MIAMI, Fl — During a fundraising and campaign tour through Miami on Thursday, October 11, 2012, U.S. President Barak Obama met privately with a dozen individuals in the JW Marriot along the riverfront. As he stepped into the room, he noticed 10-year old Ashadé Sheba Altine, the daughter of a Haitian-American writer Marjory Sheba, and spent a considerable amount of time talking to her.
While the rest of the room looked on, President Obama asked Ashadé her name, age, and where she attended school. She spoke with him for several minutes and he (the President) commented on her exceptional grammar, according to her mother.
And when they finished speaking, Ashadé offered the President the gift that her school had sent with her on this historic meeting, a school bag complete with the school’s t-shirt. President Obama graciously accepted the gift before continuing to complete his last fundraising event of the 2012 presidential election.
According to her mother, Ashadé understands the si-gnificance and the special rarity of the opportunity that she received in meeting face-to-face with the President of the United States.
Her mother has worked on a number of labor and organizational projects on behalf of the President, which led to her daughter being invited to meet with President Obama.
Ashadé follows the President’s speeches closely and feels a certain connection to the President because one of his daughters, Sasha, is relatively close in age to Ashadé.
It’s not every day that a person is afforded the opportunity to meet with the President of the United States, and during the intensely busy reelection season, to garner several minutes of personal attention from him is even more precious.
President Barak Obama has been known as a thoughtful and caring individual, taking the time out of his hectic schedule to connect with chi-ldren, to thoughtfully listen to them, and care about what they have to say.
While Ashadé will have this memory for the rest of her life, the rest of the Haitian-American community can ce-lebrate the fact that the President of the United States cares about those who might not otherwise have a voice in the loud, crowded rooms in Washington, DC, and beyond.