January 2011 Archives

Charitable development organization, like FAVL, are constantly tempted to hyperbolize and tout their programs as "saving lives" or "transforming villages."  I've never been comfortable with that language; the economist in me knows that an effect of increasing reading by 27% (for example) is not "transforming a village" any more or less than Bob Marley, Bollywood, the latest Laurent Bado speech, the images from Tunisia are "transforming a village."  Any one of these might transform somebody- the spark that wakes up their conscience or compassion or competence and turns them into someone else.  But we'll never really know which one, and never really know whether it wasn't something else, and never really know whether the transformation wasn't really due to something else and the "transformer" just did the final 1% when something else did the previous 99%.  Do we need 20 years of repression to have one act of immolation transform us into political activists ready to hit the streets and stand in front of a man with a gun and argue with him?   Lots of questions for this Monday afternoon!

A month ago Charlie Casler posted on a study done in Ouagadougou street restaurants, finding very high levels of bacteria on street food.  It sounds awful, and clearly is a vector of nasty diseases like typhoid.  But... when reading the article I could not help but wonder what the metric of comparison is.  How many bacteria is a lot, when we have 1,000 trillion of them already in or bodies... And maybe we need to replenish our bacteria somehow... keep the diversity going?

Relevant to that discussion is this from Deric Bownds' MindBlog:

It dents my tidy self image just a bit when I read articles like this one from Atarashi et al. (summarized by Barnes and Powrie). A very indispensible part of my 'self' is an astounding 10^14 bacteria that reside in the large intestine alone, alongside various viruses, fungi, protozoa, and parasites, all of which can affect chronic disease progression. Lee and Mazmanian point out that:

Although microbes have been classically viewed as pathogens, it is now well established that the majority of host-bacterial interactions are symbiotic. During development and into adulthood, gut bacteria shape the tissues, cells, and molecular profile of our gastrointestinal immune system. This partnership, forged over many millennia of coevolution, is based on a molecular exchange involving bacterial signals that are recognized by host receptors to mediate beneficial outcomes for both microbes and humans....specific aspects of the adaptive immune system are influenced by intestinal commensal bacteria.

Understanding the molecular mechanisms that mediate symbiosis between commensal bacteria and humans may redefine how we view the evolution of adaptive immunity and consequently how we approach the treatment of numerous immunologic disorders.

I am teaching African Economic Development this quarter, and we just discussed in class the paper by Jessica Cohen and Pascaline Dupas that estimates (with a very small-scale experiment) the price elasticity of demand for mosquito nets: when the price goes up from zero to 50 cents, demand drops precipitously. Why people are so unwilling to pay 50 cents for something that is very beneficial, and costs $7 to produce, is one of those human mysteries that behavioral economics tries to solve. My suspicion is that in many African cases it is driven by gender budgeting decisions. Many women in African villages have no independent budgetary authority; they are not really allowed by their husbands to make spontaneous spur of the moment purchases. But our pronounced tendency to procrastinate is another problem. And it may be that something simple, like inducing a mild positive affect before the decision is presented, could make a very large difference in the outcomes. Can I give you a warm delicious cup of hot coffee before you click on the FAVL Paypal button?
 

Je viens de recevoir un coffret de livres qui nous a été envoyé par Viviana Quiñones de la Bibliothèque nationale de France, également initiatrice de IFLA Sister Libraries. Ce paquet à suivi un magnifique poster envoyé par email en mi décembre dernier. De la collection "Petites Mains", ce coffret est composé de 16 minis livres très beaux, avec des textes simples, bien écrits et des dessins magnifiques. Sur le coffret on peu lire ceci :

"Les livres de la séries Petite Mains sont crées par des personnes venant de différents pays d'Afrique, du nord, du sud, de l'est, de l'ouest et du centre. Ces livres sont faits pour être lus dans les langues parlées par les enfants d'Afrique - comme l'amharique, l'arabe, l'afrikaans, le cinyanja, l'anglais , le français, le kinyarwanda, le kiswahili, le portugais, le mandingue, le twi, le xhosa... et toute autre langue qui pourrait vous venir à l'esprit !"

Je trouve ces livres - que j'ai parcourus - très adaptés au contexte burkinabè mais surtout africain en général. En effet, les titres comme La gaminerie de Titilope, Devinettes,  Bien propre, Salade de fruits, Six petits scarabées etc. serons certainement très appréciés par nos jeunes lecteurs qui  y trouverons de quoi se régaler et apprendre.

