The Prophet's camel bell Book

Three stars are the extent to which one could term certain subject matter "enjoyable": hunting, starvation of people, cultural preference of males. I have encountered no one more impartial, absorbent, or astute than Margaret Laurence. It was an honour to stand on the stoep of her house only last month: her Manitoba childhood place, not her Somali abodes! If you want a clear, fellow-Canadian view of Somalia, knowledgeably-versed in these people and the Italian and British organizations, by working with them and camping in the same arid land: this is the authoress to read.

This is no travelogue, political treatise, nor "look at those poor people" lament. An intelligent, compassionate, yet stoic lady explains why she and her husband Jack undertook an engineering project to create lifesaving reservoirs near the Ethiopian border from 1950-1952. She additionally completed a personal project: first to publish Somalian poetry and stories; an aural language that had no written form. Famous after, as one of our province's premier fiction novelists: Margaret called "The Prophet's Camel Bell", desert journal and autobiography of her marriage's early years, the most difficult book. I would accord higher marks if the star system were better, ten instead of five and if my rating could single out how well she composed the kind of philosophical and informative book that this is.

Before Margaret and Jack departed for good, the Haud's barren season was broken by early downpours. Following chapters with several mini portraits of the key people they met, my patience was rewarded by closure; a return to the chronological scene in which we started. My favourite part by far was circling back to the finished "ballais", the wells. I enjoyed witnessing Margaret and Jack getting to behold them filled and already in precious use: by those familiar camels and people.