Monday, January 6, 2020

Book Added to the Peace Corps Library

 My book, Africans and Americans: Embracing Cultural Differences, has been added to the library of the Peace Corps in Washington DC. The director's message includes these words:

We will add it to the Peace Corps library where our staff and visitors can enjoy it.

I look forward to reading more of it as I find the topic to be very relevant and important to our work. I have already begun reading it, and it has reminded me of my own experiences in Togo, West Africa. As I was reading, I was struck by the section on eye contact. I really love the verses you included from the poem by Sufi poet Ibn ‘Arabi about the veiled woman and eye contact, and I got a good chuckle at your stories of misunderstandings—as I, as well surely all of us, have had many such experiences and misunderstandings.

The director's statement of how my book reminds her of her experiences in Africa is similar to what other Americans say about this book after their stay in Africa. Within Africa, the book is currently available in Tanzania from Soma Book Cafe, located in Dar es Salaam, and from A Novel Idea bookshop in Dar es Salaam and Arusha. It is available in Kenya as well, from Bookstop in the Yaya Center Mall, Nairobi.