There Is No Me Without You: One Woman's Odyssey To Rescue Africa's Children
 | Average Customer Rating: Recommend My book about Mrs. Haregewoin Teferra, the story of a remarkable woman who opened her doors to Addis Ababa's orphaned children, is finished, but the vast landscape of the orphaned children flows on. On a recent return visit to Addis Ababa, I found I could not lay aside the impetus to see and to understand, the impetus to try to act, to try to bear witness. Product details and pricing info |
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40 Customer Reviews Posted
- Heartbreaking, powerful & moving
- For years, I have thought about adopting a child from Africa, and this book confirmed for me that this is something I will, and need to do in the near future. This book was heartbreaking, heartfelt, and also showed the power of what simple woman with endless love in her heart can do. Haregewoin Teferra is a true angel here on earth - she took in orphans, some of them infected with HIV, in a country where such a disease is stigmatized. She overcame her own personal heartbreak over losing her husband and daughter and transformed that pain into something amazing and beautiful. She is a true inspiration to me. To hear the statistics of poverty and disease in Africa is mind-boggling. It humbles me and makes me want to do more. We should all want to do more.
- 2006-10-10, 10 of 10 people found this review helpful, Rated:
- Fantastic page turner
- First, a confession: My family, joined together through adoption, is mentioned in this book. I admit to wanting to like this book, beginning to read with a certain prejudice, wanting the book to be good. Instead I discovered that Melissa Fay Greene's latest book is fantastic, a page turner, a book that I began one night and then continued to read into the wee hours, finding myself unable to put it down. You will laugh, you will cry, you will be amazed and depressed and convicted and yet you will be so glad you read this book.
- 2006-09-22, 10 of 10 people found this review helpful, Rated:
- A REMINDER OF THE GENEROSITY OF THE HUMAN HEART
- Haregewoin Teferra's story is precisely what the world needs to hear - a powerful reminder that one person can make a difference. As read by voice performer Julie Fain Lawrence this story is straightforward and true. While it would have been easy for the actress to lapse into sentimentality she never does so, speaking strongly, courageously, which certainly befits the life of Haregewoin.
A resident of Ethiopia, Haregewoin was devastated when she lost both her husband and her 23-year-old daughter within the space of five years. How does one react when everything in life they hold dear is taken from them? She became a recluse, isolating herself in a tin walled compound close to her daughter's grave. It was as if there was nothing on earth left for her and she was simply waiting to die.
All of this changed when a priest brought a teenager, orphaned by the horrifying AIDS pandemic that is sweeping their country, to Haregewoin. Then he brought another. As she began to care for these young ones her life changed and so did theirs.
It didn't take long before it was known that Haregewoin offered a haven for the lost - a baby was left at her doorstep, a grandfather gave up grandchildren he could not afford to feed, a young boy whose mother had died and whose father was terminally ill. Soon, there were sixty children in her care. A mighty task for a middle-aged 4' 8" tall woman. Yet she rose to it and more - she did so gladly, heroically.
Yes, this is a tragic story in many ways but it is also a hopeful one, a reminder of the resiliency of the human spirit and the generosity of the human heart.
- Gail Cooke - 2006-09-17, 26 of 26 people found this review helpful, Rated:
- WARNING: Please Read Before Starting This Book!
- I have a few suggestions for those of you about to begin "There is No Me Without You."
First, do not attempt to read this book while having coffee and hot chocolate at Starbucks with your ten year old son. You will cry. He will be mortified.
Second, do not read the chapter about Haregewoin's daughter, Atetegeb, right before you drift off to sleep. Your dreams will certainly be haunted and unsettling. In your insomnious state, you will find yourself at the bedsides of your own children, gratefully watching them sleep and breathe.
Finally, do not so much as open the first page if you are facing any pressing deadlines or tasks (taking care of your children, for instance). Your laundry WILL pile up. Your children WILL go to school having eaten cookies and chocolate milk for breakfast. Your dog WILL look at you pleadingly to finally feed him, because you WILL NOT be able to put this book down.
I felt it only fair to warn you. - 2006-09-15, 25 of 25 people found this review helpful, Rated:
- An Everyday Hero
- When faced with the overwhelming nature of AIDS/HIV in Africa, we sympathize, shake our heads, and discount the idea there's anything substantial we can do about it. It's so uplifting to read how one woman, without a thought or even knowledge of the overwhelming nature of a problem, just started doing what she felt to be right and how that took on a life of its own and has provided so many children hope. This book is wonderful as not only an engaging biographical account of a hero, but also as a general overview on the AIDS pandemic in Africa and its effect on Africa's children.
- 2006-09-12, 14 of 14 people found this review helpful, Rated:
