how fascinating life is, his problems and mine. The more time Matt and I spenttogether, the more we realized how similar we really were. I never thought that Iwould have had to lose my father to gain a friendship as unique as this one.Through the past three and a half years, I have learned many lessons. But the mostimportant lesson for me is to not take anything for granted. I have learned to seizeevery opportunity that I have been presented with, from challenging myself bytaking Advanced Placement courses to

sister who went to America before the Civil War called my father and told us that she would sponsor us to come to the United States of America. After just a few days, we left Werder and headed to Nairobi, Kenya. I went to my first school in Nairobi, but I could only go one hour a day because it was so expensive.