Tag Archives: Africa

War Stories from Africa

Some people prefer something more meaty for their summer reading, so I’m slipping two non-fiction books about armed conflict in between beach, romance and mystery novels. The Boy Is Gone: Conversations with a Mau Mau General , and an older book Watching the Door: Drinking Up, Getting Down, and Cheating Death in 1970s Belfast, about the Irish civil conflict.

I just happened to be reading both at the same time. One is new, one is old, and they take place in very different places. But I could not help thinking how similar people’s motivations were in both, and what the armed conflict around them did to the participants.

Book: The Boy is Gone, by Laura Lee P. Huttenbach, NEW published in 2015 as part of Ohio University’s “Africa in World History” series.

Destination: Kenya

Mt. Kenya
Mt. Kenya. Photo by OI IO, from Flckr.com

Through the introduction and the footnotes of this book, the reader can learn a great deal about Kenya, the various people who live there, and how the land is divided between forest, farms and cities. That makes this valuable to the traveler who is brave enough to venture into a still unstable country. Although the Mau Mau is gone, the struggles continue. Safaris are apparently safe, although I wouldn’t advise shooting a favorite lion. The BBC gave this excellent Kenya travel advice to President Obama for his recent visit.

In The Boy is Gone, Laura Lee Huttenbach lets the former Mau Mau general tell his own story, gleaned from her many, many hours of recorded conversations at his home in Kenya.  This lends the book an immediacy and a tone that is unique, if sometimes rather challenging at times, since his English vocabulary is somewhat limited.

The General himself points out that English has many more words than the Kenyan languages. That means that he condenses many meanings into one English word. For instance, as the author explains in an introductory chapter, “Serious, in the General’s usage, means severe, desperate, dangerous, or brutal.”

This technique of recorded personal narrative means that we are hearing the story of the Mau Mau from an insider’s point of view. I realized that my knowledge of the Mau Mau rebellion in Kenya was all based on  news coverage influenced by the British. I had never heard from the Mau Mau, and therefore, ironically, had strong opinions about them.  As the old saw goes, the victors write history.  Today, with more points of view represented on television, and more investigative journalism in print, we might have heard both sides of the story, but in the sixties, whatever Walter Cronkite said on the evening news was the basis for our understanding of events.

The biggest misconception that Huttenbach refutes early in the book, is how besieged the British planters in Kenya were.  We saw stories of them slaughtered in their beds, farms burned, being driven from the only home they had ever known.  A footnote quoting the book Histories of the Hanged, states that most of the casualties of the uprising were native Africans, not the Europeans.

…only thirty-two European settlers died in the rebellion, and there were fewer than two hundred casualties among the British regiments and police who served Kenya over these years.  Yet more than 1800 African civilians are known to have been murdered by Mau Mau, and many hundreds more to have disappeared…

Officially, the author of Histories, David Anderson, goes on to say, official numbers of Mau Mau rebels killed in combat is 12,000, but the real figure is likely to have been more than 20,000. I do not doubt that it was a terrifying time–the Mau Mau wanted the British to be terrified enough to leave, but when it comes to actual deaths, the Africans suffered more.

We learn from the General’s recollection that those African civilian casualties were not necessarily caused by the British.  Just as the Islamic State today is murdering Muslims who do not measure up to their own ideas of purity, the most radical Mau Maus eliminated anyone they suspected of being a collaborator with the Europeans.

At first I felt a sympathy toward General Japhet Thambu as he explained the ways in which the British missionaries and then settlers and businessmen had wronged the Kenyan natives.  It is easy to understand the simmering resentment that finally brought rebellion. The General clearly is intelligent and charismatic as he emerged as a leader not only in the military of the Mau Mau but later as a leader of the tea growers alliance.

However, there were aspects of his personality that were hard to swallow. For instance, when  in the opinion of the rebels someone needed to be killed,  he made sure that someone else did the killing and he was not present so that he would not be brought up on charges later.  He differentiates between the thugs who only wanted to raise undisciplined havoc and those who were seriously fighting for freedom (a fight he compares to the American Revolution). However, he clearly is proud as he rationalizes the techniques of the Mau Mau  to appear as uncivilized as possible in order to frighten the European population. If that isn’t a definition of terrorism, I’m not sure what is.

Thambu  frequently mentions people who were his enemy, and I couldn’t help wanting to hear their side of the story. It certainly is necessary to take someone’s self description with a bit of skepticism.

Because of the format of the The Boy is Gone, we hear a side of this conflict that we never heard before, learning their motivation and that not all of them were wild blood-thirsty natives.  But within the Mau Mau we only hear one side.  Since this book is meant for students of African history, one hopes that it will stimulate more researchers to delve into the many complexities that are simplified by hearing one man’s tale.

Meanwhile if you are interested in widening and deepening your view of Africa, this is an important book to read.

Page down to the next post to see the review of Watching the Door, for another conflict with similarities.

