Masha Hamilton ~ answers Alison's questions

Alison wrote:

I did finish the book [The Camel Bookmobile by Masha Hamilton] earlier this week. I wish I had had more time this month to post about it, but I will do a post by the weekend about some of my final thoughts.

I do think we need to ask Masha Hamilton if she can do cartwheels!

I'd also love to hear her thoughts about the female circumcision and other women's rights issues (such as polygamy, abuse, status as "property") that are only peripheral to the novel but which provide some context for the importance of education and for Kanika's life goals.

Masha answered:

Alison, thanks for your questions. In real life, this region of northeastern Kenya near the border with Somalia is inhabited almost solely by pastoralists who speak Somali and wander the porous border between the two countries. They have generally left Somali because of the ongoing political problems and violence in that country, but they do not consider themselves Kenyan. They are Muslim, illiterate, with a low level of Western-style education and understanding of the world beyond their own.

They practice, in many ways, a very tolerant form of Islam, particularly compared with what I saw elsewhere in the Middle East and Afghanistan. The girls are being educated equally with the boys and this does not seem to be an issue that is even questioned. Of the four librarians who I was lucky enough to accompany into the bush, two were women. The head librarian appointed in Wajir by Mr. Farah (himself a progressive on many fronts) is also a woman, 34, mother of four young children. The women I saw generally wore headscarves, although some wore the full hijab. Neither seemed to be mandated, even within the home; it seemed more a matter of local culture and tradition. The men often wore flowing robes as opposed to pants and shirts.

Polygamy IS part of the lifestyle here – Mr. Farah himself has two wives and is currently looking for a third. In addition, female circumcision is practiced here – the kind of female circumcision that involves removing all of the external genitalia and then often stitching together the vaginal opening, allowing only a small opening for flow of urine and menstrual blood. In real life, as in the book, this practice is easing out as the region becomes more touched by the outside world, including Kenyan and United Nations organizations. So the region is, both in reality and in the novel, in transition on several levels.

Yes, I cartwheel. I cartwheeled a lot, in a field in upstate New York, when I was writing the cartwheel scene. And then, back home, I cartwheeled and asked my family to describe what they saw. Although I was afraid, in some ways, that including the cartwheeling scene and then repeating it at the end might seem improbable, to me it illustrated Fi's light-hearted side and also some of the silly, flirtatious behavior that might surface at such moments, and also a gentle way to show the often-curious results of bonding different cultures.

In Lucia's Eyes ~ continuing the discussion

Mary Zorro said, "Bonnie, I have recently finished ILE and was frustrated with the book and the author until the last 20 or so pages. Then the real love story began and I was thankful that I stuck with the book. I did not sympathize with the characters throughout and did not 'get' the author's inclusion of certain scenes and travels of Lucia. But the ending made it all worthwhile. I have copied your questions and comments on to my BooksIRead and will be editing and responding to them there. Wish I had gotten on these boards in time to read ILE with you."

Bonnie Jacobs says to ALL book buddies, "Here's the link to Mary Zorro's ILE post, which includes not only her own musings, but comments from other people and places as well. Mary, sharing your interests, even months (or years?) later, may encourage others to speak up. Those who read the book earlier may have new insights after thinking about what they read, and there could be others who are just now reading the book, like you. As a matter of fact, why not ask your questions here? Buddies keep sharing ideas, so why not? Happy reading and discussing, everybuddy!"

DQs from Bonnie

Does anybuddy remember the 1970s? ? Of course I do. My children were 8, 6, and newborn in 1975.

When were you in school? I graduated from high school in 1961; college in 1964; grad school in 1985

Can you relate to either young woman's situation? Do you know someone who has lost a baby? My daughter lost 3 babies early after in utero implants, and now we have beautiful Olivia on the fourth try

Do you know someone who raised a child alone? Isn't that something! I don't personally know a single parent??? How can that be in this day and age?

I may be opening a can of worms here, but what's your opinion about abortion? I favor abortion as a mother's choice if it is done early, early in the development of the embryo. I do not favor abortion of a fetus that is more advanced in development

I want to use color for my post, but can't find it???

Opening Questions

Does anybuddy remember the 1970s? When were you in school? Can you relate to either young woman's situation? Do you know someone who has lost a baby? Do you know someone who raised a child alone? I may be opening a can of worms here, but what's your opinion about abortion?

Wow! Bonnie, I like the way you are just jumping right in there.

Yes, I remember the 1970's. I graduated from high school in 1966, married in 1969, and was in college during the 1970's. Although I cannot relate personally to either young woman's experience, I remember quite well in the 1960's when several people I knew "had to get married". Giving one's baby up for adoption (an excellent, but heart wrenching book on this is Ann Fessler's The Girls Who Went Away—The Hidden History of Women Who Surrendered Children for Adoption in the Decades Before Roe v. Wade) or getting married were the common options available as I don't know of any women during my teens and early twenties who opted to raise their children on their own. Abortions were illegal and I only heard of one woman who had an abortion (a divorced neighbor with five children who had an affair with a married man and had a very risky abortion at a motel about 80 miles from our city).

