Nine-year-old Didi Samlouius spent his first night indoors in nearly two months last week.

Samlouius, who was missing for a day and a half following the devastating earthquake that struck Haiti on Jan. 12, arrived Thursday in Georgia with the rest of his dance troupe.

Back in January, the boy had just finished learning a Michael Jackson dance from his teacher, Dieu Lifet, when the ground began to shake.  
When the shaking stopped, the St. Joseph’s Home for Boys in Port-Au-Prince, where Samlouius and 20 other young men and boys lived, had been reduced to rubble.

Lifet had been killed, and Samlouius was missing. 

Friday morning, Samlouius performed his new dance for the first time to the delight of a cheering crowd of students and teachers at Cumming Elementary. 

The local performance kicked off the Resurrection Dance Troupe’s tour of the United States.

The group features 12 young men and boys from the home, which rescues street children. 

Michael Geilenfeld, who started the home in 1985, said he was glad to see the boys helping their country.

“When I speak, I get tears in my eyes because of where these children have come from,” he said. “These are the ones who were the least in the eyes of their country. And now they’re saying, look at the spirit of our country.” 

Maya Fond-Rose, another resident of the home, talked about life as a slave before being rescued by Geilenfeld’s organization.

“I worked hard,” he said. “I did all the work in the house. I did not have an opportunity to go to school. I was beaten all of the time before I came to Saint Joseph’s.”

After the performance, the dancers split into small groups. They spent the morning visiting classrooms and talking with students about the earthquake and the challenges they faced.

Gerald Joanis talked about looking for Samlouius.

“Before the earthquake, Didi had gone to the market, but we didn’t know that,” Joanis said. “He couldn’t get back, and we couldn’t find him until late the next day.” 

The group is being sponsored by the Haitian Timoun Foundation, which is based in Suwanee.

The organization is accepting donations through its Web site, www.htflive.org. 

The Resurrection Dance Troupe has three performances scheduled for Sunday, including the 8:30 and 11 a.m. worship services at Epiphany Lutheran Church in Suwanee.

Following a private performance Monday at Coca Cola in Atlanta, the troupe will leave for Tucson, Ariz.