Jen In Guinea

Au Revoir...

2008-11-03T19:37:00.000-08:00

I think it's time to retire the blog. Especially since I'm fairly certain I'm the only one who will ever read this entry!

The Epilogue:

Morocco was amazing and not freezing like the last time. Diane and mom had a great time and Camilo and I loved showing them around.

Cam and I moved to DC and are living in the Ballston area of Arlington. We have a nice apartment, a car and all the cheese a girl could ask for available round the clock.

I got a job working for the Grameen Foundation (grameenfoundation.org) and start on Wednesday. It will be very exciting and is the best possible scenario that I could have imagined for my return to employment!

Life is good, but fairly predictable. So I don't think anyone will be interested in what I'm up to anymore...but if you are a person considering joining the Peace Corps, I absolutely recommend it. An Obama canvasser stopped Cam and I the other day (he wanted money, we have none, but did both vote already...) and he said he was in the process of applying to PC. Guinea is amazing but I'm sure the experience can be found in many countries and I wouldn't hesitate to make the same decision to join!

Thanks for reading...

Jen

Bacc results are in!

2008-09-08T06:32:00.000-07:00

About a week ago the results for the high school exit/university entrance exam was announced...here is the good news:

Terminale Sciences Sociales: Half my kids, 12, passed!! That's a great result. And it made me really happy because English counts as much as French on the test for them - high schoolers choose a track and these are the "Social Science" kids.

Terminale Sciences Experimentales: 2 kids passed out of 28...not a great result, but it's wonderful for Luke because I love these kids and he'll enjoy having them in class. I'm sad, but there wasn't anything I could have done - their math teacher left for over 6 weeks and the other teachers weren't around that much either, so I just don't think they covered all the necessary material. Unfortunately English doesn't count for as much of their total score on the test.

Last year only 3 kids passed in all of Timbi Madina, so my principal was extremely pleased with this year's result. Plus some of my favorites passed, including Boubacar, my most creative student and Mohamed, who just moved to the Fouta 2 years ago and doesn't speak Pulaar! He was the chef de classe and had a really hard time with English even though he tried so hard. Plus one of my girls passed - she was recently married, but I hope she'll take the opportunity to go to university next year. We'll see.

The other exciting bit is that Fatim, my Forecariah host sister, passed! This was a big accomplishment because she had a baby a year ago. I know I wrote about her before, but she's unmarried and has this baby and I was surprised that her family let her continue going to school - that's incredibly rare here. I almost cried when her mom told me that they are going to do everything they can to help her go to university. Even though that means she'll leave her son in Forecariah it will be worth it...here it's not uncommon for grandparents or aunts to take over the parental role.

Tomorrow Camilo and I are heading to Boke for 3 or 4 days to say good-bye. It will be sad, but we have one week left and we are excited to see my mom and aunt in Morocco, so that will ease the sadness a bit!!

Palin - Wrong Woman, Wrong Message by Gloria Steinem

2008-09-08T06:26:00.000-07:00

By Gloria Steinem September 4, 2008

Here's the good news: Women have become so politically powerful that even the anti-feminist right wing -- the folks with a headlock on the Republican Party -- are trying to appease the gender gap with a first-ever female vice president. We owe this to women -- and to many men too -- who have picketed, gone on hunger strikes or confronted violence at the polls so women can vote. We owe it to Shirley Chisholm, who first took the "white-male-only" sign off the White House, and to Hillary Rodham Clinton, who hung in there through ridicule and misogyny to win 18 million votes.

But here is even better news: It won't work. This isn't the first time a boss has picked an unqualified woman just because she agrees with him and opposes everything most other women want and need. Feminism has never been about getting a job for one woman. It's about making life more fair for women everywhere. It's not about a piece of the existing pie; there are too many of us for that. It's about baking a new pie.

Selecting Sarah Palin, who was touted all summer by Rush Limbaugh, is no way to attract most women, including die-hard Clinton supporters. Palin shares nothing but a chromosome with Clinton. Her down-home, divisive and deceptive speech did nothing to cosmeticize a Republican convention that has more than twice as many male delegates as female, a presidential candidate who is owned and operated by the right wing and a platform that opposes pretty much everything Clinton's candidacy stood for -- and that Barack Obama's still does. To vote in protest for McCain/Palin would be like saying, "Somebody stole my shoes, so I'll amputate my legs."

This is not to beat up on Palin. I defend her right to be wrong, even on issues that matter most to me. I regret that people say she can't do the job because she has children in need of care, especially if they wouldn't say the same about a father. I get no pleasure from imagining her in the spotlight on national and foreign policy issues about which she has zero background, with one month to learn to compete with Sen. Joe Biden's 37 years' experience.

Palin has been honest about what she doesn't know. When asked last month about the vice presidency, she said, "I still can't answer that question until someone answers for me: What is it exactly that the VP does every day?" When asked about Iraq, she said, "I haven't really focused much on the war in Iraq."

She was elected governor largely because the incumbent was unpopular, and she's won over Alaskans mostly by using unprecedented oil wealth to give a $1,200 rebate to every resident. Now she is being praised by McCain's campaign as a tax cutter, despite the fact that Alaska has no state income or sales tax. Perhaps McCain has opposed affirmative action for so long that he doesn't know it's about inviting more people to meet standards, not lowering them. Or perhaps McCain is following the Bush administration habit, as in the Justice Department, of putting a job candidate's views on "God, guns and gays" ahead of competence. The difference is that McCain is filling a job one 72-year-old heartbeat away from the presidency.

So let's be clear: The culprit is John McCain. He may have chosen Palin out of change-envy, or a belief that women can't tell the difference between form and content, but the main motive was to please right-wing ideologues; the same ones who nixed anyone who is now or ever has been a supporter of reproductive freedom. If that were not the case, McCain could have chosen a woman who knows what a vice president does and who has thought about Iraq; someone like Texas Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison or Sen. Olympia Snowe of Maine. McCain could have taken a baby step away from right-wing patriarchs who determine his actions, right down to opposing the Violence Against Women Act.

Palin's value to those patriarchs is clear: She opposes just about every issue that women support by a majority or plurality. She believes that creationism should be taught in public schools but disbelieves global warming; she opposes gun control but supports government control of women's wombs; she opposes stem cell research but approves "abstinence-only" programs, which increase unwanted births, sexually transmitted diseases and abortions; she tried to use taxpayers' millions for a state program to shoot wolves from the air but didn't spend enough money to fix a state school system with the lowest high-school graduation rate in the nation; she runs with a candidate who opposes the Fair Pay Act but supports $500 million in subsidies for a natural gas pipeline across Alaska; she supports drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Reserve, though even McCain has opted for the lesser evil of offshore drilling. She is Phyllis Schlafly, only younger.

I don't doubt her sincerity. As a lifetime member of the National Rifle Assn., she doesn't just support killing animals from helicopters, she does it herself. She doesn't just talk about increasing the use of fossil fuels but puts a coal-burning power plant in her own small town. She doesn't just echo McCain's pledge to criminalize abortion by overturning Roe vs. Wade, she says that if one of her daughters were impregnated by rape or incest, she should bear the child. She not only opposes reproductive freedom as a human right but implies that it dictates abortion, without saying that it also protects the right to have a child.

So far, the major new McCain supporter that Palin has attracted is James Dobson of Focus on the Family. Of course, for Dobson, "women are merely waiting for their husbands to assume leadership," so he may be voting for Palin's husband.

Being a hope-a-holic, however, I can see two long-term bipartisan gains from this contest.

Republicans may learn they can't appeal to right-wing patriarchs and most women at the same time. A loss in November could cause the centrist majority of Republicans to take back their party, which was the first to support the Equal Rights Amendment and should be the last to want to invite government into the wombs of women.

And American women, who suffer more because of having two full-time jobs than from any other single injustice, finally have support on a national stage from male leaders who know that women can't be equal outside the home until men are equal in it. Barack Obama and Joe Biden are campaigning on their belief that men should be, can be and want to be at home for their children.This could be huge.

