Here’s an idea for Lent that will do more good than giving up desserts: Read a book about contemporary sub-Saharan Africa. It’s not a penance, though it can hurt. And seeing how much of the rest of the world lives sure does put a lot of our minor irritations, and even major problems, in perspective.

Consider a novel or memoir by an African, such as

• Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (Nigeria)
• Tsotsi by Athol Fugard (South Africa)
• A Long Way Gone by Ishmael Beah (Sierra Leone)
• When a Crocodile Eats the Sun by Peter Godwin (Zimbabwe)Or read a journalist’s first-person account, like
• What Is the What by Dave Eggers (Sudan)
• Strength in What Remains by Tracy Kidder (Burundi)
• The Shadow of the Sun by Ryszard Kapuściński (post-colonial Africa)
• We Wish to Inform You That Tomorrow We Will be Killed With Our Families by Philip Gourevitch (Rwanda)If you’d rather watch a movie, try one of these:
• The Devil Came On Horseback (Sudan)
• Tsotsi (South Africa)
• War Dance (Uganda)
• Hotel Rwanda (Rwanda)