The Ponds of Kalambayi: An African Sojourn

Rating:
Summary: Surprisingly Good
Review: After deciding that I wanted to apply to the Peace Corps, I began doing online and literary research on the experience as a whole. 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." 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.

Rating:
Summary: The truth about Africa
Review: Having lived and worked in Africa, one of the hardest things to convey to people who have not been there, is how despite poverty and other hardships, Africa is not a sad place. This book does a great job of explaining the beauty and strength of Africa and its people. It also shows that people have good sound reasons for doing what to us initially may seem crazy and irrational. Tidwell's book also does a great job of showing the impact that Africa has on the people who go there. His honesty and examination of both himself and the people he lives with make this book a winner.

Rating:
Summary: Vital Account of Peace Corps experience
Review: There are not many books about the Peace Corps experience in central Africa, but despite the lack of competition "The Ponds of Kalambayi" by Mike Tidwell is an outstanding book, much deserving more attention. Many Westerners feel the need to write a book after traveling or living in Africa, some actually do, but few write a good book; here is the exception: this is a very good book. In the mid-1980s Tidwell worked as a Peace Corps volunteer in the very center of Africa, rural then-Zaire (later Congo or "Congo-Kinshasa"). This published account of his experience is thoughtful and honest and his prose writing and story-telling skills are excellent. He shares valuable insights into the daily lives, culture, and history of the villagers whom he taught fish farming and lived and worked with for two years. As expected, Tidwell documents the joys, sorrows, and travails of aquaculture, but that is only part of this book. He also writes about his faithful household employee; drinking; sickness and recovery, or death; hunting; poverty; marriage, family life, and children; cotton farming; diamond mining; and a hundred other things. Equally engaging and important is his description of the effects his experience had on him, physically, mentally, and emotionally. This book is an excellent choice for anyone with an interest in the Peace Corps, Africa, or Tilapia.