Book Review: Our Stories, Our Songs: African Children Talk About AIDS by Deborah Ellis

Over the past year, I have immersed myself in books about Africa, about AIDS, about developmental work. These are not easy reading. They are heartbreaking. They make me feel ashamed of my world, of my own comfort. But I feel compelled to keep reading, to try to understand, to prepare myself for the day when someone asks me, "why didn't you do anything?" I'm trying to understand what I can do. I'm trying to find somewhere to pin my hope in all the hopelessness.

One of the places for hope is in children.  AIDS in Africa has taken a terrible toll on children. Orphans lose their parents, miss out on their educations, go to bed hungry, and are often infected with the virus themselves. But if there is anything that will remind you that Africa is not a lost cause, it's the fact that these children themselves still cling to hope. If they can hope, the least I can do is not shut my eyes to their pain. It's the very least.

Deborah Ellis spent time in Africa collecting the experiences of children for
Our Stories, Our Songs: African Children Talk about AIDS. The book is geared to a young audience, giving youth in Africa a chance to share their lives with their peers in the developed world. It provides a good introduction for kids who want to know more about AIDS and about how their lives might compare to those of children elsewhere in the world.

As an adult reader, what struck me was the simplicity of the stories. The kids Ellis interviewed speak plainly about their lives. That's the tragedy and miracle of kids; they only know what they know.

For instance, Namitso, 14, relates what he saw in a local hospital where he visited his mother:

I saw a lot of people die. They'd die, and they'd be carried out. Their bed would soon be used by someone else. The dead person just went away.

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Article Author: Bonnie

Bonnie writes about books every Thursday at Fourth-Rate Reader, about everything else at Signifying Nothing, and sometimes she resorts to pictures. She lives in Toronto.

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