Monique and the mango rains
Midwives magazine: Issue 3 ::
2011
Author: Kris Holloway
Publisher: Oneworld Publications
ISBN: 9781851688371
Price: £9.99
Review by Elizabeth Worley
Kris Holloway becomes Fatumata Dembele as she arrives in Mali, West Africa, as a peace corps volunteer to help set up a maternity and health clinic. There she meets community midwife Monique, with whom she develops a deep and lasting friendship. The story highlights their shared passion and determination to make changes for the better for their fellow women. Fatumata gently challenges the deeply ingrained tradition of female genital mutilation, which affects 96% of the female population there. The women also set to work to create a sanitary environment for the maternity and health clinic. Setbacks like the rainy season and a mounting pile of clinical waste tested their resolve, but they continued on with success.
After becoming a mother herself, Kris returns to Mali frequently with her husband to see their ‘Mali family’ and to visit the ‘Clinique Monique’, named after their friend following her untimely and tragic death while with child.
I wanted to hear more about the traditional birth attendants and the difference between their ways and the care Monique and Fatumata gave; but Clinique Monique is still a work in progress, and it needs to be brought to people’s attention. I shed several tears while reading this book.
Monique and the mango rains is a true story that rides the ebb and flow of womanhood in Mali. It also sparks inspiration that differences can be made, and are made, when the right ingredients are combined.