Gloria Steinem is an author, feminist organizer and co-founder of the Women's Media Center. She supported Hillary Clinton and is now supporting Barack Obama.

Peace Corps Problems

2008-08-31T04:06:00.001-07:00

As the dollar falls against most other currencies and the Peace Corps budget remains the same, PC worldwide is officially in crisis mode. Country budgets are stretched as far as they can go and more money is absolutely necessary if they aren't going to decrease the number of volunteers.

Our new Country Director is an amazing guy and has tons of management experience, but the Guinean staff here is dropping like flies, particularly the senior-level people. It's a perfect storm - PC doesn't have enough money to offer competitive salaries and the mining companies are all flush with cash.

In a country with literally no safety net (one of the great things about the West) I can't blame the staff members for moving to the mining companies where they will make a lot more money and will be able to feed their families as well as save enough to retire. But it is still disheartening - the mining companies have paid off the government officials and virtually none of the money they pay to the government makes it to the people - the World Bank still has to bail the government out and replenish the coffers with loans. If the companies did nothing other than pay taxes that could be used for infrastructure I would be all for them. But they are just as corrupt as the officials here - their payments go to personal bank accounts, not taxes. It's a strange dichotomy - since there is little in the way of jobs or infrastructure, Peace Corps/NGOs and the mining companies are essentially the only options for the educated elite. Obviously those two groups don't have much in common!

My guess is that in other countries where diverse public and private sector jobs are available (Romania, Mexico, Morocco), the Host Country Nationals (HCNs) who work for the Peace Corps are there because they believe in the ideals of the organization, even if they could be making more money somewhere else. I know that our staff members who are leaving love the Peace Corps, but they cannot resist the pull to the mines and the chance to finally make some real money - plus, it's a job that will always be there, where with the PC there's always a chance of evacuation and program closing...the mines have invested enough money here that they will never shut down, even if there is civil unrest.

I'm disappointed that such a talented group of staff members is leaving and hope that Peace Corps Washington gets the money they need to retain the staff that's left here. If the office doesn't replace most of the talent it will be extremely hard for the volunteers to successfully do their jobs and to keep morale high.

Sacrifice (advance apologies for the virtual soapboxing)

2008-08-31T01:41:00.000-07:00

Camilo made me watch all the keynote speakers from the DNC, even though political speeches always make me wince. While I am excited at the prospect of living in DC with Obama/Biden in the White House, I have been thoroughly disappointed by the political rhetoric used by both parties this past year. From Clinton and McCain's support of the stupid gas-tax holiday to all the anti-trade talk about manufacturers having to ship their jobs and materials off to China, I'm just getting a little fed up.

Last night I heard Obama reference the fact that virtually all Americans think the economy and government are on the wrong track. While this may be true, it's not going to be impossible to fix - it's just going to take some sacrifice. What ever happened to "Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country?" Yes, I am in the Peace Corps and just quoted JFK. You can feel free to defriend me on facebook...

A falling dollar and expensive gas is a big deal, but anyone in America is still part of the luckiest group of people on Earth. To put $4 gas into perspective, just remember that there are over 6 BILLION people worse off than the average American. Here in Guinea the per capita income is $500 and gas costs over $6 a gallon.

We've been at war now for 5 years and our government has never asked any of us, except our military, to sacrifice anything. Nothing. We increased our dependency on foreign oil and kept buying bigger cars and now we complain about the cost of running those cars. We complain that our jobs are being moved to China and India, but that's the cost of doing business in a global economy. As we move almost entirely to a service-based economy we need to make sure that all Americans have a specific skill set so the jobs that get moved are replaced by better-paying, higher tech jobs.

In Thomas Friedman's book The World is Flat he writes that due to globalization there are currently 300 million educated and qualified Indian and Chinese people who are ready to take our jobs. The geographical benefits that we once enjoyed in the US don't matter nearly as much as they did even a decade or two ago. What should we do? Close our economy so they can't compete with us? Even an amateur economist will tell you that everyone loses in the long run under protectionist We can still be competitive, though. We just have to make sacrifices - paying our teachers more, studying harder and being smarter about the subjects we study.

Even in Guinea, which has a very low level of education, I see that jobs once entirely left to Americans or Westerners, like low-level NGO or Embassy positions, are now almost entirely filled by Guineans. While this doesn't help me as I set foot in the working world again, I know that in order to be competitive I need to get back to the States and get a graduate degree so that I have something to offer prospective employers.

I haven't really had a car since college, so I can't completely grasp the impact gas prices have on the average American (besides my parents, who should unload a vehicle or two anyway!) But I do know that we created this mess and dependency. Here's the speech I'd like to hear about gas prices..."I'm sorry that your government failed you when we chose to ignore the dangers inherent in dependency on foreign oil. The next few years are going to be tough as we make the transition from oil to clean fuels. It will not be easy, but in the long run it will improve our nation's economic health and security." I'd like to see the gas prices continue until we have fully invested in new technology - otherwise we are going to forget about it and go back to our old habits until the next crisis hits.

We have many things to pay for during my lifetime - the messes in Afghanistan and Iraq, Social Security, universal health insurance (I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it finally happens), investments in new, clean technology, educations that will keep us competitive in a global marketplace. But that money has to come from somewhere and I wish politicians would just be up front about the costs and what we need to do as a country to make it happen.

So we have our work cut out for us. But we are still the most creative nation of people in the world and will have no long-term problems adjusting to global competition. Trust me - after teaching in Guinea, I know what the French left behind in the schools - nice penmanship, zero creativity. Americans are committed to solving the nation's and world's problems and know that it's going to take time, money, energy - and leadership. I sincerely hope the next president doesn't let us down the way GWB did.

Long time, no post

2008-08-30T15:09:00.000-07:00

I can't believe it's been so long since I posted, I apologize to those of you (are you out there?) who still faithfully read the blog!

After Girls Conference Camilo and I headed to Forecariah to help with training. One of the great things about training is that it's tediousness prepares you for life in Guinea. One of the terrible things about training is how tedious it is! Luckily I don't have to attend all the sessions so I have been averaging a nap a day. And it's been raining enough that my sweating has been minimal. The new group is awesome - we are all so impressed with them. They have great attitudes, are handling everything well and are exceptionally cool people. While I'm sad that I'm not going to be here to enjoy them, Guinea is in great hands.

Our site visit was from Aug. 14-21st and I took Luke (my replacement) up to Timbi. Lucky guy. We had dinner with the missionaries one night, with our new Swiss/Spanish/Guinean couple friends (did I write about them? If not I will, they are hilarious and awesome) another and a PCV stayed with us the first night. I also introduced him to all my people in Timbi - the telecenter guy, the market ladies, my neighbors and guard and some of the people at the school. We met up with the principal in Labe and he looked almost teary saying good-bye to me! I didn't feel too emotional, actually, even though it was my last trip to Timbi. While it was sad to say good-bye, I'm ready to go and have spent so much time away from there this summer that it already seemed like I'd moved out.

Since returning from site visit we've all been busy with Practice School. For me that means that I watch trainees teach for 4 hours a day. In Simple English. Doing lessons I've already taught at least twice. I've been reading quite a few books...and I have so much more respect for my students - the terrible wooden desks are killing my butt and back! No wonder they'd make excuses to leave the classroom, I'm doing the same thing to give my (increasingly old!) body a rest!

Last night we had sangria and banana pancakes at the Volunteer house (as opposed to the houses where the trainees live with families, the official PCVs have graduated to having our own place). It was delicious, but after reading my Morocco Lonely Planet it just didn't hit the spot...I am having scarily erotic fantasies about tagine. Soon, soon.

Tomorrow Cam and I head back to Forecariah until Thursday. I'll post again when we are back at the end of the week!

PS - We are currently streaming Obama's acceptance speech. I can't wait to vote. But I wish he'd calm down his anti-free trade rhetoric and hope that's just pre-election pandering. Free trade is good for all countries.

