great book for everyone out there!

i decided to make this blog about a good book called “Strength in what Remains” By Tracey Kidder

 Strength in what remains is an inspirational tale of Deo, an extraordinary man, ever learning, kind, and unknowingly naïve man from Burundi who is fleeing his country for America. This book starts immediately out with Deo fleeing his country of Burundi in 1994 as bloodshed is a continuous aspect of daily life between the Hutus and the Tutsi.  It was not enough to be on a plane ride out of the country but a blessing and a small reminder of what Deo was getting ready to leave behind.  “For the lucky few with tickets, an airplane was just the fastest, safest way out”.  During Deo’s experience with his plane rides he felt overwhelmed and relieved all at the same time.  Overwhelmed that he could not communicate well with others to ask the proper questions and give the proper comments and relieved that he was leaving the country and finding a better place to live.  When Deo arrived in New York he was met by security agents who did not understand Deo, and Deo was in a calm panic that they may not allow him to stay within the airport until a gentleman Muhammad understood Deo was speaking French and saved him from customs.  An interesting excerpt into how bad Burundi was in 1994 was this; “For the agents, he asked Deo, “Where are you coming from?” When Deo said he had come from Burundi, Muhammad made a pained face and said to him in French, “How did you get out?””  Later after these series of questions from the agents Muhammad had offered Deo a place to stay with him if he could wait, so with 200 dollars and little English Deo went with Muhammad.Meeting impeccable and appalling strangers seems to be a theme with Deo’s life time and time again.  Deo is offered graciously a job at a grocery store chain as a delivery boy for $15 a day which in 1994 is not much money but is better than no money coming into his pocket so he takes it.  Deo understanding the importance of learning English buys a dictionary when he accumulates enough money to buy one.  With resilience Deo slowly learned English as well as learning some key phrases such to supplement his grocery delivery needs.  Deo over the course of time also began to understand that his manager does not like him and sends him to the places that do not tip in addition to poking Deo with a stick and laughing at him.  Deo did not mind being sent to places that do not tip but it did hurt his dignity that he was being made fun of, especially since he was a previous medical student and the fact that he had fallen from such a high status to what he had become.  Sharon McKenna eventually comes along and saves Deo from his homeless status at Central Park in New York and finds him an eventual home with Nancy and Charlie an older couple that ultimately pave the way for Deo to go to Columbia University and restored a level of meaningfulness to Deo’s life.  While at Columbia University “Deo enrolled in Columbia’s American Language Program, an ESL program essentially, but more rigorous than most.”Over the course of the book we are reminded of Deo’s past hardships with the Hutus and Tutsis rages of bloody violence as well as the small human like generosity that Deo received and did not receive.  A moment that leaps out to me is when Deo is about to be beheaded and is saved by a woman not once but twice, once by saying she is Deo’s mother to bridge the ethnic differences and death of Deo.  I believe this is an incredible book in which helps give one the ability to better understand ethnic differences, in addition to increasing self awareness outside of our realms.

if this brief synapse of this book doesnt make you want to be a better person both in life and in your career as a healthcare professional then you should consider a new field.