Childa Petit- Jean, by Nikki Skovron

There are about 20 of the 30 girls in my bedroom – we are ALL jumping around and singing “Your Grace is Enough” by Chris Tomlin. With the music blasting through the computer speakers, and the voices of 20 some odd girls screaming and singing I am sure our party can be heard well down into the streets of Bolosse. There is one girl who sits quietly on the bed and simply observes, with a small laugh the rest of us acting silly! That’s Childa!

Childa was one of the first faces I saw when I arrived in Haiti in May, she was at the airport with a few others when I arrived. Since that day she has always been at my side. At every hair-braiding, dance class, coloring fest, computer time, or quiet talk time. Childa is usually not one of the girls who is jumping up and down, or singing at the top of her lungs, but she is always present, always smiling with us and always has a story to tell the next day. Because of her quiet and observant nature, after our evenings of singing and dancing together she is always the one who can best recount the previous nights activities in some rather silly stories.

The day after the night of singing and dancing together that I referenced earlier, I walked downstairs to eat breakfast and all the girls were huddled around one girl they were all talking and laughing and as I approached they looked over their shoulders, giggled, and dispersed to their chairs. The girl left sitting was Childa, wearing a large smile she said “bon jour” and gave me a kiss on the cheek. Upon sitting down I asked “kisa?” knowing the conversation had involved me, but wanting to find out more. Turns out that the Childa was telling the girls about a moment in our dance party when I, being the only native English speaker, and the one expected to know the words, sang as loud as my lungs would allow the wrong words. It caused all the dancing and singing to stop – as all the girls turned to look at me, I had no where to hide, and we all just had to laugh! Childa was relaying the story in vivid detail, and with full emotion the happenings of the previous night to the girls who had missed our little party.

After spending a few weeks with Childa, I was really able to watch her open up and see the beautiful person she is. I have been able to witness first hand Childa being the one to tell the joke and make us all laugh, be the first to understand and finish an English assignment, the first to rush to say “good morning” or “good night” or be a shoulder, and an ear for a close friend. It’s been a pleasure to get to know her, and watch her unfold and continue to grow into a beautiful young woman.