Nous formulons tous nos remerciements à Viviana et toute son équipe pour ces précieux cadeaux que nous ferons circuler dans toutes les 8 de bibliothèques de villages  FAVL au Burkina Faso. Ainsi, les lecteurs pourront découvrir ces minis livres lors de leurs passages dans leur bibliothèque respective.

SARE Bawaya Elisée


I just received a box of books sent from the National Library of France by Viviana Quiñones, also co-creator of IFLA Sister Libraries. The package followed a wonderful poster that was emailed to us in mid December. From the collection "Petites Mains," the set consists of 16 beautiful mini books that are well written with simple text and have beautiful pictures. On the box it says:

"The books in the 'Petites Mains' series are created by people from different countries of Africa: north, south, east, west and center. These books are meant to be read in the languages spoken by the children of Africa - such as Amharic, Arabic, Afrikaans, Cinyanja, English, French, Kinyarwanda, Kiswahili, Portuguese, Mandingo, Twi, Xhosa ... and any other language that comes to mind!"

I find these books --that I've read --very appropriate to the context of Burkina Faso and especially Africa in general. Indeed, titles including "The Mischievous Titilope," "Riddles," "Nice and Clean, Fruit Salad" and "Six Small Beetles" will certainly be appreciated by our young readers who can find something to enjoy and learn from.

We express our deepest thanks to Viviana and her entire team for these precious gifts that we will circulate in all eight FAVL libraries in Burkina Faso. This way, readers can discover these mini books during their visits in each of their respective libraries.

SARE Bawaya Elisée

Accra books and things blog mentioned this book, so I ordered it through interlibrary loan.  I guess I would recommend this only for hardcore African literature readers.  It is a morality tale- one of the main characters is named Mystique Mysterious, for heaven's sake- and so just doesn't work as a novel.  A pity, because Kwakye clearly has the writing talent to tell a good story.  I hope he gets a good editor, and abandons the fluff... don't have a world of humans interacting and then a devil gliding through them, with no character.

I think if you are Ghanaian you probably have a different reaction to the novel- it speaks to you more directly.  Here is one blogger, geosireads:

This is one book you will read and enjoy. Benjamin Kwakye is one writer I respect so much for his works. He tells the major issues confronting modern Ghana and I must confess that this work is very much insightful as well as thoughtful. Reading it for a third time brought to me much joy even more than my first reading. I enjoyed this book as well as his second novel, The Sun by Night. As I am yet to read his third and most recent novel, The Other Crucifix, I will go into it with high expectations, perhaps wanting to see it surpass his previous works. The Clothes of Nakedness is Highly, Highly, Highly, Highly, Highly Recommended!

One thing, this novel, together with Wife of the Gods, and Esse Roji's wonderful Dead Men Don't Smoke Marijuana, is making me think there is a lot more marijuana in Ghana and English-speaking West Africa than in Burkina Faso! 

While Elisée, Cassandra and I were having dinner with Alain Sisao, professor at the University of Koudougou and researcher at INSS, last week, a news program came on the television in the background discussing the difficulties students were facing while registering for classes at the University of Ouagadougou.  It stimulated a discussion about the general state of higher education in Burkina, the lack of resources and the difficulties that students, professors, and the universities face.

Everyone who has finished secondary school in Burkina has read the wonderful novel, "L'aventure ambigue".  Here is a nice summary of what Kane thinks:

Il dit ne pas comprendre que "Laurent Gbagbo qui appartient au petit nombre des intellectuels arrivés à la tête d'un Etat, qui fut un militant, un opposant de la première heure au pouvoir personnel d'Houphouët-Boigny et un partisan de l'unité africaine, n'ait ni évité d'instrumentaliser les appartenances ethniques des électeurs, ni su échapper à la tentation de s'accrocher au pouvoir malgré le verdict des urnes".

Elisee, Charley and I returned from the town of Koudougou, where we made a 1h ½ long presentation on FAVL. The presentation was given to a group of Girls Education and Empowerment Peace Corps volunteers during their In Service Training (the 2 week long intensive training they do after being at site for 3 months).

Using powerpoint, Elisee described everything about FAVL and how it works. Charley and I « Peace Corpscified » it by sharing our ideas and experiences of volunteers using FAVL as a resource.

Overall the presentation went well; several volunteers expressed a lot of interest and asked a lot of questions. This is the second official presentation FAVL has made to PC volunteers. We hope they will continue over the years and help develop furthur relationships.

