The Shattered Pearl

The Shattered Pearl is an account of the ten years the author spent in Uganda. It begins with an inside look at Peace Corps training in 1966 against the backdrop of the civil rights movement. Sara finds herself the only black Peace Corps trainee in a group of 150.

Once in Uganda, Sara teaches science and math and travels around East Africa with her Peace Corps friends observing the natural beauty and abundant wildlife in the game parks. They even attempt to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro .

In April, 1968 Sara marries a Ugandan, James Wanambwa; resigns from the Peace Corps and begins a new life. Their son Edward is born in 1970. James is trying to start a dairy farm and Sara is still teaching. On January 25, 1971, Idi Amin Dada overthrows the government of Milton Obote and plunges Uganda into a cycle of terror and bloodshed. Even the birth of their daughter, Lillian, in 1972 only temporarily distracts Sara and James from the tragedy that is unfolding.

During the next five years, the situation worsens. Sara moves about the country freely; seeing many things that are not reported in the press. She lives as an ordinary Ugandan but sees the events from an American viewpoint including the Israeli raid on Entebbe Airport.

Finally in 1977, Sara and James decide that they must leave Uganda if they are to retain their sanity and give their children a chance for a normal life. They go through the harrowing process of getting permission to leave the country, procuring travel documents, and finally are forced to leave overland when the airport becomes too dangerous to use. They arrive safely in the USA, tired, relieved and saddened to have witnessed the shattering of the Pearl of Africa.