If you’ve ever wanted to learn more about Africa but weren’t sure where to begin, I recommend 10 books from a variety of genres to help you get started.
Christian Perspectives
Africa Bible Commentary: More than 70 different African theologians have contributed to this reference book. It can be a great tool to use while doing personal Bible study. It will help you gain new insights about the Bible through African perspectives.
Beyond the Rivers of Ethiopia(by Mensa Otabil): This one is on my reading list, but I haven’t read it, yet. It has been highly recommended by some of our African colleagues. This book explores the Africans of the Bible and sheds light on God’s purposes for the peoples of Africa (and people of African heritage).
Biography
They Poured Fire on Us From the Sky(by Benjamin Ajak, Benson Deng, Alephonsian Deng, and Judy Berstein): This powerful story gives a very personal perspective of the Sudanese civil war through the eyes of three young men who experienced its atrocities first hand. It can help you to begin to understand why Sudan split into two countries this past July.
Fiction
Things Fall Apart(by Chinua Achebe): This story is set in Nigeria just before colonialism. It gives a fascinating look into life and traditions in a rural village through the eyes of protagonist, Okonkwo. Cultural clashes erupt when European foreigners arrive. This is the first of three books in a trilogy. The others are No Longer At Ease and Arrow of God.
The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency(by Alexander McCall Smith): This is the first in a series of books set in Botswana about a woman who runs a small detective agency. This is great light reading. These books are a lot of fun. It offers a refreshingly positive glimpse of African life.
Modern History and Commentary
State of Africa: A History of 50 Years of Independence(by Martin Meredith): If you want an overview of what has happened since independence in every country on the continent, this will give it to you. It’s packed with information but written in a style that will draw you into the content. I learned a great deal from this book.
Africa: Altered States, Ordinary Miracles(by Richard Dowden): This is another book which gives a sweeping overview of the continent, but it doesn’t cover as big of a time period as Meredith’s book.
The Challenge for Africa(by Wangari Maathai): Maathai, founder of the Green Belt Movement, describes some of Africa’s current difficulties including her view of the reasons behind them and then provides her vision for a way forward. She does an excellent job at expounding on some of the environmental challenges and solutions.
Cultural Perspectives
Into Africa: Intercultural Insights(by Yale Richmond and Phyllis Gestrin): This was one of the first books I read before we moved to Africa. Some of the information seems a little dated, but for the most part, it was very helpful. It will provide information about nearly every aspect of life in different parts of Africa from familial customs, to business etiquette, to authority structures.
African Friends and Money Matters(by David Maranz): Money can be a source of cross-cultural conflict, and this book clearly defines some of the differences between how Westerners view financial matters and how many Africans do. Each topic gives some excellent background to the cultural values that are the foundation behind different financial practices.
Here’s a list of six of things you may not think of that I suggest you have with you on a trip to most sub-Saharan African countries:
Passport photos: I always carry at least four passport photos with me. You may need these for any number of things–a visa application, a government permit you didn’t know you needed…who knows. There are photo studios around in cities, but you never know if you’ll be asked for photos at a time when the photo shops aren’t open or aren’t conveniently located to where you are.
Malaria home test kit:Malaria is prevalent in most African countries and taking a malaria prophylaxis will help you prevent contracting the parasite. However, taking a prophylaxis doesn’t eliminate your risk of getting the illness completely. Malaria test kits can be purchased at pharmacies in many African cities. Home test kits can be just as accurate as tests in the hospital as long as you carefully follow the instructions provided with the kit.
ACT (Artemether Combined Therapy): If you do contract malaria, ACT is one of the best medicines to take. I keep a packet of this with me on my trips just in case. You can usually find this at most pharmacies in urban areas in Africa. Buy it before leaving urban areas.
International drivers permit: These can be acquired at your local auto club (like AAA in the US). You may not be planning to drive, and in some places, driving might not be advisable, but having this permit will allow you to drive if you need to, legally.
Debit card: In many countries in Africa, if you need cash, you can get it at an ATM using a debit card from your home country. The exchange rate is usually better than most foreign exchange cash counters, especially the ones at airports. Call your bank ahead of time to let them know where you’re going to make sure they don’t put a fraud block on your card when you try to use it abroad. Also, be sure to get your cash while you’re in an urban area because you may not find an ATM in more rural locations.
