V5 - BOOKS, By Kelly Miller

The Unheard: a Memoir of Deafness and Africa
By Josh Swiller
Review by Kelly Miller

Josh Swiller‘s poignant memoir describes his Peace Corps service in a remote village in Zambia, a place the locals call ―Gomorrah.‖ As a member of the first group of PCVs to serve in Zambia in the early 90s, Swiller arrived enthusiastic, idealistic and ready to do ―Great Works of Development while learning Great Lessons about Humanity.‖ Oh, yes, and he is deaf.

The book opens with Josh and his counterpart sitting on the floor in a dark room, clutching homemade weapons and waiting for an imminent death at the hands of an angry mob who are throwing rocks through the windows. Josh backs up to the beginning of his story to explain the events that led him into this situation.

Written in a captivating narrative, Swiller‘s book is
brutally honest in describing the challenges, successes and frustrations that he encountered in his village. Corruption, violence, disease and a series of cultural faux pas make his story seem unbelievable at times. Although placed in a site where ambulance drivers turn away sick patients so they can transport more fish and a bar fight leads to a man stripped naked, dragged to death and left for the dogs, the book is also full of hilarious and heartwarming anecdotes that help us understand how Josh could come to love such a place.

The fact that Josh is deaf and is searching for a place in the world where his deafness doesn‘t marginalize him adds another element to this memoir. He can read lips and has hearing aids, but having grown up in Manhattan, he seldom found himself in the optimal conditions for feeling ―normal.‖ In Zambia, there is less background noise, people look at him when they speak and they aren‘t annoyed when he asks them to repeat. Ironically, at times he feels more at home in his village than he ever felt in America.

As PCVs, there are parts of Josh‘s memoir that we can relate to, such as being overwhelmed by hoards of children, the beauty of Africa, the slow pace of projects, and the strength of banana beer. But Josh‘s multiple encounters with violence and his communal ―judging‖ (for ―ruining‖ the virgin daughter of a respected tribesman) are parts that we‘ll hopefully never experience firsthand. I highly recommend this look into an unforgiving world where beauty and horror are intertwined and a PCV struggles to find his place in it.