| There Is No Me Without You: One Woman's Odyssey to Rescue Her Country's Children |  | Author: Melissa Fay Greene
Publisher: Bloomsbury USA
Category: Book
List Price: $15.95
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Rating:  51 reviews
Sales Rank: 17,692
Media: Paperback
Edition: 1st
Pages: 480
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.1
Dimensions (in): 8.2 x 5.6 x 1.3
ISBN: 1596912936
Dewey Decimal Number: 362.732
EAN: 9781596912939
ASIN: 1596912936
Publication Date: September 4, 2007
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
Two-time National Book Award nominee Melissa Fay Greene puts a human face on the African AIDS crisis with this powerful story of one woman working to save her country’s children. After losing her husband and daughter, Haregewoin Teferra, an Ethiopian woman of modest means, opened her home to some of the thousands of children in Addis Ababa who have been left as orphans. There Is No Me Without You is the story of how Haregewoin transformed her home into an orphanage and day-care center and began facilitating adoptions to homes all over the world, written by a star of literary nonfiction who is herself an adoptive parent. At heart, it is a book about children and parents, wherever they may be, however they may find each other. Winner of Elle magazine’s 2006 readers’ award in nonfiction. Melissa Fay Greene is the author of Praying for Sheetrock, The Temple Bombing, and Last Man Out. Two of her books have been finalists for the National Book Award. She has written for The New Yorker, the Washington Post, the New York Times Magazine, Atlantic Monthly, Good Housekeeping, Newsweek, Life, Reader’s Digest, Redbook, Salon, and others. She and her husband, Don Samuel, have seven children, including two adopted from Ethiopia, and are in the process of adopting two more. She lives in Atlanta. A Chicago Tribune Best Book An American Library Association Notable Book of the Year A Booksense Notable Book A Christian Science Monitor Best Book A Lukas Prize Finalist When Haregwoin Teferra's husband and twenty-three-year-old daughter died within a few years of each other, her middle-class life in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, was shattered. Bereft and with little to live for, Haregwoin became a recluse. Her self-imposed exile to a hut near her daughter's grave was interrupted when a priest delivered first one, then another, orphaned teenager into her care. To everyone's surprise, the children thrived, and so did Haregwoin. As word spread, children of all ages began to appear at her modest home: an infant brought by a dying mother, an orphaned brother and sister whose grandfather was too poor to feed them, a baby left on her doorstep. Haregwoin's small compound became known as the rare place where ailing parents and impoverished families could safely leave their children. Soon Haregwoin was caring for sixty children, running an unofficial orphanage and day school, and learning first-hand about her country's and her continent's greatest challenge: the AIDS pandemic that is leaving millions of children without parents to care for them.
Melissa Fay Greene gets to the heart of the AIDS crisis. The story of Haregwoin and her children: a story of struggle and despair, but also of the triumph of saved lives, and the renewed happiness of children welcomed by adoptive parents in Ethiopia, America, and around the world. "Greene ably dons the mantle of historian, recounting Ethiopian history; and that of the science writer, exploring the origins of the AIDS virus; and of the social commentator, taking to task the drug companies and Western politicians who should have done more much sooner to help avert disaster. She writes simply and declaratively but also cleverly."—Bill Eichenberger, The Columbus Dispatch “The tragedy of AIDS in Ethiopia comes into sharp focus in Melissa Fay Greene's powerful new book, There Is No Me Without You. Greene, who lives with her family in Atlanta, tackles the terrifying truth that in 2005, Ethiopia counted among its population 1.5 million AIDS orphans. Officials estimate some 12 million children have been orphaned by HIV/AIDS in all of sub-Saharan Africa . . . Greene shares the courageous yet complex story of Haregewoin Teferra, a foster-care provider in Addis Ababa. This woman on the frontlines, Greene writes, was `an ordinary citizen, a middle-class, middle-aged woman, who suddenly found herself toe-to-toe with the worst epidemic in history.’”—Robin Michaelson, Atlanta Journal-Constitution
“Like the very best literature, There Is No Me Without You charts the human condition in all its extremes—passion and cruelty, greed and courage— through the narrative arc of an ordinary person thrust into a vortex. In this tale, the vortex is a viral plague, wrongly blamed on sex, inadvertently spread by a tool invented to eradicate disease and prolonged by an industry that chose to let people suffer and die because it would not risk its profit margins . . . This book is an extraordinary portrait of this exemplary woman.”—B.T. SHAW, San Diego Union-Tribune
