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We Only Come Here to Struggle: Stories from Berida's Life | 
 enlarge | Authors: Berida Ndambuki, Claire C. Robertson
Publisher: Indiana University Press
Category: Book
List Price: $15.95
Buy Used: $6.50
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Rating:  1 reviews
Sales Rank: 576282
Media: Paperback
Pages: 138
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.6
Dimensions (in): 9 x 6 x 0.3
ISBN: 0253213665
Dewey Decimal Number: 967.62504092
EAN: 9780253213662
ASIN: 0253213665
Publication Date: April 2000
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: Expedited shipping available
Condition: OUR REMAINING COPIES MAY HAVE HIGHLIGHTING AND/OR UNDERLINING. Independent college bookseller since 1890. Typically ship by next business day, if not same day. Expect some normal wear including possible highlighting, writing in margins, and worn cover, but will try to ship best book in stock. Pub: IN U PR; Imprint: INDIANA; Ed: 2000; Cv: PAPERBACK;
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Product Description
"We Only Come Here to Struggle" is the story of Berida Ndambuki. In her own voice, she relates her personal history, presenting herself as neither an uncontested victim, an unblemished survivor, nor a triumphantly empowered victor. Her story demonstrates the fallacy of the traditional/modern model so often applied to Africa, and her knowledge reaches from her grandmother's experiences in the early twentieth century, through British colonialism (especially the 1950s Emergency/Mau Mau rebellion), Kenyan independence, and contemporary struggles, both political and economic.The massive changes that enveloped Kenya impacted the lives of Berida and her family members in many ways, not least in her constant struggle for survival when faced with supporting sixteen children with minimal help from her husband and generous though episodic support from her brothers. With no formal education and only farming skills, Berida set out to dig her family out of poverty she was largely successful in doing so through her trade in dried staples and other commodities.Faced with incorporation into a disadvantageous world economy, Berida has grappled with life-threatening disease, the death of children, domestic abuse, famine, alcoholism, poverty, AIDS, the necessity to pursue illegal trade on occasion, and political turmoil. In her triumphs over adversity she seized control of her own body and helped raise awareness among her friends and associates of women's potential and problems. She became an organiser of women's groups and a market leader. For most of her life she has done long-distance commuting under difficult circumstances, and coped successfully with the dual responsibilities imposed by that double life, buttressed firmly by her Christian convictions.At the same time she has preserved a zest for life and sense of humour that enliven her narrative and captivate the reader. This narrative, put into final form by Claire Robertson is complemented by Berida!, a videotape portraying the paradoxes of Berida's life as she pursues her daily rounds in Nairobi and Kathonzweni. Together they present a well-rounded portrait of a contemporary African woman who refuses to submit to stereotyping and claims our respect in sharing her fears and her triumphs.
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| Customer Reviews:
Ordinary Woman, Extraordinary Life June 1, 2000
1 out of 3 found this review helpful
This book is the culmination of a lengthy relationship between Claire Robertson and a market woman in the area of her research work in Africa. Robertson aims to portray the everyday life and struggle of an average woman in Western Africa. What comes through the pages is no less than an ordinary woman leading an extraordinary life. Through the course of reading this book, you will hear Berida's life story in her own words. As she encounters one obstacle after the other, from problems with her husband, to theft, to the birth and tragic death of her children, she continues to rise above and triumph. For all those who believe that African women are submissive and unempowered this book will be an eye-opener.
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