Vernon was a Tarzan-like figure, very English, and his wife was equally attractive and Dutch. Our director introduced us to Vernon Gibberd who was Bessie’s model for the idealized volunteer in Serowe – Village of the Rain Wind, a book I had read before going to Botswana, in preparation. We had hoped to go to India, but wound up in Botswana. We were quite naive about Southern Africa. Thus it was that Barbara wrote this charming story of meeting Bessie in 1980 when she, her husband and daughter were volunteers for Quaker Peace and Service (a British organization). When I taught in Botswana “When Rainclouds Gather” was one of the set books for the examination that we studied in our curriculum. Judy, knowing of our mutual connection with Botswana, suggested to each of us that we might enjoy reading Robyn Scott’s “Twenty Chickens for a Saddle: A Memoir of an African Childhood” set in Zimbabwe, one of Botswana’s neighbors.Įach of us wrote back independently of our love and admiration for Bessie Head (1937-1986) …as an African author of depth and craft whose work surely deserved to be better known in the United States. I met Barbara Bamberger Scott through JudyTart (who has appeared on Riehlife several times). I lived and worked in Botswana for three years in the 1970s, first with Peace Corps (teaching Engligh as a Second Language and Literature in Maun Secondary School) and later with village development, literacy, and Popular Culture Projects (with my salary funded by British Quakers). One of my favorite expressions from there is Ke moto fela – “I’m just a person.”– Barbara Bamberg Scott (Read her impressive bio below.)īotswana is a land-locked country in Southern Africa, the size of Texas.

“My daughter, who was 11 at the time, also loves Bessie’s books and was deeply influenced by living for two years in Botswana. A refugee is a person whose heart has been broken.

Maru by bessie head audiobook