GUINEA-BISSAU

READ

I knew when I picked up a book called The Ultimate Tragedy that I was not going to be writing a very uplifting blog post about the West African country of Guinea-Bissau. This book, by Abdulai Sila, tells the story of Ndani, a young Bissau-Guinean woman who leaves her village to look for work in the city. She wants to leave the village not only for better opportunities, but because the local djambakus, a religious leader, has declared that Ndani has a wicked spirit in her and that she will live a life full of tragedy. Since that time, no one in the village has wanted anything to do with her except for her stepmother, who is her friend and confidant.

Ndani finds work in the home of a Portuguese couple. The wife isn’t happy to have her there at first, but that changes when she decides that it’s her duty to convert Ndani to Christianity. The husband’s intentions are considerably less spiritual, and Ndani ends up having to leave the household.

She goes back to her stepmother’s house and stays there until the Régulo (village chief) decides that, since Ndani is educated and has lived in a white household, he wants her to be his wife and take care of the big house he’s having built to upstage the Portuguese Chief of Post who has insulted him. That doesn’t work out the way the Régulo had intended it to, and he moves out, leaving Ndani in the big house. Soon, the local schoolteacher fills that void, and he and Ndani have a son together.

Circumstances permit Ndani and the teacher to build a life together, and they move to a different town with the hope of starting over. However, tragedy follows Ndani once again.

The Ultimate Tragedy is a classic tale of man (or, in this case, woman) against fate. Ndani has done nothing to warrant her tragic destiny, and no matter how she tries to outrun it, things never end up going well for her. The teacher, who was educated by Catholic priests, believes the prophecy by the djambakus is just a superstitious belief and that evil spirits don’t exist, but he suffers because of his relationship with Ndani too. The ultimate tragedy appears to be that Ndani cannot escape her destiny, and neither can the people closest to her.

COOK

I found a vegan recipe from Guinea-Bissau on the allrecipes.com website. It was posted by a woman who had been a Peace Corps worker there. The dish is Guinean peanut sauce with butternut squash, and it was very easy to make. Stewed chunks of butternut squash are simmered in a sauce made of peanut butter and tomato. It sounds like an odd combination, but it was actually quite good.

GIVE

There was only one project for Guinea-Bissau listed on the GlobalGiving website, so that’s the one I chose. Fortunately, it sounds like a great project helping rural communities in one of the poorest areas of the country. According to the website: “The project will install clean water wells, build latrines, establish market gardens and train young people and women on how to maintain these resources and take ownership of their community's development” in five remote villages. This is immensely important in a region where people have to walk for hours every day just to find water. More information about this project is available at https://www.globalgiving.org/projects/water-health-and-womens-empowerment-guinea-bissau/.

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