Beetles And Angels Sparknotes

Hard work pays off

"When the going gets tough, the tough get going" Joseph P. Kennedy. Mawi Asgedom, in his book Of Beetles and Angels, shares the story of his life filled with many difficult circumstances, but as Joseph Kennedy said, it is during the toughest times, that Mawi shows his courage and toughness. In his remarkable journey from surviving a war in Africa to a refugee camp in Sudan, a hard childhood living outside of Chicago and eventually receiving a full scholarship to Harvard, Mawi overcomes the obstacles of being a war refugee, being bullied at school and losing his biggest inspiration, his brother. By succeeding despite all of the hardships in his life, Mawi shows that no matter how difficult life can be, those who get through tough times gain strength to be successful.
Because of the war between Ethiopia and Eritrea, he moved with his family to a refugee camp when he was only three years old. It was very hard for Mawi and his family because they had to leave their home in Ethiopia, only taking with them what they could carry. “Welcome, all you refugees. All you psychologically tormented. All you physically malnourished. All you uprooted. Rest your burdens here, for you can rest them nowhere else. Rest your hopes here, for no other place will accept them” (2). Mawi endured walking through the desert in harsh conditions knowing that if he and the others stopped they could lose their lives. The refugee camp was not much better. There was not a lot of food and Mawi and his brother were regularly beaten by their