Review by Booklist Review
The striking title of this memoir establishes the very foundation of who the author, Elizabeth Nyamayaro, is. As the content is built upon this base, readers will find that they are occupying the story of a truly exceptional human being. When Nyamayaro was just eight years old, she almost died from hunger in the midst of a severe drought that hit her small Zimbabwean village. A UN aid worker saved her life with a warm bowl of porridge and the message that "as Africans, we must uplift each other." This ignited Nyamayaro's dream to become a humanitarian and give back to her community, her continent, and the world. She has truly defied all odds to not only achieve her dream of working for the UN but also to initiate one of the leading campaigns for gender equality, HeForShe. The most significant aspect of this tale of survival and activism is how exactly Nyamayaro's roots and identity as a girl from Africa shaped her most impactful work for global change. A deeply personal and richly inspirational self-portrait.
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Nyamayaro's determined debut memoir chronicles the fearlessness that took her from a desperately underprivileged childhood in Zimbabwe to founder of the HeForShe gender equality movement, an effort begun under the auspices of UN Women. The narrative moves between her career and her youth in Zimbabwe, where she was saved from dying of hunger when "an angel, dropped from heaven," who wore a UNICEF uniform, offered her porridge and water. She then became determined to work for the UN, "where I too would be able to uplift the lives of others." In 2000, at 25 years old, she moved to London and announced: "I am here to pursue my dream," but discovered there was no local UN office. So started her scrappy effort to make it to Geneva. She began by braiding women's hair for cash, worked as a sales rep doing cold calls to put herself through college, and talked her way into her first UN job as part of a project to fight AIDS in Africa. She credits her rise from there to her steadfast belief, rooted in African ubuntu philosophy, that "if one person is uplifted, then others also rise." Nyamayaro's steadfast pursuit of her goals is mirrored by steady narrative pacing; readers will cheer on her uncompromising commitment. Her life example provides a beacon for ambitious change-makers. Agent: Erin Malone, WME (Apr.)
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Review by Kirkus Book Review
A moving account of a determined young woman's journey from poverty to humanitarian activism. Raised by a generous, wise grandmother in Zimbabwe, Nyamayaro came of age in a time of withering heat. "There is no cool or comfortable place to hide," she writes on the first page of her memoir. "The leaves of the tree are long gone, and with it the shade, burned away by the punishing drought that has descended on our small village." The ensuing famine meant widespread death, but she was kept from starvation by the ministrations of U.N. aid workers. She was determined to become an aid worker herself. In 2000, at the age of 25, she moved to London, where an Irishwoman she met in a hostel dubbed her "Girl from Africa." Nyamayaro, who returned the favor by dubbing the woman "Tiny Nose," didn't mind the sobriquet: "The fact that I'm African is all that matters, and that is enough. I am after all Mwana Wehvu--a child of the African soil." Scraping to survive, finally finding work as a janitor, she talked her way into a volunteer position at a humanitarian agency and began to take on projects of increasing importance--e.g., developing responses to the HIV/AIDS epidemic sweeping her native country and working to help the government of the nation of Georgia to maintain a health insurance program for impoverished communities. Leading a team to combat maternal mortality in childbirth, Nyamayaro became increasingly aware of the scarcity of resources as well as the pervasiveness of gender inequality. "Why is it that despite all the progress made by the women's rights movement," she asks, "no country or company or institution in the world can yet claim to have achieved gender equality?" Throughout this memorable account of her impressive life, the author recalls "the central, definitive African value and philosophy of ubuntu: that when we uplift others, we are ourselves uplifted." An inspiring narrative that will be especially valuable to young people seeking to work for humanitarian causes. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
