Striving for Life

Africa is a land of traditions and beliefs. At 13 years old Mady was raped by her cousin and gave birth to an albino child. Consequently, she had to flee the village in order to protect her son from inescapable death and herself to avoid a ban that could surely be imposed. For the entire community, giving birth to an albino was synonymous of curse and bad omens for every new born baby in the family. When forty years later Mady's grandson discovers at the bottom of a trunk a notebook where laid his father's history, he resurrects the past and allows his father Bouesso to trace back his ancestry and fully find meaning to his life. This is a testimony in three parts that presents Eveline Mankou. Above all, through her characters, the author wants to raise awareness about the influence of superstitions that engender family tragedies, even nowadays. This is a real appeal to education, the most proficient way of fighting against these barbaric practices.