Showing results for "The Water of Life" in Cultural & Regional

Born in West Africa in the early 1950s, Somé was kidnapped at age four by a French Jesuit missionary to be trained as a priest, for the next 15 years enduring the harsh regimen of a seminary where his native language and tribal traditions were systematically suppressed. At age 20 he escaped, but when he returned to his Dugara people in Upper Volta (now Burkina Faso) they rejected him as an outsider. To reconnect with his native culture, Somé underwent a month-long initiation into shamanism.

Richly detailed and full of hope, this is the story of Cindy Lou Davis from Mocksville, North Carolina, who meets and marries Mohammed Ali, a Muslim from the oil-rich United Arab Emirates. The year is 1982, and 20-year-old Cindy leaves home and family after her wedding with no idea what awaits her in her new life. Living with his family and immersed in a traditional Arab culture with an incomprehensible language while her new husband is away on a military base during the week, her future with Mohammed depends on the strength of her love, faith, and determination to be true to herself.