There Is No Me Without You Reading Guide & Discussion Questions

Book Club Discussion Questions

Print PDF

For supplemental discussion material see our Beyond the Book article, A Short History of Ethiopia and our BookBrowse Review of There Is No Me Without You.

Please be aware that this discussion guide will contain spoilers!

These discussion questions are designed to enhance your group's conversation about Melissa Fay Greene's There Is No Me Without You, the inspiring portrait of one Ethiopian woman nurturing a young generation orphaned by the AIDS pandemic.


About this book

Haregewoin Teferra always wanted a large family, but she and her husband, Worku, were satisfied to raise their two daughters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. When Worku died suddenly, and their eldest daughter, Attetegeb, died soon after, Haregewoin retreated into solitary mourning. But a local priest begged Haregewoin to take in a vulnerable young girl, an orphan living on the streets. Six weeks later, another orphan arrived on her doorstep. Before she knew it, Haregewoin was running a full-fledged orphanage: the Attetegeb Worku Memorial Orphans Support Association.

When Melissa Fay Greene traveled to Ethiopia to adopt a child, she was stunned by the AIDS pandemic in Africa: the lack of crucial drugs for treatment, the pervasive stigma, the bureaucratic denial, the international neglect, and most of all, the staggering number of deaths, and the orphans thus left without care.  Haregewoin, hastily taking in AIDS orphan, who simply had no place else to go, watched her reputation rise and fall with each step she took in the children's interest. Faced with malicious gossip and legal repercussions, Haregewoin once again focused on her primary purpose: connecting vulnerable children with nurturing caregivers.

There Is No Me Without You is the story of  "the common experience of this [Ethiopian] generation" (276) and an impassioned reminder of what is at stake in the AIDS pandemic: the solace of family.


For discussion  

1. 1. Haregewoin typed a line from a pop song, "There Is No Me Without You" (134), and framed it with a picture of her daughters. How does this line relate to Haregewoin's family, and to her work? Why is this an appropriate title for this book?
2. Review the rescue of Mintesinot, the brave two-year-old boy whose name means "What could he not do?" (15). In what ways is Minty's story typical of his generation? What about Minty's story (which continues on pages 398 to 405) is extraordinary?
3. Greene points out the dispirited state of Ethiopian children: "If powerlessness made vulnerable the girls of Ethiopia, hopelessness made vulnerable the boys" (105). How does the AIDS crisis affect each gender differently? What are some possible solutions to counteract the powerlessness and hopelessness exposed in this book?

Unless otherwise stated, this discussion guide is reprinted with the permission of Bloomsbury USA. Any page references refer to a USA edition of the book, usually the trade paperback version, and may vary in other editions.