Barry student and Resident Assistant Joseph Minani inspires, informs, and intrigues in his brief Instagram video promoting his new book, The Mindset of a Refugee. It’s a personal and creative endeavor. The author lived as a refugee in Camp Lukole, Tanzania, after his family fled Burundi and Rwanda to escape a genocide.
Now a computer science major at Barry, he aims to shine a light on the many contributions refugees, like himself, offer American society. “I want to contribute to this world, and for me, I thought about how far I have come from living in a refugee camp to being on a college campus and having all the resources that I need to create a future,” Minani says. “I thought about the rest of the people left behind, displaced.”
After 12 years in the US, he decided to write this book, which blends research and literature. He interviewed community leaders, refugee mental health consultants, members of the War Commission of Human Rights, and refugees from around the world. “I want to tell the world that we can invest in refugees, we can uplift this community of determined, resilient, hopeful, compassionate, survivors of life’s tragedies with the potential to change communities, nations, and the world for the better,” he says.
Minani’s talents and social contributions expand beyond his writing. He also plays intramural soccer and went on Barry’s alternative spring break to the Bahamas to help rebuild a school led by a Barry graduate.