Blogs from Guinea, Africa - page 4

Woke up in the morning and went to Christ Orphanage. The kids didn't have class today so we sang and they played with my hair for a solid three hours which was both wonderful and disgusting at the same time...problem is I know EXACTLY where their hands have been. Some EXCITING news from the orphanage; Emily's parents donated money to Christ for her birthday! With the money Raymond was able to buy a temporary school building to use until the new orphanage goes up! THE KIDS HAVE THEIR OWN SCHOOL BUILDING! It's such a wonderful blessing and such a great feeling to know that one small gesture can change the lives of so many children and can make a huge impact on Raymond, one of the kindest people I've met. They should be moved in by ... read more

24 February 2008 Abdelrahmane just told me that heaving breathing outside my window every night was sorcery and that when he hears he runs away. Scared out of my mind, I kept asking him questions After about 20 minutes and thanks to the English-Pular dictionary that some missionaries made, I learned that “bird of sorcery” means owl in Pular. This revelation made me feel better until I remembered that I was taught that owls go “hoo,” not breathe heavily. But then again, I’m not an owl expert. Maybe Guinean owls don’t go “hoo” and just breathe really loudy and creepily. 6 March 2008 Things I’m doing that don’t surprise anyone at home * Not using toilet paper * Reading lots, re-reading Mountains Beyond Mountains for the 18th time * Trying like hell to learn Pular * ... read more

February 14, 2008 Happy Valentine’s Day, my husband wished me in the morning. Wow, couldn’t believe it was February 14th already. Valentine’s day is not a big deal here and did not see anything advertising it. Our ‘romantic’ day was spent traveling around all day looking at Bauxite plateaus. It was a fun day bumping up and down over a portion of the south permit (the permits are too big to see in a day). We began a day looking at the sampling procedures at the yard. Took a look at the splitter and saw the men putting samples of the material into the chip trays. Everything looked really good. Around the project We travelled over much ground and saw lots of bauxite plateaus, a few quite big. They are interesting to see, as they are ... read more

February 13, 2008 Travel day. We left Conakry around 7:30am to head to Koba, to visit our bauxite projects. The trip took us through the major centre of Kindia, and through many small villages. We stopped to fuel up at Kindia and joined many others looking for gas. We were lucky and were not stopped there long. We did stop at a store prior to this to pick up propane and snacks. Poll (pronounced more like Paul) and Aguibou headed across the street leaving Chris and I waiting. A few of the kids near by were fascinated with us, others were a little scared. It has been interesting to see the mixed reactions. A couple of young boys kept waving to us and we would return their waves. Very cute. A stop in the town of ... read more

February 12, 2008 Another fun day in Conakry. A lot of driving around, which is wonderful, as I was able to see a lot more of the area. More traffic, more markets, and lots of people, as well as long lineups at the gas stations. Apparently, there is a possible shortage of fuel this week due to a delayed shipment in, and word has gotten out to everyone, so cars were lined up about 20 in a row, often, 2 rows, side by side, in front of the gas stations. Caused a lot of traffic headaches. We stopped and viewed a couple of potential office spaces, then stopped at a house that the companies may be able to rent and convert into office space as well as sleeping areas for company travelers. This house is located ... read more