43 pages • 1 hour read
Kennedy Odede, Jessica PosnerFind Me Unafraid: Love, Loss, And Hope In An African Slum
Nonfiction | Autobiography / Memoir | Adult | Published in 2015A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Prologue-Chapter 1Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Prologue Summary: “kennedy - december 2007”
Kennedy lives in Kibera, one of the worst slums in Nairobi, Kenya. The book opens with Kennedy hiding in his rundown shack, praying that the paramilitary police conducting a raid outside do not find him: “I can feel spiders crawling over my back and rats poking my toes, but I stay still, afraid that any movement will draw the uniformed men” (3).
He is hungry, and food is scarce during raids. He often spends only $2 a week on food. Kennedy goes to his neighbor’s house, Mama Akinyi, for a single bite of porridge to wet his mouth but won’t take more because the food is meant her young daughter. His good friend, Chris, warns him that the police have a picture of Kennedy and are looking for him. In the terror of the raid, he thinks of Jessica, who has already returned to the United States: “All I want to do is write her a letter, tell her how much I love her, and tell her that I should have listened, I should have left” (5). He hides behind a metal panel in his house, hearing the police outside. His door is locked, making the officers believe he is not home; they leave, and Kennedy is safe. He waits several hours and then runs away from his house, fleeing past dead bodies.
Chapter 1 Summary: “jessica - september 2007”
After spending five days in Nairobi at study abroad orientation, Jessica is at the bus stop waiting for Kennedy to come pick her up to show her where she will be working. Jessica is a hard-working, over-achieving, theater student from Wesleyan University in Connecticut. She decided to study abroad in Nairobi to see how “big the world might be” (8). When she arrives, Jessica is overwhelmed by the cultural differences. During orientation, she is told specifically not to get married, which she rolls her eyes at.
When Kennedy picks her up, they walk to Kibera, a slum consisting of thousands of shacks. The poverty overwhelms Jessica, and her “face flushes with embarrassment at my transparent shock” (13). As they walk through the slum, she becomes aware of how popular her guide is, being called “Mayor” wherever they go and greeted by all. They arrive at Kennedy’s home, which reveals more poverty than she can imagine, but in the corner are a stack of books: “‘There are two ways of escaping your poverty,’ he offers quietly. ‘One, you can use drugs, get drunk—escape. Or you can escape into the world of books; that can be your refuge’” (14).
Next, they head to the Shining Hope for Communities office (SHOFCO), the nonprofit that Kennedy started that provides programs on education, arts, women’s empowerment, and youth sports. Jessica meets the team members, who all very clearly admire and respect Kennedy. On their way back to the house, Kennedy takes Jessica by the hand but drops it when he sees the uncomfortable look on her face: “‘Sorry!’ he exclaims. ‘In my culture, it is customary to hold hands. It is a symbol of respect and friendship’” (18).
Jessica has specifically requested to stay at Kennedy’s home during her study abroad so that she could immerse herself in day-to-day life in the slum. Instead, she must live at a safer “homestay” 15 minutes outside of the slum. When Jessica and Kennedy meet at a restaurant for lunch, he tries to tell her that Kibera is not safe for a white person to live. She is “determined to prove him wrong, to show him that the differences between us aren’t as vast as he may think” (20).
Prologue-Chapter 1 Analysis
These first two chapters establish the vast cultural and socioeconomic backgrounds between the two narrators, Kennedy and Jessica. The differences between the two could not be more pronounced, as they are divided by gender, ethnicity, nationality, socioeconomic status, and education.
Kennedy and Jessica alternate narrating chapters, providing the reader with a story heard from their two perspectives and insight into their unique worldviews. This narrative strategy emphasizes the differences between the two and gives depth to not only the character development, but also to the storyline, providing rich detail and bringing the reader closer to both characters. Jessica initially provides the point of view of an outsider in Kenya, while Kennedy provides the perspective of a native-born who has learned how to prosper despite the difficult environment. Each character is defined by their ability to hope and dream, despite the fact that they from very different places.
These early chapters also foreshadow the powerful love story between Kennedy and Jessica that will unfold throughout the book and their struggle to overcome their differences and form both a personal and professional partnership. For example, when Jessica rolls her eyes upon being told not to marry a local Kenyan during her study abroad, the authors engage in a kind of narrative “wink” at the reader, as we know this is precisely what will happen.
