| The Ponds of Kalambayi: An African Sojourn |  | Author: Mike Tidwell
Publisher: Lyons Pr
Category: Book
List Price: $19.95
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Avg. Customer Rating:  10 reviews
Sales Rank: 320124
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 276
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.3
Dimensions (in): 9.3 x 6.3 x 1
ISBN: 1558210784
Dewey Decimal Number: 967.5123
EAN: 9781558210783
ASIN: 1558210784
Publication Date: September 1990
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Amazon.com
As a Peace Corp volunteer, Mr. Tidwell spent two years in the grasslands of south central Zaire trying to teach the benefits of fish farming in some of the poorest villages on the continent. His task was not easy. One villager was convinced that fish would stock the ponds naturally, since they come to earth in raindrops. Others suspected that the ponds were just another way for whites to exploit black labor. When he finally made headway, the fish farmers gave away nearly half their harvest to relatives, and Tidwell learned one of many powerful lessons: tradition takes precedence over profits. While the tragic poverty and disease faced by the villagers was daunting, Tidwell found that their adherence to heritage and their celebration of tiny triumphs and daily satisfactions revealed a life richer than he had ever known.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 5 more reviews...
 AFRICA November 27, 2007
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.
Great Book March 27, 2006
5 out of 5 found this review helpful
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.
Great Memoir for Any Westerner Going to Live in Africa! January 23, 2005
5 out of 5 found this review helpful
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.
 Surprisingly Good September 23, 2003
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
After deciding that I wanted to apply to the Peace Corps, I began doing online and literary research on the experience as a whole. I bought this book, totally uninterested in how a Caucasion man in Africa would learn to adapt to the local culture and thus be successful at showing the (willing) villagers how to raise "fish farms." Needless to say, this book never has a dull moment, which is a major shock for me. Although he doesn't talk much about the Peace Corps (if at all), he does constantly touch on the topics of attempting to shed his American normalities/viewpoints and just plain adapting to life in his African villages. His cultural adaptation and the frustrations that come along with teaching the locals about fish farming are just two things that make this book a page turner.
The truth about Africa December 27, 2000
16 out of 16 found this review helpful
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.
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