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The Camp
Mawi and his family are refugees from the war between Eritrea and Ethiopia. They journeyed to a camp in Umsagata in hopes to meet up with his father who left earlier to flee the war. While living in this camp and attending school, the kids would often receive a beating at the hands of their teachers for any reason and it wasn't limited to school. Violence was a big problem within this camp. The family soon adopted a stray dog in the camp after the boys were attacked by bullies. -
Coming to America
After not feeling safe in the camp the family decided to relocate the family to America but it would take two years before they left for America. Mawi's mother would not leave the camp until paperwork for his half-sister was approved. A few people in the camp feared for the families safely heading to America, feared they would forget about their culture and where they came from. -
A New Life
Mawi and his family soon realized shortly after being in America that life wasn't going to be as easy as they hoped it would be. The relief workers would take the kids out of the hotel daily to experience life in their new home of Chicago. They soon developed a close relationship with one of the relief workers named Charlene. The family referred to her an angel because she always seemed to show up just when they needed her the most. -
God's Angels
Mawi's father always taught the children to always treat strangers kindly, he said, because they could of been sent by God. -
Playground Warfare
Mawi's parents have always hammered the importance of excelling in school. By excelling in school the children could earn scholarships and attend college for free in spite of their race and background. By having a good education one day the kids would be able to survive in this new country and possibly help out their parents. -
Playground Warfare
Most classmates treated Mawi and his siblings nicely but some were just plain mean. They would get called names, pushed around, and a fight would just happen for no reason. The kids were left to defend each other against a school of racists. -
Days Of Mischief
The kids favorite holiday was Halloween. It reminded them of how they use to celebrate in there homeland. The reason the kids loved Halloween so much was that they could dress up and collect their favorite candy and play tricks on the kids that always picked on them in school. -
Libee Migbar
This chapter is mostly about Tewolde and how at the age of thirteen he went through a transformation. What their people call "libee migbar" an emotional maturity, or developing a heart. We can learn much from Tewolde. He gave of himself without asking anything in return. He took care of a homeless man, sponsored a child from Africa, took care of his family when he had barely anything for himself. It sadden me to read he was killed by a drunk driver before he graduated from highschool. -
Coffee Tales
Mawi would hide and listen to his parents recount stories of adjusting to life in America. The unanswered questions of the past would be answered when their parents would invite the neighbors over for coffee. They would talk about what they use to have when they lived in Africa, why Mawi's father left them before they reached the refugee camp, how Mawi's father was basically a doctor back in Africa and took care of everyone. Well respected in the community. He enjoyed the coffee tales. -
The Making Of A Man
I find this chapter very interesting. We learn a lot about Mawi's father Haileab. How he grew up without a father and at a very young age he also lost his mother. So Haileab had to move to the monastery and lived there for 9 years. After leaving the monastery he would travel from city to city looking for work. While he was cleaning at a clinic, he listened, lent a hand to the doctor of the clinic. He read whatever books he could get his hands on. One day he took the physician's test and passed. -
The Making Of A Man
Haileab became famous among the village folks. He would travel any distance. On foot. On mule. At night. By day. In the blistering heat of the summer. In flash floods and deep muddy water. Just to help another. His heart was big. Soon Haileab became rich and people grew jealous and it created bitter enemies. -
The Unmaking Of A Man
We find out that when Haileab comes to America he has to find a new line of work. He is not the well-respected doctor here in America like he was in his homeland nor does he own his own business or home. He has to work as a janitor at the high school. Haileab started to lose his eyesight so he was fired from his job. -
Eyeing The Mountain Top
Mawi almost gave up the dream of becoming a top student when his brother Tewolde was killed by a drunk driver. He lost a big part of himself that day but he knew Tewolde would want him to work hard to become one of the top students so he could help out his family and help himself be a better human being. Mawi did work hard he became all-conference in track became the top student of his school and went to one of the top schools in the nation. -
Eyeing The Mountaintop
Mawi was taught at an early age to welcome people in need into your home. Offer them food, drink and make them feel welcome. Treat all people with respect and find the beauty in all living things. -
Father Haileab
We find out in this chapter that Haileab has passed away before he was able to see Mawi graduate from college and we learn about what kind of man he was.