Describe Nelson. What is the significance of his arrival?

Nelson is a young Congolese orphan boy, one of many in this war-torn country. Despite his many trials and tribulations, Nelson shows himself to be a hard-working, assiduous student at the village school, earning the reputation as Anatole Ngemba's best pupil. Nelson is fiercely ambitious and wants to be able to earn enough money so he can settle down and get married. To that end, he offers to help the Price family in various ways, in return for a place to stay and some eggs to sell at the village market-place.
As the Prices have made no effort to learn the native language—thanks largely to Nathan, the pig-headed patriarch of the family—Nelson offers to help them with the local lingo and customs. Nelson's arrival in the story is important, as it allows the Prices—except Nathan, of course—to gain a much deeper insight into the indigenous culture, which they'd previously never really understood.