by Cassandra Curran

On a Friday afternoon in October, students from Sacred Heart’s grades 1 through 8 assembled in the auditorium for a special presentation. Before us stood a smiling, happy, young man. He introduced himself as Soni, age 20, and presented his companion, Peter, who is 51 years old.

Peter related how he had met Soni. He had decided to take a vacation four or five years ago and ended up in Haitii. He stopped by St. Joseph’s Home for Boys, an orphanage, and there he met Soni. The boys at St. Joseph’s treated Soni as a brother.

After an accident when he was five, Soni had developed cerebral palsy. His father was killed in the accident and his mother could not bear to deal with Soni’s disability so she left him in the care of the hospital.

After a short time they sent Soni off to a home. This home was run by two Catholic nuns. They worked very hard with the children until civil war broke out. They wanted to leave Haiti, so they contacted everyone and asked if they could each take one child. St. Joe’s was the only one who replied, and they took Soni. They felt bad that no one else had offered to help the rest of the children.

Eventually they raised enough money to take in all of the orphans. When he came to St. Joe’s, Soni could not walk because from the time he was five years old until ten or so, he had lived in a crib. People in Haiti thought that children with disabilities were possessed by the devil. Soni used to crawl on the ground to get around because he couldn’t walk, so the boys at St. Joe’s played a game with him to teach him how to walk. Then they decided to teach him how to dance.

When he came to visit Sacred Heart, Soni danced for us. He wore two different costumes and performed two different dances, one a native Haitian dance and another that the boys had taught him. Peter was so inspired by what he saw that he decided to write a book about Soni’s life, “Soni’s Mended Wings.” The proceeds from this book all help pay for the children’s food, shelter and medical needs.

All of us were inspired by Soni’s courage, determination and stamina. We were glad that he now not only walks, but dances his way through life. We hope he continues to do so for many years to come.