www.princeton.edu...'From 7 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. each weekday, Josue Lajeunesse is one of Princeton University's 220 Building Services janitors. But off campus, Lajeunesse is a taxi driver, a father, a philanthropist, a community organizer and now the subject of a documentary film.
A native of Haiti who has worked at Princeton for 15 years, Lajeunesse is featured in the documentary "The Philosopher Kings," which tells the stories of eight janitors at universities across the country. "In search of wisdom in unlikely places," the film highlights the everyday triumphs and tragedies of staff whose hard work is often done when no one is looking.
The cameras follow Lajeunesse's work as a lead janitor in Whitman College and other dormitories, and his travels to Haiti as he helps bring clean drinking water to his family's village'…."Some people close their eyes to what's going on in front of them," Lajeunesse said of the poverty in his homeland. "But if God gave me the knowledge and the view to see these things, then I need to go back and help those people who cannot help themselves."
Lajeunesse was born in Haiti as the youngest of four children. His mother passed away when he was a young boy and he grew up close to his father, a farmer. Lajeunesse served in the military in Haiti and moved to the United States in 1989, ultimately settling in the Princeton area because a friend from Haiti was living here.
Through the documentary, Lajeunesse puts a face to the work ethic, passion and perseverance shared by many of the University's janitorial staff, said Building Services director Jon Baer. Baer noted janitors such as Natasha Bowman, who has worked at the University for 21 years and has been a surrogate parent to some of the students living in the dorms she cleans, or Mohamed Flites, an amateur photographer and historian who immigrated to the United States to escape civil war in Algeria.

Tags: family fun education