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 [View Full Entry]

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For the last few weeks the 100 or so of us Guinea volunteers have been waiting around near Bamako. At first, Peace Corps seemed extremely concerned about our mental health and would bend over backward to appease us. They sent in counselors from Washington who hold daily group discussions. When someone said they wanted to bake cookies, they bought us an oven and all of the ingredients. There is now an brand new oven sitting outside a mud hut. When we said we felt like watching TV, they bought us a TV with a zillion channels. When a group of us [View Full Entry]

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For the last few days we’ve been staying at the Tubaniso Training Center, outside of Bamako. PC Mali has done a great job taking care of us. A banner at the entrance to the compound reads “Welome Peace Corps Guinea” and we’re being treated as if we’re on a paid vacation. We’re staying in mud huts, but they’re rigged up with lights and ceiling fans, making them very comfortable. A kitchen staff works all day to prepare great meals for us. They’ve set up a store where we can get basic supplies and cold sodas. If you need anything they [View Full Entry]

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Since we’ve been in Bamako, there has been some progress in Guinea. Both sides agreed to the following setup: Conte would remain President, but a new Prime Minister would be appointed as head of the government. The President then becomes a figurehead with no political power. Union leaders would draw up a list of three to five candidates for Prime Minister, and President Conte would appoint one from this list. All of the other government ministers would be replaced. Their replacements must be people who have never held a position with the current regime and who are not leaders of [View Full Entry]

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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 leadershi [View Full Entry]

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A few days after Christmas , I left Conakry with Michelle, Tony, Camilo, and Jen. We left the PC house at 6 am to walk to the main road where we could find a taxi. The taxi took us to the Freetown gare in Matam, where we reserved five seats in a 9-place taxi (a station wagon: three in the back row, four in the middle, two in the passenger’s seat). We changed money to Leones while we waited for the taxi to fill. The driver had three family members he said we’d be picking up, and it did not take [View Full Entry]

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There were 35 or 40 volunteers in the Conakry house for the holidays. There were not enough beds for everyone and we kept running out of water, but it was nice to see everyone and eat good food. In the TV room, Love Actually was viewed about a half dozen times. We got the broken stereo working and played a few chrismas CDs on repeat. A few people's families had sent them Christmas decorations, so we had a mini tree, a string of lights, a stuffed snowman, and a couple of santa hats. On Christmas Eve the sun was hot, [View Full Entry]

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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 [View Full Entry]

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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 [View Full Entry]

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Happy Thanksgiving! I’m celebrating in Labe with other volunteers. Our country director sent us a turkey! I’ve heard there are some old taped football games around too. It’s also about time to get paid, yay! We were paid in September, the equivalent of about $485 American to buy everything we need for our houses, transport, school supplies, and living until December. It’s not much money but there’s not much to buy in the village, so I’ve actually managed to save some money for traveling. Big news...a friend of mine is going back to the States for [View Full Entry]

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