Deogratias (Deo)

Deo is a young African man, a refugee from the ethnic civil wars in Burundi and Rwanda in the early 1990’s. His several journeys are the focus of the narrative’s two parts. Part One focuses on his journeys from war-torn Burundi to unwelcoming New York, and from impoverished childhood to a young adulthood of almost achieving a life-long dream. Part Two focuses on a single journey with two components – a physical journey into significant places in Deo’s life, and a psycho-emotional journey into the memories associated with those places. Underpinning the narratives in both parts are developments and considerations in a core aspect of Deo’s personality and ability to survive: his almost unshakable belief in a life beyond what his circumstances and superficial identity seem to suggest are his only options.

As part of his first-person narrative of Part Two, the book’s...