Sarudza

"I must have stood in front of the closed door for half an eternity. My sense of time disappeared when the door closed. It was dark. Black. As my eyes adjusted to the darkness, I spotted a faint beam of light - a hole in the wall, was that supposed to be a window?" Gloria lives in Harare, the capital of Zimbabwe. There she manages the "Tatenda" house, where women in difficult situations find refuge, help and support. Things go on as usual until one day, through a chain of strange events, she is drawn deep into the Zimbabwean jungle of regulations and corruption. At the mercy of state power and inscrutable procedures, she faces the challenges, but how does one go on when obstacles are repeatedly placed in one's path whose meaning one does not see? Sarudza means 'choose'. And that is often not easy. But why do we so rarely follow our heart or common sense? A thrilling, lively story about realising that the wealth of Zimbabwe lies not in its mineral resources or wonderful nature, but in the people who inhabit it, about knowing that there is always a light at the end of the tunnel, and about how everything then makes sense after all. If you choose to recognise it.

The book gives the reader an insight into the topic of domestic violence in southern Africa and how much passion and personal initiative is used to help women there. As a side story, personal strokes of fate and how they were overcome are told and that life is much about looking forward.

Auteur
Claudia van Ruiten was born in Bremen on 11.4.1961 and grew up in northern Germany as the fourth of five children. Despite the many children, the family travelled a lot in her childhood, which laid the foundation for the author's love of adventure. After training as a printmaker, which she did for only 1 year, Claudia switched to graphic design and advertising and remained faithful to this medium for 23 years. Her book mainly describes the cultural and social differences in Africa, as well as the problems associated with them, but also the joie de vivre of the people she met on her travels. You can't choose the family you are born into, but soon after you can choose everything else. Claudia van Ruiten was born in Germany and reborn in Africa.