Girls Conference 2008

2008-08-10T13:09:00.001-07:00

Above is our group photo - my girl, Aissatou, is standing next to me and is wearing blue. She was such a good participant. She's really bright and was one of the older girls so she helped some of the younger ones out with their French. I found out that she was in the Ivory Coast until 3 years ago, which explains why her written French is so strong. We talked about the possibility of her organizing a smaller scale Girls Conference in Timbi Madina next year with my replacement.

As promised, here's the scoop on Girls Conference...

Day 1: The girls and the PCVs arrived in Mamou and we began our three day diet of rice, sauce and bread.

Day 2: Cam and I led the official and unofficial openings - we played icebreakers and the local officials came to welcome the girls. Guinea loves hierarchies and pageantry! Then Cam and I did a session on public speaking and videotaped the girls giving short speeches about themselves. This was followed by sessions on Excision (by a local NGO, Tostan), Women's Roles, Environmental Protection and Business Techniques.

Day 3: Health day - sessions on HIV/AIDS, Nutrition, Family Planning and Anatomy, Depigmentation (skin bleaching?! is that what it's called?), How to Organize a Workshop and Study Skills. Which one doesn't belong? Study skills. But the Tostan people showed up on Day 1 after being misinformed (not by Cam or me!!), so we moved the schedule around a bit so they didn't have to stay the whole time. This was probably the most necessary day as it provided the girls with a lot of new information about their health and we were able to dispel some myths about pregnancy, AIDS, etc.

Day 4: Started with a women's panel, including my friend Madame Diallo (she's never been to school but is a successful merchant who has sent all her daughters to be educated), a woman named Fatoumata Bah from the Mamou Artisan's Federation, and Aminata Barry, a high school chemistry teacher. The panel was rounded out by Odette Leno, an Admin Assistant at the PC office here in Conakry - she was a fantastic addition to the conference and all the girls really looked up to her. We then took them to the Health Center, which is run almost entirely by women. The women took them on a tour and told them about how they became health workers. After lunch we had a Women's Rights session and then presentations. The girls split into 4 groups and we had 2 skits, one poem and a story all relating to the themes we studied during the conference. For dinner we had a banquet (a special rice dish with MEAT!! Big deal.) and then we all went to the nightclub.

The nightclub was hilarious. The girls were dressed straight out of rap videos. Just so skanky!! Cam told me he felt like he'd stumbled into an underage porn site. The guys were all so uncomfortable!! Hell, even I was a little uncomfortable! But the girls had fun and were all really excited about the club, so we just sucked it up...

The next morning everyone headed back to their sites. Some of the girls were crying and they all made sure to tell us how much fun they had. We couldn't have asked for a better conference and thank you all so much for your support! (That being said, we kept a list of ideas for how to involve more Guineans in the presentations next year and little things we could change...but for a first time post-evac conference it was fantastic!)

Above is the presentation of the poem the girls presented on HIV/AIDS.

On the left is the woman from the Artisan's Federation, in pink is the high school teacher and to the right is our own Odette.

Mary is helping the girls plan a workshop to present when they return to their villages.

Raven is helping the girls properly put the condom on the wooden penis. Well done, Raven! Not sure what's going on with the girl on the left's hair...most girls got it braided especially for the conference!!

Me, me!!! Pick me!!!!

We got a student at the Forestry School (ENATEF, where we stayed) to take us on a walk around the grounds and explain some of the projects they are doing. These seedlings are for sale and help keep the school going (although I frankly think that PC workshops are the real breadwinners for the school...they rip us off for the food, which is why we had to find someone in town to do it in order to make the budget work!)

So all in all it was a great success. I look forward to hearing how next year's conference goes and am sure it will be even bigger and better than this one!!!

Moved out, Conference over

2008-08-08T03:44:00.000-07:00

I moved out of my house on July 30th and it was only a little weird. I have 3 more days left in Timbi (when I bring my replacement, Luke, who's awesome) and I've been really putting off saying my good-byes. Is it wrong that I want to slink out of town? It's just too hard to tell people that I'm going for good...but I did figure out what to say when people plea one last time for a visa to America. I tell them that I can't arrange that, but if they get visas on their own I will happily show them the same hospitality in the US that they've shown me here. That seems to go over well. The good news for Luke is that he gets to keep my house after all, the family that was planning on coming back is going to put it off for a year because they can't afford the tickets (wife plus 4 kids) from Portugal to Guinea. Lucky guy.

On the 31st Cam and I went to ENATEF, the forestry school in Mamou. We did last minute organizing before everyone arrived on the 3rd and we were so glad to have that time, because the conference went extremely well and with no real hitches! We were sure there would be some crisis or something - this is Guinea, after all. But it was a huge success!! We'll post photos in the next 2 days. I sincerely thank all of you who donated to the cause and assure you that your money was well spent.

Now I'm in Conakry and going to Forecariah on Monday to help with training. I'll post a longer entry about the Conference later, but it's 11am and I need some breakfast!!

Now we are REALLY leaving Conakry...

2008-07-17T14:54:00.000-07:00

The previous plan was interrupted by Cam's high fever and serious stomach issues. Then he got better (it was viral, not malaria, he's fine now and has good drugs...) and then I woke up with a stomach situation. Then we found out that 2 of our friends are being medically separated and sent back to the US so we stuck around to provide support and spend some time with them before they leave. But tomorrow we are actually leaving.

In case you are wondering about illnesses and PC, there are a few options here if something can't be treated with what's available in-country (which is virtually nothing). The first is a medevac to Dakar (for things like root canals, specific women's issues, TB). Next is a medevac to Washington, where you can only stay 45 days to be treated before being automatically medically separated. The third is an immediate medical separation, which means that the PC has determined that your condition cannot be treated in 45 days. That one really sucks because it involves being completely removed from PC and having to file a FECA (Federal Employee Compensation Act) claim for treatment. At any rate, our friends will be fine and we are all going to miss them very much here in Guinea.

Girls Conference is officially organized. It seems like the longer we stay here the more we find to do...but we really are organized. In addition to the Conference organizing (which includes food, logistics and providing support for sessions) we are doing the Public Service and Plan of Action sessions ourselves. And we are still trying to think of a creative ice breaker to do with the girls during the opening session...sometimes things that work in the States seriously fall flat here and that would be a bad start to the Conference!

Not sure when I'll be on the internet again, it might be after Girls Conference. I'll be sure to post pictures so you can see how our big summer project turned out!

Busy, busy

2008-07-14T05:49:00.000-07:00

The last couple days have been out of control busy! We dropped Cam's dad off at the airport at 2am and returned at 9 to pick up the new group on the 10th. Then we've been helping them get settled and with the first bit of training information. They are a fantastic group and I have a feeling they are all going to have successful services here in Guinea. Today they left for their adoption ceremony in Forecariah, so I won't see them again until Aug. 7th when I join them there. Hopefully the adjustment period goes well...

Cam and I are just relaxing and catching up on email today because tomorrow we are heading to Mamou to finish up some last minute Girls Conference stuff before heading to Timbi.

In exciting news (not as exciting as the Brangelina twins, but still...) we have our tickets to America! We leave here on Sept. 16th and will be in Morocco until the 28th, arriving at JFK around 2pm. I might take that night to visit friends in the city before heading to Wisconsin. Seems like I should go ahead and buy my ticket now, gas is going up by the minute!!

I'll try and post 4th of July photos next time I'm here, we had a fun time with a pig and tons of food and beer. To see pictures of Cam's dad's visit, go to the flickr account, flickr.com/photos/camilo11. He had a great time and we were thrilled that he came to visit!

Manuel's Visit and Cheryl's Journal

2008-06-30T14:05:00.000-07:00

He arrives in 6 hours, at 3am. Needless to say we are really excited. I can't believe it's already July!

Anyway, here's Cheryl's account of her time here. I was going to shorten it but couldn't decide what to take out so I'll leave it to you, my (dwindling) faithful readers, to skim or read...

