Lexon is from Indonesia (front row, extreme right). After finishing middle high school in his home place in Sumatra, Lexon migrated to the island of Batam to look for work. He found a manual job in an oil refinery.
I first met Lexon, over three years ago, when he lived in a little squatter shack opposite the refinery in which he worked. Like the other young men in that squatter area, he had come to Batam with dreams of a better life. However, without proper guidance he quickly fell into bad habits. Thankfully one of our workers Sam Quek took him under his wing and invited Lexon to live with him.
He was weaned from his bad habits, learned discipline, became more confident, learned to speak English and discovered that he could lead other young people. Today, he is in charge of the Goducate Learning Center in Batu Aji, Batam.
On the last day of our training when it was time to share our dreams, this is what he said in fluent English: “I was JUNK! Real JUNK! I smoked! I was a drunk! I played gambling! I was hopeless but today I have hope!”
There were tears in his eyes and in almost every one of our eyes! Then, one of our leaders who works with troubled teens in East Malaysia spoke up and said: “Lexon, you give me hope. I dream of all my boys becoming like you!!”
I could not hold back my tears as I remembered the old hopeless Lexon – and marvelled at how he is now a giver of hope to his students at Batu Aji and to all of us at Goducate.
Let’s help the helpless help themselves! Volunteer! Be a part of Team Goducate!