Kimia

Kimia is a brave and self-assured girl, growing up in the heart of Africa. She’s deeply fond of Samba, the village’s artist, who can create the most beautiful pictures. In Europe, meanwhile, the continent of Africa, with its immeasurable wealth, is being divided up as if it’s a no man’s land. King Leopold II of Belgium is given Congo as his personal property, and suddenly white soldiers invade Kimia’s village. Her life will never be the same again.

The story of Kimia, which we follow throughout her life, is interspersed with spreads about the historical context, from before 1884 to the independence of Congo in 1960 and beyond. Shamisa Debroey provides Kimia’s story with full-page illustrations in earthy colours and historical explanations with finer line drawings. This sorely needed book shows at a child’s level how terrible colonization was and the impact it had, and is still having, on the people of Congo.