DINAW MENGESTU...SURPRISE,SURPRISE!

Strolling through one of our local bookstore of Dakar searching for the perfect Thursday afternoon read if there’s such a thing, but then again for a super- book- lover, everyday feels like the perfect day to chill on your bed and lose yourself through the interesting characters of a great literature piece.

I was first attracted to the colorful book cover of the “Les belles choses que porte le ciel” by Ethiopian American writer Mr Dinaw Mengestu. When I first entered the grocery store owned by the main character Sepha Stephanos, my own life was such a mess that I wasn’t focused enough and put it down forgetting about it somewhere in my dusty personal library which is bigger than it sounds lol.

This past week ,I remembered that I didn’t give enough a chance to my friend Sepha and entered once again his DC’s shop and this time I don’t know what happened maybe it was his mal- etre that was familiar to me, or his great description of the lovely DC area, the melancholia of his two African friends Joseph and Kenneth or perhaps the sweet sadness or confusion felt by his crush Judith or even the big eyes and the boldness of her daughter Naomi..I don’t know probably a combination of all these interesting facts but this time I wanted to stay in his store and even buy something from his dusty and dirty shelves to give some type of hope to Sepha.

As a former immigrant, it’s hard for me not to see a little bit of my own struggle or the ones that I love in his rift between America the Grand and a proud Ethiopia that he knows he will never return to. The author, a very intelligent well spoken young Ethiopian man who attended Columbia, a former recipient award winner in 2006 for a fictional piece did an awesome job making you feel empathetic towards Sepha. At some point I wanted to tell Sepha “get up live… live… live , you are here now in America this is your life stop asking yourself so many questions and run with this life , you’ve been here for 17 +years it’s time for you to simply live”. Sepha immigrated to America following the Ethiopian conflict which resulted in the arrest and killing of his father by the authorities, he moved in with his Uncle in an impersonal America.

In America he lives like a paralyzed man confronted to an impersonal America while living at first in a building crowded with Ethiopian habitants who chose to live the Ethiopian way. He later on finds the usual and necessary: a job, friendship but mostly companionship working at the hotel.

There he also finds the encouragements from his two companions of misery to pursue his dream of opening a grocery store in a predominantly African American neighborhood where he feels important and invisible at the same time until the arrival in the neighborhood of a Caucasian American woman Judith and her intelligent and rebellious 11 years Old Naomi.

Through these 2 generations of woman, rivers of uncomfortable sense affection and tenderness, feelings that had been missing from his life start flowing through him. The reverse side of this emotional knife reveals that he also has to deal the reality of what he became as a result of his financial poverty, his loneliness, gloominess and his emotional paralysis.

I loved this book because Dinaw described well the various difficulties immigrants deal with embarking on this journey, the economic precariousness some encounter, the loss of our illusions regarding Uncle Sam the Big the Beautiful, but also the gap between Africans and African Americans.

With all these challenges I didn’t know if I would be comfortable with the ending as I was getting near to it but … :)

Now that I finished reading this book I can’t wait to get my hands on his second novel: “HOW TO READ THE AIR”...as soon as I do, I’ll def’ offer my personal book review .

In the meantime if you have some free time on your hand I would suggest reading online an essay he wrote for the New Yorker called  "AN HONEST EXIT”, by the way he was titled one the best authors under 40 by the New Yorker.(click on the title)

You can also check him out reading an excerpt of his first novel,  HERE

Djaa my Ethiopian brothas sont dedans aussi: )

Eyee Wayee: )

SOMALIAN ITALIAN WRITER & SOCIAL ACTIVIST CHRISTINA ALI FARAH!

Christina Ali Farah Ubax

It's good to "know" and talk about us African sisters trying to bring a change in the world wherever we reside.

"Interesting young lady" is what I felt like saying after reading more about social activist , writer & poet Christina Ali Farrah. The 37 years old fabulafricana was born to an Italian mama and a Somali father. As most biracial people she faces the question of dual identities, the question of who she is as an Italian African woman. Her story is even more complex as she's lived in Somalia (left before the civil war) Hungary & Italy of course.

Reading about her life, I realize that the questions of immigration, the perpetual conflict btw black and white are still very relevant in Italy. She wrote novels recounting the stories of women she encoutered while working for an immigration agency. This former brazilian literature student is quite respected and known in Italy for her message of union among people. She's written a few novels , her first book published in 2007 is called Madre Picola. There's one book she co wrote with a photographer Marco Barbon called Asmara Dream that I would love to put my hands on, (I'm in love with that city and how it was affected till this day by Italian colonisation).

