The African Term (Paperback)

In 1961, President John F. Kennedy established the Peace Corps as a governmental agency whose aims were to raise living standards in developing countries and to promote international friendship and understanding. Peace Corps projects were established at the request of the host country, and volunteer personnel usually served two years. Addis Ababa, 1962. Tom Beck, 42-year-old accountant-turned-teacher has answered the Peace Corps call. There are 32 male students ranging in age from 12-24 occupying 16 double wooden desks in his gray, non-windowed classroom. A single 60-watt bulb hangs from the center of the ceiling. All of the students wear shorts and white shirts. Some do not wear shoes. Beck wears a business suit. Here, schooling is a great honor, the students are outwardly most respectful. All eyes are on the new teacher from America who will teach English, but one pair cannot mask its dislike. Fifteen-year-old Sahle Kifle is filled with mistrust of the American, he is clear about his reasons in his conversations with his friends. However, he is one of the fortunate to go to school, so he must abide by Berk's rules. He is not impressed by Berk's ability to write in Ahmeric, to speak his language, or Berk's preference to live among the natives. But as his friends begin to appreciate the teacher's efforts to teach with understanding and in a friendly atmosphere, Sahle begins to soften, much against his own wishes. By the time Berk must leave, prematurely, to go to his sick father's beside back in America, an understanding friendship has developed between the two; Berk appreciates Sahle's intelligence and Sahle trusts Berk. Author Hagen handles Berk's world in Addis Ababa outside of theclassroom brilliantly. Unforgettable are his trek to get there, his house boy's antics, the foods, the smells, the grit of the dirt and the sound of the bugs. The school hierarchy and the punishment it doles out for minor infractions is striking. And Sahle's home life and family relationships are related as naturally as if the reader was a casual eavesdropper in the kitchen.