Hope for Haiti – Jesse Joshua Watson

Illustrated by the author
G. P. Putnam’s Sons (Penguin), 2010
$16.99
32 pages
Rating: 4
Endpapers: Yellow
Illustrations: Acrylic

The book begins with this author's note:

"When I was young, my father worked as a designer for the humanitarian aid organization World Vision International. He brought home photos of kids from poverty-stricken countries, and specifically Haiti. I spent my childhood wishing there was something I could do to ease the people's suffering. As I got older, I saw how my own country was further impoverishing Haiti with its economic and political policies. Then, when the earthquake hit, I felt void of hope...until I started seeing photos of children playing soccer amidst the chaos. And in this I found great hope for Haiti, that even in the most tragic of circumstances children are resilient and will overcome. This is the hope I want to share with children everywhere. --- J.J.W."

Living in the soccer stadium in a new home made of six posts holding up a piece of tin with three sheets for walls, a young boy despairs. Then he sees a girl kicking a ball she has made from rags and rubber bands, and a soccer game ensues. And for just these few moments, these kids think of nothing but the joy of the game. A real soccer ball is introduced, a special soccer ball, and the world seems a little brighter for these kids.

There's a lot to think about here. The soccer ball was an old ball that had been autographed by Haiti's most influential soccer player, Manno Sanon. Its owner was smart. "We can let go of the past," the man tells us. "Right now we need to think about the future. And the future is you."