In my opinion people like Christina Ali Farah are important to our society because even though they can't give us definite answers on social issues such as immigration, they make us think, they make us re-think about our positions and social responsabilities. A few Italiano-Africanos intellectuals and her founded a magazine called El Ghibli where they keep searching for answers and sharing their thoughts. I like that she recognizes that she's a mixture of different cultures, different journeys she went on as she lived in Italy and Africa..that nothing is all white or all black..

http://www.migranews.it/

And if you do speak Italian, discover her on this video, HERE

Djaa my Somali sistas sont dedans:)

Eyeee Wayee:)

SENEGALESE NOVELIST, BLOGGER & FASHIONISTA, MISS CHARLOTTE SECK!

First Novel by Senegalese writer Charlotte Seck

Charlotte is also the face of Modiyoya design

The beautiful young novelist at her Dakar book launching event

Black & Red by Charlotte

Love this look

Her Grace Jones moment

George Sand-her shero

Nice, a Carrie Bradshaw moment indeed

Never without her Valentino bag

Her Fashion Inspiration

Our heroine at the Kenzo Fashion show

Elegante

When NY meets Charlotte

Aight people , I had the great honour of meeting miss Charlotte Seck, the author of
"Sa vie entre le luxe et humanitaire"published at Edition L'Harmatan.
We met at the Restaurant Toukouleur for dinner and a good chat .I was curious about this 23 years old writer, blogger and fashionista.
She came in wearing black leather leggings, a beautiful floral top and a great necklace, well put together for a 23 years old. I remenbered my akward stage at that age, and I thought to myself that these young ladies are so much more confident than we were. Throughout my time with her, I discovered a poised, at times cautious, quiet and loving young lady. I could tell that she was careful with her words and I don't blame her she's had experiences with interviewers twisting her words...

She wrote this book after a coworker of hers back when she was living in NY asked her what was her biggest dream? .... the answer was simple" to write a book". She got busy with the project, when she was done called a publishing company, send out her transcipt, they loved it called her for a meeting and the rest is a whole lot of sleepless nights, media attention, and a successful book. You have to remenber that all this media circus was new to the novelist, the media attention, the tv ,radio, internet interviews were not part of her every day life ..it took her time to adjust to her new fame.
The book centers around 2 characters, Lia a Senegalo-Frenchie haute couture designer and Salim a serious humanitarian with a whole lot of emotional baggage. He lost both his parents at a young age and doesn't know to deal with love. The only people he really allows himself to love and fight for are the opressed people of the world. Lia comes from multicultural supportive family , her father is from Senegal but managed to keep her grounded with Senegalese tradition. While Salim doesn't speak a word of Wolloff, Lia speaks it perfectly goes on vacation each year , has friends there and a Mame , grandma who's the love of her life. The book is simultaneously light and serious , it's about love, humanity, friendship, fashion, tradition , modernism, life challenges, forgiveness, ambition..life.

My fav' character is Salim, I think Charlotte did a great job showing his weaknesses , strength, it was very clear to me that this man was in pain and needed Lia to show him that love could bring happiness as well in his life....
At the end of the book I was left wondering how did miss Seck become so wise to understand the complexity of lofe. She cites her mother as her role model and her number 1 fan, the one that always encourages her to pursue her dreams, even though she's amazed today at her daughter success.
When her book was first published, Charlotte received tones of gifts from designers, among them a beautiful leather bag by her fashion hero Valentino. Valentino, Valentino every time miss Seck mentioned his name, her eyes lit up..she def' is in love with fashion. Ask her who are her fav' designers and she'll answer with a serious tone, Valentino, the late MacQueen,Balenciaga, Xuly Bet...don't be surprise if one day you see Tandy clothing by Charlotte..it's in the works..another one of her big dreams.

