Our Togolese friend Douté is one of those people you meet by chance, and then he changes your life, enriches it in ways he could never know. He is an honorable, admirable man.

Douté and Norm on New Year’s Eve 2009

He recently sent Norm this poem, and we felt honored. His native language is Ewe and he learned French in school. But he wrote this in English, which is in itself an amazing feat.

Family Allbritton,
Yours
A new heaven opened.
Before you,
A free channel is plotted.
Your generosity is rewarded.
Yes, we reap what you sow.
Such is life –
All good things
Did not last long.
Go, go, your mind into your hands
On the paths of life.
The humble hearts listen to you.
You will be the one whose courage
Changes the major difficulties,
The oppressed
At the top of the history of peoples.
Before you
A clear path is traced;
To you is opened
A new heaven.
Go, go, free your fate.