Diamonds in the Dust, Shirley Tucker

Shirley Tucker, past volunteer with the Forward Education afterschool program in Masoyi, has published a tale about a woman's encounter with African youth.

Shirley is a compassionate and caring woman with a mother's heart for the orphaned. The youth loved her and she gained their trust easily. It wasn't long before they were sharing their complicated lives with her. I haven't read the book yet but have no doubt that this fictional novel is more real then not. Their stories deserve to be told and heard.

Anyone who has spent time with these youth will attest that, like diamonds under pressure and heat transform from black coal to glittering clear crystals, these youth who have gone through great adversity and pain, are sparkling gems on this earth.

Buried in the backrooms of poor communities, these youth are truly our "diamonds in the dust," and worth a lifetime of searching for and discovering them.