Kamara

Joe grew up with his father in the village. His mother died before he could recognize her. He went through the usual hardships of village life without a mother. He went through the secret society with his favorite aunt deputizing his dead mum. Joe's father Pa Alpha tasted riches, but the sun set too soon when his loving wife Joe's mum died. A rollercoaster of hardship set in that never seemed to go away and the Pa and his children were forced to relocate. But that did not help much, the Pa and his son had to move on again. Pa Alpha was forced to move yet again to protect his son from cannibalism.

Joe was taken to the far north by his brother Peter, where Joe thought was the end of the world, and went to school in Kambia. All along, Joe was never far away from real hardship and physical brutality. He eventually graduated from high school after a period of internal turmoil and good luck and became a village teacher, and he eventually went on to realize his dram of a University Education.