Tracy Kidder is the Pulitzer Prize winning author of Strength In What Remains: A Journey In Remembrance and Forgiveness. The story is about Deo, an immigrant in New York City from Burundi. He escaped Burundi after a civil war and genocide. The Hutu's are killing the Tutsis and vice versa when actually no one can tell the difference between the two. In Burundi he was an intern at a hospital in a smaller city. Now he is in New York City with two hundred dollars and horrible memories and nightmares about the genocide. He knows no English and has no contacts. He can speak French. He met a guy near the customs area of the airport who interprets for him. The guy offers to let him stay at his place tonight if he can wait 3 hours until his shift if over. For a time Deo is living unhoused in Central Park. Eventually, with the help from people he meets on the street, he ends up studying at Columbia University. He gets his green card. Once he becomes a doctor he goes back to Burundi to start a clinic near where his parents now live. His life is dedicated to healing. This was a great story about a very resilient man.
No comments:
Post a Comment