Stephanie Jane recenzis Becoming Mama de Yvrose Telfort Ismael
Inspirational!
4 steloj
Becoming Mama is the inspirational memoir of a Haitian woman, Yvrose Ismael, who gave up her prosperous life in America in order to undertake a new role as a mother figure to dozens of underprivileged children in her native country. At the time of choosing this book from NetGalley I was intrigued by the idea of an American immigrant choosing to leave again as the majority of immigration memoirs I have read tended to focus on settling in America as an end goal. (In fact the only other similarly directional one I can recall is Unexpected America by Wanjiru Warama.)
Ismael begins her memoir in the midst of the massive January 2010 earthquake which wrecked much of Haiti. It's a terrifying event as seen through her words and the reality of actually having being there is beyond my imagination. To then not take such a disaster as one's cue to …
Becoming Mama is the inspirational memoir of a Haitian woman, Yvrose Ismael, who gave up her prosperous life in America in order to undertake a new role as a mother figure to dozens of underprivileged children in her native country. At the time of choosing this book from NetGalley I was intrigued by the idea of an American immigrant choosing to leave again as the majority of immigration memoirs I have read tended to focus on settling in America as an end goal. (In fact the only other similarly directional one I can recall is Unexpected America by Wanjiru Warama.)
Ismael begins her memoir in the midst of the massive January 2010 earthquake which wrecked much of Haiti. It's a terrifying event as seen through her words and the reality of actually having being there is beyond my imagination. To then not take such a disaster as one's cue to flee back to the relative safety of her American life seemed to me to be incredibly brave! Instead Ismael relies on her Christian faith to pick herself up, help as many other people as she can, and look to the future. I found her absolute belief in her religion quite difficult to comprehend because it is very different to the half-hearted Christianity of my childhood which never really took hold. Ismael talks openly about traumas in her teenage years and twenties which led her to follow a number of self-destructive paths before finding God and totally changing her life. Her stark honesty really drove home to me how much of a personal journey this woman has made.
Becoming Mama shows just how much of a positive difference one person can make to many lives if they really put their mind to it. Ismael has perhaps gone to further extremes than most of us would like when it comes to renouncing personal belonging, but I think her self-reliance and openness to opportunity are a wonderful example. Ismael does pepper almost every sentence with her Christian faith, but I never felt that I was being hectored to join that. Instead I have come away from reading Becoming Mama with an immense respect for Ismael and her work. So much so that I would put this book forward as a We Need New Stories recommendation.