Landie Sion, 13 years old in 2001 

How many brothers and sisters do you have?
Three brothers. I'm the oldest. My parents are separated. My youngest brother has a different father than the rest of the children.

Who lives in your house?
My mom and my brothers

What is your favorite subject in school?
Math.

What does school mean to you?
School is a friend to me because I like it.

What do you do with your free time (for fun)?
Sing, dance, play tag and hopscotch.

What is your favorite (most important) possession?
Nothing.

What is the greatest distance you have traveled from home?
I've been to Port au Prince once.

What do you want to be (do for a living) when you grow up?
I would like to be a nurse.

What do you feel about your country?
I like it. What I like most about it is the moon.

What do you think about Americans?
I like them because they help.

What makes you happy? What do you like most about your life?
I have nothing that makes me happy. Singing, friends and family make me happy, but there is nothing that makes me happy on a day-to-day basis.

What makes you sad? What is your biggest complaint about life?
The fact that my mom and dad are separated.

What is your greatest wish/hope?
To leave Haiti and go to the USA.

What would you change about your life if you could?
I don't know what to say.

Is there anything else you would like to say?
I would like a bigger house to live in with my mother and my brothers. Mine isn't good enough or big enough.

Landie was the first person I interviewed. I was expected to be a leader in the project, but I was very nervous and probably didn't make a very good one.

The trip to Landie's house was my first exposure to the heat in Haiti. It was grueling, but Landie moved on like it was nothing.

Landie's house is secluded from any other family, except her grandparents' who live next door. Her grandparents and siblings were outside doing chores and sleeping when we got there. She has only three brothers and she's the oldest at 13 years old. Landie's two bedroom house is not as crowded as many Haitians' houses because it is only her brothers and her mother who live there. However, Landie did say at the end of the interview that she wishes for a bigger house for her and her family.

Landie's biggest complaint about life is one she has in common with many American children. Her parents are separated. All of her siblings have the same father except the youngest boy. Neither of the fathers live with them.

Landie told me that nothing makes her happy. She said she likes the moon, she likes school, her friends, and singing but she is still never happy.

She dreams of going to school long enough to be a nurse and of someday leaving Haiti for the US. Perhaps hopelessness is what keeps Landie from feeling happy. If she thought her dreams would come true, what would be keeping her so sad?