Tiny Sunbirds, Far Away by Christie Watson
12 year old Blessing and her brother Ezikiel knew
they had it good, living with their father and mother, Mama, who both had jobs. They lived in a nice home in Lagos, Nigeria
and attended a well regarded private school.
All that came crumbling down when Mama found their father with another woman. He left the family and wouldn't send any
money their way. Mama was fired from her
job at the hotel because only married women were allowed to work there. Mama saw no alternative other than moving
back to her parents house, in the village of Niger Delta.
Ezikiel
said, “Warri is not safe. And those villages outside are even worse! Swamp
villages! I googled Warri
at the Internet café. Oil bunkering, hostage taking, illness, guns, and
poverty. What about my asthma?
They burn poisonous chemicals straight into the air! It’s not a safe place to
live.”
Mama
said that she grew up there and that it was safe. When they arrived, they were greeted warmly
by their Grandma and Grandfather, named Alhaji. They were better off than many families in
the region but that wasn't say much.
Blessing and Ezikiel were in for a shock. There was no was no running water nor
electricity. As irony, there was an
electric fan in one of the bedrooms. The
outhouse just had a floor with a hole cut out of it and boy did it smell.
Alhaji had an engineering degree but there were no jobs for locals
anymore. They were all given to white
men, shipped in to work. Eventually Mama
got a job at one of the restaurants in the oil company's compound, she made a
bit of money to help the family.
There was barely enough for Ezikiel to go to school but not
Blessing. Grandma took Blessing under
her wing and started training her to become a midwife. Blessing loved babies, so it was a good fit
but the hours were unpredictable and they often only got paid with fish rather
than money. The job was also dangerous
because they had to leave their compound and go to other villages. In fact Blessing barely escaped being raped
by a local policeman because he wanted a bigger bribe from Granma.
Later, Ezikiel was shot by one of the local rebel boy's group but recovered
in the hospital. However, the hospital
would not release him until the family could pay for his treatment. He missed so much school that he didn't pass
his exams and was expelled. It was heart
breaking because he had been so determined to become a doctor. However, after that he completely changed and
refused to go back to school even if Grandfather could have arranged it.
This is an inspiring and heartbreaking story of the struggles of
an Nigerian family. It was much more
powerful than the description of it implied.
It was political, with the western oil company taking away all of the
jobs, which was the reason for all the different violent rebel groups in the
region. They not only kidnapped white
workers for ransom but raped and killed many innocent village people.
This novel is so well written and is a must read for anyone who
loves family sagas or wants to get a sense of what it is like to be born
Nigerian.
4/5
Also reviewed by:
She is Too Fond of Books
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So glad that you enjoyed this one Teddy. I can't wait to see what this author comes out with next!
Marg said... January 31, 2012 12:22 PM
Would luv to read this one.
Tea said... January 31, 2012 12:44 PM
Marg, same here! Thanks again for drawing my attention to this book. Not sure I would have found it without your review!!
Tea, I think you would really like it!
Teddy Rose said... January 31, 2012 1:27 PM
This sounds very interesting. Thanks for introducing us to it.
Patricia said... February 22, 2012 5:59 PM
It's great Patricia!
Teddy Rose said... February 22, 2012 9:38 PM
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