Blog slacker and Girls Conference Information
I finally am at the internet, but unfortunately am leaving in 15 minutes. The quick update: school is going well, I have reviews this week and finals next week. After that I'm headed straight to Conakry to continue Girls Conference organizing. Everything has been going well at site, some PCVs from Mali came through Timbi last weekend and we biked out to the waterfalls I went to on that camping trip and it was really fun!
Our Girls Conference has been approved and now we are in the throes of fundraising. If you are interested in donating, I'm putting the fundraising letter and information at the end of this posting. Even if you just have $10 or $20 to spare, it's for a great cause and we will really appreciate it!
This weekend I came to Mamou to help out with the peer listening group and work on the conference. It was exciting to see all the new group after 3 months as PCVs. They are doing well and are all really nice and fun. One of them even has some new movies - unfortunately I've been doing so much work here that I didn't have time to watch them! I'm going to start making a Netflix list now in anticipation of my return to the States...
Here's the email I sent out to some of you about Girls Conference. If you have any questions, feel free to email me, I'm going to try and get to the internet over the weekend. Thanks! Also, I can't get the links to work, but if you go to peacecorps.gov and click on Donate Now! on the main page you can find it with the program number listed below or by searching for Guinea projects.
Hi friends and family! Below is the information about the big project Cam and I are coordinating before we head back to the States this fall. Everyone is really excited and we are well on the way to meeting our fundraising goal. Anything you can donate will be greatly appreciated. Feel free to let me know if you have any more questions about the project. If you are in grad school, unemployed or a current PCV this is an informational email only - I don'texpect you to donate!!
I'm bringing a girl from my 12th grade class named Aissatou - she wants to be a journalist and has the highest overall average and English grade out of the whole class. That's really unusual for a girl in Guinea! She will be a great role model for some of the younger girls and will also be able to do projects at my school with the new Volunteer next year.
Thanks in advance and feel free to forward this to anyone who might be interested in donating!
Jen
Dear Friend,
Peace Corps Guinea is currently planning our annual Girls' Conferences in Mamou and Kankan. The Girls Conferences will be three-day conferences June 22-26, 2008. The participants are approximately 40 school-aged Guinean girls' volunteers' towns and villages.
Peace Corps Guinea is currently planning our annual Girls' Conferences in Mamou and Kankan. The Girls Conferences will be three-day conferences June 22-26, 2008. The participants are approximately 40 school-aged Guinean girls' volunteers' towns and villages.
Why a Girls Conference?
In Guinea, as in all of West Africa, the challenges that young women face each day are abundant and all too common.
In Guinea, as in all of West Africa, the challenges that young women face each day are abundant and all too common.
Limited resources, social mores, and cultural expectations all play a part. Many families are too poor to send all of their children to school and will often send sons before daughters. A Guinean girl can be married off as young as 13 or 14, increasing her domestic responsibilities and affecting her scholastic career. Exhaustion from domestic work, little to no free time to study or complete school work, sexual harassment by teachers and other school officials, unequal treatment in the classroom, and ridicule in the school and community settings (for either doing too well or too poorly) all create barriers to girls' education. The social status of a girl or young woman in Guinean society means that she has very little say, and very little experience making her own decisions.
In addition to education, Guinean faces several other crises for women. The rate of female genital mutilation still tops 95 percent, resulting in health risks and suffering each new generation of young women. Malnutrition results in death, blindness, and countless other health problems for Guineans nationwide. Educating young Guinean women on the benefits of foods to which they already have access is essential to improving overall health. In its impoverished state, Guinea's youth also face the spread of HIV: "Out of every nine [Guineans], five are children or young people…Because of poverty, they are made vulnerable to epidemics like HIV/AIDS," according to UNICEF country representative Marcel Rudasingwa (UN News Services 2006).
These topics form the foundation of education that takes place at Girls Conferences each year.
Your contribution today can help us fund the 2008 Girls Conference.
What is Girls Conference?
Local contributors, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and volunteers work together to direct the Conferences, planning interactive sessions on topics crucial to the success and well-being of the girls. The girls learn techniques for success in school, educational and professional possibilities, and personal health (including preventing HIV transmission and family planning), among other topics. At the same time, they develop skills such as critical reasoning and public speaking so that, by the end of the Conferences, they will be able to confidently present the information they've learned.
A group of professional Guinean women will lead the girls through a typical day at their places of work and converse with them in a panel discussion on personal and career success. For many participants, this is their first such encounter with accomplished professional women. The schedule always includes a day spent on women's health issues with presentations about HIV/AIDS, family planning and nutrition. Recent conferences also included: basic computer skills, educational films (including women's rights, HIV/AIDS, and genital mutilation), invited speakers on women's role in Islam, guided discussions about polygamy and the effects on women, workshops on communication skills and public speaking and participation in sports and extracurricular activities encouraging teamwork, leadership, and critical thinking skills.
This year's conference is particularly important because it is occurring at a critical time in Peace Corps Guinea. After nine years of consecutive conferences, the strikes and civil unrest in January 2007 and suspension of the Peace Corps program prevented the conferences from taking place last year. With the successful completion of this year's conference, we will be protecting our institutional memory and the tradition of Girls' Conferences for future generations of Volunteers and the communities they serve across Guinea.
How Can You Help?
We are now raising money for the conferences taking place in Mamou and Kankan from June 22-26, 2008. Per Peace Corps regulations, the communities of the participating girls will be contributing 25% of the Conferences' costs. We hope to raise the remaining cost via donations through the Peace Corps Partnership Program (PCPP).
