Finding Chika: A Little Girl, an Earthquake, and the Making of a Family

Content Warning: The source material and this guide include extensive discussion of terminal illness in a child.

“You are Haitian. Although you lived in America and died in America, you were always of another place, as you are now, even as you sit here with me.”

Albom reflects on Chika’s Haitian cultural heritage and how much this heritage defined her even as she traveled around the world, demonstrating his acceptance of her. This foreshadows Albom’s decision to have Chika buried in Haiti despite his deep desire to keep her near him in Michigan.

“There are many kinds of selfishness in this world, but the most selfish is hoarding time, because none of us know how much we have, and it is an affront to God to assume there will be more.”

Albom lived most of his life averse to Sharing Time because he was always afraid he would not have enough. Chika, on the other hand, had little time but freely shared it all, changing Albom’s perspective and inspiring him to devote his time to others, rather than just himself.

“Like walking into a swarm of bees, the more you swat at dangers, the more of them seem to appear.”

Albom uses a simile to describe the uphill climb toward making the mission a safe and stable place for the children. He compares the challenge to a swarm of bees because it always seemed like when one problem was solved, another presented itself.