It Took a Village
- Reads 266
- Votes 6
- Parts 1
Ongoing<5 mins
Last published Tue, May 17, 2016
I was a Peace Corps Volunteer in the Democratic Republic of Congo - back when it was still known as Zaire - teaching English at a high school in a small village that would come to change my life. At night, I would write by kerosene lantern about life in Kamponde: the weddings and funerals, the gossip and politics; the joys and frustrations of teaching; the attempted diamond bribes by some students, the marinating python dances and the freshly fermented calabashes of palm wine.
I wrote about the unrelenting kindness shown a young woman so far from home who really had no idea where she belonged in the world. It was in this village that I found my voice, one that would lead me to become a foreign correspondent for The Associated Press. When my two-year Peace Corps tour came to an end, I had promised to return and write about them one day.
I did. Twice. The first time was 15 years later and that story was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize. But readers were not privy to the greater personal impact of that trip. When the village women learned my husband and I had failed for years to conceive, they prayed and chanted to their gods to bring us a child, as we danced beneath the stars, shuffling and sashaying around a bonfire to the beat of the bamboo xylophones.
Six months later I was pregnant. I realized this as I was covering the downfall of the Congo's 32-year dictator, President Mobutu Sese Seko. Chris and I escaped the rebel forces approaching Kinshasa by crossing the Congo River in a dugout canoe.
Now, more than 30 years after serving in that village, I am planning to return to Kamponde with my daughter to thank them, have her blessed and say a final farewell.
I am writing a memoir about this connection to Kamponde, and this is the draft of Chapter One. If any dear readers would like to join my Kickstarter Campaign to raise money for the journey back to Kamponde, you can link here: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1654874900/it-took-a-village-a-memoir
All Rights Reserved
Join the largest storytelling communityGet personalized story recommendations, save your favourites to your library, and comment and vote to grow your community.
You may also like
The Devil CEO and Fairy Teacher- Volume 3
Both were complete strangers. One wants to become powerful and domineering in life. While other wants a simple one... They don't have any differences in their status as both are powerful heirs in City A and become successful CEOs in their young age. However, on surface their lives seems so simple and cheerful.. They had no rivals at least in their relationship... but where it went wrong? How it became complicated? Their single decision...no matter whether its right or wrong... Turned Lu Cheng and Tang Xi's worlds upside down! And what was it? How its going to end? ------ She pats the man's face"Wake up!!". Her heart trembled as he didn't wake up.She recalled her family's accident and gets nervous. She pulls the man out yelling "Wake up!!wake..". She couldn't move him out and thought go call the emergency service at once. She turned to run but stopped.She turns and sees the man holding her wrist tightly, whispering and struggling to speak. She gets anxious seeing his weak state and leans to help him "You..don't worry let me take you hospital..you will be alright okay?". The man still held her wrist tight said "Help me...Save my kid". She frowned "Kid?" and looked into his car. She gets shocked seeing a small baby in backseat sleeping peacefully.How could ...this baby sleeping peacefully?. She checks if the baby fainted? And relaxes seeing a headphone over his ears. No wonder he is sleeping peacefully. She runs to the man "Baby is fine.Come lets move..". He pushes her away weakly "Take the kid and run". She stunned "What?!". ------ Thank you for the support and love! And the cover of the book is just taken from google and edited.. Don't forget to vote and comment My works: 1. The Devil CEO and Fairy Teacher - Completed 2. The Commoner Consort : The Country's Respected Empress - ongoing in Webnovel 3. Dear Me - Poetry (Only in wattpad as it was for some contest).Complete
My Backpacking Memoirs
In 2017 I embarked on a three month backpacking trip around Europe. Motivated by the many accounts of travel from within religion, I went to learn. But what I experienced was not what I was expecting. This was my first time leaving the UK since I was a child and my expectations of travel and Europe were wildly out of touch. I met more people in these three months than I had in the previous ten years and had many new experiences. I was naive and many of the people I met on my travels could tell just how naive I was. Overland by bus, train and ferry through 17 countries: England, Scotland, France, Belgium, Netherlands, Germany, Czech Republic, Poland, Slovakia, Austria, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Greece, Italy and Switzerland. To 35 locations: Liverpool, Manchester, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Paris, Brussels, Antwerp, Ghent, Bruges, Amsterdam, Berlin, Dresden, Leipzig, Frankfurt, Prague, Krakow, Brno, Bratislava, Vienna, Budapest, Timisoara, Sibiu, Brasov, Bucharest, Sofia, Thessaloniki, Litochoro, Athens, Delphi, Naples, Rome, Venice, Milan and Lugano. It is an account of backpacking around Europe, both the best and worst of European backpacking hostels. Long bus journeys, hitch hiking and plenty of walking. I'm not proud of my behaviour or the events surrounding this three month period of my life, but I am proud to have forced myself to do it. I hope that my story will reach people who are in similar positions to what I found myself and to plant the seed of travel as a solution to those problems. Sometimes running away is the solution. It has also been several years since my backpacking trip and I find myself constantly trying to piece my memories together. Not always knowing what city or even country a memory occurred. I feel like my memories are deteriorating so I decided to document them before fall apart completely. I'm not a writer at all and I have tried to be as honest as possible, to my own downfall. I'm open to any advice about how I can improve it.Complete
We're All Going To Die
