I just finished reading “There Is No Me Without You” by Melissa Fay Greene. It is amazing, and I encourage everyone reading my blog to read this book.

For those of you that don’t know Melissa, she wrote the powerful articles I wrote about in this post. Her writing has inspired many families to adopting African orphans.

“There Is No Me Without You” tells the story of Haregewoin Teferra, an Ethiopian woman who loses her husband and daughter to the AIDS crisis in Africa, and at the depth of her depression, is asked to take in a child orphaned by AIDS. Haregewoin takes in the child, and then another, and then two more, and then four more…she finds joy again in life by caring for the children that have faced losses so similar to her own.

Haregewoin’s own personal experiences, including everything from her suffering to her joy, her great successes to her reputation being ruined and her subsequent arrest, are intertwined in the book with the history of AIDS…where it came from, how it spread and what the facts are today. Melissa tells what is being done to help, and all that isn’t being done…and many factors that have led to millions upon millions of people dieing every year in Africa from the AIDS virus. She shows how much good can by done by just one person with good intentions.

Melissa also shares very personal details and stories of some of the children Haregewoin took in. How they suffered, grieved and were lost in a sea of orphaned children that the world didn’t have the time or resources to care about...how one woman was able to make a difference. The book also tells the stories of many of those same children and where their lives are now…how they have found peace in new families in a new country and thrive…how their early lives and losses are still a part of them.

There are gorgeous, detailed photos.

“There Is No Me Without You” is a story that makes you laugh and cry and get down ride angry...is joyful and heartbreaking...depressing and hopeful. It is a story of suffering and human perseverance. It is a story of the ugly side of success and politics and money. It is a story of rumors and accusations. It is a story of the strength of the human spirit. It is a story of right and wrong and all that gray in the middle. It is a story of hope and a story of love. It is an adoption story. It is a story of one woman, and yet all of Ethiopia. Most importantly, it is a true story, and it is the story of my Belane and my Benjamin and so many other children.

I couldn't read it fast enough.

Even if you think you have a good understand of the AIDS crisis in Ethiopia and what life is like in Addis right now…where these children are coming from and what they are going through… I promise that this book will give you a deeper understanding. It will educate you and touch your heart, and hopefully inspire you.

Here is my absolute favorite quote from the book. It is on page 381.

It turns out not to be very difficult for children to adapt to electricity and plumbing, a clean water supply, modern medicine, cars, groceries, paved streets, playgrounds, school, shoes, bikes, dance lessons, and loving parents. What is hard- even impossible- is for children to survive the death of their parents without loving substitutes.

For more information about “There Is No Me Without You”, Melissa, Haregewoin and ways to help, or to buy the book, you can visit the book’s website here.