The Ponds of Kalambayi: An African Sojourn

This is an amazing book about Africa. For one who has never been there it shows the other half, the half that you don't hear in the news, the part that we all know exists but never hear of it. Love, life, death, courage, tradition. It is a two year long journey dealing with adaptation to a different culture, teaching how to raise fish in the middle of Africa. I got this book as a gift from my sister and have thanked her for it, because didn't just provide with a time for entertainment but it taught me a lot about another culture, taught me about respect for others beliefs. It is heartbreaking, but beautifull.

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. Contrast this book with the Village of Waiting (George Packer) and you'll see what I mean. He also is a master story teller and offers a lot for anyone interested in Africa.

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 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. 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.

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.

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.