Cheryl’s Travel Journal…Guinea

The first four days of my Guinean adventure challenged me, shocked me, as well as force me to decide what my priorities would be for the rest of the trip.
The first unusual encounter began upon my arrival at the airport. After gathering my luggage, Camilo engaged in a bartering session with about twenty taxi drivers. I was quite impressed with Camilo’s bartering as he never backed down. It must be genetic as it so reminded me of Abuelita. Voices became intense as the process went on and the price ended up being extremely high. After this experience, I knew Camilo would be handling all the money. Finally, we made our way through the busy streets of Conakry to the Peace Corp house…
Most of my days began with Dolca, Kashi, protein powder and the 32 containers of milk that I carried across nearly two continents. Once I arrived, I found they have milk in Guinea. The first days were spent doing introductions and getting to know the area. My first trip to town was to the bank and for a delicious lunch at LaDamier, one of the nicest restaurants in Conakry. We hitched a ride with two Peace Corp employees that were going into town. Our means of transportation was a beautiful white Toyota Land Cruiser. Surrounding the Peace Corp compound were several of these fancy SUVs. My initial reaction was; Wow! This is going to be wonderful transportation! Soon, reality would set in! Another restaurant we went to was a Lebanese restaurant called, LeTrio. Many things on the menu they didn’t have but I found enough to wet my appetite. When it was time to leave and pay the bill, Camilo realized he didn’t have any money. We needed money to pay the bill and take a taxi across town to home. Camilo and Jen thought for sure they would not take US dollars and especially not twenties. Much to our surprise the waiter said, “Okay”. Also included in these first days was my first trip to the market.
The market is probably one of the dirtiest places I have ever been. It is filled with wall to wall people. Everybody is dripping wet with perspiration as well some with body odor. I, too, was sticky and sweaty. Animals such as chickens and goats run freely and some are for sale. Some vendors were selling vegetables, homemade goods and warm milk with flies swarming all over it. The small isles between vendors were narrow, muddy and slippery. Camilo’s appetite for the local non-refrigerated cooking turned my stomach. I would soon learn Camilo eats everything and anything! The heat was unbearable as it beat down on my back. I forgot to apply sunscreen and thought for sure I would be burnt to a crisp. Our visit included purchasing seven pagnes of fabric for a bit more than twenty five dollars. It was enough to make six sleeveless blouses and two skirts. The fabric lady forgot to give Camilo the change and she chased us down to give it to us. I couldn’t believe her honesty! The evening before we left for Boke we went to the Beach Bar, a local hang out for PCV which is located behind the PC. It was interesting to watch the local Guineans work out in their homemade beach gym. Some were very fit!
Our trip to Boke was in a taxi that seemed like it was fifty years old. We traveled on one of three paved roads in Guinea. Throughout our journey goats, cows, chickens and people would be walking along the road. Goats and cows would randomly stand in the middle of the road. The AC was the window rolled down all the way. At times the road was bumpy and it took us about four hours.
Upon our arrival into Boke we were met by Thierno, one of Camilo’s students. Thierno assisted our time in Boke. We stopped by Camilo’s house to greet his neighbors. His house is small with cement floors and dark. The kitchen had the most light when the door was open. It was like a playhouse; very small rooms, no electricity for the most part and extremely hot! I can understand why he has critters such as roaches and rats residing in his home. I can’t imagine being there for more than a visit let alone living there for more than two years. I can understand Camilo’s desire to check into a hotel with AC.
Our hotel most definitely had AC and electricity, but had a bathroom that was humid and stunk like a urinal. My thoughts were filled with massive amounts of bacteria and critters running around my room. I burned incense and frankincense to clear the place out. We locked up the rooms went into town to one Boke’s few restaurants.
Camilo and Jen ordered Chicken while I had French fries and bread. Being a vegetarian met its challenges; yet, I ate healthy and stayed healthy. Lighting was provided by a generator and at times it wasn’t working. As we waited, I was observing a fourteen or fifteen old prostitute dance around as she went into a room with an older man. As she finished spinning her tricks he left in a fancy SUV before we finished our dinner. Could I be certain that the young girl was a prostitute? Of course not, but more than likely she was. We returned to the hotel for a good night sleep, so I thought! It was difficult falling asleep with a strong smell of stench. Sounds of doors shutting brought flashes of the young prostitute entering the room with the old man. I’m sure many tricks were turned in this hotel as many of the residents were men and there is a night club adjacent to the hotel. I increased the AC to smother out the stench and I froze. A few hours into the night I thought for sure I was in the middle of a hurricane with the rain and wind slammed the walls. There was a half an inch space under the door where I imagined water seeping in and flooding my room. Needless to say, I didn’t sleep all night.
The next morning as I waited for Cami and Jen to awake I was dying for a cup of Dolca. I couldn’t wait to get out of the smelly room. We found taxis were difficult to hail as we were quite a ways out of town. Cami paid a motorcycle to go in and send a taxi back. This is the first time I have gone this long without a cup of Dolca since my hysterectomy. We met Thierno at the market and went to a tailor to have my blouses made. Cami introduced me to all his favorite vendors. We purchased items to prepare dinner and headed to the Peace Corp house in Boke. I liked this PC house as it was clean compared to Conakry, but there was no AC, limited electricity and no running water. It was quaint and I felt comfortable. Jen and I decided we should stay at the PC house instead of the hotel because I didn’t like the hotel and the taxi situation was difficult. Cami was unhappy because he so wanted AC. Thierno, Cami and I went back to the hotel and packed our things quickly and moved to the house for the next four days. Jen prepared lentils and we spent the rest of the evening with electricity integrated with solar.
The next day we went to Thierno’s house for lunch. I was so touched that his mother prepared a vegetarian sauce for me. Thierno’s area had several houses made of grass huts. There were lots of children running around, women working very hard while the men prepared and drank tea, and performed their prayer rituals. Their bathrooms consisted of outdoor areas inside fences made of grass. Luckily, my bladder really held out nicely on this trip. I always carried plenty of Purell and toilet paper. The Purell I used often but rarely had a need for toilet paper. The rice and sauce was delicious! Needless to say, I asked for the recipe. We had a wonderful afternoon and everyone was so gracious. Thierno’s mother cried when we left. Jen and I returned to the PC house and Camilo stayed with the men for tea.
The view across from the PC house was majestic! Down below was a winding river and far across in the distance was towering Mosque. Outside the PC house were a hundred goats running around and inside the gates we had a goat and the baby. By the time I left, I had the mama trained to come for Kashi. We spent a quiet evening with intermittent electricity.
Djoubairou has a good size family with many children. For lunch they killed a chicken for us. Jen and Cami enjoyed the chicken while I ate the sauce and rice. Again, it was delicious! Later, we prepared Fettuccini Alfredo for Cami’s students. I finally immersed myself into the culture when I no longer focused on the dirt and insects. I had so much fun with the kids. At least thirty kids came running from the neighborhoods and played Frisbee. They took me by the hand and led their white goddess to a shaded area to prevent sunburn. They were cute as they chanted “I love you!” They led me back to the house and my feet were filthy. Djoubairou’s mother brought out a pan of water and Djoubairou’s younger brother, Boubacar, gently washed my feet carefully washing between each toe. He patted them dry with a cloth and put my sandals back on. I was touched with how he attended to me. When we arrived the mother had the children change into clean white shirts. All the children were beautiful and very gentle especially Djoubairou’s family. . Djoubairou is a good student and a good son who takes very good care of his family. His mother is such a good woman; gentle yet strong and very attentive to her husband and children. They gave Jen and me a gift of fabric. We spent six hours there and I had tears when I left. The mother wiped my tears with the palm of her hand and placed her hand on my heart. We could not share words as I couldn’t speak French, yet, there was this profound connection. There was immense learning for me in these two days. When I changed my perception and let go of limitations I felt there were no boundaries. We as people erect the boundaries with our distortions. I felt such respect and admiration for Camilo because he had no boundaries as he made himself one their family. There is so much learning to take from this trip but this is probably the greatest learning for me. Beyond color and culture there is so much to share and verbal language was irrelevant. Camilo put his heart and soul into these students, not just in school, but also outside of school. He became a part of their life; an important influence in their lives. As I was introduced to the many people I witnessed how much Camilo touched their lives. We visited the vice principle of the school and he talked about the good qualities that make Camilo the good person he is. This community will miss and remember Camilo. The hot nights in Boke didn’t matter because the experience was so rich. Tomorrow we will leave a place that I will probably never visit again and yet, I feel such a part of.