Note:  The publisher provided a review copy of this book, which is standard practice, and does not influence my opinion. There are links here to The Boy is Gone so that you can purchase it on Amazon. You should know that I am an Amazon affiliate, which means I make a few cents on each sale.  Thank you for supporting A Traveler’s Library.

Supporting Education, Literacy, and Empowerment in Mali

Cultural Travel

By Jessica Voigts

Book Cover: How to Make an African Quilt
Destination: Mali

Book: How to Make an African Quilt: The Story of the Patchwork Project of Segou, Mali  by Bonnie Lee Black

Mali is the 5th poorest country in the world (UN Human Development Index), and has one of the world’s lowest literacy rates.

This year’s Passports with Purpose project is to raise $115,00 for buildOn to construct three schools and fund three adult literacy programs in southern Mali. Steadfast in their commitment to break the cycle of poverty and illiteracy in Mali, buildOn has sustained their school construction program in the country amidst the current civil unrest north of the capital.

Passports with Purpose is an annual event; a fundraiser by travel bloggers to help communities in need. Created in 2008, it has changed lives around the world, by building wells in Haiti with water.org, libraries in Zambia with Room to Read, houses for families in India with Land for Tillers Freedom, a school in rural Cambodia with American Assistance for Cambodia, and donations to Heifer International.

Bonnie Lee Black in Mali
Bonnie Lee Black, picture used with permission of Bonnie Lee black and Wandering Educators.

But Mali is so far away, one might note. How can we get involved? Here’s a personal story, of living in Mali and helping others. It’s an inspiration to get involved, to support Passports with Purpose and other philanthropic organizations working in Mali…

It’s one of THOSE books. You tear through it, unable to put it down. Read while cooking, eating, even postponing sleep until you just can’t keep your eyes open any more. I’m very happy to share my latest read, one of THOSE books. Yes, it’s one of the best books I’ve read all year. Written by Bonnie Lee Black, How to Make an African Quilt: The Story of the Patchwork Project of Segou, Mali is an incredible read.

A former Peace Corps volunteer, Bonnie headed to Mali and changed lives (her own, included). If you’ve ever wondered if your NGO or Peace Corps or volunteer work has made a difference, this is a book to dive into and savor. For you will recognize many common truths about working overseas – the joys and challenges, the amazing people, the interest and hard work of some to better their lives, and the powerful role that educators play in this transformation.

Women in Mali quilting
Women in Mali quilting, Photo used with permission of Bonnie Lee Black and Wandering Educators

In this book, Bonnie shares the inspiration and tracks the progress of an unusual project to help people help themselves. After working with the Peace Corps in Gabon, she headed to Mali to build a welcoming home, peaceful garden, wondrous community. She worked with young girls to teach them how to crochet plastic bags into something useful, in a class that taught hard work, crafting, and ways to make money from their work.

Teaching Mali girls to crochet
Teaching Mali girls to crochet. Photo used with permission of Bonnie Lee Black and Wandering Educators.

These Malian women’s new skills can – and will – make a difference in their lives. It’s the power of education to better lives; it’s the vision, strength, and hard work of one woman to implement change and empowerment. I can honestly say that Bonnie Lee Black is a hero – in more than one sense of the word. She knows her SELF. She works tirelessly to educate and assist others, all with a sense of humor and grace. And yes, she changes lives. As you can surmise, I highly recommend this book – it’s a treasure.

Read more about Bonnie Lee Black and her Mali project at Wandering Educators.

How to Cook a Crocodile
And see A Traveler’s Library review of her first book, How to Cook a Crocodile, here.

 

 

 

Don’t forget to check out the page where you can contribute $10 to build schools in Mali and get a chance on a fabulous prize at Passports With Purpose.

 

Note: The book covers are linked to Amazon.com.  A Traveler’s Library is an affiliate of Amazon, and during the holidays, when you are shopping on line, we appreciate your going to Amazon through our links. It costs you no more, but it helps us pay the rent on this space.

The Ultimate Exotic Journey: Timbuctoo

British Lion

Destination: London and Africa (1810)

Book: Timbuctoo (NEW July 2012) by Tahir Shah

Picture an African El Dorado where the only known metal is gold! Storehouses overflow with it, and coffers are brimming with it.  Roof tiles and cobblestones, cups and plates, buckets and bedsteads all are fashioned from that most intoxicating yellow ore!

William de Witt, British businessman, addressing the Royal African Committee in the novel, Timbuctoo

Contrary to popular belief, the roofs are not tiled in gold, nor is there a wealth of any kind, that is, what we might comprehend to be wealth.  Most of the jewellry is made from shells, taken from the river, or made from camel bone.  The houses are crafted form blocks of mud, and the majority of the townsfolk live a most squalid existence.

Robert Adams, the American, addressing the Royal African Committee in the novel Timbuctoo Continue reading The Ultimate Exotic Journey: Timbuctoo