The book review:

(Full title) First Comes Love, Then Comes Malaria: How a Peace Corps Poster Boy Won My Heart and a Third-World Adventure Changed My Life

The title of this intriguing memoir effectively lays out the plot, but the details are worth the read. In self-deprecating and often humorous fashion, author Eve Brown-Waite recounts the late 1980s when she developed an immediate crush on John, a Peace Corps recruiter. Eve joined the Peace Corps (at least partially to prove herself worthy of him) and was posted to Ecuador. Although she curtailed early, Eve got her man. They married, then the couple accepted a posting to Arua, Uganda, where John ran a micro-credit project for CARE. They lived there, in Uganda’s troubled West Nile region for several years, began a family and interacted extensively with the local community.

In entertaining and breathless style, Eve lays out her reactions to the realities of the third world. As a fledgling Peace Corps Volunteer in Ecuador she found that just fitting in was hard enough—privacy was an alien concept, for example, not to mention the trials of everyday life—a dangerous hot-water device, insects and odd food. In search of a job (PCVS know well the mantra “go forth and develop”) she encountered poverty and child neglect, but did carve a niche for herself in reuniting institutionalized children with their families. The rape of a colleague freaked her out and the Ecuadorian sojourn ended.

Some months later after getting a Master’s in public health and finally landing John as a husband (she was very upfront from the beginning about this goal), the couple headed to Uganda. There, John was posted as a CARE program manager in Uganda’s unsettled far-northwest. Eve encountered another third world that was quintessentially African. Arua was a big town with a small expatriate community of NGO and missionary personnel. Mzungus didn’t blend in and it took time for Eve to adjust. Indeed she wailed that she might never “belong” as she recounted the horrors of the bustling market, lack of electricity, no modern conveniences and irregular water; all that plus huge bugs and sporadic violence that afflicted the region. Throughout Eve desperately tried to land a job using her AIDS/HIV prevention knowledge. Ultimately she became pregnant—and that saga is told in detail—and had a baby. The child helped cement relationships with the community and by this time Eve had pretty well adjusted to Arua. She (and we) wondered what the fuss was all about.

It is not the plot, but the narrative of this book that is valuable. Eve is an excellent writer. Honest and direct she wears her feelings on her sleeve and jumps right in to say what she thinks. She comments on body odor, low-level corruption and employer servant relations. She ponders Ugandan family ties, the slow pace of local life, and why AIDS education does not work. She revels in friendships with Americans, Europeans and Ugandans alike.  

In summary Eve articulates the experiences and impressions that many Americans have in encountering the Third World. (She does milk them for all they are worth.) As she did, we learned to adapt and adjust. Looking back we wonder why we were so naïve. Yet, our third-world time—as a PCV, an NGO official, aid worker or diplomat—did irrevocably change us and give us an appreciation and understanding of the lives and aspirations of others with whom we share the planet.

Folks who fit in the above categories will enjoy this book because you will recall many similar experiences. Yet, this is a book for a wider audience as well because truths about the human condition emerge.