On our journey back to Conakry we happen to pick up another volunteer, Liz. We will spend one night in Conakry to prepare for our trip to Timbe Medina, the location of Jen’s sight. We went for pizza at the Beach Bar with some of the other PCV. Not bad pizza! We have been lucky to find good, safe drivers. The way to Timbe Medina is curvy reminding me of Colombia. The landscape is absolutely beautiful and the more north you get the temperature drops. As we were traveling I saw a family of big, slender, reddish monkeys, which I think were the red colobus monkeys. They say this species is near extinction. The body and head was the same shape as well as the color and the long tail.

We stopped along the way for treats; French bread, oranges and bananas. I found myself really liking Coke on this trip. We arrived in Timbe in the evening after nine hours and it was raining. The road to Jen’s was long and bumpy so it seemed as if it took forever. We had stopped along the way to pick up stuff for dinner. Jen and Cami made pita bread sandwiches filled with hummus and veggies. They were delicious. I ate very well at Jen’s house and she is quite the cook! Jen’s house was the five star resort of Guinea. It was spacious and somewhat new and clean. I had a wonderful king size bed with a bathroom right off the bedroom. Can you believe it had a bathtub! Too bad there was no plumbing! We had electricity most of the time, but no running water. We heated up the water for our cup baths and it felt so good. Most days we went into town which is a thirty minute walk. It was hot during the day but for the most part cool at night and I didn’t sleep under a mosquito net. Jen knows all her neighbors. Marley, the woman across the street, reminded me so much of Rafiki from the Lion King. Everything from her laugh, her physical appearance to the dialogue of her Guinean language reminded me of Rafiki. Jen also had missionaries for neighbors. I was amazed at how long they had lived here. The streets were covered by cows and goats grazing. Some of the children were afraid of our white skin and others spoke out to get our attention. They called us, “portos” or whites.

Jen also hosted a Fettuccini Alfredo party for her students. I was amazed at how many female students showed up and they were dressed beautifully. There was a good turn out of about thirty students. Before they left they cleaned the yard and the house which was a big help to us because the next day we had to wake up early to go to the waterfalls.

The road to the waterfalls was long and bumpy. It was market day so all the people were walking for miles to bring their goods to sell at the market. It is incredible to watch women carry goods on the head. They never seem to spill! When we arrived at the waterfalls we had to walk for a bit through the woods. I was scared to death to walk across the rocks as they were so slippery. Jen and Cami succeeded but Cami made me nervous as he was a bit unstable. Jen is quite adventurous and makes everything look so easy. I stayed behind and sat on a rock and listened to waterfall in front of me. The vegetation was beautiful; just like you would see in a movie or in National Geographic. As I sat there, I often would check behind me to be certain there wasn’t a lion or a baboon watching me. Jen said there were baboons in the area. Cami and Jen returned and we moved down the rocks to catch another view of the falls. Jen was very attentive and at one point both Jen and Cami had both my hands while my feet flew from beneath me. They had such a strong hold nothing happened and I regained my balance.

We sat on the rocks and had a little lunch; I had French bread with peanut butter and Cami and Jen had tuna with French bread. By one o’clock we were headed back. We stopped by the market to pick up my fabric, grab a few things for dinner and headed home. Tomorrow we would head to Duki so we thought.

We woke up to rain, cold and little hope of sunshine. Upon our arrival in Pita we decided to head back to Conakry. It seemed to be a quick journey back. We were planning visiting the islands off Conakry on Tuesday. Two hours out from Conakry we stopped to use the bathroom. Yes, it was my first time. Jen was outside the door, “yes…you can do it!” Also two hours out Jen spoke with the head of security with the Peace Corp. He asked our location and instructed the driver to take a different route as that morning there was gun fire because the police and custom officers were unhappy with their working conditions and took their bosses as hostages. Of course, we safely arrived home and because of the disrupt, we will not be going to the islands. During the night I woke up to a noise. I thought possibly Jen and Cami were moving furniture upstairs. After I opened the door and noticed the lights were off I knew everyone was sleeping. I went back to bed thinking the noise was just fire works. Guinea is too poor to have fire works and I soon realized it was gun fire. I slept through the night and woke up to wonderful cups of Dolca and spent the entire day preparing my travel journal for Cami’s blog. The chaos in Guinea is just another day in Guinea and tomorrow will be different. Speaking of tomorrow, I fly back to the states.

To sum up my Guinean adventure I would have to say it was deep personal learning for me. National Geographic is there to read and documentaries are available to watch, but it isn’t the same as living it. And I have just a taste of two weeks. I learned that in the US we are very spoiled and we need to work harder and live on less. Many of the world problems today are due to our massive consumption. People in the US really don’t have a clue. I didn’t. I know that it is possible to live on so much less and that some things just aren’t so important. The more things you acquire the less time you have. The less you have the more time you have to interact in relationships. All women should have freedom. Guinean women suffer tremendously. I really question how much poor we really have in the US. We have opportunity in the US. The Guinean poor have very little, possibly no hope of opportunity. Feeling clean doesn’t require a fifteen minute shower. A bucket of water is sufficient. Clothes can feel clean after a nice bucket bath. Clothes can be worn many times before washing. It is amazing how fresh they smell after just hanging them out. My heart broke for the animals, but broke for more the people. Children stay focused longer and easier as they don’t have all the external things to occupy their attention. Mental health doesn’t seem to be an issue as they are more concerned about survival. Meals include what is available and it is always fresh. Leftovers are scarfed up as there is no refrigeration and many hungry people. Guineans are grateful for the smallest things; my leftover Coke. The people of the US are lost, confused and totally clueless. It saddens me to think that we may as a culture have to suffer severe consequences to wake up. Guineans never assume the next moment. Americans assume their material goods and basic needs such as; water, electricity and food will always be there, and therefore, use more than they need and waste what the don’t need.

Without idealizing my experience, it is my hope that I don’t forget to remember all that I have seen, lived and learned, and actually make an attempt to live it.

She left out the part about how we got to the airport and found out the flight was canceled and also the part where the fat customs ladies tried to get money out of her by holding her bags hostage! Luckily she didn't have money to give and the bags are safely back in Meadville. Hopefully we can get Cam's dad to write a similar journal!

Mission Accomplished

2008-06-30T13:59:00.000-07:00

Dubya style, that is. This is the week of the big test that determines if my kids pass out of high school and into college and today was the English section. Cam's student called him and said there were 2 sections. One was a paragraph with a bank of words at the top that the students had to fill in and then answer questions about and that second was changing sentences from the passive to the active voice. Here's why my portion of the mission is accomplished - we studied both those things many, many times and very recently!!!!!!!! It's a crapshoot, you never know what's going to be on the test, but I did about 10 different exercises using the first section's form and spent 2 weeks on the passive v. active voice. Thank God!

Now it's up to my students - did they study at home? Did they pay attention during the test? Did they second guess themselves and cheat off some kid who had no idea what the answers were? At least I know I did my job and taught them everything that was on the test. Phew.

I'll let you know this fall (perhaps it will be the series finale of blog postings, as I'll be back in the US when the results are in) how many of them passed. Then I can really stand in front of a banner that says "Mission Accomplished."

Girls Conference Postponed...

2008-06-21T16:46:00.000-07:00

Boo. We'll let you know when it's rescheduled. Now that I'm writing this I think I may have already written about it, but it's late and I'm leaving at 7am and don't feel like looking. At any rate, it's postponed, not canceled. I'll keep you posted. Camilo and I will be here in just over a week to pick up his father, yay!!

Anyway, I'll be in Timbi all next week, but will be sure to write more next time I'm in Conakry.

Bye Cheryl!

