Africa Is a Country

The #BullshitFiles: Tsunami and the Single Girl — One Woman’s Journey to Become an Aid Worker and Find Love

Africa Is a Country Podcast
African Five-a-Side Podcast

The #BullshitFiles: Tsunami and the Single Girl — One Woman’s Journey to Become an Aid Worker and Find Love

By
Paula Akugizibwe

Every side-eye, cringe, SMH and WTF in the world has gathered for a family reunion in the title of this book. It is the perfect set-up for searing satire, which is what I hoped was on offer when I clicked the link forwarded by my sister with a “hahahahahahaha” subject line – although she did mention something about tragedy giving way to farce…

“Set in humanitarian disaster zones around the world Tsunami and the Single Girl is the story of Krissy Nicholson’s journey to become an aid worker and her (seemingly) never-ending search to find a soul mate.”

Set in where, to find what? I now began to suspect that I was journeying into a literary disaster zone. My suspicions were swiftly confirmed.

“As a free-spirited traveller, Krissy – now almost thirty – needs her life to start taking shape. So how does a wild night on a dance floor in Vietnam land her a sought-after role in Oxfam working in emergency relief? And how does the excess of the expatriate scene, a string of Mr Wrongs and failed romances lead to self-discovery and ultimately self-fulfilment?”

Speaking of self-discovery. A while back I wrote satirically on the related topic of Altourism – Where Altruism Meets Adventure. With one small blurb, Krissy has shown me not only how weak and inadequate my effort was, but more importantly, how redundant. So you think you’ve got jokes? Take a seat. The white saviour industry is infinitely more capable of (inadvertently) satirising itself. Imma let you finish, Krissy.

“Against the backdrop of adrenaline-fuelled disaster response, Krissy begins…”

Actually, no, I’m not. #Bye.

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