Adamalui

By: Joseph Kaifala

Narrated by: Prentice Onayemi

As a survivor of the devastating civil wars in Sierra Leone and Liberia, Joseph Kaifala recounts the harrowing details af an early life punctuated by unimaginable violence and his journey to survival that eventually led him to the United States. Told with humility and grace, Adamalui is the true story of one man's unshakable faith, thirst for knowledge, and indomitable will.

Kaifala's experiences as a child prisoner and refugee are told through a series of flashbacks as he endeavors to attain a visa to attend college in America. His memories of the death and destruction that he and his family witnessed while attempting to avoid the violence rampant in impoverished West Africa are written with amazing clarity by a man on a mission to chart a way forward for himself and the others who would follow in his steps.

Kaifala's hopes for a brighter future for his home country - a country to which he still returns to assist through charitable causes - are crystalized throughout this prescient, timely, and beautifully-written memoir.

©2018 Joseph Kaifala (P)2018 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Resilience and resolve in spite of the harshest obstacles

This text is rich with conviction, drive, resilience, and overcoming unimaginable obstacles of life. As an American living in Sierra Leone, this story really helps to paint context of what people have survived here. Joseph had a limited opportunity to experience a traditional childhood before being swept into war. People often talk about the war lasting more than a decade but through this story it opens one’s eyes to glimpses of horrific violence, periods of calm, and then returns of violence. The people of Sierra Leone had to live through this period of not knowing if and when Peace would ever come. The fluctuant nature of the war seemed to add another layer of trauma. One common thread throughout the book that I appreciate most is how Joseph’s hunger for learning and education kept him grounded and persevering against all odds. The challenges he faced, many average humans would have given up 10 times over but he continued to pursue his education and to be the top of his class. I was so grateful to see that his education and work ethic propelled him to opportunities in Norway, the US and back at home in Salone where he guides the country in preserving its history and helping others share their stories. Thank you Joseph for crafting this powerful story and sharing it with the world. I hope that you also received some comfort in releasing it through pen and paper.

The book that made me relived my own life journey

You see, when Joseph was in prison and interpreted the dreams of two Pharaoh’s servants. The cupbearer forgot to mention Joseph to his master until his own master had a complicated dream and needed someone to interpret the dream. It is then the cupbearer thought of Joseph.

Adamalui! I bought this precious jewel since our own brother, nephew, and the like made it into an audiobook and took upon himself to notify me. I only listened to the introduction and laid it aside and focused on my regular business-oriented-books listening. That was it.

Yesterday! 11th June 2024, I don’t know what went wrong with me. But somehow, I picked up the listening to this precious audiobook: ADAMALUI! Eh! This book made me relive life in Guéckédou Préfecture, Guinea.

For everyone who has heard of Guéckédou, whether you lived there before or not, but likely want to know a little bit of that GUINEE forestière, please go on audible.com and pick up your copy. In fact, the book is currently on audible promotion.

The person who narrated the book did a favour, especially with the pronunciations of Kissi expressions, French and Krio, as if it is our own, Joseph Kaifala narrating the book himself.

Hey! What a privilege to have listened to this precious book! It’s a day listening, I mean, an 8-hour listen just like a day job. But you will not regret your investment in purchasing this book. I hardly write reviews for any book, except for very few, the ones that touched me in a special way.

This book did touch me in a special way. In fact, this book made me have a reference book whenever I'm going to write my 3rd book, a short memoir, which I believe would be titled: “Comrade @ 10’’, God willing.

I never knew that the same kind of struggles I went through in life as an unaccompanied child in Guéckédou, Guinea, this guy, Joseph Kaifala went through the same, even though he had his parents with him. Hey! The world is a smaller place, we all go through at some point in life, sometimes, the same predicaments.

It is like he was narrating my whole life to me. God bless the work of your hands for giving me a reference book that I can fall on whenever I want to prepare my own story (memoir).

I even regretted why I didn’t listen to this book the day it was made available in audio format. For all those who lived once in Guéckédou, get this book, to relive the memories of Guéckédou. You will understand that it is a masterpiece that I once neglected.

𝑻𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒌𝒔 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒅 𝒈𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒆 & 𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒚 𝒃𝒍𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒔 𝒊𝒏 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝑮𝒐𝒅-𝒅𝒓𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒏 𝒆𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒂𝒗𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒔. 𝑨𝒎𝒆𝒏