Product Description

A collection of reminiscences by a Peace Corps volunteer who lived in North Cameroon. Blending travelogue and spiritual memoir, the author demonstrates how reaching through the barriers of culture and touching others' lives, enriched her own journey toward compassionate womanhood.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1344479 in Books
• Published on: 2000-08-31
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 284 pages

Customer Reviews

A sensitive look at finding oneself in another culture
It's hard to tell who was changed more when Susana Herrera went to a small village in northern Cameroon to teach as a Peace Corps volunteer: the villagers or Susana. She brought a hidden capacity of strength and independence as a woman and the ability to ride a bike. They brought an understanding of how a person could feel at home in her own skin. It's hard to tell who got the better bargain.

But the reader wins the most from this touching story of a frightened and self-conscious young person who becomes a fierce and vibrant woman treasured by the people she comes to help and ends up learning so much from. Through storms, droughts, anarchy in the classroom, life-threatening illness, political upheaval, love, hate, competition and pain, the author learns how to live--in her own skin. A phenomenal book, particularly for a first book. There is something important about embracing life in this memoir that will speak to every reader.

A nice read
A beautiful story by a peace corps set in the southern fringes of the Sahara desert in Northern Cameroon. I enjoyed her vivid accounts and the details of the story. This book serves as a good read for anybody interested in the amazing way of life of the people of Northern Cameroon. It is my third novel on Cameroon this month and I enjoyed them all. The Usurper and Other Stories, Man no be God, and Disciples of Fortune are other good Cameroonian stories.

Fresh way of writing, wise ways of looking at humanity
Ditto most of what the other 3 reviewers have said. I found Herrera's way of looking at life quite wise for a 30-year-old. She expresses her thoughts in original ways that set the reader thinking and wanting to be more creative in outlook. This book will appeal to memoir fans, but even more to those wanting to "visit" the Cameroons in all its wonder and pain. I find several of my friends, as I did, read MANGO ELEPHANTS back-to-back with POISONWOOD BIBLE because we learned about Africa while enjoying good stories.