BOOK REVIEW: Strength in What Remains

Geography is not one of my strong points nor would I ever win in the category of international politics. I had never heard of the country Burundi nor had any idea of the wave of genocide that took place there in the early 1990’s. Pulitzer Prize winner author Tracy Kidder’s STRENGTH IN WHAT REMAINS not only made me aware of the horrors of that time in Burundi, but introduced me to some of the people who lived through it.

Deogratias has arrived in the United States with two hundred dollars, no friends and no English. He had escaped the horrors of his native Burundi through a series of what could only be called miracles. He had been a medical student with good grades and a bright future.

In New York he found himself homeless and at times in situations as dangerous as the ones that he had left back home. The only job that he could find is delivering groceries, but fortune brings him to the notice of several people who help him get on his feet.

One of the people that he meets is Doctor Paul Farmer. Doctor Farmer was instrumental in organizing Partners in Health and a personal hero of mine. His influence helped to open more doors in the medical field for Deo and gave him the means to eventually follow up on his dream of opening a health clinic in Burundi.

Deo also came to the attention of Tracy Kidder and he brings us to the heart of the story. Over time, the author was able to get Deo to open himself to talk about the horrors that he had lived through. In time, they were able to make several trips back to Deo’s native village. On a pilgrimage that followed Deo’s journey to stay alive, we,too, are subjected to the atrocities that happen in parts of the world that we never notice

STRENGTH IN WHAT REMAINS is a brutally honest book, but Tracy Kidder has the talent to keep the reader involved.  Kidder gives us real, live heroes, heroes who should grace the covers of our magazines. I first became aware of Paul Farmer in Kidder’s Mountains Beyond Mountain. (This book should be on everyone’s must read list.) Now and then his name will appear in a buried article about brave and dedicated people of our times and I feel that I am reading about an old friend. I will feel that way about Deogratias as well’

It is important today that we know that atrocities are happening in parts of our world, in countries that have no commercial importance to the United States - those countries we seem to be aware of. We need to also know that there are many of us who have the courage not only to be survivors, but to do their part in helping to make the situation a little better. Tracy Kidder helps us to know some of these people.