2008-06-20T04:03:00.000-07:00

Cam and I took Cheryl to the airport last night. I lied and said I had an e-ticket so I could accompany her to check-in. Here in Guinea only people who are actually flying are even allowed inside the airport. That's because it's such a big deal to fly that literally an entire family (aunts, uncles, cousins, kids who have nothing else to do) will go with the person flying and wait with them! Since lines don't really exist here, the airport would be absolute chaos if they allowed everyone inside...

I had one friend explain to me that his girlfriend was really wealthy and had a visa and offered to arrange for one for him so that they could go to New York together, but he couldn't do it because his wife would want to go to the airport and say good-bye. I asked if she would really make the 10 hours minimum trip from the Fouta just to do that and he said that yes, she would, and she wouldn't be happy to see he was traveling with his girlfriend! My suggestion to him was that he break up with his girlfriend and just be happy with his wife, but I"m not sure he took my advice.

Anyway, I got lucky because inside the airport everyone knew I wasn't traveling but the men wanted to marry me so they didn't mind that I was in there. Even telling them that Camilo was waiting for me outside didn't deter them! Being in Guinea can be such an ego boost...even if their love was more about my passport than my charms...

Camilo and I are planning to head back to Timbi tomorrow. The teachers are striking, so there's a chance the kids will have some small demonstrations. Here's the situation - the teachers are mad because they didn't get paid last month. As far as I know they've been paid now, but they were even more ticked off about it because the gendarmes got all their demands met after they went on strike and were shooting and all that. And since it's totally normal to skip work, the teachers only really have power during this time of the year, when they are needed to protor the final exams. So the kids might get mad when they can't do their high school exit exams...can't really blame them. We heard that most of the teacher's demands have been met, but there's a question on the timing. If they agree to go back to work on the assumption that they'll get a raise soon and then they don't, they've given up the position of power they have right now. So, as always, we'll see...

Fettuccine Alfredo Party Take Two

2008-06-18T11:13:00.000-07:00

Two things to notice about the above photo. One is the girl on the left in the prom dress. She's really bright and good at English and I have no idea what she was thinking! The other is the girl on the right with the baby. Until she showed up with that baby on her back I didn't know she had one! It explains why, although she's friendly and respectful, she was absent a lot and didn't ever study at home. It's so hard to be a woman here!

While I invited all my students, I was nervous that the kids I like wouldn't make it and the ones I didn't would show up and eat all the food! So I was happy to see that the best ones showed up and that my bitchy pregnant girl who answered her phone in the middle of class stayed home. The girl in the front was a student last semester. Her husband is in Spain, she's met him 2 or 3 times, and she has a gorgeous house. Unfortunately, our school authorities wouldn't let her continue her studies. She's totally bored at home and has nothing to do. Poor thing. The guy behind her is my absolute best student. His speaking skills aren't that strong since he's only learned English by reading books, but his written comprehension is phenomenal. If he ever got a scholarship to study in an Anglophone country I'd be thrilled...I told him to finish university here and then to search for money to study abroad.

Here are my girls and neighbor Marley. They really enjoyed the food and even bought little plastic bags to bring the extra home so their families could try it!

This is at the party we had for my students. The kids were shouting "Barack Obama" when this guy showed up in his suit! Of course I needed a photo.

No Flights

2008-06-18T11:09:00.000-07:00

Cam's poor mom. She's been so understanding about the flies and transport and rain and lack of comforts, but tonight we took her to the airport only to find a sign on the door saying that, because of the customs/police strike, the flight to Brussels is rescheduled for tomorrow. Although everything was calm today in Conakry, the police and customs people are still on strike. We haven't heard if the teacher's union reached an agreement with the government, but will hopefully know about that tonight.

It was a little bizarre to see the gendarmes in camo directing traffic instead of the police, who wear navy uniforms.

Oh, Guinea.

Souma Falls

2008-06-18T04:36:00.000-07:00

Isn't this waterfall lovely? Cam's mom didn't get to see it because getting there required crossing over some rocks and water that were a little scary. She waited in the sun next to the river instead! Unfortunately, with the rainy season here, I'm sure this was the last time I could see the waterfall. The water is just starting to rush too quickly and it's too deep. I couldn't believe how much more water was there compared to my camping trip over Spring Break!! But it was nice to go one last time.

Cheryl - what a good sport

2008-06-18T04:19:00.000-07:00

That's the car we took to the taxi station in Conakry. I don't think the picture does it justice. The car was old 50 years ago and was barely functioning. It's my worst nightmare that someone falls out of the car due to the doors not closing properly! And it's an even worse nightmare to imagine that happening to someone who's only been in Guinea a few days!

Cheryl accepted the invitation to try and pound the garlic. It's really tiring!! If done properly, the toned arms that the giant mortar and pestle (right, that's what it's called in English? Sounds weird for some reason) are much better than anything a fancy trainer could do.

Fettuccine Alfredo Party Number 1

2008-06-18T03:46:00.000-07:00

Here's Djoubairou's family as well as some assorted local children who couldn't resist the chance to be in a photo. The last time I saw them the mom was pregnant and the dad couldn't leave his bed because he was so sick. It was wonderful to see him outside, even though his mobility is still really limited, and to see that the baby, Adama Bella, was nice and fat. I love fat babies.

I'm quite the organizer, huh? It's not easy making pasta for 30 using coal stoves! The party was a huge hit, we are at one of Cam's student's houses in Boke. He invited his English Club and we drank Cokes, ate pasta and as a grand finale the Club sang Akon "Don't Matter." The best part of that is that one of Cam's close friends, Thierno, cracked his voice in the worst possible way right at the beginning. After that I was trying so hard not to laugh that I couldn't really pay attention! Luckily Cam caught it all on video.

Djoubairou's family was incredibly gracious, allowing us to host that party and cooking for us. They made an amazing rice dish with chicken, it was the best Guinean meal I've eaten in Guinea...we are going to ask them to make it again when Cam's dad comes, but will bring the chicken (alive...) since we know how much of a struggle it is to make ends meet here. Oh, it was delicious! They also gave Cheryl and I fabric as a gift. It was too sweet.

Cam's mom went out to play frisbee with the kids and it was hilarious. She was the Pied Piper of Guinean children, there must have been 50 of them all surrounding her! I kid you not, they started coming from the hillsides. I thought it was the funniest thing. She doesn't speak French (neither do the kids, really) so she was trying to get them all in a circle to pass the frisbee around. At some point she started shouting, "All right, all right, all right!" like it was some kind of pep rally. The kids started doing it too and they were all clapping and kept on shouting all right...it went on for a couple minutes before they lost interest. I lost interest in it long before the kids did, they were so excited to have a white woman in town wanting to play with them!

The more things change, the more they stay the same...

2008-06-18T03:34:00.000-07:00

I'm just sure that I've used that subject line before, because it's true!! After the soldiers caused all that drama a couple weeks ago the police and customs people decided to do the EXACT same thing and strike. Unfortunately, customs officials and police are necessary for a functioning airport so the airport was closed for 2 days. We heard the Air France flight coming in last night (yes, there are so few flights that depending on the day and the time you know exactly what flight it is!) and we heard that they sent scabs to the airport to do the customs and security stuff. Cam's mom is leaving tonight so I really hope that's the case!!!!

Here's the BBC article about the police strike. As always, rest assured that we are safe. All the problems are going on in town and that's far from the compound. After this post I'll put up some pictures from Cheryl's trip here. Despite the continuous political uncertainty we had a great time and she seems to have really enjoyed it, despite the flies, heat, and waking up to gunfire in Conakry! She wrote about 5 pages chronicling her experience so I'll pick out some highlights and put them up as well.

Guinea troops clash with police

Fighting has broken out in the West African state of Guinea between soldiers and striking police officers.

The two sides exchanged gunfire at the headquarters of a riot police unit in the capital, Conakry.
Some police officers have been on strike over pay and conditions since Monday, and held the head of the police force hostage for several hours.

The protest follows an army mutiny last month that led to salary increases and promotions for the soldiers.

BBC West Africa correspondent Will Ross says soldiers exchanged fire with a group of striking policeman.

