I Am A Girl from Africa by Elizabeth Nyamayaro
This profound memoir traces Nyamayaro’s path from near-starvation to world-recognized humanitarian leader. Far more than just an inspirational story, I am a Girl from Africa presents a practical and poetic roadmap for changing the world.
THE PREMISE: When Elizabeth Nyamayaro was a child, Zimbabwe won independence from Britain and dropped the colonial name of Rhodesia, but that exhilaration was short-lived. The country was soon hit with a devastating drought and famine. Rivers dried up, leaves on trees vanished, animals died. Lying in the dirt, on the brink of starvation and drifting in and out of consciousness, eight-year-old Nayamayaro awakened to see a woman in a blue shirt, who offered her life-saving nourishment.
From that point forward, Nayamayaro was determined to be just like that UNICEF worker, who told her, “As Africans we must uplift each other.” Nayamayaro held herself to that promise, and worked her way through university in London by cleaning a rat-infested hostel in return for lodging. She talked her way into an unpaid UN internship in Ethiopia, where she helped educate and care for HIV/AIDS patients; and eventually earned worldwide recognition in her roles as a senior advisor at UN Women and head of HeForShe, a millions-strong movement to promote gender equality.
THE SETTING: From the Zimbabwean village of Goromonzi to the halls of a London college; from the homes of Ethiopians dying of AIDS and Ugandans stricken by river blindness to the taverns of South Africa and the snow-capped mountains of Geneva, I Am a Girl from Africa is steeped in the community-oriented African philosophy of Ubuntu, often translated as “I am because we are.”
Nyamayaro’s childhood was affected by poverty and food insecurity, but she recalls it as filled with with people stepping up—the aid worker who revived her; the parents who gave her up so she could have a better life; the grandmother and aunt and uncle who worked to provide her education and opportunity. Nyamayaro takes their generosity and multiplies it. During her tenure at HeForShe alone, the program has had far-reaching success: equal pay for all women in Iceland, the ban of child marriage in Malawi, and a huge decrease in sexual assault and other forms of domestic violence in South Africa.
IN THE END: I was especially moved by what Nayamayaro’s work and words do to dispel misconceptions about humanitarian work and changemaking. Although white saviorism is something we must contend with—see my recent review of Amy Dong’s Twenty-One Years Young—Nayamayaro challenges the notion that charitable work is largely the province of patronizing, foreign do-gooders. Her book is full of Africans helping each other. Similarly, the HeForShe movement was founded not simply on blaming men but on embracing them and asking them to step up. “You are not just part of the gender equality conversation; you are part of the solution.” With bold leaders like Nayamayaro, perhaps we can come together to tear down the “us or them” mentality that is plaguing our world.
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