"If Greene did not have such lovely (and true) stories to share, the heartwrenching facts about Africa's AIDS orphans outlined in this book would be more than the average reader could bear. The stark truth, Greene reminds us, is that 'for most of Africa's ten million, fifteen million, twenty million orphans, no one is getting a room ready. No one will come.' This is an extremely grim topic somehow shaped into a truly inspiring book. There Is No Me Without You is the story of an unlikely heroine, a squat, bossy, middle-class Ethiopian woman who paid little heed to the AIDS crisis threatening her country until it took the life of her daughter . . . Greene is a fine writer, a two-time National Book Award nominee, and There is No Me Without You is the happy occasion of wonderful and weighty material meeting a gifted narrator . . . Greene very effectively portrays a woman whose character blends great generosity with unthinking arrogance, an ordinary woman pushed into heroism by the demands of her time and situation. The book also offers heartwrenching portraits of innocent young lives in wretched distress. The description of small children wailing hopelessly for their missing parents (and this is something Haregwoin faced daily) is beyond devastating. But there is a rich reward for readers—and Haregwoin—as a few of the cases that seem most hopeless meet with breathtakingly happy endings. For anyone concerned about children's issues, anyone who has ever considered international adoption, or those of us who simply like to believe that one individual can shine a healing light in the dark, this is a story not to be missed."—Marjorie Kehe, The Christian Science Monitor "Greene's book is important because she swings skillfully from the microstory in Teferra's compound to the global story of AIDS, tucking in a lucid skim of Ethiopian history and plenty of data from the 'speakathons' of international AIDS conferences . . . The book concludes with a unique adoption, told in an unexpected sequence of remarkable beauty and power. It answers some key questions, and left me gasping."—Karen Long, The Plain Dealer (Cleveland) "In 2000, journalist Melissa Fay Greene read about the African AIDS pandemic in The New York Times: 12 million orphans in sub-Saharan Africa already and 25 million to 50 million predicted by 2010. The 'ridiculous' numbers, according to Greene, raised a question she couldn't get out of her head—a question that eventually led to her book, There Is No Me Without You: 'Who was going to raise 12 million children?' Related questions make up one of the most poignant and poetic passages in a harrowing, beautiful book. . . . Greene ably dons the mantle of historian, recounting Ethiopian history; and that of the science writer, exploring the origins of the AIDS virus; and of the social commentator, taking to task the drug companies and Western politicians who should have done more much sooner to help avert disaster. She writes simply and declaratively but also cleverly."—Bill Eichenberger, The Columbus Dispatch "The horrific numbers behind the AIDS pandemic in Africa, 'the most terrible epidemic in human history,' have little resonance for most people in the West: 'the ridiculous numbers wash over most of us.' But this searing account humanizes the statistics through heartbreaking, intimate stories of what it is like for young orphans left alone in Ethiopia. Greene's story focuses on one rescuer, Haregewoin Teferra, who has opened her home and compound in a rickety hillside neighborhood of Addis Ababa and taken in hundreds of the untouchables thrown in the streets and left at her door. She cannot turn them away. Yes, the comparisons with Mother Teresa are there, but this is no hagiography; the middle-aged Teferra is 'just an average person with a little more heart.' Greene tells the stories in unforgettable vignettes of loss, secrecy, panic, stigma, and, sometimes, hope, even as she documents the big picture of 'the human landslide,' the history and science of epidemiology and transmission, and expresses her fury at the 'crimes against humanity' of the multinational drug companies whose expensive patents have denied millions access to the life-saving medicines. Just as moving are the personal stories of international adoptions in the U. S., including two Ethiopian children taken into Greene's own Atlanta family. The detail of one lost child at a time, who finds love, laughter, comfort, and connection, opens up the universal meaning of family."—Hazel Rochman, Booklist "Not unlike the AIDS pandemic itself, the odyssey of Haregewoin Teferra, who took in AIDS orphans, began in small stages and grew to irrevocably transform her life from that of 'a nice...
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Showing reviews 1-5 of 51
WARNING: Please Read Before Starting This Book! September 15, 2006
Kategal (New York, USA)
62 out of 63 found this review helpful
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.
A REMINDER OF THE GENEROSITY OF THE HUMAN HEART September 17, 2006
Gail Cooke (TX, USA)
31 out of 31 found this review helpful
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
Wow! Don't miss this one! September 10, 2006
Mary Ostyn (Pacific Northwest)
24 out of 24 found this review helpful
As the mother of two Ethiopian daughters I found this book to be incredibly interesting and touching. The statistics about the problem of AIDS in Africa are jawdropping. But the heart of the book is the story of this woman and the children she helps.
Though non-fiction, the book reads like a novel. I read it cover to cover in two very long evenings. A week after I finished it, I was already thinking about reading it again. Except I also wanted to share it with everyone I know-- what a dilemma! I may be buying another copy or two.
Read this book for yourself. You will be entertained. Your heart will be touched. And your view of the world will be broadened.
A World-Changing Book I hope! September 5, 2006
Susan PD (Troy, NY)
18 out of 18 found this review helpful
I completely agree with the first reviewer's comments. Ms. Greene manages to tackle a topic that reduces many of us to despair and hopelessness with grace, clarity, and even wit. More than any other book I've read on the AIDS crisis, this one is a real page-turner too. The compelling tale of Haregewoin Tesferra, a reluctant and flawed heroine, should engage anyone who cares about the fate of the most vulnerable children on the planet--those orphaned when their parents succumb to HIV/AIDS because no treatment is available to the vast majority of African victims. Ms. Greene doesn't let anyone off the hook for this monumental global injustice but she does suggest ways that every single one of us can be part of the solution. With her engaging descriptions of individual children among the 12 million or so estimated AIDS orphans, the author makes them as real as the children who sit at my breakfast table complaining about the brand of breakfast cereal available. This terrific book deserves a huge audience--and I'm going to start with my own teenage children!
A Life-Changing Book September 5, 2006
Andrea (Atlanta, Georgia)
16 out of 16 found this review helpful
I don't know about you, but I am not one of those people who looks at the vast problems of Africa, Orphans and the global spread of AIDS and says, "Yeah. I can wrap my mind around that."
Yet after coming across THERE IS NO ME WITHOUT YOU, an incredible book about this very subject, I feel differently. It was the subtitle, "One woman's odyssey to rescue Africa's Children" that made me brave enough to crack open such a tome. Anyone can relate to one person's story, one person's desire to rise above the self. The author is clearly a person who thinks about community, her journalist instincts mingling with a mother's compassion when she read of the "ridiculous number" of African orphans---twelve million and counting. "Who is going to raise twelve million children?" she wondered, and went to find out. She found this widow in Ethiopia, Haregewoin Teferra, who dealt with grief by taking in children no one else wanted-one, and then a few, and then a staggering amount--and still counting. The author, Melissa Fay Greene, has even adopted some Ethiopian children herself, in addition to her own four kids.
Yet if this was just a sweet book about loving mothers across the continents I don't think it would still be haunting me and spurring me to some action. Greene weaves throughout this
amazing tale the larger story of how this all happened---the global spread of AIDS, the attempts to stop it, the horrid inequities. Right now in western countries a relatively healthy person living with AIDS is popping some pills that would save the life of an African who doesn't know such medicine exists, couldn't obtain it if she knew it was out there, and will die due to this cold, hard fact. Whose fault is this? Greene makes it clear---drug companies, complicit governments (no U.S. administration, republican or democrat, gets off the hook here), and a myriad of logistical complexities.
But here's the thing: this book is not depressing. The writing is lively, even witty, with tons of great stories. This book is about love, and investment in children, an original tale of good, imperfect people doing what they can. You meet these vulnerable, tough little kids,so much like kids anywhere, you understand a beautiful faraway culture, and you think about what you can do. I reiterate:this book isn't depressing---not because the calvary comes and saves the day in the form of this smart author or her noble heroine---but because you get the sense that we're the calvary. I've already done one small thing about this, yet for a country with so much need, it feels huge. So many fights these days seem not worth fighting. You read THERE IS NO ME WITHOUT YOU and you're just so happy to find a reason to get on the horse.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 51
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