Bittersweet freedom / [print]
by Hassanain Hirji-Walji.
- Eden Prairie, Minnesota : Bind-A-Book, (c)1993.
- 105 pages ; 21 cm
Includes bibliographical references.
Uganda -- My Islamic Roots -- Amin -- Blood bath -- Big daddy or big dummy? -- Flight from Uganda -- America -- Campus life -- Scream in the dark -- The living end -- Surprised by joy -- Aftermath -- Fullness of life -- Postscript -- Truth.
President Idi Amin needed a scapegoat for the financial disaster of his regime. So he turned on the 75,000 East Indian shop owners, many of them third generation Ugandans, blaming them for his economic woes. The Hirji-Walji family, devout Muslims, were caught in this squeeze. They held British passports, but Britain wouldn't accept them - nor Canada - nor any other country. Yet Amin gave them less than sixty days to leave Uganda. At the last minute, as hundreds of Asians were being hunted down and shot by Amin's henchmen, a door opened! The United States agreed to accept two thousand Asian refugees, and the Hirji-Walji family found a new home. In the almost thirteen years since this book was originally published, Hass's aim in life has not changed. To serve Christ and to proclaim his good news of forgiveness and eternal life have remained his deepest desire throughout these very rewarding years as he and his wife have reared four wonderful children. Today, Hass is the executive director of Building Bridges, Incorporated, a Minnesota non profit organization that he and several others have founded to serve those of non-Christian faiths who have come to America as students or immigrants. Bittersweet Freedom is an exciting, heartwarming story of cross-cultural love and of the power of God's word to transform lives.