Every Bahay Pag-asa resident knows that some day they will sign out of the center for the last time and reenter "the world" as they call it. It is a day of mixed feelings - happiness at rejoining family members, sadness at leaving friends, relief in the knowledge that a big problem in their life has now been resolved, and apprehension facing the challenges that lie ahead. This resident completed three years at Bahay Pag-asa and departed yesterday. The boys gathered to give him their departure messages. Most said, "Don't go back to your old ways." The staff offered encouragement and assured him that he can count on us to help if he wants to continue his education and job training. He leaves here with his high school education completed and with certification in culinary arts. He returns to a small town that has no restaurant, so finding a cooking job may require a commute to the next city. He knows that his family is living in poverty and that, at least for a while, he will rejoin them in their difficult living conditions. He has a younger sister who requires special medical attention and he hopes to be the one to provide for her care.
As he walked away yesterday with his father and social worker and his few belongings, he went with our promises to pray for him daily.
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