I asked her if she was always this driven, and she answered yes even as a young teenager she knew what she wanted and was involved in community service. Charlotte was supposed to fly to Haiti a few weeks after our dinner with the organization she was involved with . She's as passionate about humanitarian work as she is about fashion.
When I asked her who were some of her inspirations? she instantly said George Sand, "she is the woman" she said, she's been a huge fan since she was 12 years old She admires her for her courage to be her, her gift for writing, reading any of her book is like living in the 19th century she adds..
As any regular young lady , friendship is important to her, her BFF Medoune kept her going through this journey, she lost a few friends along the way who maybe didn't understand that even though she was the same Charlotte her life was evolving..but that's life she says..She kept the ones that were supportive and "kept it going"

The first moment she saw somebody reading her novel on the train made her tear up . She's currently working on a second novel so be on the lookout..there's talk abt a possible movie adaptation of her first novel..I hope that becomes a reality, I think that her book will translate well on a movie screen.
In the meantime if you would like to follow the adventures of Miss Seck, here's her noted fashion blog:
http://thewriterfashionicon.wordpress.com/
You can also catch a video interview of the sista, HERE
I'm def' left with a lot of respect for the drive , ambition and" go-getter" atitude of this young lady , this new generation of strong determined young women is amazing to witness. At their age most of us weren't thinking "yes we can "yet so to see them pursue their dreams is beautiful.

Go gal:)

Yaye

NIGERIAN/BELGE POET & WRITER, CHIKA UNIGWE!

Dr Chika Unigwe is a fiction writer, a poet, a wife and mother of 4 children. She's one of the very african authors to be published in both english and dutch.


She was born in Enegu and now resides with her lovely family in Turnhout Belgium.


She's the author of two published novels, the first one called "De Feniks" and the second one "On Black Sister's Street". Apart from those 2 novels, she's also written short stories, one of them "Borrowed Smile" was the winner of the BBC 2003 short story competition. She also was nominated for the Caine Prize in 2004. Last year, she received the 2009 Rockefeller Foundation fellowship for creative writing..just to let u know how gifted this sista is:)



On her site, you can read some of her work for free and stay updated on her upcoming projects:

http://www.chikaunigwe.com

You can also see and her speak about her work, HERE

Djaa my nigerian sistas sont trop dedans:)

Eyeee Wayee:)

REVIEW OF THE BOOK L'ATTENTAT BY YASMINA KHADRA!

I bought this book by Algerian author Yasmina Kadhra a month ago while browsing through one of our local bookstores. I had been curious about this gifted author who goes by a feminine pen name since his years in the Algerian army.

So ok had the book and told myself that I would be reading it at some point until one quiet saturday night while watching the two "mean" culture critcis Zemmour and Nholo on "On est pas encore couche" give him mixed reviews.

On that show, each week, a group of celebs face two sarcastic and hard french Simon Cowell to discuss about their curent work. Mr Kadhra conducted himself with old school dignity, laughed of some of their coments and suggested that they read his book once more. That following morning all I wanted to do is smash into the litterary word of Yasmina. The novel I read "L'Attentat" was thought provokating and I didn't put it down until I was done reading it that same day.

It's centered around a young Jewish couple that seems to be living the life, Dr Amine is a Palestinian doctor living in Israel with his beautiful wife Sihem. They've been residing as a happy couple in Israel where they build a new family of friends. On the surface, despite the regular terrorist attacks, Dr Amine was really happy until the day of a an explosion in Tal Aviv which will change his life forever. While trying 2 save the lives of the victims of this unfortunate ordeal, Dr Amine had no idea that his life was about to sink.

He founds out that his sweet and kind wife, Sihem is not only dead during the attack but that she was the author of this horrible crime. Through this book we go through his relentless agonoy hour by hour, minute by minute, the anger, the sadness, the wild bitterness he feels...

He wonders why his beloved wife who seemed to have everything and more would engage in such a senseless killing of innocent victims. All his life, he has tried to focus on his career and distance himself from the Israelo-Palestinian conflict. But with the death of Sihem he has to face his people. He wants to understand what would prod his people to kill others. This book gives us an insight on fanatic people, I finished this book understanding a bit more why some people would be so desperate, so deeply hurt that they woulld want destroy other people lives.

No matter what efforts Dr Amine put forward to focus on his individual life he's forced to go back to his community. He's part of them no matter the level of success he has accomplished. The poor people living in Israel are fighting the way they know how, for them dying is now a mission of honor. Yasmina describes a cousine of Dr Amine who was sweet and entirely devoted to her grandfather until the day the army came and destroyed her family house after a sibbling of hers became a terrorist.She saw this as an injustice and decided to become herself a kamikaze.

