For us here at Anonymous Headquarters, we will continue to search and identify people who are making a difference in their various communities around the world. Through our search today, we have found the story of this man to be so inspiring that we are giving him space on our platform.
Josue Lajeunesse, was born and raised in Haiti as the youngest of four children. He comes from a town called La Source, a rural village about 50 miles from the capital-Port-au-Prince. His mother died when he was a young boy and he lived with his father, who worked as a subsistence farmer.
In a Third World country like Haiti, you can imagine the life that he lived. Life was very tough for him. After a brief period in the Haitian military, Lajeunesse migrated to the United States in 1989, to seek greener pastures. When he arrived in the US, he got a job as a cleaner at the Princeton University, in Princeton, New Jersey.
Lajeunesse has explained that he liked the job when he got it. He said “Working at Princeton, you have opportunities to move up to another level and improve yourself economically and socially. Anyone who comes here to work, they take you in with two hands and arms open”.
Lajeunesse was very determined to improve both his own life and those of others; therefore, apart from working as a cleaner at the university during the day, he also worked at night as a taxi driver; all in a bid to make a meaningful life.
He had to work very hard to provide for his nuclear family in the US, and also cater for the extended family he left behind back home, in La Source.
The village of La Source, is without electricity and clean water. Local residents had to walk long distances and climb a mountain before they could fetch clean water. Often, the children are sent to get the water, many of which don’t have shoes. Those who cannot climb the mountain go to a nearby river, to get water that is unsafe to drink. Since childhood, Lajeunesse knew that this was not right and hoped that there must be a better way out someday.
So, when he came to the US, his biggest dream was to see his village get access to portable water. But in 2010, things got worse as a devastating earthquake struck the country, bringing everything to a stand-still.
But after the disaster, he collaborated with his brother back home to end the water crisis his community was facing. With the help of a non-profit organization, called Generosity Water, and Princeton University students, Lajeunesse was able to rally support. Together, they raised some $38,000 to build a water project large enough for the entire La Source village. The community no longer has to struggle for water. That is the legacy of the man we are talking about. With only $ 38,000, he has changed the lives of many in an entire village.
For what he has done, the Princeton University has recognized his efforts and has honored him with the Martin Luther King’s Journey Award for Special Achievement, for his work to provide clean drinking water to his deprived community back home in Haiti.
A documentary entitled “La Source,” has also been put together to tell the inspiring story of Josue Lajeunesse, in his struggle to find a better life for himself and those around him. His story is indeed inspiring and if we can emulate his shining example, the world will be a better place for us all.
Currently, he is working to get a solar panel, to be able to get another important social amenity-electricity to residents of La Source. He is indeed making a difference.
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