The recent visit to FAVL libraries that Charley and I made got me thinking a lot about libraries and their impact on the people of Burkina Faso. In village there were things that surprised us both and made us comment on a number of ways to make FAVL libraries run more smoothly and effectively. When you are from America and know what an "ideal library" should look like, it's hard not to want to transform that idea into the FAVL libraries. But obviously, doing so is difficult and not necessarily realistic in rural Burkina. Amy Reggio, a 2009 FAVL volunteer, once wrote about Bereba's library:  "The phrase, 'if you build it, they will come' feels really appropriate when I think of this library". This phrase speaks nothing but the truth. FAVL libraries offer villagers opportunities that might never have been available to them. There is no denying that they know this and take full advantage of that opportunity.

I saw several pictures that the USF professor took of libraries in Bobo (none of them FAVL). In one library, the American embassy funded an "American space," which is full of books and decorations. The rest of the library.... well, see for yourselves in the picture. The library is in the city of Bobo, the second largest city in Burkina Faso. THIS is all the books their library has to offer??!!

Heartily recommend her blog!  Great fotos to accompany the text.

We arrived at the courtyard of the newborn around noon, and were quickly funneled into a small hut - someone's bedroom it appeared, with an old wooden bed and clothes strewn about. We scrunched together on mats on the floor, taking turns stretching out our legs and then folding them up again. And we chatted. And we waited. Occasionally someone came to doorway and greet us, then walked away. And we waited some more. At one point a women handed the newborn baby through the doorway, and we passed it him around for a while. Then we waited again. Thankfully this is the cool season, but with 14 women and six small children in a tiny room with no windows, things heat up pretty fast. Flies swarming. Babies crying, and peeing, and crying some more. It's almost two now and none of us have had lunch. Most of the women just walked a dry 10 km get here, and have had nothing to drink. My filtered water has run out.

An excellent reflection from Glenna Gordon.  But I think the idea of one photo representing a complex phenomenon is kind of a non-starter to begin with.  And I don't think an  understanding of the complexity of Cote d'Ivoire is something that can be known... it *has* to be a narrative imposed by the analyst, a contingent narrative.  Too many actors are involved, and in "two kings" situations duplicity of motives and actions has to be the strategy of many, and even loyalists (to someone, to a cause) sometimes have to pretend they are disloyal, so the actors themselves do not know the strategies of others and have to infer or guess or go with intuition.  So the conceit that one is going to understand the situation is a little alarming.  Especially since acting and not-acting means being aware of the limitations of understanding at the moment one writes a blog post, snaps or distributes a photo, angers a visiting foreign negotiator, pays off a second-tier militia leader, orders a civilian killed, etc.

This is what David Campell has to say about the visual representations of the referendum in Sudan. The last paragraph is especially poignant and I think it's important to try and imagine what a photograph that captured these complexities would look like. A group of South Sudanese in heated debate, perhaps with political posters on a wall behind them framing their engaged expressions? A voter leaving a polling station with a look of dismay, confusion, or trepidation on his or her face, rather than the stock happy voter images we're seeing over and over? I'm not that either of these theoretical images, or any image for that matter, might do the trick. Perhaps this isn't the kind of complexity that can be captured through spot news photography.

In Ivory Coast, an equally complicated political situation is being widely photographed. In yesterday's New York Times, a story about civilians paying the price for political tumult is accompanied by two photographs by different photographers of dead bodies.

The question is what each photograph tells us about the politics of the situation, and the answer, I fear, is very little.

I strongly believe this has far more to do with the demands of newspaper photography and news imagery than any shortcoming on the part of the photographers. Both snappers are well established image makers who have worked in West Africa for many years and undoubtedly know far more about the politics involved than either of these images lets on

....

The photographs coming out of Sudan and Ivory Coast at the moment mainly reflect instances of these known visual codes. This is partially because they are all news photographs, which are constrained by factors like time, budget, and logistics, and partially it's because this is what newspapers think that readers want. They are documents of the situation, verification of what's happening and when, rather than explanations or commentary.

Readers, what do you think? Do these types of photos do the trick when it comes to illustrating what's going on? Or do you want to see something else? Also, can anyone point to examples of images that illustrate politics, in Africa or elsewhere, more effectively than these do?