US Dollars: If you must use a forex cash counter or if you are in an emergency situation, USDs are usually the best currency to have. Additionally, they often are the only currency accepted if you buy a visa upon arrival in a country. Bring the newest bills you can find–2006 series or newer are best. Most of it should be in larger designations like 100s, 50s, or 20s at the smallest. How much you take depends on where you go, but a minimum amount could be $210 (one 100, one 50, two 20s and two 10s). That amount gives you lots of flexibility to pay different amounts.
What unexpected items have you found useful to have with you when you travel abroad?
This map shows the official languages of the countries in Africa.
I used to think that a national or official language of a country was the language that everyone in that country knew. What I’ve learned since I started working for Wycliffe is that the reality is much more complicated. Below is some of what I’ve learned from our linguist colleagues about language use.
In Africa the main official languages are French, English, Arabic and Portuguese, but for the most part African countries host a multilingual environment where different languages are used by different people in different contexts. Sometimes the language listed as the official language of a country is only spoken by 20% or less of the population. Often other languages are used in the home and maybe even another language or two for trade.
Let’s take Kenya as an example. More than 50 different languages are spoken there.
Most of these languages would be considered home languages, or languages that people use with their family or with other people from the same ethnic group. It’s often a language people use to express their deep feelings with the people with whom they are closest. For some people, particularly in rural and remote areas, it may be the only language they know or the only one for which they have an extensive vocabulary.
Trade languages are languages that different ethnic communities in a geographic zone use to conduct business and communicate with each other. One of the trade languages used all around Kenya and in many other parts of East Africa is KiSwahili. However, sometimes other languages are used for this same purpose in smaller geographic areas.
The official language of Kenya is English (KiSwahili was recently added as another official language). Official languages are the languages used by the government–in the courts, in official documents, and in other government contexts. Official languages are often the languages used by the elite and those with the highest levels of education and in areas with a high concentration of ethnic diversity (like large urban slums) where another trade language is not the primary means of communications. In a big city like Nairobi where not only are there many different Kenyan ethnicities coming together but also people from other parts of the Africa and the world, English is more widely spoken than in other cities in Kenya. Trade languages and official or national languages can be referred to as languages of wider communication or lingua francas because they serve as bidges that allow diverse groups of people to talk to each other.
People in highly urban areas may regularly use three or more languages even in the course of one day. In contrast, someone who lives in a remote or rural area may only know one language well and may have limited vocabulary in another one or two languages.
These become important factors to consider in Bible translation projects and generally in determining what languages to use in ministry. African church leaders as well as non-African foreigners who have ministries in African countries must carefully consider several factors:
How well do their audiences know different languages?
What kinds of vocabulary do they know in each language?
How do they use each one?
In which language do they express feelings, ideas or deep truths?
Does one language have more status than another, and what implications will choosing one language over another have in a given context?
Multilingualism isn’t new. We know from the Bible that Jesus knew several languages: Aramaic (likely his home language), Hebrew, and Greek since it was the trade language of the eastern Roman empire. He probably didn’t know the official language of the Roman empire (Latin) because it was not widely spoken in the eastern part of the empire.
I took this short video from the hotel where I stayed for several days while I was in Cotonou, Benin in August. You’ll notice that there are a lot of motorbikes on the road. This is one of the most popular means of transport. The motorbike taxis, called Zemijans, will take you just about any where. Two years ago I road on one. Not this year. Leaving the hotel to go somewhere wasn’t a problem, but figuring out how to get back would have been challenging.
When we moved to Kenya in 2009, one of the challenges was learning to drive on the left. The most difficult parts of that transition were learning to feel the edge of the road and remembering to pick the correct lane when turning onto new roads. It’s a skill we were thankful to have already acquired when we moved to South Africa, which is also a left-side drive country. Kenya and South Africa are two of the 14 countries in Africa which drive on the left. The remaining 41 countries all drive on the right.
In the world 76 countries drive on the left and 164 countries drive on the right. Countries where traffic flows on the left include several island nations and island territories in Europe and North America, a portion of the in countries Africa, most of the countries in the Pacific, and a few countries in Asia and South America.
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