Tia: This Is Africa

Desley Allen

Description

An ordinary Australian mum caught in the drama of an African civil war.
Maggie, with her family, join SudanAID, an organisation working with refugees in southern Sudan. Maggie’s role is to manage their guesthouse in Nairobi, Kenya. As the civil war escalates, SudanAID’s projects are abandoned, and the Sudanese Government threatens to expel the organisation for collaborating with the rebels.

Against this backdrop Maggie relates the heartwarming, the horrific and the humorous stories of the everyday dramas in the lives of her family, co-workers, and guests, both expatriate and national. As her understanding of the African culture grows, she learns the values of tolerance and acceptance and finds the inner strength to come to grips with two critical events that bring SudanAID to its knees.

Sujets

• Historical
• Fiction

Informations

• Publié par: Xlibris AU
• Date de parution: 01 mai 2023
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9798369490921
• Langue: English

Extrait

TIA: THIS IS AFRICA
 
 
 
 
 
 
DESLEY ALLEN
 
Copyright © 2023 by Desley Allen.
Library of Congress Control Number:
2023907030
ISBN:
Hardcover
979-8-3694-9091-4

Softcover
979-8-3694-9093-8

eBook
979-8-3694-9092-1
 
 
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.
 
This is a work of fiction, inspired by the events and experiences of when the author lived in Kenya in the late 1980s. No association with any real organisation, place or event is intended or should be inferred. All characters are fictitious. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.
 
Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.
Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.
 
Print
 
Rev. date: 04/17/2023
 
 
Xlibris
AU TFN: 1 800 844 927 (Toll Free inside Australia)
AU Local: [phone] ([phone] from outside Australia)
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DEDICATION
For my children, Elissa and Paul, and grandchildren Emily and Maxwell.
Special thanks to my husband Nick, my sister Sylvia and the friends who encouraged me to make my dream a reality
Contents
Dedication
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Chapter 42
Chapter 43
Chapter 44
Chapter 45
Chapter 46
Chapter 47
Chapter 48
Chapter 49
Chapter 50
Chapter 51
Chapter 52
Chapter 53
Chapter 54
Chapter 55
Chapter 56
Chapter 57
Chapter 58
Chapter 59
Chapter 60
Chapter 61
Chapter 62
Chapter 63
Chapter 64
Chapter 65
Chapter 66
Chapter 67
Chapter 68
Chapter 69
Chapter 70
Chapter 71
Chapter 72
Epilogue
 
SudanAID S TAFF

     

NAIROBI HQ OF FICE

K oech
Managing Dire ctor
David Wa lker
Office Man ager
F aith
Receptio nist
Lloyd J ones
Finance Dire ctor
Erik and Ursula Sch midt
Marketing Man ager
Si meon
Logistics Off icer
   

THE STAFFH OUSE

Maggie Wa lker
Man ager
Babu
Cook
W anja
House maid
Om ondi
Gard ener
Sam wiil
Night Watc hman
Chuck Fal kner
P ilot
   

KA RERI

Hans Van Ho lten
Field Dire ctor
Robert and Marilyn Y oung
Operations Manager/Tea cher
Dermot Gray
Administr ator
Rebecca Livings tone
Education Publicat ions
Janet Singl eton
Tea cher
   

R ONDO

Ralph and Estelle Harc ourt
Operations Manager/Administr ator
Fiona MacDo nald
Nurse Tra iner
Charles Montgomery-Sm ythe
Lecturer Pastor Col lege
Zoe Carmic hael
Health Care Tra iner
Matthew Fr ench
Bui lder
Jeff Ha rris
Vet
Henry Boyd
Hand yman
   

VIS INGA

Greg and Sue La wrie
Operations Manager/Tea cher
Clare Ryan
Administr ator
Helen M oore
Headmist ress
Patrick O’ Shea
Water Engi neer
 
 
Sudan is the largest country in Africa. Since time immemorial, hostilities have raged between the Muslim Arabs of the north and the Animist and Christian Africans of the south.
A seventeen-year civil war ended in 1972. However, the north coveted complete control over the vast oil and water reserves of the south, resulting in increasing clashes that heralded the second civil war breaking out in the early 1980s. Over the next two decades, two million people lost their lives and a further four million people displaced.
This story is set in 1986. The conflict was escalating with the emergence and rapid growth of the rebel forces, the SFF, which already controlled roughly half of Southern Sudan. Thousands of people had fled their farms and villages, seeking shelter in refugee settlements.
An international relief and development organisation, SudanAID, had initiated vital programs for the war-ravaged communities in many townships and villages across Southern Sudan. Over one hundred expatriate relief workers, recruited from fifteen countries around the world, developed projects in health, education, building, agriculture, and administration.
Maggie Walker, with her husband, Dave, and children, Melody and Ben, arrived from Australia to work in the headquarters of SudanAID in Nairobi, Kenya.
CHAPTER 1

K oech crossed one leg over the other, flicked an imaginary speck off his trouser leg, tasted his tea, grimaced, and stirred in another heaped spoon of sugar. He mopped pearly beads of perspiration off his dark brown forehead with his handkerchief. I wished he would tell us what was on his mind. I was yet to learn that Africans dislike confrontational issues. Rather, they tell a story to set the scene before dropping the unwelcome news.
‘In our African culture, especially when we need to discuss troublesome issues, we dodge around the issue until we reach common ground. I’ve worked alongside expats for many years now and understand you like to get straight to the point, call a spade a spade.’
He glanced at me, his dark eyes asking, ‘Yes?’ I nodded.
Sometimes a shovel , I said to myself, wondering where all this was leading.
Koech cleared his throat. ‘There appears to be some misunderstanding about your role here with SudanAID.’
‘Oh! What’s that?’ Dave asked.
‘Well … we were not aware that you were bringing your children.’
‘What do you mean you didn’t know we had kids?’ My voice just a smidgen on the shrill side.
A frown furrowed Dave’s forehead. ‘That can’t be right. Their details were on all our paperwork.’
‘There has only been a verbal agreement with HQ in Australia. We’ve been waiting for your formal application papers to arrive, and they only landed on my desk this morning. I’ve read them through thoroughly, and I question whether you are the most suitable candidates for this position.’
‘So what’s the problem? Someone had to retire, leaving an urgent gap to be filled. The board put us through several intensive interviews before giving us the go-ahead. Well, here we are. So why can’t we do the job we came to do? I don’t understand.’
Dave set down his cup. It clattered on its saucer.
‘Maybe you can explain a little clearer, Hans,’ Koech said to the slight, grey-headed fellow occupying the other chair.
Hans nodded, tapping the outstretched tips of his fingers together. ‘Yes. I’ll try.’ He spoke in a strong European accent. ‘We requested a mature couple – retirees would be ideal – and should have experience working in the Third World or a war zone. They should, at the very least, recognise what our team members face every day.
‘This posit