“There are people who learn about poverty in books, but there are those who have lived it; that means you assess situations and measure progress differently,” titled Kouassi Soman’s mini-portrait posted on the World Bank’s website on February 22, 2002. A level-headed economist by all accounts, Kouassi admits his addiction to fishing his daddy taught him early on the Djoreh river which has succumbed to the encroaching desertification plaguing large parts of Africa. An eligible heir to the throne of the small kingdom of Abongui in northeastern Côte d’Ivoire, Kouassi left home for school some fifty miles away at the age of five; saw an electrical light bulb in action and slipped into his first pair of shoes at eleven; and touched a snow flake for the first time in the United States at the age of twenty one. A large majority of those who have had the opportunity to read Kouassi’s four-page long mini-portrait around the world called him over and over again to quench their scorching thirst in learning more about his amazing life story.

AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY

Now, the wait is over soon with the publication of his fascinating autobiography. From his native Akan village of Abongui-Morokro in Côte d’Ivoire to graduate school in the United States, via the University of Abidjan in Côte d’Ivoire, this easy to read autobiography is bound to take your breath away by walking you through the first ever written material on the ethno-history of his culture and ethnicity. Moreover, it will show you how goodwill and charity can extend a helping hand from the United States and across the Atlantic Ocean into a tiny tribe of about half a million people in northeastern Côte d’Ivoire. Incorporated in the Common-wealth of Virginia, Kouassi’s charitable organization is called “Abongui Assah Bow Boka or Abongui ABB” which means “Abongui’s Helping Hand,“ in his native language. Aside from its historical content, the basic story of this book is about the link between the value of education and Kouassi^s own life.

For more information or to get a copy of this fascinating book, please do one of the following:

  (1) Send your check or money order of US$20 payable to Kouassi Soman at:
 14096 Eagle Chase Circle
 Chantilly VA 20151 USA

  (2) Send your e-mail request to Abonguiabb@Yahoo.com

   (3) Call the publisher (iUniverse) toll free at 1-877-823-9235

 Thank you for your support

Kouassi Soman
Director General and Chair of the Board