In 2015, I quit my digital marketing job at Nike to take a solo road trip around the country, funded by driving for Lyft in each of the cities I stopped in. In the beginning, I thought that driving for Lyft was simply the key to supporting the trip financially. However, I soon found that the dynamic of having strangers jump into my car to talk about life for 20 minutes or so, under the context that we would probably never speak again, was the most powerful piece of my year off. I was so inspired by my passengers that I wrote a book about them, called We're All Going to Die: Lessons Learned From My Year Road Tripping As a Lyft Driver. My passengers became my biggest teachers in what, lo and behold, turned out to be a year of personal growth and self-discovery. I learned the value of more listening and less ego. I saw how hungry people are for real human connection and conversation in a world more digitally connected and emotionally isolated than ever. I took the time to face my own issues, including my father's suicide five years earlier. I began to understand how important it is to be human - to feel your emotions, to share those feelings with others, and to find lightness and humor in the hard stuff. What became most obvious to me was that at end of the day, we're all going to die anyway. This book is a story about my personal growth, supported by the stories of the many people who trusted me enough to jump into my car and open up their hearts to me.Complete
Something New
A Spinoff From the Grace Series I skim my fingers along my woman's arm as she reclines back, seated in my lap with her back resting against the cushioned arm of the wooden bench we worked on together. I built it and she painted it. And each one of our kids put their handprints on it. My darling sewed cushions to tie on during the warm days so we can sit out here comfortably. Now we enjoy the fruits of our labor together. And I'm speaking about the couch and our marriage. "How did we start?" she asks languidly, her eyes shut. Her coily hair frames her face in the afro she has it in. She's dolled up a bit with her dress and earrings. She's got nowhere to go, but she does it to feel perked up for the day. I'm fine with that, but she knows I'm just as fine if she's wearing one of those old nightgowns she has, or in her birthday suit. "You were always passing me by," I hold Kemi's hand and with my other one, I use my finger to trace her facial features. I love every one of them. I gently go over her brows then go to her cheeks that are a lovely rounded shape. I move onto her cheekbones, which sit a bit high. My finger trails down to her jaw and her lips as they curve up in a smile. "But to be fair, I passed you by as well, darlin'." The way we met, and the way we began, is all part of a story that is beyond us and I like to think back on it often. I like to think back on how the Lord made something new out of something broken. ~~~ This technically comes after Grace but can be read alone (and before or after Redemption). As with "Grace", this is an age-gap interracial romance about faith, love, and healing. Forewarning: This story discusses a darker theme that may not be suitable for a younger audience. Although, things are still done in a God-honoring way. Unlike Grace, this story is more of a short story and will likely contain less than 25 chapters. It follows Kemi and Fred, the close friends of Grace and Joe.Complete
It Has To Be You || Karma Akabane X Reader
Let say that you are Tadaomi Karasuma daughter. No, you're not related but he took you in when you were 10, ever since then he has been a second father to you. You're smart, clever and a great assassin for a kid. You're the top of your class, you're supposed to be in class 3-A but you ended up in class 3-E, the end class. You were interested in killing the octopus and also making new friends... Well, the first part is true but the second is another story. You met a lot of great people but when you met a redhead boy, you couldn't help but want to know more about him. Karma was like your partner in crime. Your last year in before going to high school was the best, your teachers are awesome and so are your friends but what you did not expect was that you were falling in love with someone you would have never expected. If there's one thing that you were good at; it would be hiding things. You had a dark past but what makes your past any different then other stories is that your past was something that no one wants to live through, it was something no one would understand. You wondered if you could ever love but things happen and trouble comes in the way. The secrets you've been keeping finally gets out and the reaction you get from them, from your friends, classmates, the people who were close to you were not hatred... it was fear... || W A R N I N G: Mention of suicide, rape, sexual harassment, severe bullying, etc. You have been warned. || || Cover made by @StarBl00m || || Currently under editing. Story is the same, the only edits being made are the grammar mistakes. I wrote this story/fanfiction when I was very young so some things may be unclear and would like to fix that but once again: Story line is the same. Thank you. ||Complete
Instead of him
Leena Nur was wrapping up her senior year at Leading Senior High this summer and with that, her domestic duties were also coming to their end. High school was nothing to miss for Leena. Instead, it was the bridge between childhood and adulthood. For the entirety of her life, she had been stuck there, forbidden to cross. Leena was neither young and never close to being old enough for anything. She considered it the curse of being the youngest and only daughter of a traditional East African family. As the sole daughter of her doting parents, Leena was their pride, their joy and also...their live-in maid. She was the youngest sibling of four brothers and as if being surrounded by them every living moment was not enough, her relentless neighbor, and brother's best friend made sure to loiter around to make her life worse. It was fine, she told herself, since she was determined to move out soon because of it. She knew she was close to the freedom she had been stealing tiny licks of since forever. She was graduating and that meant something so, so important. College. New Friends. And most irrevocably exciting, boys. If her father had heard that, let alone her brothers, Leena would have been locked deep inside her closet-sized room. However, she was determined they never would because by that time, she'd already be far away in America with her potential soul-mate, sipping hot cocoa and wrapped in lovely scarves she knitted. All she desired now, was to get through the rest of her high school career quieter than a mouse and receive that acceptance letter from UCLA. She could do it. Right? If she could just evade that annoying neighbor of hers.
