Those We Throw Away Are Diamonds: A Refugee’s Search For Home, Mondiant Dogon, with Jenna Krajeski, authors; Dominic Hoffman, narrator
The author is a “Bagogwe Tutsi, born in the Democratic Republic of Congo.” This book is his story. It is a heartbreaking tale of tragedy and treachery. For two decades, Mondrian and his family, and thousands of other refugees, were driven from their homes during the Rwandan Civil War. They were subjected to deprivation and barbarism. Those who survived, only seemed to survive because of chance. How he survived to become so successful and ambitious is, if anything, a miracle. He is motivated now, completely by his desire to help those who were less fortunate than he was and who were unable to escape the life he left behind. An enemy because he was a refugee in Rwanda, he soon became a traitor to those he left behind in Rwanda because they remained refugees without hope.
His tortured life began when he was just three years old, while living in the Congo, his first horrible memories of brutality began on the day that a Hutu neighbor and friend warned his father to run. The Hutus were coming to kill anyone that was a Tutsi. The why and the how are explained by the author, and the fact that this hatred, and these attacks, went on for decades is unexplainable to those that have no way to understand their culture and poverty. The fact that most of his family survived will defy reality, after their story is told.
After the neighbor left, they quickly packed what they could carry, including Mondrian’s infant sister. They fled. They ran and ran. Over and over, they thought they reached safety, only to be run out of their homes again. On this nightmare journey, his little sister Patience succumbed to starvation, his “Aunt” Florence was brutally murdered, his uncle and others were beheaded, his father was beaten and imprisoned for being a Tutsi refugee, and others were burned alive.
Mondrian witnessed the murder of his relatives and young friends, for years, and he was unable to prevent any of it from happening. Impoverished, starving, always in danger, he still never gave up hope of getting back to his homeland even after, alone at 12 years old, he felt it necessary to join the rebels as a child soldier in order to survive. He was called abusive names by his classmates, when he managed to go to school, because he was a refugee in rags, and was considered to be no better than a "cockroach”. Often, the members of his family were separated as one or another member searched for food, ran in a different direction, tried to find a safe haven to rest, or attempted to return home. During the two decades, his mother gave birth to more children, and eventually, they felt safe in a refugee camp, although they were not always together. Sometimes they were surprised to find someone alive.
Mondrian lived in a refugee camp in Rwanda for twenty years, always hoping to soon return to his in the Congo. Stateless, without papers, he was unable to get aid and patiently worked the system so he could, at least, get an education. Promise after promise was broken and the refugees were abandoned, although the United Nations Refugee Agenc, the UNHCR, did what it could, but it was never enough.
No matter the nightmare, Mondrian, rarely gave up hope which is why he thinks he was eventually able to escape, although he realizes that it was also good fortune and the kindness of others, the fortune and kindness not available to others. After years of trying, he finally graduated from high school. He was very proud. He also enrolled in College and eventually graduated, as well. When an offer came from a benefactor in America, to complete his education with a Master’s Degree, he immediately agreed, aghast by his good fortune, but so very grateful. The book tells the story of his journey to America, his startup non-profit business, Seeds of Hope, and his singular desire to help those of his country less fortunate than he is.
While the story is really powerful, and it will not fail to touch your heart and shock your mind, it is in need of some heavy editing because it is extremely repetitious. The title is from a poem written by the author which stresses the fact that where you come from does not determine your worth, who you are and what you achieve are the more important factors. He inspires hope.