George Packer is an accomplished writer covering national and international politics. This is his first book, published in 1988. It’s about his experiences as a Peace Corps volunteer in Togo from 1982-1984. It’s a nation of seven million very poor people. When Packer was there, the country was transitioning from a republic with temporary military… [Read More]
Blog
Category: Africa
Burkina Faso: Dreams of Dust
Burkina Faso, formerly known a Upper Volta, is poor and land-locked. It has gold, though, and if you live in a poorer country, that creates attractive employment opportunities. Dreams of Dust is a French-Canadian movie about someone from Niger who comes to Burkina Faso in search of work. Mocktar, our hero, arrives about 20 years… [Read More]
Ghana: Ghana Must Go
Ghana is a democracy, mostly stable, with a GDP of $3500 per capita. You could do a lot worse than living in Ghana, and too many people are. I found this book on Amazon and was intrigued by the title. I’ve seen references to “Ghana Must Go” bags elsewhere. These are woven plastic plaid bags:… [Read More]
Cote d’Ivoire: Still Wretched
The Africa project has not gone away. I still want to learn something about every country on the continent, but it’s taking a while. It doesn’t help when I select very weighty books, either. Which brings us to Cote D’Ivoire: The Conundrum of A Still Wretched of the Earth, an academic overview of the crisis… [Read More]
Liberia: The House at Sugar Beach
Liberia is fascinating. The country was founded by Americans and is the only American colonial nation where resettlement was involved – there was never an effort to encourage Americans to move to the Philippines or Puerto Rico. Liberia (literally, “Land of Freedom”) was founded in 1822 by American abolitionists who thought it would be great… [Read More]
