Today’s reader success story comes from a man named Ladslaus. He emailed me a couple weeks back about how the articles and the M.I.Ts have been of great help to him and he was also kind enough to share his own personal story with me.

I found his story to be one that’s very unique as you will soon see, a story about overcoming the odds, and the power and difference one person can make in someone’s life.

I don’t want to give it all away so I’ll end the introduction here. I encourage you to read his story in his own words.

Here it is verbatim (please keep in mind, English is not his first language so it will obviously not be perfect, but his writing isn’t that difficult to understand).

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Dear Brian,

I would like to share with you the positive change.

Although some of story are at initiative stage but for me it's a big achievement I ever made, also at least it shows were I was, were I am and what's my great expectations. I reads your articles and I appreciate the type of your writing; easy to understand and practically applicable.

Imagine the life in disadvantage community where I live, in the community where we believe we are poor due to colonial rule despite it is now 47 years after independent, in the community where reading is only for preparation of examinations but also when your doctor prescribed to do so, in the community where we are wait the government and donors to plan, implement for ourselves. Yes, I'm the member of that community who before discovered your blog I was behaved the same ways.

My childhood’s history background was so bitter, may be than of yourself(I read in your blog)I was orphan at the age of 12 due to endemic of HIV/AIDS in my birth region, Kagera where the first victim of AIDS in the country identified. I have much to write on that but at the end you helped me to overcome the psychological effect of worse life experience.

Working as a Nurse at the ill equipped and highly congested health centre is a big challenge. Before your knowledge I was mentally sick every mornings but thanks for the article "How to change the job you hate into the passage to the job you like" (my own translation based on how I takes message from your article) also "How to be a Charming” was helped me to create a friendly habit to my co-worker as well as to my patients.

Another part of your programs I mostly benefit is M.I.T., despite receiving it late (12 pm local time) I always writes it on paper and put it in my uniform so the next morning I reads it, you can't believe how M.I.T. makes my days energetic and lighter. Briefly it makes my whole day productive.

My success stories still at the initiative stages but I think it influencing especially for those who didn't yet find where to begin. Myself I didn't yet made it but I clearly 'see' the passage to the success.

At the age of 12 while in Primary school my mother died after long term of the illnesses, then 3 years after mother's death my father also died. The time when father die the community was already aware on the sign and symptoms of AIDS and it was that time when stigma and prejudice was at the unexplainable highest level, the time when a victim passed all of his belongs was burned even bed!(till now as a nurse I observes the prejudice of the patients)

As an oldest kid I became responsible to take care of my 2 brothers and 2 my sisters. In many of African communities people live in extended family such as other, father, grandparents, uncles, etc., but ourselves was not lucky on that, instead we cared ourselves for food, shelter, clothing and many more.

But the worst disappoint event was the stigmatization, prejudice and unexplainable worst treatment to us. People treated us like HIV carrier and contagious! Try to imagine the age we was and that life events.

Being isolated within the community affected us psychologically especially me for long time. I always remember the bad behavior we developed. Before going further may be it is better to tell you the property we inherited from our parents; a poor grass thatched and mud wall house, medium size land(I can't call it a farm )because due to long time illnesses till parents passed away all crops; banana and coffee trees was poor. There was a time when my young brother asked me where was our father's bicycle which was sold to buy food during dad's illnesses. Till now my home village remained poor due to HIV.

Before being rescued from neighbor country of Uganda where I worked as a fisherman, illegal immigrant, let me write on what happened to me to move to Uganda.

3 years after parents passed the youngest kid was taken by one of our relative, then my younger sister was also taken to Mwanza town where she worked as a house girl.(now she is a teaching at one of primary school in Mwanza town) We stayed three boys in our household. Our life style was an extraordinary, the was a time where we slept from 8pm till noon, wake up prepare food sometime theft banana or cassava. I brief we lived as Wild.

At the time I cared my brothers I discovered a job at the shore of lake Victoria about 65 Km. from my village. I and other kid we walked to the lake where we assisted the fisherman in fishing. They paid us fish which we sold and get some money. Walking 65 Km. to the lake and back home carrying fish on head without shoes sometimes during night time was unforgettable event. In my village there was a woman who was lived and worked in Dar es salaam named Theresa Kaijage. She studies in U.S.A and was popular in U.S.A as Tanzanian HIV/AIDS Hero.

She is also founder of a non governmental organization named WAMATA in Swahili language "Those Fighting Against AIDS". Once she visited at home, during that time I was in Uganda, my younger brothers informed where I was. There I worked as a fisherman's cook. She rescued me in child labor and she helped me to enroll into Secondary School education.

The education systems in public is divided as follows: The first 7 years is known as Primary education(standard one to Seven),followed by 4 years of Ordinary Level secondary school(Form One to Four),2 years Advanced Secondary education (Form Five and Six) then University.

