The Backyard Tribe

by Neil B. Shulman

When Dr. Bud Payne of Mobile, Alabama, donates two weeks of his time to a Kenyan village hospital, it is the beginning of an astonishing adventure for him and his family.
Bud offers to fly a young Maasai girl back to America for life-saving heart surgery. She comes - but not her entire tribe is with her, Maasai warriors carrying spears, mothers in tribal dress carrying babies, even a mysterious medicine man alight from the airplane.
The girl goes to the hospital, but the tribe goes to the Paynes' backyard. Gone are Gail Payne's prized rose beds, gone is the lawn. In their place are the mud huts of the Maasai.
As the suburban neighbors mingle with the tribesmen and the medicine man mingles with the surgeons, hilarious, harrowing, and even enlightening adventures result. The warriors rustle the nearest redneck's prime dairy cow for slaughter, and the Paynes' children swap their school clothes for war paint. Gail nearly loses her mind and Bud nearly loses his medical license.
However, it all leads to a classic happy ending, heightened by a cultural exchange beyond anyone's original dreams.

Genres: Fiction

147 pages, Hardcover

First published March 1, 1994

Reviews

[John Benson · Rating 3 out of 5]

The cover to this book caught my eye at a used book store as it had some Maasai in traditional dress walking by an American porch. Having grown up between northern Tanzania, where my dad worked with the Maasai, and the US, I had seen both parts of the picture but never them together. The book brings out the story of a doctor from Alabama who goes to Kenya on a medical mission trip and while there sees a young girl who needs surgery to correct her congestive heart failure. He offers to bring her back to the US for the surgery. Little does he know that her whole "boma" (in the book called, tribe, but that is too big of a term), joins her and sets up a "boma" in the doctor's back yard. It is meant to be a humorous book, but too many of both the Maasai and Americans end up being stereotypical caricatures for each group. The book held great promise for me, but felt disappointed in it in the end.

[Almira · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mobile, Alabama will never be the same, and neither will Dr Bud Payne, his wife Gail, his family or the neighborhood.
What starts out as a Good Samaritan deed, quickly becomes a comedy of errors that grow beyond Bud's wildest dreams.
Having traveled to Kenya to donate his medical services and have a few days away with his wife, Bud stumbles upon a Maasai girl who needs life-saving heart surgery.
Bud believes he has made arrangements for the girl and her mother to travel to Mobile for the surgery.
Imagine his surprise when her entire tribe disembarks from the 747!

[Amanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

I first read this book 15 years ago -- one of many that I read aloud to my daughter during her 6 month stay in the NICU at Texas Childrens Hospital after her premature birth. It's a delightful, fun read with a lot of heart.

[Weinz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute and funny. Quick fun read.

[Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very entertaining book. I just may have found another organization to support in Heart to Heart.

[Sarah Smith · Rating 2 out of 5]

The Backyard Tribe was a quick read with lots of laughs. I wish it had of been more thought provoking throughout but it was faced paced, which helped.