The resounding message of best-selling author Caitlin Alifirenka’s visit to Lake Forest High School, in front of an audience of 300 students, was that, “one decision can change the course of not just your life, but many lives.”

Alifirenka, who lived the inspiring story of I Will Always Write Back: How One Letter Changed Two Lives detailed her relationship with Zimbabwean pen pal Martin Ganda, shared details with the students about how drastically different her life in Pennsylvania was from Ganda’s under Zimbabwean rule. What started as a get-to-know you story sharing exercise to gain perspective of third world struggles became a full-fledged philanthropic effort that helped Ganda attend college in the United States.

Ganda, a Villanova University and Duke University graduate, has since become the CEO of Tamuka Group, a unique entrepreneurial Africa-focused investment firm investing in superior opportunities across sub-Saharan Africa.

Alifirenka and Ganda’s story, however, is more than just a rags to riches story of a young man escaping the dictatorship and poverty of Zimbabwe to find success in America. Alifirenka’s details revealed a story of friendship, compassion, and love for one another. She detailed how the two subjects of the book are still very much involved in each other’s lives today.

Despite all of the differences (and miles) that separated them initially, I Will Always Write Back: How One Letter Changed Two Lives revealed the humanitarian good that exists in the world and the care for the common person that unites us all.

Ms. Monica Fumarolo, the school librarian who arranged and set up the visit, was pleased with the turnout from LFHS students. Fumarolo, who has gone above and beyond in arranging different types of authors visits in her time at LFHS, mentioned in an email to faculty that “This was by far the biggest turn out we’ve had for an author visit in my time here at LFHS with almost 300 students in attendance.”

Alifirenka stayed and chatted with students after her performance and encouraged them to reach out to her on social media to develop a pen-pal relationship of their own with someone from another country. Ms. Fumarolo also mentioned that although the author was a bit anxious early about an audience of high schoolers, she enjoyed her time. According to Fumarolo, “Caitlin admitted to me that while high school audiences usually make her nervous, this was by far the best high school visit she has ever done.”

A special thanks to both the LFHS Library staff and Ms. Caitlin Alifirenka for making Wednesday’s author visit an overwhelming success.