It’s an ordinary weekday afternoon at the Lighthouse, and Stephanie and Odette are preparing rice for when the kids return from school. I pull up a chair next to Stephanie as she grates coconut into a large metal bowl.

I knock on her door, peeking through the glass and the sheer white curtain into her bright, Pepto-Bismol pink bedroom. She turns her head and squints her eyes as a huge smile sweeps across her face. Cherie! Vin non! (Sweetie! Come in!)

Sometimes the victories are monumental, moments that will be forever etched in your memory. They are the days that are written in the pages of your journal, marked by a specific date, so as to be remembered, treasured even, because of their significance.

Six years ago today, on January 12, 2010, one of the most devastating earthquakes in history struck Haiti, a country that was already pinned as the poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere. Léogâne was its epicenter, a city just west of Haiti’s overcrowded capital, Port-au-Prince.

She sits on the left side of the stage, behind a thin wall next to the other contestants, clad in a soft yellow, floor-length dress with a matching scarf tied around her neck. She holds her hands clasped in her lap, her legs, ever so slightly, move to the beat of the music. The expression on her face suggests she is nervous, but I’m confident that will change once she claims the center of the stage.

It’s been just over a year since Fedner was welcomed into the Lighthouse. Some days, I still question the decision to bring him in, doubting my adequacy in making such a pivotal choice for his life.