Orphaned in the 2010 Haitian earthquake, at age seven Hilda is adopted by a young American couple: Tom, a film director and Maia – who is of Mexican origin – a screenwriter.
The story tells of Hilda’s unconventional childhood, where from the onset she proves to have a strong personality and character, aware of her mission in life. Her non-conformist parents provide the ideal terrain for the development of her inner strength. All of this in an ambiance of joie de vivre where Hilda’s humour provides great moments, such as the play “The Rich Pizza” she writes/directs and acts in (aged ten), with the purpose of raising funds for the Haiti Natural clinic.
Hilda’s altruistic nature, sense of humour and creative inventiveness endear her to her classmates, whom she helps for example by organising extra-curricular (fun) French tuition.
Getting expelled from school – aged 12 – (under the pretext she doesn’t ‘fit in’) turns out to be a blessing in disguise, because a period of home schooling provides the perfect opportunity for her to become self-directed in her studies.
And after she organises an ‘alternative Halloween’ with her former classmates to raise money for the Haiti Natural Clinic – which goes viral on YouTube – the school’s principal asks her to rejoin the establishment. Something Hilda declines with grace.
The story ends when Hilda says goodbye to her parents at Haiti’s Port-au-Prince airport before embarking on her ‘gap year’ doing voluntary work at the naturopathic clinic that provides free natural health care for the poor, set up by a Haitian Buddhist monk shortly after the earthquake[1]. One of her former schoolmates and close friend, George (son of a very conservative Republican Senator) has joined her for the voluntary work gap year.
It is clear he is in love with Hilda.
Remains to be seen whether the two will become a couple.
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[1] https://haitinaturalclinic.org