Abdourahman A. Waberi : Pourquoi tu danses quand tu marches? (JC lattes, 2019)
Posted by Jennifer Fulton on
Pourquoi tu danses quand tu marches? (JC lattes, 2019)
One day walking to school in Paris 5-year old Béa asks her Papa, Aden, why he dances when he walks. By “dances” she refers to his funny limp that favors his weak leg. To fully answer her, Aden must tell her the story of his childhood in Djibouti.
Through his simple, soft and moving narrative he brings us all back with him to Djibouti in the late 1960s and 1970s, when the country was called TFAI, Territoire Francais Des Afars et Issas. To his Chateau d’eau neighborhood and early years in which he suffered from various illnesses, felt neglected by his distant mother, Zahra, and his father Papa Le Tige who worked late hours in his souvenir shop, and endured regular torment from Johnny the class bully.