Book Review: Warrior Princess

I know I haven't done this in the past, but I thought doing some book reviews might be helpful for those of you who are looking for quality information on adoption and orphan care.  Nate and I are working with another couple in our church to start an orphan ministry that will focus on orphan care in our community.  We don't know yet the details or what this will particularly look like (except we will be working somehow with foster care), but as we pray and plan, we are also preparing by reading various books.  We recently attended an orphan care summit for our community where several area church orphan care leaders got together to discuss what each ministry is doing and how we can work together.  We received some great resources through this summit.  One of the books we received was Warrior Princess by Princess Kasune Zulu.  Even though this book is geared more towards AIDs awareness and the vulnerability this causes in children rather than direct orphan care or foster care, Nate and I still have a heart for international orphan care, especially in Africa, and I thought this book would be helpful to gain awareness in an area that I know little about. Here are my thoughts:

SUMMARY

This book details the life of Princess Kasune Zulu and her diagnosis, personal fight, and advocacy against HIV/AIDS.  Princess (whose lineage is connected to royalty but has no current royal connection) was born in Zambia.  She lost both of her parents and baby sister to AIDS when she was just a teenager.  Because of this, she was left to care for her siblings and other young family members, was forced by these circumstances to quit school, and began providing for her family through relationships with older men that she thought could help provide for her family.  However, she eventually rises above these circumstances to do great things in and for her community and become an international advocate for AIDs awareness and policy.

AN EXCERPT

Princess discusses the cycle of poverty that is brought on by the AIDS epidimic and especially how it affects women, as they are the caretakers of afflicted family members and are more vulnerable to the disease by genetic makeup and social standing.  As young children lose their parents to AIDS, like Princess, they are then left with little choice but to provide for their family by any means they can.  In regards to young females, Princess relates the plight they face: "Sadly,  many [commercial sex workers] are just young girls, often orphans themselves, trying to put food on their tables or make some money to pay for their education fees, uniforms and shoes. As I looked in the eyes of these girls I saw that they carry deep shame for their actions, but necessity forces them to play a hand they would rather not...The girls have a tragic saying that conveys their reality and shows how inextricably AIDS is linked to poverty: "AIDs may kill me in months or years, but hunger will kill me and my family tomorrow." This is what extreme poverty does to people; it robs them of their ability to think long-term." 

That statement alone was enough to make reading this book worthwhile.  Sometimes we just need to step outside our own cushy lives to realize just how blessed we are...financially, medically (ability to access care), and even relationally.  I take so much for granted.

Things I learned:

• To be honest, I know very little about AIDs and the AIDs epidimic in Africa, so this book helped to educate me not only on the "numbers" surrounding AIDs but also how Africa became sort of a perfect storm, as Princess says, for the spread of the disease.
• It helped to put a face and personal experience with things that are hard to even fathom given the life that I have been blessed with.
• According to Princess, part of Zambia's culture is polygamous marriage.  Obviously, multiple partners greatly increases the spread of AIDs.  Furthermore, women were not allowed to receive testing for their HIV status without their husbands permission.  Because of the stigma surrounding AIDs, many husbands (and Zambians in general) did not want to know their HIV status.  Therefore, it was spread all the more by the lack of education around knowing one's status, whether that be their own or their partner's.  As AIDs can be passed through nursing babies, many women were unknowingly infecting their children.
• This book also helped me get a real-life glimpse of some of the difficulties that Zambian (and many other African) children face.  Many young children are left to care for their families, as head of household, when their parents die. They have little to no chance to turn the cycle of poverty and disease around.  It's astounding, really, the responsibility that some of these young children are forced to take on. 
• Princess's courage and hope are such an inspiration.  She did not let this disease take her life before she was dead, as she puts it.  She chose to fight, not only for herself, but for her family, community, and even nation.

**If you would like to WIN a copy of this book, just make a comment sharing a book that impacted your worldview.  Entries will be taken until Friday, March 23 at midnight.  A winner will be drawn and announced on Saturday on the blog, and the winner will be mailed a free copy of the book.**

Next book review: When Helping Hurts: How to Alleviate Poverty Without Hurting the Poor...and Yourself  by Steve Corbett & Brian Fikkert