Nigeria Revisited: My Life and Loves Abroad

by Catherine Onyemelukwe

When Catherine Onyemelukwe joins the Peace Corps in 1962, it’s a new organization, and Nigeria, where she is assigned, is a newly independent country. Full of excitement, anticipation, and curiosity about the unknown, this young Midwestern woman sets out to do her part in making the world a better place. But what she does not realize is that Nigeria is instead about to make her a better person.

Catherine’s personal memoir follows her journeys between America and Nigeria and the resulting relationships, hardships, dangers, surprises, and ultimately the unbreakable bond that develops between her and a complicated country she continues to love to this day. It’s a passionate story of multiculturalism and family that readers won’t soon forget.

314 pages, Paperback

First published October 31, 2014

About the author

When Catherine Onyemelukwe joined the Peace Corps in 1962, it was a new organization, and Nigeria, where she was assigned, was newly independent. Full of excitement, anticipation, and curiosity about the unknown, this young Midwestern woman set out to make the world a better place. But she didn’t realize that Nigeria was instead about to make her a better person.

As a Peace Corps volunteer she taught German at Federal Emergency Science School and English and African History at Awori-Ajeromi Secondary Grammar School. As a new mother she taught at the American International School. She founded and ran a fashion company, co-founded Nigerwives (a group for foreign women in Nigeria married to Nigerian men), and was president of the American Women’s Club in Lagos.

After returning to the U.S. she worked as a fundraiser for local and national non-profits, including the Westport YMCA, Bridgeport Child Advocacy Coalition, and the Interfaith Center for Corporate Responsibility. She lectures on Nigeria’s history, cultures and customs. Catherine is an advocate for cross-cultural understanding and racial justice. She holds degrees from Mount Holyoke College, California State University, and Yale’s School of Management.

Her memoir, Nigeria Revisited My Life and Loves Abroad, was published in late 2014. It follows her journeys between America and Nigeria and the resulting relationships, hardships, dangers, surprises, and ultimately the unbreakable bond that develops between her and a complicated country she continues to love to this day. It’s a passionate story of multiculturalism and family that readers won’t soon forget.

Reviews

[Robert Simms, Jr. · Rating 5 out of 5]

What an amazing adventure for me, to meet and to know a beautiful person—the author—to have the honor of meeting an amazing man—her husband—and, then, to find and read this wonderful book that contains their story of love and anguish, of hope and despair, and of a profound bravery that issues from the love for each other, for country, and for this shared human experience, for which we are blessed. An inspiring experience, it is, reading a book that has filled me with hope for what can be, after the most difficult circumstances that mold and shape lives, and that create beauty in people—strong people, loving people, and people whose depth is shared in the pages of this book. This book, that I first thought, before opening it, was only about Nigeria and two people, has infused me with a precious experience—a gift, indeed!

[Valerie Aliu · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very interesting and inspiring read

This was such a fascinating read for me. I loved the authenticity and originality displayed in this book. I am most impressed by the how Cathy whole heartedly embraced her husband's culture, language and country with so much grace. She did this without any hesitation like one would expect from someone coming from a more advanced country like the US. Her resilience throughout the Biafran war is most impressive for me, recalling how she handled her stay in the village for as long as she did. Though I cannot say she was an excellent wife given the issues of marital faithfulness, I could for sure say she was an excellent mother and a great people' person, a woman with a golden heart and unquenchable energy.....

[Amber Starfire · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent, well written, and fascinating memoir. I was so taken by the author's self-possession and confidence as a young woman — particular during the 60s and 70s. She did not bow to societal restrictions, married and assimilated into the Nigerian culture and family and lived through war. An amazing story, well told.

[Catriona Reynolds · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story is pretty fascinating. Her frankness is surprising at times, especially about her early sex life given the time it was occurring. The writing style is nothing special, but the story is worth bearing with. It's fascinating to me that the 60s and 70s can seem recent and archaic at the same time.