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Chika Jeune was born three days before the devastating earthquake that decimated Haiti in 2010. She spent her infancy in a landscape of extreme poverty, and when her mother died giving birth to a baby brother, Chika was brought to The Have Faith Haiti Orphanage that Albom operates in Port Au Prince. With no children of their own, the 40-plus children who live, play, and go to school at the orphanage have become family to Mitch and his wife, Janine. But at age five, Chika is suddenly diagnosed with something a doctor there says "no one in Haiti can help you with."

Chika Jeune was born three days before the devastating earthquake that decimated Haiti in 2010. She spent her infancy in extreme poverty, and when her mother died giving birth to a baby brother, Chika was brought to the Have Faith Haiti Orphanage that Mitch and his wife, Janine operate. Chika's arrival made a quick impression. Brave and self-assured, even as a three-year-old, she delighted the other kids and teachers. But at age five, Chika was suddenly diagnosed with a terminal disease that no doctor in Haiti could help with.

When the little girl from Haiti entered Mitch Albom’s life, everything changed. When she left, her legacy of joy, family, courage, and overcoming left the world richer for her being in it, however brief. Chika Jeune was a Haitian national sent to the same orphanage that Mitch Albom found himself managing in 2013. They were devastated when she was diagnosed with DIPG months later. The couple took Chika into their home in America, caring for her, and shouldering her medical bills. There is more to the story than the birth of a family, though.