Unintentional Passion
Geovanni Have you ever gotten that feeling that somebody was watching you? And that person who was watching you wasn't normal. I have felt that way all of my life; but then again I felt as if I went missing nobody would even notice or care I was gone. I am 23 and just graduated from college. I was there an extra year because I had to take care of my family. I had to transfer back into the city and pick up the extra work because my mom died, and my dad became addicted to anything that would numb his pain. My little sister and brother would be lost without me here. But now I could care less. A cold breeze blew through my window waking me up from my thoughts. I looked over in the corner and saw that nothing was there. It was odd because I felt like someone well more like something was there. It had to be my imagination getting the best of me. I laid back in my bed and closed my eyes. Then all of a sudden I got the feeling I wasn't alone. But the really strange thing is that even if there was someone in here with me I felt safe. Jordan. I watched her as she slept. In fact I have been watching her since she was born. I have waited half a century to find that one person. I think I have finally settled on her. She was my choice. I know. After being in as many relationships as I have you know things. I felt my fangs tingle. Her blood smelled so sweet. Her heartbeat was steady and strong. I took my tongue and ran it across my fang. The temptation to indulge in her red liquid was far too strong. I let out a low growl and jumped out her window. I was ready for a hunt. "Did you see her Jordan?" "Yes, and tomorrow night you will turn her," "Why do I have to turn her?" "Ezra, you know once you turn them, they hate you," "I didn't hate pops," "You wanted to join though," "True, but first see if she wants to be turn before you jump to conclusions," I nodded my head, before me and Ezra took off to find some fresh blood for the night.
AFTER HIGH SCHOOL
I just graduated high school and instead of celebrating it with my friends. I choose to go on a bus for an hour's ride to my sister's to celebrate my graduation with her and her friends. What I didn't expect in our celebration though was experiencing my first one-night stand with one of her friends. Her most feared friend, Her Alpha male friend, Her rich classy friend in her friend group. However, it didn't stop from there because the one-night stand led to a whole amazing unexpectedly different summer break from what I had in mind while coming to my sister's. Afterwards, where I started thinking that that was it, where I was expressing my gratitude to Aaron Hernandez for blessing me with the summer break of my whole being that I was going to cherish forever in my life. Listen, just between me and you one day I would have liked to share it with my grandkids but that was my secret to keep. Except before I know it, even miles far away from where it happened. The little secret that was meant for my grandkids only got blown in my face and suddenly it was the world's and everyone's business just like that. Blowing away with every chance, every opportunity, and everything my life hung up on, leaving me in a whole new area of life at only nineteen. With only my little secret and the product of it, I had nowhere to turn to but guess what? life wasn't over yet.Complete
Both were complete strangers. One wants to become powerful and domineering in life. While other wants a simple one... They don't have any differences in their status as both are powerful heirs in City A and become successful CEOs in their young age. However, on surface their lives seems so simple and cheerful.. They had no rivals at least in their relationship... but where it went wrong? How it became complicated? Their single decision...no matter whether its right or wrong... Turned Lu Cheng and Tang Xi's worlds upside down! And what was it? How its going to end? ------ She pats the man's face"Wake up!!". Her heart trembled as he didn't wake up.She recalled her family's accident and gets nervous. She pulls the man out yelling "Wake up!!wake..". She couldn't move him out and thought go call the emergency service at once. She turned to run but stopped.She turns and sees the man holding her wrist tightly, whispering and struggling to speak. She gets anxious seeing his weak state and leans to help him "You..don't worry let me take you hospital..you will be alright okay?". The man still held her wrist tight said "Help me...Save my kid". She frowned "Kid?" and looked into his car. She gets shocked seeing a small baby in backseat sleeping peacefully.How could ...this baby sleeping peacefully?. She checks if the baby fainted? And relaxes seeing a headphone over his ears. No wonder he is sleeping peacefully. She runs to the man "Baby is fine.Come lets move..". He pushes her away weakly "Take the kid and run". She stunned "What?!". ------ Thank you for the support and love! And the cover of the book is just taken from google and edited.. Don't forget to vote and comment My works: 1. The Devil CEO and Fairy Teacher - Completed 2. The Commoner Consort : The Country's Respected Empress - ongoing in Webnovel 3. Dear Me - Poetry (Only in wattpad as it was for some contest).
More detailsContent Guidelines