Read the whole interview with Chinyere Agabi by EverythinLiterature here

What's your assessment of Nigeria's literary scene as regards children's literature?
It is still in a developing stage, but it is not doing badly considering the variety of home-made and interesting story books available in bookshops all over the country; considering also that the storybook writer has to compete with foreign authors whose works flood our bookshops. Last year, at Abuja, I walked into a bookshop to get some storybooks for my children and I had a big problem deciding what books to take. First, I was surprised by the vast array of Nigerian authors in the children's section of the bookshop. In my growing-up years, we had very few storybooks by Nigerian authors. The contemporary Nigerian child has a great variety of very good books by Nigerian authors in particular and African authors in general. I have also come across a couple of children's books written in very bad language. Sometimes, such books find their way into the curriculum of some States. Parents and all stake holders in children's education should never choose children's literature in a hurry or on sentiments. Generally, the literary scene can be described as encouraging.
Nigerian parents seem to prefer foreign reading materials for their children, why?
I guess it is different strokes for different folks. I assume that by foreign reading material, you are referring to books from the UK and the US. When I was growing up I read a lot of foreign books probably because my father didn't have easy access to storybooks by Nigerian authors. Parents who insist on maintaining a foreign literature base for their children often say that they are more colourful and have better paper quality; this is not always true. There is also the general belief that books from the UK and the US are written in flawless English. This is also not always true. What about content in terms of lessons to be learnt? What about relevance to the child's environment? What about relevance to the education curriculum. These should all be considered in the choice of literature for any child. It is not wrong to expose children to a variety of reading materials from any part of the world but parents must choose wisely.
Is children's literature being given the required attention in Nigeria?
I don't think so. Although the planners of education in Nigeria prescribe themes for children's literature to enable it fit into the education curriculum, publishers would only invest on books that have been approved for school curriculum and therefore have a big and ready market. The rising cost of production may also be discouraging many good writers from venturing into children's literature. Something has to be done about the rising cost of paper, non-toxic ink, and other vital printing materials. Other wise, the price of books will continue to rise and authors and publishers will continue to scramble for government approval as the only way to reach a greater number of the target audience. Meanwhile, parents should regularly visit bookshops for supplementary literature to enhance the development of good reading habits in their children.
Why do you prefer writing children's literature?
Hmm! This is one question I have had to answer at virtually every social event at which someone identifies me as the author of The golden pack, or Nwamba, or any of my storybooks that he or she has read. My answer remains the same. I prefer writing for children because it helps me relax. There is peace and relaxation in the world of children. Writing for children is also a very good and pleasant way through which I contribute to the social development of the Nigerian child. This is in addition to carrying out my responsibility as a classroom teacher which I also enjoy very much. Through my stories, I reach out to children who may not have access to me as a teacher, a mother, or a friend.

Here's Yglesias (HT:Bill Sundstrom).  Simple observation of the world suggests his argument is missing some important compoents.  Everyone in the U.S. has a coffeemaker that can make a decent cup of coffee for $.25, yet they spent 10 times as much to get it in a shop (sometimes without even sitting down- in the driverthrough!).  If you start examining every social institution through the lens of "that's dumb" pretty soon we are all just bunking in dormitories shuffling through life.  Why bother with anything?

This does make me think of some broader issues. Libraries are, along with the Postal Service, an example of a kind of public service that I think is a bit weirdly focused on 18th century technological conditions. The big idea of a library is that there's a lot of deadweight loss involved in exclusive private ownership of bigs. After all, at any given time the vast majority of privately owned books are just sitting around on bookshelves. By establishing book-sharing systems, it's possible to achieve massive efficiency gains. This can be done by private associations (to wit: universities) but it can also be usefully performed at the municipal level.

We're moving into a world, however, where there's some much juicier low-hanging fruit in the realm of book-related deadweight loss. The DC Public Library system is, wisely, getting in on the e-book game. But e-books that are under copyright come with tons of restrictions. Public domain e-books can, by contrast, be distributed essentially for free to as many people as want to read them. As of January 14, 2011 devices capable of reading e-books are basically a niche product for prosperous people but that's obviously not going to be the case forever. We're on the verge of a world where every citizen can get nearly instant access to essentially every public domain book for free.

Gratuitous snark to draw more readers to FAVL blog: I bet the Chinese "tiger mom" never took her kids to the library either. 

From the blog policy innovations (HT: Karen Monaghan).  Read full article here.

Development "success stories" are too often the exception rather than the rule. The history of development programs is rife with tales of high expectations followed by disappointment on the part of both aid recipients and donors, once-solid hopes and expectations melting into a pool of disillusionment. So when a case like Kitengesa village in Uganda comes along, where mini-grant funded projects are not only successful and self-sustaining, but also give birth to new projects that aid development, it is in everyone's interest to identify the ingredients of that successful recipe.

