Over and over I hear the phrase ‘sense of entitlement’ used by the older generation (my generation) about the younger generation. The older generation sees many instances in which the youth of today exhibit feelings that they are entitled to things: expensive cars, elaborate homes, the latest styles in clothing. Entitled to things and privileges that their parents worked a lifetime for. After all, these young folks deserve it, don’t they? Why shouldn’t they have it?
I would like to pit any one of these entitled youth against Deo to see who would last the longest.
Deo who for six months hid from the violence, the mayhem, and the murder that was happening around him in 1993 in his country of Burundi. For six months, he fled from place to place, eking out a meager existence, hiding in the forest, following steams and rivers, and avoiding people for fear of being killed. Six months of seeing mounds of dead bodies, of smelling the breath of death. Six months with little to eat that left him a gaunt skeleton — a person who resisted sleep because sleep brought nightmares.
This book tells the true story of Deogratias who was a third year medical student in Burundi. He managed to escape the ethnic violence in his country and flee to New York City. Deo (as he is called) delivered groceries for a paltry wage and slept in Central Park. He was taken in by Charlie and Nancy, learned to speak English, and graduated from Columbia University. Deo crossed paths with Paul Farmer (as written about in the book Mountains Beyond Mountains) who sponsored Deo when Deo was accepted into Darkmouth Medical School.
Oh, and by the way, Deo became a United States citizen.
He has paused in his medical studies to return to his village to build a health clinic as a mark of his forgiveness for those who had tried to kill him and a sign of hope for Burundi’s future.
In May 2010, Deo was honored at the Voices of Courage Awards in New York City for his work in providing health care to refugee women and children.
I highly recommend that you read this amazing book.
And, get down on your knees and thank God for all of the bounteous blessings in your life.