In 1995, when I was seven years old, I started to meet a lot of people in my community of La Lima in Honduras and learn about them. Many people recognized me because of my father. He was very popular, not like an artist or something like that; my father was a respected man for many people of my community. He was responsible, kind with others, a hard worker, a good husband and an excellent father. These are only a few things that I know about my father which my mother told me about him, but these things gave me an idea of who and how my father was as a person. I never really knew who my father was because he died when I was seven months old.

When people ask me about my father, I always say what my mother told me about him. Every day that others talked to me about my father, I discovered more good things about him and that made me feel so good with myself, even without knowing who and how my father was. I think this is a good example of how people say things about others, that most of the time we believe. I believe everything that people say about my father, but sometimes I think: “Would I believe what people say if he wasn’t my father? “

Perhaps it is for this reason that I like to meet people and know about them and have them know about me too. In that way they can say how I am, what ideas I have, what I want, how I think or what I think about others. The best way to do this is by talking with the people that I see on the streets or in school. I don’t have many friends actually – not because I don’t want them, but because most of the people don’t care about making new friends or because they are from a different country. Sometimes I think people feel afraid to share their experiences with others, even with their own families. Most of the time, people don’t want to be friends with others because of the way they act, dress or think.

The way you treat people is the way you will be treated by them. First respect yourself and you will learn how to respect others. When you respect yourself, you learn how to respect others because you will feel how it is to be respected by others and you will receive the same respect that you give to them. Make a circle and put in there the people you love, things that you want – your dreams. Put in that circle good things: respect, honesty, responsibility, love, and courage to be what you want to be.