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.

God is a key motif in Albom’s memoir, and his decision-making throughout the memoir is rooted in his faith. Albom took over the orphanage and converted it into the Have Faith Haiti mission after he had an epiphany that it was part of God’s plan for him to be there. When Albom went down to Haiti to see the orphanage, he marveled at the way the children celebrated the introduction of running water “as if experiencing the Lord’s first rainstorm” (49). During these early days at the mission, Albom first truly understood The Wonder of Childhood and the impact that small acts could make on children. His faith gave him a context for his experience of the children in Haiti; they seemed closer to God and therefore more able to see the wonder in the world. This helped him feel that he could learn from the orphanage and could make a real difference there.

Albom describes seeing God in Chika many times. On one occasion, she started dancing at the mission during a prayer song: “I make a mental note.