And a successful recipe for rural villages is certainly needed. Eighty-three percent of Ugandans reside in rural areas with 73 percent engaged in agriculture--and 34 percent live below the poverty line. As a landlocked country, with limited access to international markets, Uganda needs to look at programs that help raise living standards and promote quality of life in villages.

In Kitengesa, one of the villages of the Masaka district (population 5,000) in western central Uganda, that "recipe" started with a community library. In the year 2002, the simple mud-brick library building was constructed with a $3,000 grant from the UN Staff 1% for Development Fund. (This UN staff-supported fund, in line with ethicist Peter Singer's "Pledge," provides seed money to development projects.) The community library began providing books and newspapers to rural villagers who had had little access to reading materials before.

The show, appropriately, is called Earth Works.  Details are here.  More about my favorite photographer is here.

It is normal and lawful for every worker to at least take a reflection/evaluation of his/her work at the end of the year. This helps the worker to understand himself and his work better. It is based on this fact that I Lucas Amikiya Aligire the coordinator have taken this time to reflect/ evaluation over my work as the libraries coordinator for FAVL/CESRUD libraries in Ghana for the year 2010.

As part of my duties, I worked closely with librarians during the 2010 year in the various community libraries in Ghana to keep accurate records in terms of accounts and expenditure. Also monthly meeting for librarians were organized, which I was the chairman and issues relating to the welfare of the community libraries were always discussed. Information from FAVL/CESRUD was transmitted to librarians, and librarian concerns were also carried back to FAVL/ CESRUD board. Besides librarians monthly salaries were regularly paid by the coordinator.

The coordinator assists the librarians to organize libraries activities during the year. Both planned and surprise visits were made by the coordinator to the various community libraries through that warning letters in the case of performance of librarians were issued by the coordinator on behalf of the board to some librarians. The coordinator also participated actively during libraries committee meeting.  Training workshop were organized and conducted by the coordinator at this grounds' report writing, libraries activities, Promotion of reading culture, code of conduct and ethics of librarians among others were learned.

I also kept in touch with the librarians and the libraries user through my regular visits and work in the various libraries. This is base on my two (2) times a week visits to the libraries. I worked very hard to promote libraries and reading culture through public gathering and community meeting and events. I made a lot of travels during the year to attend libraries workshops and meetings. Meetings were organized in Bongo Beo and Bongo soa. The main purpose was about establishment of new libraries in their areas. These travels were sometimes outside the upper East Region and even outside Ghana. Through some of these travels the coordination was able to solve minor problems encountered by librarians in their daily work.

As coordinator I worked with volunteers managing their  food, water, health and everything , and this made their stay comfortable and pleasant. With the volunteers and my work the 2010 reading camp was successful.  It is because we were the main managers.  

Sending of monthly libraries reports and other information was always sent to FAVL director in the USA. I have personally read a lot of books during the year, some of them are Wife of The Gods, Sumbrungu Survival at all costs, A long way gone, Donkey Says No!, So Long a Letter, The New Great Game, Measuring time, among others.  

The above stated are some of the reflection of the Regional Coordinator during the 2010 year, More of them are there but time and space will not allow me. I will like to thank the following: FAVL BOARD, Donors, Sara Elisee and Everyone who worked so hard during the year.

Thank you.

By: AMIKIYA ALIGIRE LUCAS

Lucas Amikiya writes in from Bolgatanga:

The Coordinator of Ghana Libraries wishes to bring to the notice of the public and donors that, the Sherigu Library renovation is completed and the whole library (ie. Books, Shelves, etc) moved into the new building. The library committee and the community members are very happy that finally the library have move into the new structure which is said to be permanent place of the library.

On the 23rd on December, 2010 the youth which include the student of Gowrie - Kunkua came out in their numbers to clean the surrounding of the community library to show how much they love and cherish the library in their community. This was witnessed by the Regional Coordinator who was going for his usual visit to his surprise met the scene. The cleaning lasted 2 hours and it include dusting of the books, shelves, clearing the surrounding etc.  Besides the youth cleaning, the community members sent a delegation to CESRUD Director and FAVL board members to express their sincere thanks to board for the establishing a library in the Gowrie - Kunkua community and also organising a Reading Camp during the holidays for the kids. In their appreciation a goat was given to the Director of CESRUD and two chickens for the Regional Coordinator for the Christmas and New Year. They pledge their Support, Commitments, and Dedications to FAVL AND CESRUD board members.

Tomorrow morning Charley and I are heading down south to village for the week with Rodrigue and a visiting professor from USF.  During the trip we will show the professor the different villages and libraries but also help Rodrigue conduct a survey and inspection of the FAVL libraries.

