Carolyn Marsden and Philip Matzigkeit,
Sahwira: An African Friendship
Candlewick Press, 2009.

Ages 9-13

Veteran children’s writer Carolyn Marsden follows up The Buddha’s Diamonds, her recent biographical collaboration with a Vietnamese monk, with another collaborative effort, Sahwira, based on the life of her cousin, Philip Matzigkeit, a prominent environmental designer and professor. Matzigkeit grew up on a mission in 1960’s Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe). Marsden’s parents were missionaries in Mexico, and the book is dedicated to the authors’ fathers, both conscientious objectors, and to Martin Luther King, whose spirit their book vividly evokes.

Sahwira is a coming-of-age novel about a bi-racial friendship. Blessing, a Shona boy and preacher’s kid, lives and attends school on mission property. His white American friend, Evan, whose parents work on the mission, attends a whites-only boys’ school nearby. The boys consider themselves sahwira, blood brothers, and have been close for many years: but as they enter adolescence amidst escalating racial tensions in Rhodesia, both face trials that test their friendship and require life-altering decisions.

Evan’s school begins compulsory cadet training. Although he disapproves of the racist militarization behind the training, peer pressure is strong. African nationalist flyers are being printed on the mission press. Evan discovers the culprit and reports the boy at school. He doesn’t tell his parents he’s a cadet, let alone that he’s betrayed a troublemaking mission boy.

Blessing senses Evan’s secretiveness but can’t discern its cause. He’s struggling to keep up their friendship despite pressure to be more active in the liberation effort. His inner conflict about peaceful versus violent means resolves when a film of King’s “I have a dream” speech inspires his renewed commitment to non-violence.

Sahwira builds slowly, giving young readers crucial background on Rhodesian history and culture, then gathers momentum and suspense. The boys’ moral searching is presented with aching honesty. The consequences of Evan’s betrayal are not glossed over, and the process of his change of heart is riveting. As Evan grows from a privileged, somewhat oblivious child to a sensitive, brave young man, Blessing, too, matures, from justified resentment to hard-won forgiveness.

A glossary of Swahili, British and Afrikaans terms and an authors’ note are welcome aids to this richly textured story. Marsden and Matzigkeit’s moving account of African life will draw in readers emotionally while providing valuable context for understanding contemporary Zimbabwe.

Charlotte Richardson
February 2010