Joel Thurtell, Karen Fonde, Seydou Bukari, Assana Bukari and Fati Bukari.

There were many times when the traveler had to pinch himself to believe where he was. His almost daily journeys to his project’s construction site were breathtaking as he rode his Yamaha 80 motorcycle along the dirt path.

Sparsely planted shrubs, gigantic trees and orange circular clay houses blanketed the landscape of the savanna.

It was a dusty and scorching hot ride, but it was mostly surreal.

It was 1972 and Joel Thurtell, now a Wayne State University instructor and blogger, and his future wife, Karen Fonde, a physician, were in the small African country of Togo, volunteering for the Peace Corps program.

Thurtell’s mission was to build a well and a public school for the men, women and children of the local tribe to use. But they were difficult tasks to execute. For one, he had to be granted the blessings of the tribe’s religious leader, who sought guidance from the holy tree. There was also barely any water to concoct the cement they needed to build the school.

Thurtell’s “Seydou’s Christmas Tree” is a short yet enlightening autobiography that follows the idealistic American on his mission to help an African community, only to end up being taught a lesson himself.

Thurtell and his fiance took a great liking to a 13-year-old boy named Seydou, a neighbor who lived in a mud house behind theirs. He was a Muslim and his dad was an imam, minorities among the animists in that town.

Seydou was street smart and an exceptional tinkerer, tirelessly fixing his small bike when it broke down almost every hour. He also seemed to always know when the city’s clean water pumps would be open.

A few days before Christmas, Seydou promised the American Christians that he would take them to a place abundant with Christmas trees, assuring them they would be able to celebrate their holiday.

Perplexed and dubious, Thurtell questioned the boy’s confidence in finding a Christmas tree in what was practically a desert.

After enduring a motorcycle trip in temperatures exceeding 100 degrees, they arrived —disappointed— at a few “ugly” bushes.

Those were not Christmas trees, Thurtell exclaimed.

Seydou, however, pointed with excitement to the shrubs, insisting they were Christmas trees.

They ended up strapping one to their motorcycle and taking it home and decorating it with simple ornaments they made.

That was the day two Americans learned a lesson from a Muslim African boy. They realized Christmas is not about owning a perfectly decorated tree or about presents, but about a being humble and recognizing that friendship and love inhabits every person —and tree— across the globe.

“Seydou’s Christmas Tree” is available at Amazon.com for $16.00.