Lost and found

Miscardet, one of the boys from HFC, the orphanage where I lived when I first moved to Haiti, holds a special place in my heart because he was so hard to win over. Unlike many of the other children, he was never one to bond easily with visitors or interns, and he rarely spoke about anything serious with us. In the months that I spent at HFC, though he and I did become comfortable enough with each other to tickle, tease, and play tag, I remember only two clear instances when he let his true emotions show. Once, he cried when I was praying for him, and another time, he told me that he hated me. Knowing Miscardet, a child who was nicknamed Master Negative by the other boys, I understood that he was trying to say "I love you."

Two weeks before the earthquake, Miscardet, 17 years old at the time, was kicked out of the orphanage along with 2 other boys. He was supposed to go to a relative in another city, but I never knew if he actually went or if he was just living in the street somewhere. And then the earthquake hit. We heard that the other two boys were alive, but I heard nothing about Miscardet. As months passed and there was still no news, I began to assume that he had not survived.


Last week, one of the boys emailed me: "Keziah, they found Miscardet. He is alive and they are letting him come back to the orphanage."

Oh, my happy heart!