Overview
- Author:Debbie Jacob
- Reviewed by:Nicola Cunninghan – Williams
The absence of hope is arguably the worst thing that can happen to a human being. It is for that reason that Debbie Jacobs pushed to accomplish something with a small group of teenaged boys who the ‘System’ had long written off.
Jacobs’ book ‘Wishing for Wings’ is, in my opinion, one of the most inspirational publications of 2013 as she was able to restore hope to the hopeless and help young men find meaning in a life that for many has been far from easy, far from ideal and fraught with pain and the biting reality of poverty.
It was not that she was a saint, a ‘do-gooder’ or out to make a name for herself rescuing the ‘natives’. Indeed she was at first a rather reluctant participant in an initiative few believed in, with a deadline that seemed near impossible and students who, though willing, had been out of the formal school system for years. In fact she tried to find an excuse to not go until it dawned on her that every day she spent with these so called ‘lost causes’ (many were incarcerated for crimes like armed robbery) she was learning just as much from them as they were from her.
The tenacity of the human spirit to triumph over adversity; the ability to aspire to greatness even while in a cell and the need to have big dreams despite your present surroundings are what ‘humanized’ these young men and make this story so compelling.
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Overview
The absence of hope is arguably the worst thing that can happen to a human being. It is for that reason that Debbie Jacobs pushed to accomplish something with a small group of teenaged boys who the ‘System’ had long written off.
Jacobs’ book ‘Wishing for Wings’ is, in my opinion, one of the most inspirational publications of 2013 as she was able to restore hope to the hopeless and help young men find meaning in a life that for many has been far from easy, far from ideal and fraught with pain and the biting reality of poverty.
It was not that she was a saint, a ‘do-gooder’ or out to make a name for herself rescuing the ‘natives’. Indeed she was at first a rather reluctant participant in an initiative few believed in, with a deadline that seemed near impossible and students who, though willing, had been out of the formal school system for years. In fact she tried to find an excuse to not go until it dawned on her that every day she spent with these so called ‘lost causes’ (many were incarcerated for crimes like armed robbery) she was learning just as much from them as they were from her.
The tenacity of the human spirit to triumph over adversity; the ability to aspire to greatness even while in a cell and the need to have big dreams despite your present surroundings are what ‘humanized’ these young men and make this story so compelling.
Share this post: