A Man of Good Hope

A Man of Good Hope by Jonny Steinberg

Asad Abdullahi is an eight year old boy when armed militias attack his home in Mogadishu and he begins a journey that most of us cannot comprehend. His father is missing and his mother is killed by the invading militia men, so Asad is left in the care of an uncle. As he and his uncle flee Mogadishu, they are attacked again and he is separated from his uncle.  Asad is shuffled between refugee camps in Somalia and Ethiopia and cities like Nairobi where he lives with distant relatives and is eventually abandoned at the age of about seventeen.

Asad becomes quite resourceful in finding ways to survive and eventually ends up in the Capital of Ethiopia, Addis, where he becomes quite successful as a broker between thousands of Somalia refugees and the businessman there. Eventually, the search for a better life leads him to South Africa, where there are opportunities to make money, but it is very dangerous to be a Somalia refugee.

This is an amazing story of survival and ingenuity. It is hard to imagine the life of a refugee in Samalia and Asid's instinct to survive and continue forward in this journey of life is inspiring.