The Sleeping Baobab Tree PDF Download

Author: Paula Leyden
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781406327939
Category : Children's stories
Languages : en
Pages : 256

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Book Description
One morning 12-year-old Fred wakes up with an unaccountable sense of foreboding, which his friend Bul-Boo, one of the twins from next door, insists is just in his imagination. However, the feeling persists - and grows stronger when Fred's terrifying great-granny, Nokokulu, asks him to accompany her on a trip to an ancient burial site known as the Place of Death. Then Bul-Boo overhears her parents talking about patients going missing from her mother's AIDS clinic, and when one of the patients turns out to be Fred's Aunt Kiki, the children suddenly view Nokokulu's trip in a different light. Could the two events somehow be linked?

Author: Wilma Stockenstrom
Publisher: Archipelago
ISBN: 1935744933
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 137

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Book Description
Learning to survive in the harsh interior of Southern Africa, a former slave seeks shelter in the hollow of a baobab tree. For the first time since she was a young girl her time is her own, her body is her own, her thoughts are her own. In solitude, she is finally able to reflect on her own existence and its meaning, bringing her a semblance of inner peace. Scenes from her former life shuttle through her mind: how owner after owner assaulted her, and how each of her babies were taken away as soon as they were weaned, their futures left to her imagination. We are the sole witnesses to her history: her capture as a child, her tortured days in a harbor city on the eastern coast as a servant, her journey with her last owner and protector, her flight, and the kaleidoscopic world of her baobab tree. Wilma Stockenström's profound work of narrative fiction, translated by Nobel Prize winner J.M. Coetzee, is a rare, haunting exploration of enslavement and freedom.

Author: Adaobi Tricia Nwaubani
Publisher: HarperCollins
ISBN: 0062696742
Category : Young Adult Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 330

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Book Description
Based on interviews with young women who were kidnapped by Boko Haram, this poignant novel by Adaobi Tricia Nwaubani tells the timely story of one girl who was taken from her home in Nigeria and her harrowing fight for survival. Includes an afterword by award-winning journalist Viviana Mazza. A new pair of shoes, a university degree, a husband—these are the things that a girl dreams of in a Nigerian village. And with a government scholarship right around the corner, everyone can see that these dreams aren’t too far out of reach. But the girl’s dreams turn to nightmares when her village is attacked by Boko Haram, a terrorist group, in the middle of the night. Kidnapped, she is taken with other girls and women into the forest where she is forced to follow her captors’ radical beliefs and watch as her best friend slowly accepts everything she’s been told. Still, the girl defends her existence. As impossible as escape may seem, her life—her future—is hers to fight for.

Author: Paula Leyden
Publisher: Walker
ISBN: 9781406327922
Category : Africa
Languages : en
Pages : 199

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Book Description
Bul-Boo and Madillo are worried about their friend Winifred, who has lost her gentle smile and no longer puts up her hand in class. Then the twins discover her secret: she is to be married off to her uncle's friend, who drinks heavily and is old enough to be her grandfather.

Author: Rough Guides
Publisher: Apa Publications (UK) Limited
ISBN: 1789195829
Category : Travel
Languages : en
Pages : 1216

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Book Description
Experiential travel has always been at the heart of Rough Guides. For over 30 years, our authors have been sharing travel experiences that inspire readers to push themselves out of their comfort zones and to immerse themselves in a destination's culture and traditions. Rough Guides' bestselling inspirational coffee-table book draws upon the insider knowledge of in-the-know writers to share the 1000 ultimate travel experiences across the globe. Make the Most of your Time on Earth is a handpicked curation of personal recommendations, from retracing Odysseus's footsteps on Mljet and hippo-spotting in the Bijagós Islands, to wild camping on the Arabian Peninsula and defying gravity at China's Hanging Temple. It might even be something as simple as walking among Hockney's landscapes on the Yorkshire Wolds Way, or eating among locals in the perfect setting: the definitive gelato in Rome or a mopane worm in Zimbabwe. Every one is special, and authentic, and - above all - inspiring. This fourth edition has been fully revised, with a brand-new design and a collection of high-quality colour photographs spanning beautiful national parks, captivating wildlife and dramatic landscapes. Entries are divided into regions, so you can dip in and out of the different parts of the world you're interested in, whether that's a remote island in the Philippines, a stunning Swedish archipelago or an off-the-beaten-track pocket of Saskatchewan. Lively and engaging text captures the essence of the experience, while essential "Need to Know" sections at the end of each chapter make it easy for you to plan your trip. Packed full of ideas and take-you-there photography, Make the Most of your Time on Earth is pure escapism for active travellers and armchair fantasists alike. About Rough Guides: Rough Guides have been inspiring travellers for over 35 years, with over 30 million copies sold. Synonymous with practical travel tips, quality writing and a trustworthy 'tell it like it is' ethos, the Rough Guides list includes more than 260 travel guides to 120+ destinations, gift-books and phrasebooks.

