This heartwarming memoir shows the bonds that come from pen pals no matter the distance or difference in their places in life.

Caitlin Alifirenka chose the country of Zimbabwe on a whim when it came time for the class pen pal assignment, wanting something different from the usual European countries everyone else knew about.

Martin Ganda was lucky to get that letter for in a class of 50 kids, only the top 10 got pen pals, he was the first.

From there, they began to trade photos, gifts and bits of their lives. It was slow at first as Martin didn’t want to tell Caitlin of the poverty he lived in, the violence and tensions that were mounting in his country as he felt it would be a burden and she would stop writing. Meanwhile she was blissfully ignorant until she saw the Zimbabwen terror attacks on the news. Concerned for her friend, she began actually researching Martin’s home country and asking him to be more open about his plight.

There, their friendship became deeper spanning over a decade as they shared their hopes and concerns, expanded their worldview and developed a unique platonic confidence that others may not always get but they will always have.

While some might dismiss this as another story of white saviorism as Caitlin’s family helps the Gandas with money, gifts and the US college application process, but I choose to see it as not so. After all, Martin wanted and appreciated the help and considering their relationship I see it more as friends helping each other. When you have the deep bond that is shown through these pages and that you’d do anything to help them.

I Will Always Write Back: How One Letter Changed Two Lives is an inspiring book of true friendship, and growing up.