A Good African Story

Since it was founded in 2003, Good African Coffee has helped thousands of farmers earn a decent living, send their children to school and escape a spiral of debt and dependence. Africa has received over $1 trillion in aid over the last fifty years and yet despite these huge inflows, the continent remains mired in poverty, disease and systemic corruption. In A Good African Story, as Andrew Rugasira recounts the very personal story of his company and the challenges that he has faced – and overcome – as an African entrepreneur, he provides a tantalising glimpse of what Africa could be, and argues that trade has achieved what years of aid have failed to deliver. This is a book about Africa taking its destiny in its own hands, and dictating the terms of its future.

Daphne Sheldrick's best-selling love story of romance, life and elephants, An African Love Story: Love, Life and Elephants is an incredible story from Africa's greatest living conservationist. A typical day for Daphne involves rescuing baby elephants from poachers; finding homes for orphan elephants, all the while campaigning the ever-present threat of poaching for the ivory trade. An African Love Story is the incredible memoir of her life. It tells two stories - one is the extraordinary love story which blossomed when Daphne fell head over heels with Tsavo Game Park and its famous warden, David Sheldrick. The second is the love story of how Daphne and David, who devoted their lives to saving elephant orphans, at first losing every infant under the age of two until Daphne at last managed to devise the first-ever milk formula which would keep them alive. 'Compulsively readable', Mail on Sunday 'An enchanting memoir', Telegraph Daphne Sheldrick has spent her entire life in Kenya. For over 25 years, she and her husband, David, the famous founder of the the giant Tsavo National Park, raised and rehabilitated back into the wild orphans of misfortune from many different wild species. These included elephants, rhinos, buffaloes, zebra, eland, kudu, impala, warthogs and many other smaller animals. In 2006 she was made Dame Commander of the British Empire by the Queen.

This is a new paperback edition of Beloved African, originally launched at Adelaide Writer's Week in 2000, in response to a sudden and gratifying swell of demand, as this powerful story taps into a constantly increasing pool of readers. Original hard cover and paperback issues are now out of print. An immensely powerful love story it is certainly - but with such insight into how Headmaster John Hammond battled first, to persuade Africans to send their sons to school in the 1930's, then rode the whirlwind as demand grew out of all proportion to the country's capability to meet it. He strode an increasingly political stage - fighting to educate and skill enough youngsters for the critically important task of running a new country. First at Tjolotjo - agriculture, leatherwork, metal work carpentry - then to Mzingwane, as the pupils themselves built the school as a project - ending as Head of Goromonzi with 6 years of academic learning. The story comes to life through Nancy Hammond's precise memory for detail, hundreds of letters written and lovingly preserved since they met and a series of tape recordings with John,18 months before his death 1996. The agonies of what occurred and the effects it had are described with candour and clarity. Absorbing tales of dedication and effort, so often thwarted by political duplicity. READER REVIEWS Peter Winhall: Cape Town: I write to say this book is terrific, and some of the published speeches from headmaster John Hammond are simply stunning! Where else does one find the reality of those times expressed so clearly? What a man; what dedication! What tough times!... staggering. The power of "Beloved African" apart from being a true love story, is that it gets across the enormity of the task of not only creating the infrastructure, but actually educating the indigenous natives in an endeavour to bridge the gap and create a thriving and prosperous nation. Bearing in mind that every piece of galvanised steel, every nut and bolt, and virtually everything one can imagine that didn't come from an animal's hide, or from mud, grass or wood, had to be brought in by ox wagon from 1000 miles away! "Beloved African" delights in bringing the gigantic task to life and what people did through unbelievable dedication. Scott Hatfield: Penticton, Canada My good friend Joe Hermann, kindly mailed me a copy of your wonderful book, Beloved African, in 2003. Born in Southern Rhodesia in 1936 I lived every well-written episode in the book. John Hammond was a hero. Lima Hotel: 5* This completely truthful and deeply insightful biography of John Hammond has thrilled, informed, moved me to tears, filled me with joyful nostalgia, made me seethe with anger. A truly brilliant historical read. Helen Bowyer: 5* A terrific book with so much information in it that describes the agony of people like Hammond whose only desire was to see the African race progress in all areas of life. Oh if only all teachers had the same heart. CRIT: South African best sellers: Guardian March 2000 Antoinette Bain Respect, honesty and integrity were values John Hammond regarded highly and which he tried to instil in his pupils and staff. Many became leaders in their fields of expertise. The subject matter is serious, but the book reads easily and moves along at a sufficiently fast pace to keep the reader interested without losing sight of the importance of the issues concerned. Beloved African is a book filled with thought provoking material. In a time when Africa's history is being re-written to reflect a more balanced view a valuable addition to the reading lists of historians, politicians and concerned citizens ali...

Presenting a diverse and dazzling collection from all over the continent, from Morocco to Zimbabwe, Uganda to Kenya. Helon Habila focuses on younger, newer writers - contrasted with some of their older, more established peers - to give a fascinating picture of a new and more liberated Africa. These writers are characterized by their engagement with the wider world and the opportunities offered by the end of apartheid, the end of civil wars and dictatorships, and the possibilities of free movement. Their work is inspired by travel and exile. They are liberated, global and expansive. As Dambudzo Marechera wrote: 'If you're a writer for a specific nation or specific race, then f*** you." These are the stories of a new Africa, punchy, self-confident and defiant. Includes stories by: Fatou Diome; Aminatta Forna; Manuel Rui; Patrice Nganang; Leila Aboulela; Zo Wicomb; Alaa Al Aswany; Doreen Baingana; E.C. Osondu.

