If You're Curious About These Questions...
You should listen to this audiobook
- Have you ever wondered how a single act of kindness can transform a homeless refugee into a medical pioneer for his war-torn home country?
- What's the secret to finding the resilience to rebuild your life when everything you knew has been destroyed by conflict?
- Are you curious about how the small, everyday choices of a few good people can spark a revolution of hope for an entire community?
Listen to Strength in What Remains — Free Audiobook
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Key Takeaways from Strength in What Remains
- Learn how education and academic excellence can serve as a vital escape route from systemic poverty and political violence.
- Understand the brutal realities of the 1990s Hutu-Tutsi conflict and the terrifying speed at which political instability can force citizens into sudden, perilous exile.
- Discover how quick thinking and the willingness to pivot—even returning to a dangerous starting point—can be crucial for survival when fleeing a deadly environment.
- Find out how the support of personal networks and the unexpected kindness of acquaintances can provide life-saving opportunities during moments of absolute crisis.
- Explore the transformative power of radical compassion by learning how total strangers in a new country can help a homeless refugee secure shelter, healthcare, and a renewed future.
Learning Tools
Reinforce what you learned from Strength in What Remains
Mind Map
Strength in What Remains
Early Life in Burundi
Humble Beginnings
Education
The Burundian Civil War
Outbreak of Violence
Flight and Survival
Arrival and Struggle in New York
Escape
Homelessness
The Power of Kind Strangers
Crucial Interventions
Motivations to Help
Academic Triumphs
Columbia University
Medical School Pursuit
Returning to Heal Burundi
The Vision
Village Health Works
Quiz — Test Your Understanding
Question 1 of 6
Why did Deo feel compelled to leave the refugee camp in Rwanda shortly after escaping there from Burundi?
Strength in What Remains — Full Chapter Overview
Chapter 1: Recommendation
Chapter 2: Deo herded cows, and despite violence and injustice in schooling there, he excelled academically through it all.
Chapter 3: When the civil war erupted in 1993, Deo fled Burundi for Rwanda, and later he returned back to Burundi.
Chapter 4: Deo fled Burundi and survived his first days in New York thanks to a compassionate stranger who helped.
Chapter 5: Deo lived on the streets, but fortunately started meeting strangers who were determined to help him out.
Chapter 6: Deo enrolled at Columbia University in 1995; during his sophomore year, he learned that his parents were still alive.
Chapter 7: Deo struggled to enroll in medical school, yet that still didn’t stop him from pursuing his passion for medicine.
Chapter 8: Both the Wolf family and Sharon McKenna were inclined to extend Deo a helping hand.
Chapter 9: In 2006, Deo returned to Burundi to build a clinic in his hometown there.
Strength in What Remains Summary & Overview
Strength in What Remains (2009) tells the story of a man who, after fleeing war-torn Burundi, is able to make his dreams a reality with the help of a few kind souls. By following his story, you’ll learn all about how the small actions of a few good people can make a huge difference for a community on the other side of the world.
Who Should Listen to Strength in What Remains?
- Anyone interested in refugees' stories
- People curious about the Hutu-Tutsi conflict
- Established and aspiring philanthropists
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