The Child from Dindefello Falls

The Little Prince of Africa

Description

Literary ecofiction, The Child from Dindefello Falls follows a Senegalese boy whose search for truth after his mother’s death becomes a spiritual journey of friendship, resistance, and reforestation—choosing healing and stewardship in a world sc

“They were the siblings walking many kilometers every morning to reach their distant school… And yet, these frail reeds were Africa’s most brilliant jewels.” The Child from Dindefello Falls: The Little Prince of Africa follows Sonlio, a boy from rural Senegal whose mother dies soon after a vaccination campaign reaches his village. Shaken by grief and distrust, he runs away into the night and begins a journey from waterfalls and baobab trees to cities, deserts, fishing villages, and a floating school, searching for what really happened—and how to live justly in a damaged world. On the road he meets Sun Hué, a shy Chinese girl whose father’s business reshapes African landscapes; fishermen and migrants facing empty seas and perilous crossings; talibé boys in harsh Quranic schools; journalists and doctors caught in the ethics of modern medicine; and villagers and activists replanting forests and reviving poisoned soil. He witnesses secretive vaccine shipments, industrial trawlers, and pesticide-scarred fields, but also joins projects that bring back bees, trees, and hope. Set in a world of cell phones, global agribusiness, and international health campaigns, the novel links one village tragedy to larger questions: how medicines are made and used, how land and seas are treated, and how the young can respond without losing love and wonder. Through Sonlio’s friendships, grief, and visions—a Being of Light, a two-headed creature, a speaking sea—simple acts like planting trees and picking up plastic stand beside mystical encounters.

About the author(s)

Aminta Dupuis is a literature professor, poet, and musician whose work is inspired by her profound admiration for Africa’s beauty and her deep sorrow at the injustices it endures.

In The Child from Dindefello Falls, Dupuis gives voice to the Senegalese people, offering readers a gateway to greater understanding and compassion for Africa’s rich cultural and spiritual legacy.

Translated from French by Marybeth Timmermann, The Child from Dindefello Falls marks Dupuis’s first novel available to English-speaking readers.

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