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

Finding Chika is a memoir written by Mitch Albom and originally published in 2019. Albom wrote the memoir after taking over an orphanage in Haiti, transforming it into the Have Faith Haiti mission where Albom met Chika. Chika was soon diagnosed with a brain tumor, and Albom and his wife, Janine, took over her care, hoping to save her life. Chika teaches Albom about Sharing Time, Parenting and Familial Bonds, and The Wonder of Childhood. Like many of Mitch Albom’s nonfiction books, Finding Chika incorporates faith and real-life experience to tell its story.

This guide utilizes the 2021 Harper Collins paperback edition of the memoir.

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

Plot Summary

Albom begins his memoir confronting the challenge of telling the story of Chika, a Haitian child under his care who died of diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma (DIPG), which is a rare but fatal form of brain tumor. Chika’s death was tremendously difficult for Albom and his wife, Janine, but Albom wants to write Chika’s story so he can remember her forever. As Albom sits down to write, he has visions of Chika, and talking to her helps him through the writing and grieving processes.

Albom describes Chika’s tragic early years, which included a devastating earthquake and the death of her mother. After Chika’s mother’s death, Chika’s father split his children between several guardians. Chika ultimately ended up at the Have Faith Haiti mission orphanage, which Albom took over after the 2010 earthquake. Though she was shy when she first came to the mission, Chika soon became a leader of the children there.

In the present, Chika’s spirit questions Albom about why he never had children of his own, and he admits he was selfish with his time and waited too long. In doing so, he also put his wife in the same position.

Albom and his team spent years building up the orphanage to make sure it had clean running water, safe shelter, healthcare, and a school. Amidst all this, the director of the mission noticed Chika’s face was drooping and her walk was unbalanced. Albom took her to a neurologist in Haiti, who diagnosed her with a brain tumor. When Albom learned Chika could not receive treatment in Haiti due to the country’s poor healthcare system, he brought Chika to his home in Michigan for medical care, and she was diagnosed with DIPG, a terminal illness. After a failed attempt at removing the tumor, doctors told Albom and his wife that Chika likely had four months to live and recommended they take her back to Haiti to enjoy her remaining time. Instead, Albom and Janine decided to take her in and began seeking alternative treatments.

As he writes his memoir, Albom and Chika’s ghost play together and discuss her life. Albom thinks about Chika’s simple childhood dream to grow up and become big and wonders why God was not able to grant her that wish. Albom recalls when Chika moved in with him and Janine—a change that demanded massive adjustments. Albom’s routine changed as he devoted virtually all of his time to Chika, whose short life expectancy taught him how precious time is.

The next time Albom flew to Haiti, in July 2015, the children at the mission asked how Chika was doing and if they would ever see her again. Some even asked if they could go to America too. Meanwhile, Chika began radiation treatments and gained weight due to her medication. Though the tumor was shrinking, Albom and Janine worried that it would grow back, their fears heightened by the funerals of other children with DIPG. Despite her changes, Chika remained positive and joyful, and Albom admired her ability to marvel at and find joy in the world. He and Janine stayed close by her side through her treatments.

Albom reflects on his early fears about becoming a father, recalling his own father, a protective and solemn man who found fulfillment in providing for his family. Albom adopted these traits when he took over the orphanage in Haiti, and in taking Chika in, he learned even more about his own capabilities as a father. Albom took Chika for a Christmas visit to Haiti, where the children greeted her with excitement and played with her.

As Chika grew up, she learned more English, became taller, and began asking questions about her future. She also continued undergoing regular blood tests and MRIs. Chika had lived four months longer than her original prognosis when Albom and Janine learned that her tumor was growing back and put her on chemotherapy. Chika began to lose her ability to walk and started to crawl instead, but Albom reports that she never complained, seemingly accepting her circumstances better than anyone.

By June 2016, Chika had gained too much weight to receive regular blood draws and had to have an IV port inserted into her chest. She began throwing up frequently and became irritable at times, which Albom found understandable given her situation. On Chika’s final visit to Haiti, Albom reunited her with her biological father, who seemed uninterested in knowing her. Reflecting on this, Albom wonders what makes a father, deciding that it is love. At New Year’s, Albom returned to Haiti, and the children celebrated together and sang a song for Chika. Albom discusses the importance of hope, which allows people with terminal illnesses and their families to carry on. He recalls how Chika’s illness nearly tore his relationship with Janine apart, though they ultimately agreed that they would need each other’s support when Chika died.

As the couple grew desperate, they searched the internet for a cure and found a doctor in Germany who was using a new treatment on DIPG. They took Chika to Germany, where she used her first wheelchair. Chika loved being able to get around faster, but Albom hated seeing Chika unable to do things she used to do with ease. Chika endured her treatments without complaint, and Albom recalls her singing in the doctor’s office and as he wheeled her through the streets.

Albom acknowledges feeling angry and betrayed by God during this period because he does not understand why a loving God would put a child through such suffering. As Albom writes about Chika and her worsening health, his own health begins to deteriorate, but he is deemed healthy and told to take care of himself. He thinks how Janine took on mothering Chika without question, willing and eager to feed, clothe, bathe, and play with her. This gave Albom a new appreciation for his wife that he may never have found otherwise. One day, Janine found Chika singing a gospel song passionately in her bedroom and recorded it as a memento of her passion for life.

Chika’s speech was slowing, and her movements were sluggish, and after their third trip to Germany, the family never went back, continuing to try treatments in the United States instead. One day in the hospital, Chika almost died but Albom revived her. Her last Christmas was quiet, as she could neither speak nor move much, but she made it to her seventh birthday in January. Though she was physically unable to participate in the festivities, Albom describes her eyes as lit up the whole time. Shortly after, Albom went to Haiti to buy a cemetery plot for Chika, finally admitting to himself that she would die. All Chika’s friends and family had visited her in the days before she died. Albom and Janine held her and told her how much they loved her as she died.

Albom recalls Chika telling him his job was to carry her. He realizes that the things people carry define them; for him, that is Chika and the other children at the orphanage. Chika’s funeral was held in Haiti, and many of her family members, including her father and siblings, attended. Afterward, the Alboms took in Chika’s younger brother at the mission, and her older sister shortly after. Albom concludes, grieving Chika’s lost years but no longer feeling as though he has lost her.