Fofo, a brave, little African girl, lives with her brothers and her strict aunt in the jungle. Fofo is tired of following her brothers around, and one day she decides to venture off by herself to swim in the natural pool at the foot of the mountain. As Fofo enjoys the refreshing spring water, she doesn’t realize she’s in danger. And then, on the bank, she hears the cry of an animal. She saves a baby lion being born, names him Angel, and carries the cub home. However, Fofo must give up the animal so it can be returned to the wild. That makes her sad and depressed. Her schoolwork suffers, and her grades drop. But her teachers help her get her spark back. This picture book for children delivers that message that it takes a village to raise a child. Through the love of Fofo’s family and friends, and especially her teachers, she’s able to find joy in her life again.

This fabulous version of the classic nursery song “Old MacDonald” introduces children to a menagerie of African animals and their sounds. It is beautifully illustrated by Caldecott Honor winner Rachel Isadora, with her signature collage-style artwork. Old Mikamba had a farm, E-I-E-I-O. And on this farm he had . . . a giraffe, a baboon, and an elephant! Meet Old Mikamba, who watches over a wide variety of animals on his game farm in the plains of Africa. Children will discover a whole new set of fun animal sounds as they are invited to sing along and roar with the lions, bellow with the rhino, whinny with the zebras, honk with the wildebeests, and more! A wonderful introduction to African wildlife that is great fun to read aloud, this truly irresistible rendition of a beloved song includes a list of animal fun facts and gives children a huge variety of animal sounds to imitate as they pore over the detailed animals, landscapes and patterns in the stunning illustrations.

Winner • NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Literary Work (Fiction) Winner • Anne Izard Storytellers’ Choice Award Holiday Gift Guide Selection • Indiewire, San Francisco Chronicle, and Minneapolis Star-Tribune These nearly 150 African American folktales animate our past and reclaim a lost cultural legacy to redefine American literature. Drawing from the great folklorists of the past while expanding African American lore with dozens of tales rarely seen before, The Annotated African American Folktales revolutionizes the canon like no other volume. Following in the tradition of such classics as Arthur Huff Fauset’s “Negro Folk Tales from the South” (1927), Zora Neale Hurston’s Mules and Men (1935), and Virginia Hamilton’s The People Could Fly (1985), acclaimed scholars Henry Louis Gates Jr. and Maria Tatar assemble a groundbreaking collection of folktales, myths, and legends that revitalizes a vibrant African American past to produce the most comprehensive and ambitious collection of African American folktales ever published in American literary history. Arguing for the value of these deceptively simple stories as part of a sophisticated, complex, and heterogeneous cultural heritage, Gates and Tatar show how these remarkable stories deserve a place alongside the classic works of African American literature, and American literature more broadly. Opening with two introductory essays and twenty seminal African tales as historical background, Gates and Tatar present nearly 150 African American stories, among them familiar Brer Rabbit classics, but also stories like “The Talking Skull” and “Witches Who Ride,” as well as out-of-print tales from the 1890s’ Southern Workman. Beginning with the figure of Anansi, the African trickster, master of improvisation—a spider who plots and weaves in scandalous ways—The Annotated African American Folktales then goes on to draw Caribbean and Creole tales into the orbit of the folkloric canon. It retrieves stories not seen since the Harlem Renaissance and brings back archival tales of “Negro folklore” that Booker T. Washington proclaimed had emanated from a “grapevine” that existed even before the American Revolution, stories brought over by slaves who had survived the Middle Passage. Furthermore, Gates and Tatar’s volume not only defines a new canon but reveals how these folktales were hijacked and misappropriated in previous incarnations, egregiously by Joel Chandler Harris, a Southern newspaperman, as well as by Walt Disney, who cannibalized and capitalized on Harris’s volumes by creating cartoon characters drawn from this African American lore. Presenting these tales with illuminating annotations and hundreds of revelatory illustrations, The Annotated African American Folktales reminds us that stories not only move, entertain, and instruct but, more fundamentally, inspire and keep hope alive. The Annotated African American Folktales includes: Introductory essays, nearly 150 African American stories, and 20 seminal African tales as historical background The familiar Brer Rabbit classics, as well as news-making vernacular tales from the 1890s’ Southern Workman An entire section of Caribbean and Latin American folktales that finally become incorporated into the canon Approximately 200 full-color, museum-quality images

'Africa's best stories,' is a quarterly collection of the VERY best short stories and poetry by some of Africa's best writers. It is a selection of the best of African literature from Africa's finest writers.In this first volume, we feature heartwarming stories by some of Africa's most renowned writers such as Noble-Prize laureate Wole Soyinka, Orange Prize winner, Chimamanda Adichie, Caine Prize finalists Sefi Atta, EC Osondu, Chika Unigwe, Muthoni Garland, and Jude Dibia among other equally awesome writers. These are storytellers from the gods, telling a diverse range of stories, under varying circumstances. Just for your delight!Their stories will make you laugh, cry, grin, wish, reflect, reminisce and curse (not). Let these stories keep you company while lying in the comfort of your bed, on the subway on your way to work or when having a cup of tea.