Lúa do Senegal (‘Senegal Moon’)

Synopsis

Khoedi, a name which means ‘moon’ in her language, is an eleven-year-old Senegalese girl who chooses the moon itself as confidante for her story.  It is the only common element she perceives between the world she knows, her village in Senegal, and the unknown one which now surrounds her, the city of Vigo, where her father has lived for a while.  She directs her intense reflections to the moon: sensations, memories, fears, and also her desire to get used to the new life which awaits her in this new place so full of absences, particularly that of her grandmother, Mama Feriane.

The story addresses emigration from the point of view of uprooting and the intense sadness which surround her and highlights the value of multiculturalism, linguistic diversity and living together, as well as the importance of combining memory with future.  Structurally, the alternation of narrative voices stands out, as alongside Khoedi, an external narrator completes episodes experienced by the girl.