Even with all of the “multicultural” young adult novels published every year, there really isn’t much that takes place in Sub-Saharan Africa. And those stories taking on the plight of the refugees, the disenfranchised, and the desperately poor are even harder to find. Michael Williams’ recent publication, Now Is the Time for Running, tells the staggering story of a 14 year old boy, Deo, fleeing from Zimbabwe into South Africa seeking safety and a chance at a decent life for himself and his mentally disabled older brother, Innocent. Inspired in part by Williams’ work with homeless refugee youths in his home country (South Africa) as well as the xenophobic riots that killed many in Alexander Township (Johannesburg) in 2008 and the continuing problems between refugees and South African citizens, Now Is the Time for Running is a story that needs to be told because of both its shocking realism and the messages it conveys about humanity, tolerance, and survival.
Deo lives in a small village in rural Zimbabwe and today he’s just down the road playing soccer with other village boys, cheered on by his older brother, Innocent. But when the soldiers arrive and massacre everyone in the village, Deo and Innocent must run for their lives. Soon they end up hiding in a truck bound for the border with South Africa and the promise of safety across the border. But the border crossing is harrowing and only by relying on each other and a few good people do Deo and Innocent make it to the other side. Grateful to be away from the threat of the soldiers who destroyed their family, the boys end up as near-servants working on a white owned tomato farm near the border for pennies a day. Soon Deo is convinced they could find a better life in Johannesburg, so he takes the little money they’ve saved and follows a con-artist to the city, spending nearly all they have to get there. Of course what awaits them is nothing like what was promised, and the brothers quickly end up out on the streets. With tensions and tempers about the “foreigners” poisoning the township where Deo and Innocent squat, its only a matter of time before tragedy strikes.
- Posted by Cori