KUKI GALLMAN

I recently read a fantastic book by Kuki Gallman, it is called I Dreamed of Africa. It is the story of an Italian woman and her family who move to Kenya, build a farm there, and eventually become conservationists. The book made me fall in love with Kenya all over again! The story is ultimately an inspiration, but Kuki endures seeminlgly unbearable pain throughout the course of her life journey. I will not spoil it by telling you what happens - you must read it yourself! Below are some of my favorite quotes from her book:

- "My African adventure had begun, and I could only accept whatever came with in...something had begun to grow in me which I could not stop, asif my childhood dreams had finally found a place where they could materialize. I had arrived where I was always meant to be"

-"I surrendered to the design of destiny and to the agony of his loss, knowing fully that Africa had just begin to claim her price, and I could only accept it, pay it, and try to learn from it."

- Kuki often went on hunts with Paolo, her husband, it became "the penetratinga and gradual discovery of this continent and its secret creatures and drama, its strong emotions and the unavoidable facing of my inner and most protected truths. She speaks of "inescapable solitude, loneliness, and having to adapt to different values and routines."

- About her husband, she says "I loved him with a subtle pain, the premonition that it would not last."

- After an accident, she must go through extensive physical therapy, but says "I could see with great clarity that a will is a way, and that having a worthy goal is what truly matters."

- Speaking of a female friend, she says "She gave the immediate impression of being an original and gifted woman with the courage and drive to live her life as she chooses."

Kuki makes me think of courage, and of women and men paving the way for us to live courageous and inspired lives! I feel that today, where we are has everything to do with the vision, inspiration, courage and hard work of our foremothers and forefathers. As Newton said, "If I have seen farther, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants."

Very much in the same vein, I also recommend Out of Africa! It is a classic, and the movie is also excellent. Meryl Streep plays very much the original and gifted woman with the courage Kuki cites above. She is defined by noone but herself. Her partner, played by Robert Redford, also portrays a dynamic, strong man, equally unwilling to be defined by a partner. YET, the love melts between them. They work so well together, despite - or perhaps because of - their strength and independence.

Their lives are like this:

“Life will break you. Nobody can protect you from that, and living alone won't either, for solitude will also break you with its yearning. You have to love. You have to feel. It is the reason you are here on earth. You are here to risk your heart. You are here to be swallowed up. And when it happens that you are broken, or betrayed, or left, or hurt, or death brushes near, let yourself sit by an apple tree and listen to the apples falling all around you in heaps, wasting their sweetness. Tell yourself you tasted as many as you could.”

― Louise Erdrich, The Painted Drum LP

While Remond's character does pass away, and Kuki's book carries much tragedy and death within its pages, it is better to have felt the full height of human emotion than to never have risked anything at all. These books teach us about living courageous, inspired lives of service.