Bref I would def' recomand reading this book Yasmina Khadra is a beautiful lyrical writer, the way he describes smells, scenes, emotions is delicious as apple compote.

Here's his website:

http://www.yasmina-khadra.com

You can catch Yasmina and Zemmour in action, HERE

Djaa our brothas from Algeria are truly talented:)

Eyeee Wayeee:)

"SAY YOU ARE ONE OF THEM", BOOK REVIEW BY FANTA SOLANGE LOPEZ!

I received an email from a good friend of mine, Fanta Solange Lopez. She wanted to know whether or not, I had featured "Say you are one of them" by Nigerian author and ordained Jesuist priest, Uwen Akpan. I hadn't yet..she suggested writing a book review..because the book left her breathless. Looking at the articles on Oprah's site I could see that she wasn't the only one.

Angelique Kidjo after reading the book was inspired to write a song called " Agbalagba"in which she encourages the youth to cherish its african traditions while call the world 2 fight against poverty.

Thank you Fanta for this touching and well-written book review!


"I AM ONE OF THEM", SAYS FANTA!

Uwem Akpan’s much acclaimed collection of short stories entitled “Say You’re One of Them” is bound to leave you breathless. Not just because of its cultural richness, or its factual accuracy, or even its astoundingly raw pictorial prose; but rather because it is a universal masterpiece of humanity and truth.

All throughout the five short stories weaved in his book, Akpan speaks in the innocent and pure voice of children about some of the harshest realities plaguing our African continent. From poverty and child prostitution in “The Ex-Mas Feast” to child sex trafficking in “Fattening for Gabon”, to religious, social and national divisions in “What language is that?”, “Luxurious Hearses” and “My parents’s bedroom”, Akpan artfully spells out the beauty and humanity behind the dark curtains of these much publicized horrors.

We’ve all heard of the disasters of child prostitution on the streets of Lagos, or felt the shame of child sex trafficking as reported from the shores of Gabon, or shielded our faces from the disturbing images displayed on television screens around the world of the genocide in Rwanda. Yet few of us have managed to hear these stories from the mouths of those most affected by them: the children. That is exactly the simple, yet extraordinary feat that Uwem Akpan so successfully accomplishes in his work.

Through the voices of children such as Monique in Rwanda, Jubril in Niger, or Kotckikpa in Benin, Akpan cracks open a much needed window on the humanity behind these stories. These are children, African children, filled with hope, promise and future, who despite the shame of selling their bodies on poorly lit city streets to sustain their families, still know how to laugh when being tickled. These are children who do not understand what it means to be sold as sex slaves by their own families, yet still love the very perpetrators of these crimes with all their heart. These are children who cherish other children just because, despite religious and societal barriers imposed by childish adults who do not know any better. These are children who look at Death in the face, walking in the dark, their feet shuffling in pools of blood, instinctively, unknowingly pursuing Life. They embody the meaning of Humanity, Love, Endurance, and Friendship.

They do not condemn, neither do they judge the world that already condemned and sentenced them. They simply tell the truth of their stories to whomever wants to listen. And listen we should, because these stories are not just about some remote part of the world we get to peek at and return to our everyday havens. Because these are stories about us, about how we, as human beings, see ourselves, about the definitions we assign ourselves, and the denominations we assign others. About the shame and guilt we feel as a result of not knowing and upholding the truth of who we are. About the moral dispossession we fall prey to, for elusive want of material possessions. About the shattered innocence and broken dreams that is the bulk of the inheritance left by the heavy toll of previous generations, oblivious of the gift of Tomorrow. About Life, Death, and Redemption.

About you and I. I am one of Them.

SD

You can find articles about the author and the book , here:

http://www.oprah.com/packages/say-youre-one-of-them.html
Here's a short video profile, HERE

Djaa my Nigerian brothas sont trop dedans:)
Eyee Wayee:)

CONGRATULATIONS TO NOVELIST MARIE NDIAYE FOR BEING THE FIRST BLACK WOMAN TO WIN THE PRESTIGIOUS GONCOURT AWARD!

Go girl!

Marie Ndiaye, novelist and playwright is the first black woman in french history to ever win the Goncourt award. This woman who published her first book at age 17 years old is used to receiving accolades and being celebrated for her work but as she puts it best ,winning the Goncourt award this year is the ultimate recognition for her 25+ years of career. Marie resides in Berlin with her husband and her three children; she left France after Sarkozi became president, she explains that she didn't want to live under his presidential authority.