A number of casualties have been reported on both sides. Some police have been taken to an army barracks.

At least two soldiers were killed, a senior army officer told Reuters news agency.

Witnesses told Reuters and the AFP news agency that the bodies of at least four policeman were seen laid out afterwards.

Risky precedent

Protesting policemen took the police commander and other senior officers captive after starting their strike, before releasing them later on Monday.

A police delegation was expected to meet the prime minister on Tuesday. The police are demanding provisions of rice as well as improved pay. With prices escalating, basic salaries can barely cover the cost of feeding a family, our correspondent says.

Last month, the government set a precedent that some people would describe as risky, he says.
When soldiers went on the rampage over their conditions - and held one of their own superiors captive - they were rewarded with promotion and a payment of more than $1,000 in salary arrears.

The country's aging president, Lansana Conte, recently sacked the prime minister who had been appointed last year as part of a deal to end deadly anti-government protests across the country.

In much of West Africa, police supplement their incomes by extorting bribes at roadblocks.

Our correspondent says that while the army and police can use their guns to demand more money, the rest of the population has to struggle on, increasingly frustrated with Guinea's politicians.

All is Calm

2008-05-31T02:04:00.000-07:00

We talked to Cam's mom last night and we are good to go for her trip. The gas stations have reopened and another PCV has a friend flying in Tuesday. We'll stick around Conakry until Wednesday when we go pick her up at the airport.

CONAKRY, Guinea — West African leaders appealed for calm in Guinea today, saying the army mutiny there could destabilize neighboring states struggling to put an era of wars and conflict behind them.

Junior troops disgruntled over back pay and demanding that Guinea's top generals resign began firing into the air Monday at several military bases on the outskirts of the capital, Conakry. They took the army's second-in-command hostage.

No clashes have been reported since the current trouble began, but hospital officials say they have admitted at least 28 people with gunshot wounds, apparently from stray bullets fired into the air. Five of the injured were soldiers, the rest civilians.

The 15-member regional Economic Community of West African States said the Guinea crisis "put at risk the safety and security of the civilian population and poses a grave threat to the fragile peace in the entire" region.

The Nigeria-based group "appealed to all Guineans to act with a high sense of responsibility and to desist from any actions likely to plunge their country and its neighbors into conflict and instability."The neighboring countries of Ivory Coast, Liberia and Sierra Leone are struggling to emerge from long civil wars.

Guinea has suffered riots and repeated mutinies for years under iron-fisted dictator Lansana Conte, who took power in a 1984 coup.Conte's grip on power depends largely on the loyalty of the army, and the government has previously given in to soldiers' demands for pay increases when they have threatened violence — though the actual pay-outs have rarely come through.

No gunfire was reported today, but banks and many shops remained closed.Around midday, about 300 people gathered near the city center calling on the soldiers to end the mutiny and give them peace. It was a rare pro-Conte demonstration in a country where striking citizens have regularly demanded the president step down.

The crowd shouted "Long live peace!" as it marched toward the presidency building. One of the marchers, an office worker in Parliament named Moussa Camara, said the demonstration had not been organized by the government but showed a true demand by residents for the mutiny to end.

The ramshackle seaside capital has been tense but calm since Thursday afternoon, when loyalist army Chief of Staff Gen. Diarra Camara called on soldiers taking part in the revolt to return to their barracks.Loyalist presidential guard units with rocket launchers patrolled the city center today in armored vehicles. Banks and many shops were closed and streets were deserted. There were no reports of gunfire.

Tensions began rising last week when Conte unexpectedly fired Prime Minister Lansana Kouyate, who soldiers said had pledged to pay them back wages and bonuses.The crisis had seemed to be easing Wednesday after the government agreed to meet several key demands, particularly a promise to pay each soldier 5 million Guinean francs — around $1,100 — within days.

The government also promised to free soldiers imprisoned in a similar revolt last year, and fired the defense minister, who had threatened to prosecute the mutinous soldiers.But gunfire broke out again as mutinous soldiers expressed concern their demands would not be met.

The mutineers are also calling for the country's top generals to resign, saying they are corrupt and have blocked lower-ranking officers from receiving promotions. The soldiers also want the already subsidized price of rice for the military to be reduced.Loyalist units and the mutineers had faced off against each other Thursday on a strategic bridge in the city. They fired into the air, but did shoot at one another.

Conte, the septuagenarian dictator, had agreed to appoint Kouyate — seen as a reformer — last year after intense union protests over his autocratic rule turned deadly and threatened to overturn the government.

Guinea, on Africa's western coast, has vast reserves of timber, gold, diamonds and bauxite, the raw material used to make aluminum. Yet it is consistently listed as one of the world's poorest countries — a testament to misrule by the elite.

Associated Press writer Edward Harris contributed to this report from Lagos, Nigeria.

The Drama Continues?

2008-05-30T06:13:00.000-07:00

Oh, Guinea. What a strange country. Yesterday our guards followed us out of the compound because they didn't want us walking around (we were only going to buy egg sandwiches about 10 meters away) and today everything is fine and we went to the market without any problems...except that it's really hot and about 100% humidity. Being sweaty makes me crabby.

Anyway, it appears that the military is split into 2 camps. The first is the group that accepts the government's agreement and the second is a group that wants a coup d'etat. We'll just have to see what happens. Cam and I bought enough food for 4 days here at the compound...frozen chicken, green beans, potatoes, etc. We subsisted on pizza, beer and chocolate yesterday but that's completely unacceptable.

We'd love to get out of here, but there's no gas. A couple days ago the military took their guns and basically held up all the gas stations, so the owners have closed them all down (good business decision...) We've heard that gas, normally an astronomical 8,500GF a liter, is now up to 25,000 (about $6) a liter on the black market. That's $24 a gallon! That being said, it looks like the soldiers have calmed down and they should be opening the gas stations soon. The good news is that none of this has spread upcountry, where things are just running normally. I got a text from one of my students, I'll reprint it below because it's just so funny. I appreciate him trying to write in English!

Hello haw do you feel, and your family about the demonstration of militery,if there is more dangerouse please take your family and come back in Timbi.because here we are feeling very well.so great me Camilo and your "tante." Bah Mamadou's Daum.

I guess he doesn't understand the whole bit about the roadblocks and how there's no gas to be found, but at least he's thinking about me!

Anyway, we are fine, but a little concerned that this is going to screw up Cam's mom's visit. She is supposed to arrive the 4th. Probably everything will be back to normal by Monday, but here you just never know. And if there's no gas there's no point in her coming even if everything is calm because we wouldn't be able to get out of Conakry (and if you come to Guinea and don't leave Conakry it would be a gigantic waste of time!)

A Little Bit of Drama

2008-05-28T04:02:00.000-07:00

We are in Conakry still and are planning on leaving tomorrow - yesterday we just layed low here at the compound (swimming, internet, a SATC marathon). While I cannot comment on Guinean politics, I can point out 2 things. 1. the soldiers will all be receiving 5 million francs in back pay (a teacher is paid 250,000 a month) and 2. last night soldiers vandalized gas stations, held people in restaurants up at gunpoint and took all their money and 3. took some government officials hostage. Today their demands were met. I don't like guns.

An AP article is below. Rest assured that all is calm and we are fine. My biggest concern right now is that it's 11am and I haven't eaten anything today!

CONAKRY, Guinea (AP) — Guinea's new prime minister announced a deal to pay mutinous soldiers years of salary arrears, effectively ending the West African nation's latest crisis.
Prime Minister Ahmed Tidiane Souare said in a televised statement late Tuesday that the government would pay soldiers 5 million Guinean francs — around US$1,100 — each for back-pay and raises stretching back over the last eight years.

Conakry, the capital, was quiet Wednesday for the first time since sporadic gunfire began echoing across the city Monday from military bases in town.

"I appeal on the military to stay calm," Souare said, adding the government would gradually begin paying the salary arrears at the end of the month.

