Driven by her familys devastating losses Congolese expatriate Francisca Thelin embarks with human rights activist Lisa J Shannon on a perilous journey back to her beloved homeland now under the shadow of one of Africas most feared militiasJoseph Konys Lords Resistance Army With gunmen camped at the edge of town Francisca is forced to face a paralyzing clash between her life in America and her familys rapidly evaporating worldand the reality that their rush to her familys aid may backfireMama Koko and the Hundred Gunmen weaves Franciscas journey with stories of the familys harrowing encounters with gunmen and tales from their past to create a vivid illuminating portrait of a place and its people We hear of Mama Kokos early life as a gap-toothed beauty plotting to escape her inevitable fate of wife and motherhood of Papa Alexanders empire of wives each of whom he married because she cooked and cleaned and made good coffee and of Franciscas idyllic childhood when she ran barefoot through the familys coffee plantation gorging herself on mangoes and fish that were the size of small children Offering compelling testimony to the strength of the human spirit and the beauty of human connection in the darkest of times Mama Koko and the Hundred Gunmen also explores what it means and requires to truly make a difference in an unjust and often violent world.
