Gratitude in Low Voices: A Memoir

Written by Dawit Gebremichael Habte

Narrated by Benjamin Alfred Onyango Ochieng

Dawit Gebremichael Habte fled his homeland of Eritrea as a teenager. In the midst of the ongoing Eritrean-Ethiopian war, Dawit and his sisters crossed illegally into Kenya. Without their parents or documents to help their passage, they experienced the abuse and neglect known by so many refugees around the world. But he refused to give up. He stayed resilient and positive. Journeying to the United States under asylum—and still a boy—he found a new purpose in an unfamiliar land.

Against impossible odds, he studied hard and was accepted to Johns Hopkins University, eventually landing a job as a software engineer at Bloomberg. After a few years, with the support of Michael Bloomberg himself, Dawit returned to his homeland to offer business opportunities for other Eritreans. He found a way to help his ancestral land emerge from thirty years of debilitating war. Gratitude in Low Voices is about how one man was marginalized, but how compassion and love never abandoned him. It’s about learning how to care for family and how to honor those who help the helpless. The life of a refugee is hard, and the lives of those in war-torn lands are harder still. This account reminds us that hope is not lost.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Dreamscape Media Audio
• Release date: Aug 5, 2019
• ISBN: 9781974974498

Dawit Gebremichael Habte

Dawit Gebremichael Habte is an Eritrean American father, husband, software engineer, and writer. Raised in a tiny village in Eritrea, he fled to Kenya as a teenager and then sought asylum in the United States. His story has been featured in The New York Times and other notable publications. He currently works for Bloomberg and lives with his wife and five children in Maryland.

Reviews for Gratitude in Low Voices

[Tesfagabir · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

One of the best books I have ever read that inspired me on my life. Thanks Dawita for writing it.

[bettytaylor56 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Habte’s story is one of strength through desperation. When one is truly desperate s/he struggles for the strength to escape and survive the situation.Habte’s story is one we hear little of in the news. For years Ethiopia has been trying to overtake the small country of Eritrea. Most people have not even heard of the country of Eritrea. In the summer of 1978 Habte, his brother, and two sisters began their escape from their homeland. Their perilous journey took them to Sudan and Uganda and finally to Kenya. There he applied for refugee status. He received a work-permit and permanent residence. After a little over a year they were able to apply for sponsorship to come to the US. Through a lot of hard work and good connections he was able to get a scholarship to John Hopkins University, resulting in a job at Bloomberg as a software engineer. But he never forgot an old time-tested Eritrean saying, “To those who have done you favors, either return the favor or tell others about their good deeds.” With that in mind, Habte eventually returned to his country to offer others business opportunities.I truly admire the courage and determination Habte had. It made me more aware of the difficulties encountered by refugees. Each day on the journey is dangerous and exhausting physically and mentally. Many leave their homes with nothing. At each stop along the way they have to find a way to procure food and the basic necessities. Many are jailed and/or abused at some point along the journey. I gave the book four stars for two reasons. First, his story is told in a disassociated manner. He detached himself from his emotions. I feel this prevents the reader from really relating to his situation. But the main reason is that over half of the book goes into detail of the history of the country and the many conflicts there. Only then does the story focus on him and his family. If you know little of this region of the world and their conflicts, it is well worth reading. There is no doubt that Habte is an exceptional young man who never gave up and never forgot his homeland. The acts of kindness he encountered he then returned to others.