Imagine Africa. Imagine your mother getting sick. Your mothers boyfriend is dying alone starved and filthy under an old wagon in the street. Everyone is afraid to go near him. Dirty rumours circulate about your best friend...willing to do anything for money. You try to keep it together. To stay strong and keep your family together and you dream about your future...
"I peek inside the Internet cafe next door. Last week I saw Esther at a keyboard. I thought I was hallucinating. There she was in her bright orange flip-flops and her secondhand sequined halter top, popping gum and clicking the mouse. "
"What are you doing here?" I asked.
"Getting my e-mails," she replied smugly.
"I laughed in her face. There's a computer in the main offic at school, and we've all been taken down to see how it works, but the idea of using one in real life seemed as bizarre as flying to Mars. "
"She winked and showed me her collection of business cards. "They're from the tourists who take my picture," she bragged. "When I'm bored, I send them e-mails. Sometimes they write back. If their friends are coming to town, for instance."
"If their friends are coming to town?"
I couldn't put this book down. I read it in one day. I think it should be in the curriculum - say, grade eight. If you want a glimpse into AIDS in Africa in a way that makes it real, that makes it heartbreaking and yet not hopeless, this is the book for you. This is one of the biggest issues in the world today and this books takes stigma, cultural beliefs, village life, witch doctors, fear, ignorance, love -- and rolls it all into one big story, rich and full of truth.
No comments:
Post a Comment