Tears Run Dry PDF Download

Recounts the author's life as the son of Rwandese Tutsi refugees living in Uganda. With his grandfather's help he explores injustices he faced at school and around the village. At the peak of a civil war between the Uganda People's Congress and the National Resistance Army, Patrick is kidnapped by a defecting NRA soldier. Believing that he is acting in the best interest of his tribe and family, Patrick joins the National Resistance Army (NRA) when he is 14 years old. Injured during training, he returns home. Realizing that he must develop both physical and mental strength he moves to Kampala, the capital city, to attend high school, living at first with an abusive, alchoholic uncle. After the sudden death of his father, Patrick is faced with the burden of functioning as the head of his family. He uses his scholarship funds to support them, but that is not enough. Deep in debt, Patrick must find a job to continue to feed his mother, siblings, and grandparent. Determined to get out of poverty, he sells all his belongs and the family's last cow and migrates to the United States. After a few years of earning his veterinary licensing, Patrick is soon thriving in his new home. He then makes a journey back to Africa to show his children their roots, to see how his success has transformed his family and the tribe.