PTPI Blog

Question answered by Karen DeIulis Hoch, Managing Director, Americas Region and Conferences for PTPI

Boys in Burundi. Photo provided by Village Health Works.

7. Deo asked at one point “why was I saved?”.  What qualities do you think Deo possessed that enabled him to survive his journey.  Do you think if you were in his place you would have the same outcome?

I believe it is a combination of traits that contributed to Deo’s survival.  He had amazing courage and strength to endure what he did in Africa as well as in New York.  When many people would have given up, Deo’s tenacity kept him going.  He pushed ahead and took advantage of opportunities when presented.  In the beginning, these seemed far and few between, but he persevered with the help of others.  Most importantly, he had hope.  Hope for a better place, a better life, a better situation, and for the safety and health of his people.

Initially, I think my answer would be no, I don’t think I would have survived the constant obstacles that Deo faced.  But, after more thought I feel differently.  I strongly believe in God’s will for things to happen as they should.  Deo was meant to survive.  He was given the strength and the will to live.  By doing so has helped countless people through his organization Village Health Works. I believe that should I have been in Deo’s shoes, it would be my faith that would have kept me going, providing me with the courage to continue my journey.

The opinions expressed by PTPI staff and other book club members are entirely their own and are not necessarily the views of  People to People International or that of PTPI’s Officers, Board of Directors and Board of Trustees.

Question answered by Verena Denk, Program Associate and European Youth Director at PTPI’s European Office

6. Discrimination is a prevalent topic  within this book.  Cite some examples that Deo experienced.  Have you experienced any similar actions where you find you can relate?

When Deo was a little boy, he tried to understand what “Hutu” and “Tutsi” meant, but nobody really wanted to answer him. He repeated a definition of “Tutsi” he had heard, but his further scolded him “This is prejudice. Shut up! Who is teaching you this?” Deo discovered that it was quite difficult to distinguish Tutsi from Hutu. None of the stereotypes seemed to work. Regardless, Tutsis were slaughtered by Hutus and Hutus by Tutsis in Burundi and Rwanda a few years later. Deo managed to escape the genocide, but in New York, he also faced discrimination in different forms and from different groups of people. Among his co-workers in the store, he was discriminated against because of his poor English and his “weakness.” Since he was obviously poor and had a low social status, he was discriminated against by the clients he made deliveries to. Later as a student, he was threatened for being a Tutsi, apparently by Hutus.

Like New York City, Berlin is a multicultural city. Stereotypes, prejudice and discrimination are definitely present here. Only last week, I organized a workshop in a high school here in Berlin. When I asked the students about own experiences with discrimination, I was surprised about the great number of shocking stories they had to tell. In multicultural societies, the problems are probably more obvious. In more homogeneous societies, the problems might be more subtle. Nevertheless, discrimination occurs everywhere and in every age group because it is always possible to find people who are “different” from the majority. To fight discrimination, we can only start with ourselves, monitoring our own thoughts, words and deeds. When we have the chance, we should protect others from discrimination. In my opinion, the key is to think of differences as enriching and not as threatening. What a party if we managed to celebrate diversity!

The opinions expressed by PTPI staff and other book club members are entirely their own and are not necessarily the views of  People to People International or that of PTPI’s Officers, Board of Directors and Board of Trustees.