Blogs from Guinea, Africa - page 6

We've been in Mali for about two and a half weeks now, waiting to see if the situation in Guinea cools down enough for us to go back. We could officially wait up to four weeks, but it was announced yesterday that we officially will not be going back. President Conte had until Sunday to name a Prime Minister, and Friday night he named Eugene Camara, a close crony and former Minister to the President. The agreement with trade unions required the President to name someone who had never worked for the current regime, so this appointment was immediately rejected. For the unions this move is indicative of the President's unwillingness to cooperate with the people, therefore they have reverted to their original demand that Conte resign. Protests/riots erupted all over the country on Saturday. Several ... read more

After my holiday vacation, I returned to Kourou and taught for all of two days before a national strike was called on January 10. The strike originally involved the two major trade unions in Guinea and was precipitated by the government’s failure to pay its contractual workers for several months. In general, Guineans are dissatisfied with the high cost of living, rampant corruption in the government, and overall poverty. The unions considered striking in mid December but decided to wait until after the holidays. In the meantime, the country’s disaffection with its leadership only grew. Word got around about a recent study by Transparency International that ranked Guinea as the most corrupt country in Africa, second only to Haiti for most corrupt in the world. The Fete de Tabaski came and went, for which Guineans ... read more

So it doesn't exactly feel like the holiday season because it's still hot and, well, no one here celebrates Christmas. The muslim Fete de Tabaski is coming up though - it's the day where you kill a sheep. That's all I really know about it. Everyone gets really excited to actually eat some meat. I'm sure there's some religious significance, too (Abraham and Issac story?), but people seem to be most interested in eating a sheep. I'm in Conakry for Christmas, or I might go to Freetown, Sierra Leone. We'll see. Since my last update... Thanksgiving dinner in Labe was fantastic. Our director sent a turkey to each regional capital. We also bought some fish and sacrificed a chicken. We had a vat of mashed potatoes, homemade rolls, fresh salad, stuffing, gravy, the works. We ... read more

Some answers to your questions. Let me know if there's anything you'd like to hear! Describe Kat’s house and her village. Kat is my closest PC neighbor. She lives in the village of Gongoret, 12 km from me. The village is sligtly larger than mine and has the luxury of daily taxis that go to Mamou. Everytime I travel, I am obligated to bike to Gongoret to get a taxi, for cars just don’t go all the way to my village. The cars leave Gongoret first thing in the morning, so I bike to Kat’s house the evening before and stay the night. Kat lives in a mud hut with a thatched roof. It’s composed of two walls that are concentric circles, forming an “inner circle” and an “outer circle” of the hut. The inner circle ... read more

Hope you’ve all got lots of time to kill at work! This is the longest update you’re gonna see. It’s broken into topics, so skip around. Let me know if you have any questions or want more details. Enjoy! BACK IN LABE… I’ve survived my first month in the African bush, and despite the lack of certain luxuries it’s been a pleasant change from training in the dirty city. I’m now back in Labe for some shopping, a meeting, and a Halloween party. I left Kourou Wednesday afternoon and biked to Gongoret, where I can catch a taxi. I stayed with Kat that night and we got to the gare early to find a ride to Mamou. We got spots in a “six-place” taxi, which is the size of a compact car. The standard is four ... read more