Great African Reads discussion

Ghilimei will be reading this book and perhaps others will like to join in! :)

Hi! I don't know if anyone else is planning to read this book, but I'm going to say a few words about it anyway. It's a really quick read and you can tell the author didn't want anything else but to share his story - there are no metaphors or stylistic „accessories„ of any kind and I think this is a good thing (the story doesn't need all that anyway). For me, this is the first time I read about the armed conflicts in East Africa (and from an insider's point of view nonetheless) and all I could think during my read was „this man and I are the same age; while my dad was walking me to school in a scarred, but peaceful post-communist Romania, a boy my age was making his way across Africa, running for his life and trying not only to survive, but to get himself an education„. I don't know how to feel about that... but the one lesson I want to take away from the story of Aher's life is always be kind; never underestimate how much you can influence a person's life by being kind.