I'll pass on the voodoo, we do things differently Down Under. But I definitely agree with printing out your post and giving it to the judge, to the cops, to everyone you can think of. Crikey, get flyers printed and hand them out, send them to the media, your congressman, anyone you can think of to ask for help to get some sanity into a senseless system that would turn around something not broke and try to sabotage it.
As for the lost paperwork - surely there are records, someone remembers him working for them, someone who can go to bat and begin to count up hours in affidavits to say, "Yes, I remember him doing this," which would bear out your claim of 80 hours already done.
Dude's had a lifetime of raw deals. hats off to the kid for still trying, after being constantly knocked down.
Star, a church group I know here went through a stage some years ago of taking in people off the streets and trying to rehabilitate them. They did a lot of good work but a lot of local people living nearby were understandably nervous. I wasn't part of the group then, I joined later and it has changed direction considerably since those days - lives change, the people available change, the ministry is now different. But a friend of mine from the group back in those days was reminiscing about one night when they all went out for someone's birthday - one of the group leaders' bithday, I believe. They all had to dress neatly and be good people according to the new life rules they lived by. Then one girl, a former street kid and under-age hooker, walked back to the group she'd left briefly and showed them some lovely Mag wheels for the birthday person's car. This girl had seen them on a car they'd walked past and out of old habit, had gone across and nicked them, honestly not thinking she was doing anything wrong! The others gently told her that the leader would love the gift but only if it was not stolen from someone else, and she finally "got it" and happily went to put them back, knowing this was part of how she had to live her life now. A steep learning curve for her! The story was told with love, the girl wasn't trying to continue her criminal ways, she had just lived wild for so long she still had a lot to learn.
But it sounds to me like Dude has learned this well already. Surely that can be considered progress?
We have a pastor over here, he was a 'graduate' of this group, a former biker and heroin addict who is now a prison chaplain. He's long moved on but occasionally has come back to speak and is an amazing guy. When my nephew was 'inside', this bloke looked him up and did his best to help. And whenever a prisoner says to him, "Hey, sky pilot, you haven't got a clue what my life has been like," our bloke says, "Yeah? Try me, mate."
I'll bang the clap sticks together for you.
Marg
