Say You're One of Them

Being selected for Oprah Winfrey’s Book Club is the dream of a lifetime for any author. Uwem Akpan, a Jesuit priest from Nigeria, realized that dream when his book of short stories, “Say You’re One of Them”, was selected for her Book Club. Though written as fiction, it reflects experiences that are real for many children in Africa.

Oprah adopted a new approach to the book club for this selection. In collaboration with CNN, represented by Anderson Cooper, the entire world was able to participate through a live webcast. The author appeared to discuss his stories and how he developed each of them. Participants were able to submit questions and some were chosen to appear on the telecast. In addition, Anderson Cooper showed films of the research done on trips made to various parts of Africa by him and other reporters. It was a touching experience to be a part of this webcast.

One of the things uppermost in the author’s mind was how normal it is for children in Africa to sniff glue. Many are given the glue by their parents. He made the comparison to the large number of children in America who also sniff glue. The difference, he pointed out, is that the children in Africa do so to mask their hunger. If they are high they won’t realize that they are hungry. In America, young people sniff glue to get high, just for the pleasure.

A question he could not reconcile in his mind is why so many youngsters in America fail to capitalize on the many opportunities they have while those in Africa will go through unthinkable struggles to take advantage of the limited opportunities available to them.

For America, so much talent is being wasted as we continue to lose our position of strength around the world. How do we stop the bleeding?