A Girl Called Problem
By Katie Quirk
2013, Eerdmans Books for Young Readers
(Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.)
Review by Debra L Scott, 4/28/2013
Katie Quirk offers an intriguing look into the culture of girls and women in the Tanzania of 1967. It is a time of change in Africa, where the traditions held sacred by the ancestors, and defined by a world that exists only as far as the daily life of the village of Litongo, are challenged by the growing awareness of what may be just beyond that world.
Shida was born as a Problem, for that is what her name means in Swahili. The only child born to a widowed mother, Shida grows up with extra responsibilities that make life difficult. However the spunky young girl accepts what she must do without complaint. She longs to be a healer, and gathers what knowledge she can from the old women and medicine men, but the medicine men will not take her as an apprentice because she is a girl. Nevertheless, she wears her pouch of herbs at her waist and many call on her when sickness strikes.
The new president of Tanzania seeks to bring reforms to all the people. As part of this program, a nurse now comes once a month to the village from a neighboring town with modern medicines. Shida shadows her as well, wanting to learn this new way of healing. But today, the nurse brings a startling message: the people of Litongo are being asked to move to the bigger village nearby so that they can share the precious resources of healthcare and education with their neighbors. To most of the village, this is frightening, but to Shida it is a dream come true.
Quirk tells the compelling story of this struggle of a village gathering the courage to break with the traditions of their ancestors and risk losing their unique and comfortable life. Although a place is made for them in Nija Panda, they face resentment from the townspeople. Who will get the best farmland, and who only deserves the poorest soil?
When bad things begin to happen, it seems to be a sign they made the wrong decision. The challenges bring their suspicions and prejudices into sharp focus. Surely the Witch put a curse on them all, or the Ancestors are angry and have deserted them. Girls should not have been allowed to go to school. The old medicine man who stayed behind must have the answers, not the new young one. Shida feels there must be another answer and, with her cousin Grace, turns sleuth to find the real reasons for the troubles.
I quite liked this story. There is an acceptance of the village traditions and animist beliefs as important to their way of life, and one cannot but feel empathy for the different characters who feel threatened by the rapid changes they must endure. I spent my adolescent years in third world countries, as my father was in the Peace Corps. It is such a valuable thing to understand a completely different culture from their viewpoint, rather than our myopic American bias. Quirk worked in Tanzania for two years, and her love for the country and its people is more than evident. I hope many young readers will choose to explore this glimpse into a culture that is fast vanishing from our planet.
(This review is based on a Reader’s Advance Copy)
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