I've been looking forward to getting back to village for a long time. They say you can take the girl out of village but you can't take village out of the girl. I haven't been in a village since Boni's reading camp in September and frankly, I miss it! Is it sad that I'm looking forward to an 8p.m bed time, eating bland tô, having no electricity and using a hole in the ground as a toilet? It will be a nice change of scenery to the traffic and dust of Ouaga.

Had the pleasure of reading while at the American Economics Association annual convention (which I spent the entirety of holed up in a hotel room interviewing new PhD economists for a position at Santa Clara).  Oddly, I knew Lethem only from his reading, for The New Yorker podcast, of Thurber's short story from 1936, The Wood Duck.  So Gun, with occasional music I can highly recommend.  It isn't great, but it is intriguing and challenging in its vision and realisation of a potboiler detective novel with a Chinatown-twisted tangle of sex, greed, power and love amidst a future Bay Area of humans addicted to "make" (blends of Addictol, Forgettol and such), evolved animals (Joey and Dulcie play big roles, I will let you figure out which animals they are), and Babyheads (I couldn't really wrap my head around them).  And of course, The Fat Man.  It's homage to noir and sci-fi at the same time.

From FAVL board member Kate Parry:

UgCLA received $23,150 in grants last year, most of which was to be passed on in one form or another to member libraries: building and installation of solar electricity for two, a set of children's books for ten, a set of health books for one together with money to run a health program, and subsidizing of two workshops for all our members. We have a further promise of $10,000 for this year and an indeterminate amount to be distributed in response to proposals from individual libraries. And, by the way, we now have more than 70 libraries on our members' list.

People are always asking questions about whether aid does any good, so I was delighted to be reminded by my friend Bruce Wydick (and co-author a long time ago!) that he and Paul Glewwe and Laine Rutledge have a nice paper tracing the impact on kids of a child sponsorship program run by Compassion International.  They study the 20 years later effects, and find them to be really large (and positive, of course!).  So give generously, but effectively, is the motto.

Thanks to all FAVL supporters and your generous donations, FAVL has a permanent spot on the Global Giving website. This means that we can raise funds for numerous FAVL projects through their website.

Charley and I have just set up four new FAVL projects:

Three of the projects are "Support an African Village Library in 2011" for the libraries of Bereba, Sara and Dohoun. The idea is for donators to support/adopt a FAVL library for the 2011 year. With each project's financial goal of $1,500, donators help acquire new books, maintain the facility, enable library activities, and provide the librarian's salary.

Charley put up a project very close to his heart : "Provide a Rural African Village Library with Books." This project will help stock the library in the village of Belehede, located in northern Burkina, where Charley was a volunteer before security issues forced him out. The community has been working hard and for a long time to establish this library. The future library, a donated building near the school, has already been refurbished. Now all that is missing is books.

Check out all four projects:

Support an African Village Library in 2011 / Sara

Support an African Village Library in 2011 / Dohoun

Support an African Village Library in 2011 / Bereba

Provide a Rural African Village Library with Books

FAVL board member
Magi Diego writes in:

My local women's book club chose Half a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie as our book of the month. I've been a member of this book club for quite a few years and we have read all sorts of books, many involving women and taking place in faraway lands. However, I think this was perhaps only our second African novel, which made it quite interesting. You see, we have a  potluck every month in which book club members are to bring a food item  mentioned in the book.  (None of us knew what Gari was for sure! )  We  ended up with several tasty soups (stews) and yams cooked many ways.  It was  fantastic. 

The book club was divided on their reaction to Half a Yellow Sun.   Many found it too gruesome and gory.  (One of our members is 8 months pregnant, and well, if you have read the book, you know it is not something that would  make for a happy pregnancy).  However, the younger bunch really enjoyed it,  perhaps because it opened up a whole new culture to us- learning about the Igbo  and the short lived history of Biafra.  Some of the older folks remembered  Biafra from the news as kids.  (Personally, I only knew it as the lead singer of  the Dead Kennedy's last name- and lo and behold, come to find out, that is where he got the name....)  Me, I loved the book.  I learned so much as well as  enjoyed a good story.  The characters could have been a bit more developed and  the relationships even more so.  However Adichie's clever juxtaposing of America Civil Rights in the 60's to what was going on in Nigeria during the same time  was what sold the book to me.  If you really find the events way off in Nigeria  gruesome, look what we Americans were doing here to each other on our own soil, in our backyard.