Tales of an Ikut Swami

Story behind the book

“In her personal and enchanting memoir, Kessler, using a voice that resonates with authenticity, tells her story with, a growing affection, and profound insights, bringing her readers to her very side as she travels and meets and serves with women of Asia and gloriously, the women of Africa.”
-Patricia Lee Gauch, Longtime Editor in Chief of Philomel Books

Ha’apai women, Tonga.

Dianne, Shitaye, Cristina, Rahel: WOW Project, Ethiopia.

Village women, Bangladesh.

Young Puel women, Mali.

Ingal Tuareg woman, Niger.

Woo, Cape Town, South Africa.

Dogon women, Mali.

North Kordofan women, Sudan.

Karen Jones Meadows, United States.

Ms. Childs, St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands.

Puel woman, Mali.

Sasak woman, Lombok, Indonesia.

Samburu girls, Kenya.

Maradi woman, Niger.

Veve Jacobsen, Niue, South Pacific.

Addis Ababa woman with traditional dress, Ethiopia.

Carnival dancer, St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands.

Woman working in her seaweed shamba, Zanzibar.