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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-1980's 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.
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