"Vanya Da Dua" Glimpses of a Lost World: An American Boy in the Liberian Bush
CreateSpace, 2012
Paperback/ebook, 176 pages, $33

Erik ''Azevedo (MFA 1976) authored this window into the intimate daily lives of tribal peoples in the interior of the West African country of Liberia in a time before everything was changed by 20 years of civil wars. It is more than the experiences of American children living in the midst of a foreign culture; it is an in-depth glimpse into the deep interior of a region almost unknown to most people. Many of the indigenous villagers and their children had never before seen a white person. This journey chronicles the stories of a six-year old boy, and his personal relationship with the children he befriends, and his integration into a culture he embraces.