Marie Ndiaye is also the second woman playwright whose work "Papa doit manger" was played by the Comedie Francaise.

The book she's being recognized for is called "Trois Femmes Puissantes" it's the story of three women dealing with the consequences of immigration in their own personal lives.

If you were curious about his work , here's a list of homework you can start on:

-Trois Femmes Puissantes (Prix Goncourt 2009)

-Quand au riche avenir (her first novel)

-La Sorciere

-Mon Coeur a l'etroit

Here's an interview of Marie Ndiaye (in French of course )

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xackaw_entretien-marie-ndiaye_news

Djaa my Senegalese sistas sont trop dedans:)

Eyeee Wayee:)

THE ADVENTURES OF BOUBOU, PERFECT READ FOR YOUR LITTLE ONES!

I fell in love with the character of Boubou imagined by Cyril Hahn.

Written in French this little bonhome is sure to become the little friend of your kids, nieces and nephews

Between life in the jungle, spending time with his grandfather, playing with elephants, going to school, life with neew sibblings, through the 23 albums your little ones are sure to never be bored with him.

The albums are available on Amazon and Barnes and Noble...

If you would like to see the entire Boubou Album collection, click on the following:

http://jeunesse.casterman.com/catalogues_list.cfm?CategID=2190&OwnerID=2189

Djaa we should read more often to our kids:)

Eyeee Wayeee:)

LOVE THIS BOOK "AICHA LA BIEN AIMEE DU PROPHETE" BY GENEVIEVE CHAUVEL!

I didn' know much abt the first mother of the Muslim Believers, Aicha (SAS) the second wife of the Prophet Muhamed (SAS) so I was uber excited when I saw this book at our local bookstore. It was so good that I didn't want to put it down..I felt transported to that time , I felt the heat, the touch of the djelibas , the taste of camel milk and dattes, and the suffering of my spiritual community.

The author Genevieve Chauvel did an awesome job as a Christian woman to describe Aicha's life, I actually wondered how she did it with so much objectivity. I guess when you are really convinced of your faith nothing will change it .

What I discovered and I didn't know is that Aicha was born at the same time as the Angel Gabriel was sharing the revelation with the Prophet Muhamed (SAS) , and also that Kadija the first wife of the Prophet, first person who believed that he was the Prophet is the one who delivered the baby.

Aicha was described as having red hair, and was very young when she was intimate with the Messenger, in my opinion and I repeat my opinion ,she was a different little girl and had a supernatural maturity which allowed that to happen.

The Prophet Muhamed (SAS) ended up marrying nine wifes and Aicha as a very jealous and possesive woman she cried and doubted of his love each time he did that, but he always reassured her of his love and of her title as his favorite..

Aicha helped by Hafza one of the wives of the Prophet and her friend in the house, would play tricks on the other wives to get rid them or to take the attention of the Messenger away from them.

She was known for her great intelligence, and her memory and would learn the versets of the Koran under the teaching and recomendations of the Prophet Muhamed. He would ask her to remenber his teachings for the days when he wouldn't be alive, indeed when the Messenger passed away people would come from all over the country to learn more and to be clear bt decisions to take.

She was chosen by Allah to be present when the Prophet Muhamed (SAS) would receive the visits of the Angel Gabriel, at those moments the Messenger would get cold and she would hold him in her arms and sometimes remind him of what Gabriel would say.

It was in her arms that he passed away as well, it was in her room that the Prophet and Abu Bakr her father and the companion of her husband were burried.

What I discovered also is that there was a war, called la guerre du chameau which responsability laid on her, two hypocrits convinced her to engage in a fight which resulted in a humengous loss within the Muslim community.

She never forgave herself and punished herself by living a life of sobriete and by praying and asking for forgiveness continously until her death.



I loved this book and will def' offer it as a gift ..!

There are other books on Aicha and I'll def try to read another one which will probably give me another perspective on her
Here's the author webbie: (it seems like she really enjoys writting abt strong women, def' an author to try)

http://www.genevievechauvel.fr/index.htm

Djaa we need to read more:)

Eyeee Wayee:)

GAMBIAN WRITER, DAYO FORSTER AND HER FIRST NOVEL "READING THE CEILING"!

Dayo's ancestors are of Krio ancestry who emigrated to Gambia during colonial time. Dayo grew up and calls home Gambia,she left her homecountry at the age of 18 years old and went on to study statistics and economy.