The total cost of the conferences will be $7,690. Towns and villages throughout Guinea, the female participants and their families, and local NGOs and government officials will be providing $1,940.
Therefore, our fundraising goal for the 2008 Girls Conferences is $5,748.
If you are able to help educate these girls and their communities to give these girls the tools and knowledge to build a better future for themselves, please contribute now. Our deadline is May 20th, so contribute soon!
To donate, just click on the link below or copy and paste the URL into your web browser.
CLICK HERE TO DONATE – EVERY CONTRIBUTION COUNTS
Thank you in advance,
Peace Corps Guinea Girls' Conference 2008
Project Donation Page URL :
https://www.peacecorps.gov/index.cfm?shell=resources.donors.contribute.projDetail&projdesc=675-132
The project number is 675-132 and Volunteer Coordinator is C. Forero
In addition to education, Guinean faces several other crises for women. The rate of female genital mutilation still tops 95 percent, resulting in health risks and suffering each new generation of young women. Malnutrition results in death, blindness, and countless other health problems for Guineans nationwide. Educating young Guinean women on the benefits of foods to which they already have access is essential to improving overall health. In its impoverished state, Guinea's youth also face the spread of HIV: "Out of every nine [Guineans], five are children or young people…Because of poverty, they are made vulnerable to epidemics like HIV/AIDS," according to UNICEF country representative Marcel Rudasingwa (UN News Services 2006).
These topics form the foundation of education that takes place at Girls Conferences each year.
Your contribution today can help us fund the 2008 Girls Conference.
What is Girls Conference?
Local contributors, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and volunteers work together to direct the Conferences, planning interactive sessions on topics crucial to the success and well-being of the girls. The girls learn techniques for success in school, educational and professional possibilities, and personal health (including preventing HIV transmission and family planning), among other topics. At the same time, they develop skills such as critical reasoning and public speaking so that, by the end of the Conferences, they will be able to confidently present the information they've learned.
A group of professional Guinean women will lead the girls through a typical day at their places of work and converse with them in a panel discussion on personal and career success. For many participants, this is their first such encounter with accomplished professional women. The schedule always includes a day spent on women's health issues with presentations about HIV/AIDS, family planning and nutrition. Recent conferences also included: basic computer skills, educational films (including women's rights, HIV/AIDS, and genital mutilation), invited speakers on women's role in Islam, guided discussions about polygamy and the effects on women, workshops on communication skills and public speaking and participation in sports and extracurricular activities encouraging teamwork, leadership, and critical thinking skills.
This year's conference is particularly important because it is occurring at a critical time in Peace Corps Guinea. After nine years of consecutive conferences, the strikes and civil unrest in January 2007 and suspension of the Peace Corps program prevented the conferences from taking place last year. With the successful completion of this year's conference, we will be protecting our institutional memory and the tradition of Girls' Conferences for future generations of Volunteers and the communities they serve across Guinea.
How Can You Help?
We are now raising money for the conferences taking place in Mamou and Kankan from June 22-26, 2008. Per Peace Corps regulations, the communities of the participating girls will be contributing 25% of the Conferences' costs. We hope to raise the remaining cost via donations through the Peace Corps Partnership Program (PCPP).
The total cost of the conferences will be $7,690. Towns and villages throughout Guinea, the female participants and their families, and local NGOs and government officials will be providing $1,940.
Therefore, our fundraising goal for the 2008 Girls Conferences is $5,748.
If you are able to help educate these girls and their communities to give these girls the tools and knowledge to build a better future for themselves, please contribute now. Our deadline is May 20th, so contribute soon!
To donate, just click on the link below or copy and paste the URL into your web browser.
CLICK HERE TO DONATE – EVERY CONTRIBUTION COUNTS
Thank you in advance,
Peace Corps Guinea Girls' Conference 2008
Project Donation Page URL :
https://www.peacecorps.gov
The project number is 675-132 and Volunteer Coordinator is C. Forero
posted by Jen @ 12:44 AM
5 comments
5 Comments:
Hello Jen,
My son is heading to Conakry for a year. Do you know of a place (blog, etc.) to find housing (safe neighborhood in downtown Conakry), room mates and ask questions regarding cell phone (type of cell phone that takes the pay as you go service), internet service, best flights (cost) in and out. I've enjoyed sharing your experiences via your blog.Thank you, Pamela
ps
Very good comment. My Favorit Blog Autoversicherung http://www.6i6.de
Hi Pamela,
I'm fairly certain there are no blogs here in Guinea that have roommate finding services - only maybe 1% of Guineans know how to use the internet. For flights, it depends on where you are coming from, but you can only fly in using Air France, Brussels Airlines or Royal Air Maroc from outside Africa. Internet is widely available in Conakry. He should just buy a phone here, they are about $50 and you can only get pay as you go plans for cell phones - pay in advance plans don't exist! If he already has a phone someone here can unlock it so he can use a Guinean SIM card.
I hope that's helpful. Once he gets here he'll probably be able to get together with some expats who might be able to help him find housing. Since I live up country I really don't know anything about the housing situation here in Conakry!
Jen
Hello Jen,
Thank you for your help. A few more guestions...
Which is the best bank to open an account in Guinea?
I know some allow transfers and others charge a high fee for a money transfered from the states.
What is the preferred malaria prevention medication that most find has the fewest side effects?
Is there a hotel you can recommend, that is reasonable in Conakry, for a few weeks stay until he finds housing?
I appreciate your help. Thank you, Pamela
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