Guinea has been tense since last week, when President Lansana Conte unexpectedly fired Prime Minister Lansana Kouyate, who came to power last year after deadly demonstrations led by unions angry over Conte's long rule. The soldiers said Kouyate had promised to pay soldiers years of back-pay and began revolting on hearing rumors they would not receive it.
Guinea, on Africa's western coast, has vast reserves of timber, gold, diamonds and bauxite, the raw material used to make aluminum. Yet it is consistently listed as one of the world's poorest countries, a testament to its misrule by the elite.

Conte, the septuagenarian dictator, has ruled the country since a 1984 coup.

Gunfire could be heard from two main military camps in Conakry on Monday and Tuesday, and soldiers in trucks crisscrossed the capital, shooting in the air for more than one hour at midday Tuesday. But the ramshackle seaside city fell calm by late afternoon when President Conte's convoy drove inside one of the bases, Camp Samory, in an apparent bid to negotiate with disgruntled soldiers, witnesses said.

Also Tuesday, Conte fired Defense Minister Bailo Diallo, one of several demands made by junior officers.

At least two civilians were wounded by stray bullets, including a young girl and man, witnesses said.

The unions had wanted Conte to step down last year, but Kouyate's appointment was a compromise. Conte had managed to retain power by agreeing to name a prime minister from a list approved by the unions.

Other demands of the soldiers included the release of an unspecified number of soldiers who took part in a three-day revolt at the Alpha Yaya Diallo barracks a year ago.

Party Planning

2008-05-25T02:39:00.001-07:00

After over a month of telling Cam I wasn't going to have a party, I've decided to have not one, but two. The first one will be with Cam and Cheryl June 14th at my house for my Terminale students. Originally it was going to be a “Congratulations, you finished the Bac!” party but now the Bac is the week after so it's going to be a good luck party instead. I've already got the menu planned – spaghetti with alfredo sauce, garlic bread, popcorn and fudge. And the ubiquitous bottled Coke products, of course. I have no idea how we are going to manage to make all that food for 50 people given my lack of cooking materials and 2 burner range, but I'm determined to make it happen!! The kids have been really cute about it and everyone says they are coming.

It makes me a little sad that there are so few opportunities to celebrate children and young adults here. Many of my childhood memories involve birthday parties, certificates, report cards (I got $3 for an A and $2 for an A-) and general celebrations – school concerts, dance recitals, etc. Here none of that stuff happens and I especially feel for my girls who are continuing their studies even though most of them have family pressure to abandon them and get married or just help out around the house. I know it's changing, but my Terminale girls really are trailblazers. The percentage of kids who finish high school is something like 10 or 20% and the percentage of girls within that block is only about 15. Anyway, I decided that I really want to have this party to show them that there are people who care about their futures and grades and career aspirations. Plus, I really want to see if they like spaghetti alfredo as much as my host family during training did!

The second party is still in the very early planning stages, but I'm hoping to have it sometime during the last two weeks in July, when Cam's dad is gone and Cam and I are back in Timbi for the last time. I'll just invite my 2 host families, guard, 12th graders, the officials and some random other people. It will be a definite mixing of social classes – from Maimouna, my neighbor from my old house who has barely enough money to survive with her 2 kids to El Hadj Bamakoure, my host father who has been to the US and loves Ohio. I think it will be 50% awkward and 50% fun. I'm going to hire someone to make rice and sauce for that one, I don't think I could handle all that cooking too!

The End of an Era

2008-05-25T02:34:00.000-07:00

Sorry in advance if I repeated stuff from my other entries, it's hard to keep track of what I write...

I'm writing this from my house on May 20th and school will officially be over for me tomorrow. Phew! Tomorrow is the last final exam and then I'm heading to Conakry on Friday, when I will post this entry. I love having Cam's (extra) computer.

So what's been going on in Timbi? Well, I spent all last week reviewing with my classes and was a little disappointed to realize yesterday and today how much they didn't get. There's really nothing more I could have done. I had 2 extra review sessions and gave them a practice exam EXACTLY like the real one but just changed the verbs and sentences. Seriously, I practically spoon-fed them the answers. And less than half of each class received a 50%, which is a passing grade. I thank my lucky stars that all my motivated students pulled through with good grades or I would have been seriously depressed. That being said, my grades are pretty normal compared to the other teachers. Seems like there's 2-4 great students, 7 or so decent students and a bunch of bad students for every group of 20.

The end of the year has been interesting – finals always bring out the best and the worst in people!

First, one of my better students was leaving the exam today and I took both the exam and the scratch paper he'd used, like I did with all the kids. He didn't want to give it to me and I basically ripped it out of his hand. Turns out he had last week's practice exam stuffed inside. He got an automatic zero and a public “I am disappointed in you, get out of my class.” With the paper he would have gotten about a 14/20. Without it I'm sure he could have pulled off an 11 and now he will fail the class. Over the weekend he stopped by my house with his 3 homeworks (I've given 6 and he only did half, even though he's good at English) to try and tell me that the 3 he had were the 3 he was missing. Then he preceded to lie to me, telling me he had ripped the other ones up. Like I was going to believe he happened to rip up the 3 that I happened to forget to record in my notebook!! I was so frustrated – I've made a serious effort to undo the 20-odd years of cheating that the kids have been able to do and most seem to get it, at least a little bit, at least in my class. But I clearly didn't make an impact on him.

A note on cheating – the kids literally cannot stop themselves. Guinea is ranked as one of the most corrupt countries on earth and I think it starts in the schools. Apparently it's possible to get your grade changed if your parents are important, if you have money or if you are a girl willing to sleep with the teachers. I don't know that any of this happens for sure at my school, but it would be naïve for me to say that it doesn't. Luckily for me I don't know whose parents are important, already have enough money and really don't care to sleep with any of the students! I can only hope that when my students have important jobs and the opportunity to be corrupt that they remember me and the expectations I set for them in my class. If they hesitate to do something bad even for a minute I'll feel that my time here was worthwhile.

Okay, on to the good things that happened. First, here is the world's cutest text message:

Hello, Mrs Dawn i'm very so Glad to you because I never had teacher like you.Plase I need your picture. As soon as you can able to do it. From the Boubacar Barry Bye and have a good time. That's God Bless you!

The grammatical errors aside, isn't that so sweet? He has the second highest grade in his class and is lucky because next year he'll do Terminale with my replacement before he takes his high school exit exam.

The other thing is that one of the other kids from Boubacar's class showed up at my house today to find out his grade (a 16, which is very good here). He was clearly pleased with himself and I was so happy for him because I know he studied really hard for the test. After I gave him his grade he got all embarrassed looking and finally told me that he really wished I would be his teacher again next year and that he was really satisfied with English class and my teaching.

Boy, I'm really tooting my own horn, aren't I? I'll stop before it gets too obnoxious, unless it already is, in which case I apologize!

In other news – today it hailed. It was the wildest thing, I was taking a nap when the rain started and all of a sudden I thought I heard hail. How on earth does that happen when it's so warm? I wish I had regular internet access so I could look that kind of stuff up. Anyway, it was really crazy and I tried to take pictures but they didn't turn out. I might post one of them just so you can see the rain. The insane rainstorms are something I will definitely miss.

Cam's stepmom arrives June 4th. We are so excited!! We'll spend a day in Conakry, then head to Boke, to Timbi and some waterfalls and then spend a night on the Islands before she leaves. At which point we'll be frantically finishing our Girls Conference planning...she leaves the 18th and it starts the 22nd...

Which brings me to exciting news – we have all the money for the conference!! I'm not sure if any of you contributed to that, but if you did I really cannot thank you enough. It's going to be a great experience for the girls and the volunteers and a lovely way to wrap things up here in Guinea. We are hoping that next year the organizers will get in touch with a local NGO and really get the Guinean community more involved. We'll have a panel of professional women and take the girls to town to see their places of employment, but it would be even better to have more involvement. As the conference evolves I think it could eventually become Guinean-run and funded (ah, the elusive goal of sustainability!!) We will use your money wisely and honestly – not ALL of Guinea is corrupt! - and I will be sure to put up the post-conference report so you can see how much your donations helped the 40 girls and 10 professional women who are taking part in the conferences!