Tribes

[Joanne]

Did you stay with, visit, or have contact with, any tribes other than the Massai?

[Cristina Kessler]

I am very closely connected to women in Ethiopia, mainly the Amharic group. I am still involved in various activities with a group of very dynamic Ethiopian women. We have started an organization called Women on Wheels (WOW) and have so far gotten about 3000 women off the ground and into wheelchairs. Our other activity, which is the one I am most proud of in my writing career is a magazine we started called Women to Women. Its' written in Amharic and English, and addresses everything from harmful traditional practices to women's rights and women in education. It is written by Ethiopian women for Ethiopian women. I am the Englsih editor. I also have many friends from many different countires that I am still close to, from Sudan to Mozambique, Mali to Sierra Leone.

[Cristina Kessler]

I forgot to say that I lived with the Tuareg in Niger to write my first book, One Night - a story from the desert. Gor my newest book, Trouble in Timbuktu, I spent time with the Tuareg and the Bella in Timbuktu to write that book.

[Lily Winter]

Do you write fiction for adults too? Why did you decide to target young adults?

[Cristina Kessler]

I chose young adults because I want kids to have information to develop more open minds before they form permanent opinions. By reading in a novel about kids their own age in an entirely different world they can see that they share many things in common like love for family, loyalty, and love for animals. I also hope to show what lengths kids in other cultures, particularly girls, will go to to be able to attend school, and then love it when they do.

I haven't stepped into the adult market yet, bookwise, but I am receiving lots of encouragement to write about our life for the last 34 years. If i do do it, it will probably read a lot like fiction, so who knows...

Right now I am writing a new picture book called Animal Party that I hope will be a lot of fun regarding animal group names. I am also helping Kakuta write his lifestory for the young adult market, a book sure to inspire, entertain and take you into the Maasai world like I never could. I am honored that he asked me to help him with this project.

So the short answer, I am going to be doing some adult writing soon.