The Unheard: A Memoir of Deafness and Africa

Last year while in Malawi, I met a young girl on Mount Mulanje who was working as a Peace Corps volunteer. While I have visited many Africa villages, this young lady was living in one for two years. I’ve always wondered what it would be like to immerse oneself in a remote village. While browsing the new release racks at the library, I found an interesting book called The Unheard: A Memoir of Deafness and Africa by Josh Swiller. I took it with me to Egypt and could not put it down. While escaping the heat on the Nile, I relaxed in my room and was transported to Mununga in Zambia. Not only is Swiller’s writing style compelling, but the tale he shares makes one realize there is no such thing as a sleepy, little village (at least not in the African bush). While he met many people worthy of admiration such as his best friend Augustine Jere, he also met Boniface, a dark character, who not only impeded Swiller’s work, but almost let to his demise.
For more information on Swiller, you can visit his web site at http://www.joshswiller.com/.

Books I Am Taking With Me

As a general rule, I take a book a week with me on a trip. While that may seem like a lot, there is always a great deal of down time, especially on an overland safari. Since I will be cruising, I will have less time to read because I will want to take part in all available activities, but I will still bring three selections. The first is EyeWitness Travel Egypt, a pictorial guidebook about Egypt. The second is The Unheard: A Memoir of Deafness and Africa by Josh Swiller, a Yale graduate who describes his Peace Corps work in Zambia, and finally, Telling True Stories: A Nonfiction Writer’s Guide, edited by Mark Kramer and Wendy Call. Always the English teacher, I already have two books lined up to read when I return that I just ordered online: Peter Godwin’s Wild at Heart: Man and Beast in Southern Africa and Rhodesians Never Die: The Impact of War and Political Change on White Rhodesia. Now I’m off to the airport.