Wake Up and Smell the Fufu - Book Review

Review by Jamal Msebele

‘Wake And Smell The Fufu' is an enchanting record of Christian Njoya Diawara Small's venture to spiritual enlightenment. As a London-born Pan-African of Jamaican parentage, Christian is searching to find “the jam in the donut” that is his heritage. He travels through Ghana , Ivory Coast and Mali to find contradictions to the negative stereotypes of Africa and its people being poor and dependent.

‘Wake And Smell The Fufu' is a hypnotic travel log of one man's experiences in the west region of Africa . He shows unbelievable emotional and physical strength, having to survive on two mangoes for two days, being stranded in the Sahara dessert, being left in the bush by a bus and placed at the mercy of corrupt police. I am sure a lot of super-heroes wouldn't cope! Yet Christian emerges positive and reflective: “All incidents, whether good or bad, turned my holiday into an adventure holiday and I have no regrets.”

This book is the best non-fiction I have read in my 13 years. It was an education as well as a pleasure. I learnt things about African culture and the political history of not only Ghana but also Uganda and Zimbabwe . I got the feeling of travelling with the narrator and visualised his flashbacks as if they were my own. The author uses original metaphors, phrases and language (Twe, French and Patois) to give each person their own voice. The imagery was vivid enough for me (I have never been to Ghana ) to feel the warmth of Tetrefu, smell the Ghanaian air through the window of the Tro-Tro bus and taste kenkye and stew. Christian gained a family that “extended beyond blood” and through them learnt the discipline and traditions of being an African: how to adorn himself in traditional garments, how to speak Twe, to give elders the respect they deserve and eat “from the same bowl as my African brothers and sisters”.

‘Wake Up And Smell The Fufu' is not-put-downable. It provides humour, suspense and anticipation from London to Timbuktu and back again (literally!). Christian Njoya Diawara Small's chronicle through Africa should be sold in every bookstore across the UK . It is certainly all that and a ball of fufu.

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