Despite the brighter I was I quitted the secondary education in form two due to family and psychology problems. You know where I gone? to the fishing again! At that time was not same as it was, it became industrialize, fish fillet was transported to Europe and more advanced fishing equipment were used. So I moved to another jobs, it many to write about; street vendor, shoe shiner, bar attendants, watchman, etc. I likes watching Discoverery TV program: Mike Rowe's 'Dirty Job', one day I will launch my TV series known 'Ladslaus's dangerous Jobs' But Brian don't compare Tanzanian watchman with ones in USA, here you may paid for buying your food. Working tools can be an allow and bow or machete. The funny thing thieves comes with AK 47!

After experiencing these dangerous jobs I runned to Mrs Theresa where I asked for forgiveness and I told her that the most I need is education. I cheated that I complete form four.

Her co_worker who she appointed to be my guardian helped me to find the teachers college but finally they decided to take me to the Nursing course. Wait Brian can you ask yourself the wild I have and studying the care of the 'sick'? I succeeded to pass entrance examination but I failed English. Finally I admitted in that Roman Catholic Institution known as Rubya Nurses Training centre with the conditions to study English in my own time.

I studied very hard, my friends were called me a 'book worm' I think it was that time I developed LOVE with books. I was a brighter student but some of my talents was out of those we taught, I was a good designer(I was the only guy who draws and decorates in the special visitor’s book),video shooter, somebody told me the chart I designed for summarizing of 'Findings of Community Fields Practices' is usable till now.

In reality that training was my last hope but I suspended while in my final year due to 'bad conduct'. The day when a Catholic nun who was a college Principal dropped me and other 2 students I felt like I were going to die soon ,I didn't know were to go my house was already fallen down.I tried to ask Sr.Nicolaus a principal for forgiveness instead she told me to stay out of the college for at for a year to learn a good manners.

After one year of exile I reported to the college but they didn't accepted me, instead they told me to apply to another nursing school and promise to endorse my letter with the recommendations to the institution I applied.

September 2003, I success to complete my 4 courses; Certificate of Nursing 3 years, Certificate in Midwifery 1 year at Sumve School of Nursing in Mwanza.

I worked at Sumve Hospital till 2005 when 'I succeded' to be employed by the government(Mwanza city director)I married, my wife is a Nurse and we have a son aged two. We are Roman Catholic although I didn't remember my last time I entered in the church.

Thanks again for M.I.T which is really my prayer, I reads it with a concentrated mind and it works! It shows me the ways to listen my mind, it's my energy booster and contains the guideline to measure my failure-a story of Kentucky fried Chicken 1000 failure before he succeeded!

I don't like failure but it can't make me to give to give up. M.I.T makes me to stop read those junk tips, those I have written before I burned it because all are the same. The M.I.Ts are not the same, it keeps changing; poem, article, picture(aim aim aim and shoot!)It makes me look back and cerebrating for those minor successes. It shows me the harmful, for me watching tv for a long time was normal! there was a time when I watched 'Prison Breaker' from morning at 8am till late night. I only breaks to empty bowers.

You asked me to explain how now I clearly seen my way to the success and here it is: previous my overall goals was based on professional advancing and better paid' Clearly to advance from the rank I'm to the degree I can take a minimum of 16 years. As a public worker upgrading studies are authorized by employer so let say for me when I go to study for a diploma 2 year I have to work for at least 3 years before I apply for advanced diploma 3 years. And an official retiring age is 55 years, February 25 this year I will be 35 years so check out the way I decided to pass to that one showed me. Now I'm studying computer and the Secondary School studies. After 2 years I will sit for Ordinary Level Secondary School as a private candidate. At that moment I like to be a writer to preach my poor community to make them believe in themselves that they can. I like to be a blog writer, documentary writer! With thanks,

Ladslaus B.

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I want to thank Ladslaus for taking the time to write this and for sharing it. I really appreciate it.

I can’t even begin to imagine how his childhood was like. The odds were certainly stacked against him in every direction – the death of both his parents at a young age, the extreme prejudice he had to endure, taking care of his brothers, the jobs he had to take as a child, etc., - it certainly makes those of us who didn’t have such rough childhoods appreciate theirs even more, and he managed to surpass it all when help came in the form of one person, Theresa Kaijage. She rescued him out of child labor and helped him enroll in school and he took it from there, with some bumps along the way that he experienced but eventually overcame.

His job currently involves helping others directly and he’s continuing his education to become a writer to help those in his community believe in themselves, because that’s one of the best ways to help a person, to instill that belief in themselves that they can do “it” whatever that “it” is for them, because once they have that, they have what it takes.

You can help a person by giving them money, but it can easily be spent. You can help a person by doing them a favor, but that favor will be the extent of it. But if you help a person believe in themselves, you can inspire them to reach their full potential.

I have no doubt in my mind that Theresa Kaijage believed in Ladslaus when she saw him many years back as a child. And she believed in him even when he quit school and came back. She gave him a second chance and Ladslaus certainly made the most of it.

And that’s the beauty of helping a person believe in themselves.

Because not only will they believe in themselves, they will continue to plant that seed by helping others believe in themselves as well.

And those who are helped will continue to plant that seed in others as well and the cycle will continue exponentially.

Never underestimate the difference one person can make in another’s life and never underestimate the fact that a person can overcome the biggest odds in his/her life with the help of that one person.

Now, Ladslaus is maneuvering himself in a position to do just that.