I know of several women who have suffered late term miscarriages or still births. Such a loss would be very difficult. My sister was irritated when one of my friends who lost her only baby shortly after his birth many years ago related it to my 29 year old son's death last summer. My sister felt that there was no comparison. I think that the sorrow would be just as deep. I was blessed that I had my son for 29 years. My friend not only did not get to know her son, but never had other children. It was a major loss for her and I have appreciated her comfort that she has given to me--instead of ignoring it after a few weeks like so many have, she will sometimes ask how I am doing. She told me recently that on her son's birthday, she and her husband take off from work and go someplace special in his memory.

I think abortion is a very tragic option. However, in some cases, it is the "best" of all of the rotten choices available because of financial, physical, or emotional situations or because of the health condition of the unborn baby. It is not an option to be taken lightly, but I think it is an option that should be available.

At first, I thought the book was slow because of its descriptive style. However, it soon picked up and the character portrayals certainly make one feel a part of each of their lives. I have received another book from the library (Little Heathens--Hard Times and High Spirits on An Iowa Farm During the Great Depression by Mildred Kalish) that I won't be able to renew since it is a newer book so I have put Windfalls aside to try to get this Little Heathens read before it is due.

I loved the meaning given to the chapter title "Because".

Windfalls ~ questions for "Because" section

After canning beets all day, Anna's grandmother told her she'd lost a daughter at birth -- her only daughter -- whom she'd named Lucy, from the Latin word for "light." She'd just told Anna about her "conceit" about canning, that she imagined herself "preserving light, you know, caught in those vegetables and fruits -- I was putting up light in those glass jars, saving sunlight down cellar until we needed it, in the dark of winter" (p. 56). Anna lost a child, too, because she chose to have an abortion (pp. 28-30). Cerise decided to keep her baby, a girl she named Melody "because, as she remembered the elementary school music teacher explaining on one of her rare visits to Cerise's classroom, a melody was at the center of every song" (p. 46).

The 1970s were the time of Roe v. Wade (1973) and the Equal Rights Amendment (U.S. House of Representatives in 1971, U.S. Senate in 1972), which read: "Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex").

Questions:
Does anybuddy remember the 1970s? When were you in school? Can you relate to either young woman's situation? Do you know someone who has lost a baby? Do you know someone who raised a child alone? I may be opening a can of worms here, but what's your opinion about abortion?
__________

Later, in the next section, is this line ... which may add to whatever we say about these choices:

"Anna remembered how learning of her grandmother's loss had given her a way to face her own" (p. 76).

CB - Final Thoughts

Excerpted from the review I posted on my book blog.

Some concepts explored in the book:

Cultural differences. The importance of literacy and education. The role of women in society. Making a contribution to the world. Interpersonal relationships. Marching to a different drummer.

Three favorite passages:

It was more than a hope; it was an intuition now, or maybe a vow. [page 132]

There were limitations to language, even when it was shared. Sometimes words were not sturdy enough to hold all the needed meaning. She'd discovered that as a child, when she sought to find her mother in the harried and unreachable widow, and she felt it again now. [page 156]

Jwahir's father shook his head. "Those are words from your husband, not you. The issue is values. Ours are not theirs. We respect our ancestors' lessons. I know the name of my father's father's father's father. Do they in the city with their books know this?"

Here, Jwahir was tempted to interrupt, to ask whether he could recall the name of his mother's mother's mother's mother. She knew the answer, though. She'd heard this litany before, along with the recitation of the endless list of male preceded by male preceded by male. As if the women did not exist, except as containers shaped by others' visions, holders of the dreams of fathers, husbands, sons. She felt a surge of irritation coupled with resolve. Like her father, she was traditional. But her father's words fed her conviction that she had to break with tradition on some matters at least. It was right to risk everything to do what she believed, what she desired and needed - as a woman. [page 163]

Something else I liked:

Fiona applies the metaphor of being "a zebra among giraffes" to herself and her situation in African. This idea comes from something she has seen on the African plains - a small herd of giraffes with one zebra among them. "He follows them everywhere," she is told. "Dreaming of being a giraffe?" she asked. "I imagine he lost his family somehow and he's longing to find another one to fit into" is the response.

One last thought:

Fiona tries to learn some of the colloquialisms of the African community she visits. A final one she learns is "fresh water on your cheeks" - expressed to her as part of a good-bye and thank you. I find the phrase endearing.

About the end-of-month party

This just in ... Fiona Sweeney, of Camel Bookmobile fame, says she can't party until later this month. So when the end of May rolls around, we'll party with Anna and Cerise, the ladies of Windfalls, and with Fi and Matani and Neema and Kanika and Scar Boy and the other villagers of Mididima.

I've heard tell that Siti, the leader and load camel, will also be there. It will be up to us to check out the rumor that she is possessed by the spirit of Mr. Abasi's own departed mother.

One word of encouragement, those so inclined may want to bring along any spare paper you have lying around the house. I hear that Scar Bbb... uh, I mean, Taban ... has run out of paper again.

And for others, you may want to contribute to the ACTUAL camel bookmobile operating in Kenya. Here's how to donate to the camel bookmobile.

Extra incentive to attend our next party: Bonnie ... and maybe others? ... will tell you all about the camels sitting grandly in the history of the Book Buddies. Put on your thinking caps, everybuddy, and try to remember all you can about those errant camels, Bactrian and ... hmmm, what was the other kind? ... oh, yeah, Dromedary. Siti (aka, Mr. Abasi's mother) would be a Dromedary. When you plan what food to bring to the party, don't forget something for Siti to nibble.