Anyone who knows Melky knows that she is not an early riser, but when it comes to helping people and spreading good karma her body seems to naturally wake up in the wee hours of the morning. In anticipation of seeing little Bernadine it would be  no different.

"I awoke at 4:30 am to catch my flight to Atlanta, no alarm clock needed." exclaimed Melky as she happily recollects the morning that she had scheduled to visit Bernadine in Atlanta.

Bernadine is a sixteen year old girl that had to be medevac to the United States after the January 12^th earthquake in Haiti. Pregnant and near death, Bernadine spent several days in a coma. During her journey she met Carma Foundation's very own Leslie Sosnowski who was a volunteer at the Medashare tent.

“At one of Bernadine’s darkest moments in the tent Leslie called me and put me on the phone with Bernadine. I sang with her, I prayed with her, I told her if she would pull through and I would be here for her. I always say never make a promise you cannot keep; well Bernadine did pull through, and she had the baby a boy that she named Stanley.

"I landed in Atlanta and Leslie picked me up. When we arrived at the girls place it was a quaint garden apartment with flowers everywhere. A sense of joy came over me, I was proud of my country America for providing the girls with refuge." Melky recollects. This was a striking contrast to the tent cities that undoubtedly would have been Bernaodine and her sister's home. In closer observation I saw a few other Haitians walking the grounds and I knew they were apart of the program as well.

I went up the stairs. And I knocked on the door, Bernadine opened the door. She was a lot taller than I had expected, with full lips and beautiful dark brown eyes, she had colored her hair a bright orange. We hugged and I jokingly said to her "What did u do to your hair" to which she replied  "I permed it" and we both laughed.

At first I could sense she was nervous, it was her first time meeting me and though she did not have much she insisted on cooking Poisson Grosse Sel aveck banan (Fish and Plantains) for us. She wasn't sure if I would like it and I broke the ice by saying "You are a Haitian woman, I know you know how to cook" and we laughed even more. We made fun of women who didn't know how to cook. For us culturally a woman must know how to cook. I knew this conversation would make her feel more comfortable. I knew it would make her understand that she and I were the same and it worked as I could see her starting to relax a bit.

Her sister Lucine came out with Bernadine's baby boy Stanley in hand. Lucine must have been about five feet eleven, I even remember thinking these girls would have been models if they were raised in the states, and as for baby Stanley, he is just the sweetest chocolate baby I have ever seen. Bernadine was given a lot of pain killers when she was pregnant with him but he seems to be okay.

The girls beautifully set the food on a very humble kitchenette set that was placed against the wall to keep it from falling. They had only two seats and told us to come eat. I insisted they eat with us but they said there were not enough chairs and the table would not hold.

This saddened me for a moment and humbled me because these beautiful young women took time to prepare this beautiful meal for us, and wouldn't even be able to enjoy it with us. I made a mental note to make sure we got them a kitchenette set. As women who loves to cook and serve I know how important it is to serve the food properly. Presentation is a critical part of the culinary experience.

I took the plate of food off the table and said "Don't be silly I am not an etrangay (stranger) we will eat together in the living room". One bite of the fish and I was instantly transported to my grandmother’s house in Lassare, all that was missing was grandma's sweet lemonade.

The girls who at first were timid began to open up. They expressed to me their disappointment that Wyclef was not allowed to run for president. They also told me Leslie had given them an iPod with my songs on it and another evacuee knew of me and told then I had the voice of a women twice my size, I said ,"well girls if I keep eating this food I will be a woman twice my size" and we all laughed hysterically.

Time to go shopping; at first the girls didn't think they would find anything to wear at ROSS, but once I told them the secret behind ROSS and how to work the aisles and go through the racks we had a ball. The first thing Bernadine grabbed was two Baby Phat purses. One was black and pink faux python the other was gold and brown, with excitement she asked me, “Which one? Which one?", I told her she could get more wear out of the gold and brown one. She immediately threw it in her cart. We piked out some boots and then I lost the girls as they began to drift off some were in “ROSS Heaven”.

Even though it wasn't apart of our initial plan, Bernadine, Lucine and I felt compelled to help another evacuee. It was a handsome young man who had been evacuated with his twelve year old son, whose legs were saved because of the quick action of the Medishare doctors. He met us at the mall and we got some things for his son as well.

Why take them shopping?
In talking to Bernadine she had expressed to me that she was given a box full of old clothes, but none of them fit her and though she was grateful for the clothes she couldn't wear them. Well I had to rectify that problem.

At one point I sat back and watched the girls move  throughout the store like children in a candy store and I  thought to myself how this kind of happiness is what I want to bring to people for the rest of my life.

I was grateful for the opportunities that Carma Foundation has gaven to me. I was grateful for angels like Leslie who are in my life and grateful for people like Bernadine, Lucine and baby Stanley. People who make you realize that life’s greatest moments come when you give of yourself selflessly.

Two shopping carts later the girls jumped on Leslie and me with a million kisses and thank you's.

So far away from my home in the heart of Georgia. The girls don't speak the English language, they don't drive a car and Lucine's 2 year old daughter is so far from her. I asked them how do you like it here? In a humble voice she says "Where God leads you that is where u must go" and I understood what made these girls so strong. Their faith and willingness to allow God to be the driver in their lives and I knew with a little help from friends like Leslie, and my Carma Foundation  this family has a bright future... "

Melky Jean