Old Africa Bookstore
After his parents drop him off at a boarding school in Kenya as a young boy, Clay crosses the threshold into an unknown and often-hostile world. Ox, the captain of the rugby team, rescues Clay from the paddling machine and becomes his mentor. Titch, a boy in his class who struggles to read, befriends Clay in his lonely days at boarding school. Clay develops a passion for rugby, which helps him carve out his niche wherever he finds himself-in Kenya as a child, in the apple country of Washington state as a junior high student, back in Kenya in high school, in a college in California, and finally in Sudan where he joins up with his friend Titch during a lull in that country's civil war. The Dust of Africa is a story of a lasting friendship forged in shared struggles and joint exploits on the rugby fields in Kenya. Clay and Titch are forever marked by the land of their childhood, two young men who can't wash the dust of Africa off their feet.
In Tribal Origins Peter Parr records the moving story of how his family traveled to Sudan in 1955 to work as Presbyterian missionaries. His mother dies soon afterwards and Peter and his sister Pamela find themselves in a boarding school in Egypt with their father far away in south Sudan. Despite the rough beginning, Peter learns to love Africa and the people of Egypt, south Sudan and later Ethiopia. The author uses photo-clear memories of his African childhood to give us a snapshot of a forgotten era with sometimes sharp comments on the missionary community as well as colorful observations of the African cultures that shaped the author’s own tribal origins.
Drinking the Wind traces the life of Jon Arensen who arrived on the African continent with his parents in 1946. Growing up in Tanganyika in the bush by Lake Victoria, Jon learned Kisukuma before he spoke English. He loved the outdoors and as a young boy he helped feed the family with his shooting skills. But he couldn’t grow up in the wilds of Africa forever and he went off to boarding school in Kenya to study and learn more about the wider world. After university in the USA, Jon returned to Africa as a teacher at Rift Valley Academy before moving to southern Sudan in 1976. He and his wife Barb surveyed the languages of southern Sudan for the Education Ministry before settling among the Murle people at Pibor Post where they learned the language and culture and translated the Bible into the Murle language. The author’s love for Africa oozes from every page of this book, which abounds with adventures of all kinds in this memoir of a life lived in Africa.
This book follows the life of a man named Lado. He was born in Sudan approximately 1920. He grew up living the traditional life of his Murle people- herding the goats, planting sorghum and hunting antelope with a spear. But Lado was different. Even as a young boy he wondered about the world around him. As he grew older he was increasingly confused by the different manifestations of the tribal god named Tammu. As a teenager he was captured in a raid and taken away as a slave. He was later adopted into the tribe that enslaved him. Under these conditions his questions about suffering and God became more intense. He was rescued by British troops and learned Arabic under the protection of the District Commissioner. Eventually he returned to his home at Boma as the official translator for the military. It was here that Lado met Kemerbong (Richard Lyth). A meeting that changed the rest of his life.
Roble is a proud and successful Somali man living with his family and his camels in the arid areas of Kenya’s Northern Frontier District. After the drought attacks, Roble is reduced to begging on the streets of Moyale. The author draws on his many years living in Moyale to depict the devastating effects of drought on one man’s family, his self-esteem and finally his sanity. This story graphically shows Roble’s struggle to hoard a permanent savings account. As you read this novel, you’ll be drawn into a beggar’s world so real you’ll taste the grit of sand and smell Roble’s raunchy armpit wallet. Permanent Savings, Ahmed Muhidin’s intriguing first novel, ushers us into the head of a beggar battling to regain what the drought has stolen.
In 1938 the British government in Kenya recruited Katharine Fannin, wife of a Kenyan colonial official, to spy on the Italian war preparations in Abyssinia. Armed with an antique guide book, Katharine gathered vital information for British intelligence. Her maps, details of military installations and reports proved invaluable in the Abyssinian Campaign of 1941. A fearless, independent and unconventional woman, Katharine Fannin was also a talented journalist and her writings on Africa remain fresh and direct. This biography captures the life of a remarkable woman.
Kids books
by Lokigen, who wrote the book as he saw the destruction of the environment around Lake Naivasha, where he grew up. Lokigen currently lives in Australia. A parable showing the importance of conserving our environment and the consequences of deforestation. Hauntingly beautiful paintings highlight the text.
A mother of four with a flair for colorful drawings. She has lived in Africa for eight years. Children living in Kenya welcome their cousins from overseas and take them on a safari into the bush. Bright illustrations of the animals they encounter on their trip make this book a hit with young children.
