By Craig Brinkerhoff
Copy Editor
Many people from other countries head to America, or otherwise well-developed nations, to receive medical treatment. A patient receiving such treatment, sophomore Gio Pierre-Louis, is currently attending Westford Academy.
Though he hails from Leogane, a region of Haiti 30 minutes from the capital Port-au-Prince, Pierre-Louis is currently living in Westford.
Back in 2008, Pierre-Louis was electrocuted by a falling electrical wire in Haiti. Doctors there attempted to provide him with treatment, yet soon they ran out of ideas to help Pierre-Louis regain his health, so his father reached out to a group of Americans in Haiti at the time.
“In our church we have people who went down to Haiti in 2010 to help with the earthquake. Everybody tried to get me to the United States to get medical treatment,” said Pierre-Louis.
This church is the Massachusetts Mormon Church, of which his host family the Grangers belong to.
“He’s a pretty good friend, and I’ve known him for a couple of years, so it is more like having a brother,” said sophomore Charles Granger.
Granger notes that when Pierre-Louis first arrived in the Untied States, he ate much different food, a byproduct of cultural differences. For instance, he would not eat sugary cereal, yet as of now Pierre-Louis seems fully acclimated to American culture. Regardless, he naturally misses some parts of Haiti.
“I miss the food mainly. My family too, but mainly the food,” said Pierre-Louis.
Outside of school, Pierre-Louis does a lot of waiting. He can not do too much as of now, due to his medical status, so he simply enjoys playing sports with friends and just spending time with friends.
“It’s pretty awesome actually. [The Grangers] go to the same church as me and they are really nice kids and pretty athletic,” said Pierre-Louis, in response to spending time with friends.
He is also a part of Westford Academy’s production of Les Miserables as a member 0f the ensemble. He has already done the same show in seventh grade at a Catholic school in Cambridge.
“It was really fun, so I wanted to try doing it again,” said Pierre-Louis.
Hopefully, Pierre-Louis will be cleared with a clean bill of health, and will have the tough decision of whether to stay in Westford or head back to Haiti.
“I don’t really know. My life is pretty much a mystery right now, having surgery waiting to see what is going to happen,” said Pierre-Louis.
