Writing in the Red Dirt: Travels through Sub-Saharan Africa and the Self 

By Brooke Folgers

Brooke’s van came to a stop at the end of a road in front of a blue house in a distant village, and she didn’t know it yet, but when her feet hit the red dirt, the rest of her life began.

In Writing in the Red Dirt, Brooke shares stories from a semester studying abroad in South Africa and the resulting ten years and 100,000 miles traveled to Sub-Saharan Africa. From running with zebras to endless mornings of instant coffee, Brooke realizes the places deemed as developing are actually where people understand this thing called being human the most.

As she travels through cities, villages, safaris, and schools, Brooke allows the world to show her what teaching, learning, and living mean. Brooke works in public health in Uganda, volunteers in the Peace Corps in South Africa, and participates in an exchange program in Namibia, all to finally realize that what she wanted to be at five years old is what she was always meant to be: a teacher. 

Traveling back and forth through years and countries, Brooke invites readers to journey with her as she grapples with who exactly she is meant to be. An expansive literary memoir of travel and self-discovery, Writing in the Red Dirt is about allowing life to break us apart and the courage to hold on to all the pieces of yourself, believing they will find their place.