Bela-Wenda: Voices from the Heart of Africa by Mutombo Nkulu-N'Sengha
Translated by Marcela Malek Sulak
Bela-Wenda is a lyrical journey into the human condition in the age of globalization. Set in a small, nameless Congolese village, Bela-Wenda is narrated by a diverse cast of characters, including an aged grandmother, Bela-Wenda, the keeper of the village's traditions; citizens oppressed by corruption and greed in a dictatorial regime; and young immigrants whose dreams of a Western paradise have turned into the nightmare of cultural shock, homelessness and exploitative working conditions.
These poems advance the notion that sometimes a changing context requires a changing image of the truth, just as sometimes the truth becomes a mask for the lie. Although originally written in French, these poems are imbued with the rhythm of African oral poetry and the elegant rhetoric of Bantu languages. Bela-Wenda is a lyrical tribute to the unconquerable power of the human spirit and its dream of a peaceful world without borders.
Bilingual French/English edition