John Paul, an ACAY alumni from the Philippines, and Rayane, a youth accompanied by ACAY in Marseille, met Paul Dewandre, a successful author and actor, during the Avignon Festival, a big theatre festival, last July.

They had an inspiring exchange on the topic of happiness!

Rayane said, “I think that there are a lot of similarities between Paul’s life and ours. His play shows the lives of inner city and incarcerated youth, with its ups and downs… He uses this image of the pyramid of priorities and the need to find happiness. It made me think about my life, because I also want to build my pyramid. Right now it’s still messy but it’s under construction and I’m trying to move forward little by little.”

The innovative and holistic programs of ACAY enable youth like John Paul and Rayane to stand again and to keep getting up to achieve far more than they could have imagined.