I Will Always Write Back

I Will Always Write Back

by

Caitlin Alifirenka, Martin Ganda, and Liz Welch

Teachers and parents! Our Teacher Edition on I Will Always Write Back makes teaching easy.
Sadza is a thick cornmeal porridge and a staple food in Zimbabwe. It’s affordable, which means that poor families like Martin’s frequently eat it (unlike chicken, which is reserved for very special occasions).

Sadza Quotes in I Will Always Write Back

The I Will Always Write Back quotes below are all either spoken by Sadza or refer to Sadza. For each quote, you can also see the other terms and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Kindness and Generosity Theme Icon
).
Part 1: Martin, April 1998 Quotes

The next evening, with a full belly, I wrote Caitlin a letter. I thanked her for the very generous dollar bill and told her I would send her something in return soon. I considered sending her a Zimbabwean dollar but knew that was one day’s worth of sadza. So instead, I made the only promise that I knew I could keep: that I would always write back, no matter what.

Related Characters: Martin Ganda (speaker), Caitlin Stoicsitz Alifirenka
Related Symbols: Chicken
Page Number: 52
Explanation and Analysis:
Part 3: Martin, January 2000 Quotes

Thanks to Caitlin, we ate chicken for Christmas that year, a miracle considering what our friends and neighbors were experiencing. In Zimbabwe, if you have food, you share it, so our neighbors ate chicken with us.

Related Characters: Martin Ganda (speaker), Caitlin Stoicsitz Alifirenka
Related Symbols: Chicken
Page Number: 162
Explanation and Analysis:
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I Will Always Write Back PDF

Sadza Term Timeline in I Will Always Write Back

The timeline below shows where the term Sadza appears in I Will Always Write Back. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Part 1: Martin, October 1997
Education Theme Icon
...gathers around a fire pit—shared with three other families—to eat dinner. Most meals consist of sadza (a cornmeal porridge). (full context)
Part 1: Martin, April 1998
Friendship Theme Icon
...decides not to include a Zimbabwe dollar, since it would equal a full day of sadza. Instead, he makes a promise that he knows he can keep: that he’ll always write... (full context)