Wars, conflict, and persecution are all some of the biggest problems world wide. According to TheRefugeeProject.org in 1994 the number of refugees displaced in their country or having fled inernationally took a turn to “over 15,000,000”. Mawi Asgedom was one of these refugees that experienced a lot of struggles. In the memoir Of Beetles And Angels Mawi tells his own difficult but inspiring true story of being born in Ethiopia having to leave to go to a refugee camp in Sudan because of war and then fleeing to America at only the age of 7 years old. Mawi overcame the obstacles of poverty, racial discrimination and loss of family which motivated him to work hard to become successful.
The first obstacle Mawi overcame was poverty. One way he overcame this was by the help of his track coach Jim Martin. “For each of the next four years, he paid for my training shoes and racing spikes. Sometimes he even took me shopping for school clothes ----- without telling anyone.”(pg 115). As Mawi also said “an act of kindness can go a long way”( ) This act might have been little one but it really helped Mawi focus on other stuff like school and not having to worry about another difficulty. Coach Martin gave him a great opportunity because he had less …show more content…
“We may have not understood their words , but we always understood the meaning behind their laughter “African booty scratcher scratch that booty! Black donkey you're so ugly! Why don't you go back to Africa where you came from?”(pg34). This is an example of how Mawi and his brother Tewolde were discriminated against. Earlier on Mawi’s parents told him and his siblings that ”We could do anything if we worked hard and treated others with respect. And we believed them”.(pg 34). Mawi took his parents advice and ignored the other kids and treated them with respect. Which motivated him to work hard like his parents
The first obstacle Mawi overcame was poverty. One way he overcame this was by the help of his track coach Jim Martin. “For each of the next four years, he paid for my training shoes and racing spikes. Sometimes he even took me shopping for school clothes ----- without telling anyone.”(pg 115). As Mawi also said “an act of kindness can go a long way”( ) This act might have been little one but it really helped Mawi focus on other stuff like school and not having to worry about another difficulty. Coach Martin gave him a great opportunity because he had less …show more content…
“We may have not understood their words , but we always understood the meaning behind their laughter “African booty scratcher scratch that booty! Black donkey you're so ugly! Why don't you go back to Africa where you came from?”(pg34). This is an example of how Mawi and his brother Tewolde were discriminated against. Earlier on Mawi’s parents told him and his siblings that ”We could do anything if we worked hard and treated others with respect. And we believed them”.(pg 34). Mawi took his parents advice and ignored the other kids and treated them with respect. Which motivated him to work hard like his parents