Finding Chika

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.

Mitch and Janine took Chika to America hoping that treatment there would enable her to go back home. Instead Chika became a permanent part of their lives as they embarked on a two-year around-the-world journey to find a cure. As Chika's boundless optimism and humour taught Mitch the joys of caring for a child he learnt that a relationship built on love no matter what blows it takes can never be lost.

This is Mitch Albom at his most poignant powerful and personal. Chika is a celebration of a girl her adoptive guardians and the incredible bond they formed - a devastatingly beautiful portrait of what it means to be a family regardless of how it is made.