Shida means problem in Swahili. She was given this name because bad luck
surrounded her birth. Because mothers
are called by their first born children’s names, Shida’s mother is called Mama
Shida and most of the bad luck seems centered around her, especially as Shida has
gotten older. She is almost the right
age to get married but she doesn’t want that yet. She wants to continue to learn about healing
and help the people in her village. Her
grandfather has decided to move their village and merge with another, larger,
nearby village so that both villages will benefit from schools and a clinic, as
the president of Tanzania has asked people to do. Even girls will go to the school so maybe
Shida can have her dream. But her mother
is reluctant to move and many people are upset that girls will be allowed at
the school. They think that only boys
should be educated and that their village may be cursed if the allow all of
these changes. Will Shida be able to
follow her dreams? A fairly easy read
for young teens, this is a pretty good story about life in Tanzania and kids
who are interested in other cultures will probably like it.
No comments:
Post a Comment