Kid of Balbala
SynopsisPlot
The Kid of Balbala is also about a quest. A quest for freedom, for adventure, for a promising future. An inextinguishable and inexhaustible quest to get rid of the tradi-tional burden, ignore obstacles, distance, trip, to face the unknown.The Kid of Balbala is also similar to an autobiography. The life of Samatalis, the Kid of Balbala, looks like to be mistaken for that of the author’s, Rachid Hachi, who guides us in the mazes of his existence, since his birth until his maturity, via all the stages which mark out his life.The child of Balbala is a book-mirror which sends back every reader in his/ her own past, his first stammering, his first steps to the Koranic school, his first steps in the public school, his puppy loves. It is a unique masterpiece, one- of-a kind, that is read in one breath, and which offers us a mixture of feelings, emotions, so diverse and varied, which until then, had never been explored as well by a Djiboutian author.
Story
About this book
Kid of Balbala follows a young character named Samatalis as he grows up in Balbala, a densely populated district on the outskirts of Djibouti City. The story traces his life from early childhood through to maturity, passing through Koranic school, public school, and first encounters with friendship and affection. It is described as semi-autobiographical, with the experiences of Samatalis closely mirroring those of the author, Rachid Hachi.
At its center is a drive to move beyond familiar constraints and face the unknown. Samatalis navigates the tension between inherited tradition and personal ambition, seeking freedom and a future shaped on his own terms. The narrative maps the stages of a life shaped by the specific geography and social fabric of Balbala, where daily realities press against wider aspirations.
The book is Rachid Hachi's first published work and is noted as the first book from the Republic of Djibouti to be translated into English. Balbala itself is one of the largest and most crowded parts of the Djibouti capital area, a setting that grounds the story in a place rarely represented in translated literature.
