Imagine coming from a new country alone, escaping a war and a genocide, learning a new language and having nowhere to stay. Many immigrants from Burundi or other countries can relate to Deo’s story in a book called Strength In What Remains by Tracy Kidder. These book is a nonfiction story about a third year medical student, Deo, twenty four years old immigrating to New York City with a business visa card in the United States Of America with no family, no place where to stay, running away from the genocide, only speaking French and passing cold nights in Central Park of New York City. Deograticias immigrated from Burundi, Africa to New York in 1994, because it was his only way out to survive from the genocide time period a period, when the …show more content…
For example, when Deo was in the Mutaho Clinic doing his first internship as a medical student, Deo had a patient whom brother came to take his ill brother out of the clinic. While the patient’s brother was taking his brother, he let Deo know that the Hutus were coming to killing all the Tutsi after Deo ask why he was taking him if he did not release his permission on leaving. Another example, is when a Hutu mother helps out Deo by lying to the Hutu military Deo is her son, but the Hutu military do not believe her and put a black band around Deo and sends him to the second group where he was going to be interrogated more to see if he was a Tutsi; therefore, the Hutu woman unties the knot and tells him to run. Finally, Jean wealthy friend of Deo in medical school,and Jean’s father provided a business visa, two hundred dollars, and a flight ticket to New York so Deo could escape from Burundi. Although the individuals each contribute in a different way to Deo’s survival in Burundi to escape from all the tragedy that was happening, Deo should be thankful with those individuals because his survival was with the help of them to escape from Burundi and leave to New York and start from zero. While Deo got help from strangers, he was still in paranoid status and could not trust anybody around him and had to adapt to a …show more content…
In this case Deo met Sharon, a young lady, while delivering groceries to a church, her name is Sharon McKenna, a nice lady who help out Deo throughout his worse days in New York City. Deo also, felt like if Sharon had a piece inside of her that reminded him of his family members when she was around him. For example Deo describes his feeling when he is around her “Sharon was like the brother you fought with for your share of the blanket at night and thought you never wanted to see again, you hate him so much, and then felt so glad to find in the morning lying on the mat beside you. More to the point, she was like a mother, who couldn’t stop worrying about you, who couldn’t help reminding you that you still need her help, which was infuriating because in fact you did” (Kidder 55). Sharon’s attitude towards Deo was like protecting him like if he was her child or a lost puppy that needed to get stronger to get where he wants to get even though, Deo had a hate and love feeling towards Sharon, and wanted to stop seeing her he knew he need her just like he need his mother. For Deo having someone around him that reminded him of his own family like Sharon was a positive image for Deo to reflect on why he immigrated to New York, so he