Travel to Democratic Republic Of Congo

The Ponds of Kalambayi: An African Sojourn

Format: Hardcover
Author: Mike Tidwell
ReleaseDate: September, 1990
Publisher: Lyons Pr
Rating:

Great Book
Contrast this book with the Village of Waiting (George Packer) and you'll see what I mean. As a returned Peace Corps volunteer who served in francophone Africa (Gabon - 89-91), Mike Tidwell captures the experience better than any other Peace Corps writer I've read. He also is a master story teller and offers a lot for anyone interested in Africa. .

Great Memoir for Any Westerner Going to Live in Africa!
He writes so honestly about what he learned from working closely with his African neighbors and how he came to understand their generosity from an African perspective as opposed to his American perspective. Mike Tidwell's memoir of his two years of Peace Corp work teaching villagers to build fish ponds is about so much more than that. He has so many adventures with the men the Kalambayi region that each chapter taught me something new. Mike shares his doubts about himself and those he works with. He confesses his errors and shares his times of despondency. But all in all I think he feels the way that I do. . . living in Africa as an American is the best education because you are forever changed. . . your world of thought is so much larger. I wanted the story to go on and on because every evening I looked forward to being with Mike's world in Zaire.

Surprisingly Good
I bought this book, totally uninterested in how a Caucasion man in Africa would learn to adapt to the local culture and thus be successful at showing the (willing) villagers how to raise "fish farms. After deciding that I wanted to apply to the Peace Corps, I began doing online and literary research on the experience as a whole. " Needless to say, this book never has a dull moment, which is a major shock for me. Although he doesn't talk much about the Peace Corps (if at all), he does constantly touch on the topics of attempting to shed his American normalities/viewpoints and just plain adapting to life in his African villages. His cultural adaptation and the frustrations that come along with teaching the locals about fish farming are just two things that make this book a page turner.

Related products:
click image or link for details on these Democratic Republic Of Congo travel books.

	Nine Hills to Nambonkaha: Two Years in the Heart of an African Village
	The Village of Waiting