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Our Kind of People: A Continent's Challenge, A Country's Hope
In 2005 Uzodinma Iweala stunned readers and critics alike with Beasts of No Nation, his debut novel about child soldiers in West Africa. Now his return to Africa has produced Our Kind of People, a non-fiction account of the AIDS crisis every bit as startling and original. HIV/AIDS has been reported as one of the most destructive diseases in recent memory--tearing apart com...more
Hardcover, 240 pages
Published
July 10th 2012
by Harper
(first published May 1st 2012)
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When it comes to HIV/AIDS on the African continent we, as Westerners, are often blinded by the ubiquitous stereotypes that permeate our perspectives and opinions about Africa. We then can only rely on the authentic and experienced voices of authors, reporters, and first-person stories from those who have lived and grown up on the continent. We have to rely on those who have committed themselves to setting the record straight about what it is like to be an African who has to face HIV/AIDS every d...more
The challenge with writing a medical ethnography is providing the right balance of statistical information and anecdotes/interviews that help put a face on the subject disease. Nigerian physician Uzodinma Iweala does just that with this book.
"Our Kind of People" examines the sub-Saharan Africa HIV/AIDS epidemic through the eyes of Iweala's countrymen. Not only does he interview physicians and other caregivers; he also interviews activists (some of whom are patients themselves), patients and fami...more
"Our Kind of People" examines the sub-Saharan Africa HIV/AIDS epidemic through the eyes of Iweala's countrymen. Not only does he interview physicians and other caregivers; he also interviews activists (some of whom are patients themselves), patients and fami...more
Our Kind of People left me in a hard place when it came to this review. On the one hand, what it has to say about the ignorance of people who assume/believe that an HIV diagnosis is an automatic death sentence is important to hear. Many in Africa still hide from their family, friends and neighbors until they die because of the shame and the stigma. However, there are those who are proclaiming their positive status, hoping that others will begin to understand that knowledge is power, and that the...more
The author goes deeper to answer his own questions about the future of his homeland (Nigeria) and Africa concerning HIV/AIDS. I liked this personal look, and the vignettes the author creates from the people he meets- it offers a humanization on the HIV/AIDS epidemic in Africa. Interesting section on stigmas that can be applied to any source of poverty. My favorite quote comes right at the end, and leaves me feeling like I want to keep reading. I love how the author suggests that healing will beg...more
This is a troubling book....but a necessary read......I find this book very engrossing....I read many years ago "As the Band Played on"......by Randy Shiltz..I also have read other books on HIV-AIDS......it's complexities...the stigmas......the going back and forth of the disease causes and treatments and costs.....but this book is an exceptional in its scope....breadth..insight ..shockingness honesty.......I recommend it to be read by any health care provider......nurse...docters....nursing ass...more
Our Kind of People: A Continent's Challenge, A Country's Hope by Uzodinma Iweala is a brief, yet hard hitting look at how the AIDS crisis in Africa has specifically affected Nigeria.
The reader is introduced to persons who have the disease, have been widowed by the disease, and the brave souls who are seeking to counter the information gap between the reality of AIDS and misconceptions of the disease that spread throughout not just Nigeria, but the rest of the world, as well.
Some books on the AID...more
The reader is introduced to persons who have the disease, have been widowed by the disease, and the brave souls who are seeking to counter the information gap between the reality of AIDS and misconceptions of the disease that spread throughout not just Nigeria, but the rest of the world, as well.
Some books on the AID...more
The book covers the very subtle, yet very important aspect of humanity within the AIDS epidemic in Africa. Uzodinma Iweala accomplished what he set out to do - he has broadened my thinking about AIDS in Africia.
This review can be found at www.ifithaswords.blogspot.com or www.amazon.com as part of the Vine Program.
This book was OK but I didn't feel it really added anything new to the AIDS-in-Africa discussion.
"I thought it great for anyone who recognizes the giant gap that exists within our first world perceptions and the reality of life. "
read more: http://likeiamfeasting.blogspot.co.uk...
read more: http://likeiamfeasting.blogspot.co.uk...
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