Author: Rough Guides
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 0241263263
Category : Travel
Languages : en
Pages : 708

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Book Description
1,000 travel adventures across all seven continents, gorgeous full-bleed images throughout, and short summaries of each adventure: With more than 500,000 copies sold, Make the Most of Your Time on Earth is truly the ultimate inspirational guide for world travelers and those who dream of hitting the road. The third edition has been fully revised, with stunning, brand-new color photos throughout and a wealth of new writing and new adventures, from sleeping in a baobab tree in Senegal to breakfasting in a Burmese teahouse. Entries are divided into regions, so it's easy to go straight to the part of the world you're interested in, and all the nitty-gritty practical information you'll need to find out more is contained in the "Need to Know" sections at the end of each chapter. Make the Most of Your Time on Earth is the product of the combined travel experience of Rough Guides' authors over the last 30 years, each an expert in his or her own territory. Our authors have chosen their favorite experiences from their travels to inspire yours - making this the perfect book for planning your next big adventure, or just dreaming of future travels.

Author: Alexandra Fuller
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Limited
ISBN: 9781849832960
Category : British
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
Cocktail Hour Under the Tree of Forgetfulnesstells the story of the author's mother, Nicola Fuller. Nicola Fuller and her husband were a glamorous and optimistic couple and East Africa lay before them with the promise of all its perfect light, even as the British Empire in which they both believed waned. They had everything, including two golden children - a girl and a boy. However, life became increasingly difficult and they moved to Rhodesia to work as farm managers. The previous farm manager had committed suicide. His ghost appeared at the foot of their bed and seemed to be trying to warn them of something. Shortly after this, one of their golden children died. Africa was no longer the playground of Nicola's childhood. They returned to England where the author was born before they returned to Rhodesia and to the civil war. The last part of the book sees the Fullers in their old age on a banana and fish farm in the Zambezi Valley. They had built their ramshackle dining room under the Tree of Forgetfulness. In local custom, this tree is the meeting place for villagers determined to resolve disputes. It is in the spirit of this Forgetfulness that Nicola finally forgot - but did not forgive - all her enemies including her daughter and the Apostle, a squatter who has taken up in her bananas with his seven wives and forty-nine children. Funny, tragic, terrifying, exotic and utterly unself-conscious, this is a story of survival and madness, love and war, passion and compassion.

Author: John Rashford
Publisher: Springer Nature
ISBN: 3031264703
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 390

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Book Description
Modern humans, descendants of a founding population that separated from chimpanzees some five to eight million years ago, are today the only living representative of a branching group of African apes called hominins. Because of its extraordinary size and shape, the baobab (Adansonia digitata L.) has long been identified as the most striking tree of Africa’s mosaic savanna, the landscape generally regarded as the environment of hominin evolution. This book makes the case for identifying the baobab as the tree of life in the hunter-gatherer adaptation that was the economic foundation of hominin evolution. The argument is based on the significance of the baobab as a resource-rich environment for the Hadza of northeastern Tanzania, who continue to be successful hunter-gatherers of the African savanna.

Author: Jerry Wheeler Ed. D.
Publisher: iUniverse
ISBN: 0595327990
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 359

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Book Description
Whispers of a Secret God chronicles a clash of three sub-Saharan cultures battling for dominance in a tangle of drought, famine, and land rights. Slavery and dislocation have exacted a heavy toll, reshuffling ancient social boundaries and challenging long-held religious practices. Whereas stereotypical African villages evoke images of savagery, brutality, and superstition, the Fula tribes developed a more peaceful and rule-governed Muslim society. Honor and courage throbbed in their hearts. The saga derives its title from the muddled vestiges of Christianity surviving from somewhere in the tribe's distant identity. Although it is not allowed to surface openly, this secret knowledge is communicated by the women of the village from generation to generation. A chief Muslim cleric, who used religion as a tool of power, sought to replace the aging king's rule with strict Islamic law. The story pulsates with intrigue, romance, and fierce battles, but ends in a time of renewed yet short-lived tranquility. This saga provides the reader brief glimpses into the world beyond, contrasting temporal and spiritual reality.

Author: Véronique Tadjo
Publisher: Other Press, LLC
ISBN: 1635420962
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 161

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Book Description
WINNER OF THE LOS ANGELES TIMES BOOK PRIZE Harper’s Bazaar: Best Book of the Year Boston Globe: Best Book of the Year Ms. Magazine: Best Feminist Book of the Year Words Without Borders: Best Translated Book of the Year Drawing on real accounts of the Ebola outbreak that devastated West Africa, this poignant, timely fable reflects on both the strength and the fragility of life and humanity’s place in the world. Two boys venture from their village to hunt in a nearby forest, where they shoot down bats with glee, and cook their prey over an open fire. Within a month, they are dead, bodies ravaged by an insidious disease that neither the local healer’s potions nor the medical team’s treatments could cure. Compounding the family’s grief, experts warn against touching the sick. But this caution comes too late: the virus spreads rapidly, and the boys’ father is barely able to send his eldest daughter away for a chance at survival. In a series of moving snapshots, Véronique Tadjo illustrates the terrible extent of the Ebola epidemic, through the eyes of those affected in myriad ways: the doctor who tirelessly treats patients day after day in a sweltering tent, protected from the virus only by a plastic suit; the student who volunteers to work as a gravedigger while universities are closed, helping the teams overwhelmed by the sheer number of bodies; the grandmother who agrees to take in an orphaned boy cast out of his village for fear of infection. And watching over them all is the ancient and wise Baobab tree, mourning the dire state of the earth yet providing a sense of hope for the future. Acutely relevant to our times in light of the coronavirus pandemic, In the Company of Men explores critical questions about how we cope with a global crisis and how we can combat fear and prejudice.