Writting came rather late to her, she was 35 years old and living in America but it seems that the times she spent during her childhood in the bathroom of her family home reading,or staring at the floor

It's interesting to me to see how talent is developped in one's mind ...

It took her 2 years to finish her first novel "Reading the Ceiling" ; it's a story about the choices we make in life and how they impact the course of our lives ...

The main personnage Ayodele is at the crossroad of her life as a young woman and she has to choose btw staying in Africa getting married as a second wife, or moving to Europe pursuing her academic goals while tasting the sour and sweet of her first love...

Dayo embarks us with Ayodele on the pursuit of hapiness through each choice..

Will def' try to read this book!

Here's her webbie:

http://www.dayoforster.co.uk/

Djaa my Gambian sistas sont dedans aussi:)

Eyeee Wayee:)

SOUTH AFRICAN FABULAFRICANA WRITER, MISS KOPANO MATLAW!

Winner of the European Literary Award


Koplano was a Medical student when she received her award for her first novel Coconut about the lives of 2 black South African young women who grew in white surburbs.
One of the characters Ofilwe comes from a wealthy dysfunctional black family where she feels rejected both by her parents and her white racist friends, the other character Fikile was abused sexually by her uncle, her mum killed herself and she was raised by a maid. Her main goal in life is to escape poverty and that means in her mind getting rid of her "blackness".
Kopano is currently a 4th year Medical Student in SA and is writing on her spare time.

Her webbie:
www.kopanomatlaw.book.co.za

Hear Koplano read from her book Coconut:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ASB73Ko5o3Y

Djaa my SA sistas sont dedans dee:)
Eyeee Wayee:)

DR HALIMA BASHIR SPEAKING FOR COUNTLESS OF YOUNG GIRLS RAPED DURING THE DARFUR GENOCIDE!

Dr Halima Bashir was born in the Zaghawa nomadic tribe , her family was considered rich. As a teen she was intelligent and was later sent to Khartoum where she studied medecine.
She returned village to practice her profession unfortunately it was right at the time when the genocide broke. The Janjaweed militia was attacking villages ; raping young girls and women..
Revolted by this weapon of war she Dr Halima spoke against it to local journals and ONG'S, that resulted in the rebells attacking and raping her as well. She found refuge in the UK and I know that some non profit orgs are working at giving her American citizenship. She was last year invited by Former President Bush , a great opportunity to speak against the genocide..

I haven't read her memoir yet but there are so many great reviews of her book "Tears of the Desert" ..I don't think I'll do the book justice by reviewing it so I'll let you read the review of fellow blogger Bookworm (Click on the link to see her blog)

Tears of the Desert by Halima Bashir is a poignant memoir capable of producing copious empathetic tears. During the first part of the book, the author recounts her childhood and family life growing up in a village in South Dafur. She establishes a beautiful picture of the Zaghawa tribe culture, her feelings, her aspirations and how she relates to all family members. An extended family surrounds her, most importantly, a father who adores her and her feisty Grandma Sumah, a traditionalist with an iron will. As the pleasant images of her upbringing unfold there are also some which are considered barbaric in other cultures. However, involving the reader in this way she makes you a captive caring companion to her feelings and ideas. During the next part of the story, she shares the tragic atrocities that were inflicted upon her. She details her eyewitness account of horrors of death and suffering in her village and country. Several times during the retelling of her brutal beating and gang rape by the Sudanese Government supported army, Halima prays for death, prays for an end to her suffering. She would rather die than live. A Memoir of Survival in Darfur, the book’s subtitle really is her survival from despair, hopelessness, and the dark depths of depression. She now believes she survived to be a messenger, to be able to share her personal tragedy with the world community. As the book concludes, you reflect on this story of survival, courage and tenacity of will few of us can even fathom. The atrocities she witnessed and the torture she endured are graphic and uncensored. This is a reality that every world citizen must face. Her hope is that her story will shed more light on the situation in Darfur so that the international community will help end the pain, suffering and genocide.

If you want to read more blogs on Darfur:
http://blogfordarfur.org
You can buy the book new or used on Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/Tears-Desert-Memoir-Survival-Darfur/dp/0345506251/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1235320145&sr=1-2

Djaa we need to salute the courage of our Sudanese sistas:)
Eyee Wayee:)