DePrince was number 27, because she suffered from vitiligo, a condition in which patches of skin lose pigmentation. The people who ran the orphanage went as far as to say that her condition was evidence of the evil spirit within the three-year-old. An American woman, Elaine DePrince, had come to the camp to adopt child number 26, now called Mia. For a moment, Michaela was distraught because she believed that all the other children would be taken to new homes and she would be left behind. But abruptly there was a change of plan. When the Aunties told Elaine DePrince that Michaela was unlikely to find another home, she decided to adopt both girls.
