Basse Cote Girls Conference Video

Thank Dan for ALL your hard work!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gRDhXwwAOao

Primarily, it's all about the food....

First of All, WELCOME G-18! Our new Education Stage has arrived and are all doing well and (hopefully!) learning a lot at our training site in Forecariah. The group is incredibly motivated and always positive and open to new (and sometimes strange) cultural experiences. That they are an amazing group is already apparent and we look forward to getting to know them all better over the coming months. This past weekend, they all learned the name and location of their sites. We drew a huge map of Guinea on the floor and had all the trainees step forward to their proper place on the map. This group is also the first group that will be sent back into the Forest region as we begin the reopen the program there. Above is a picture of Emily, Phil, and Andrew, true cavaliers of knowledge. After the site announcement, we held "Poulet Fete '09" where we "prepared", cooked, and ate a bunch of chickens. It was a lot of work but also a TON of fun.

I (Kim) just got back from a 4 day Girls Conference in Boke. The conference was put together by a volunteer named Raven and she did a really incredible job. The girls were well provided for with local home stays and we had more delicious food then we could ever have eaten. The 19 girls participated in sessions ranging from public speaking, small business development, role and rights of women, study skills, the importance of education, nutrition and the practice of excision or female genital cutting. After all these sessions, the girls planned and carried out presentations in the local community and also participated in an afternoon of job shadowing of prominent working women in the area. For these girls this really is an amazing opportunity. Here in Guinea, as in much of West Africa, the role of women is strictly limited. The women are the property of their husbands and are given the role of bearer and care taking of house and home. Many girls are married off at a very early age and are not allowed to continue their education, no matter their ability. These girls were able to see that their are other options and that they can break away from constricting cultural norms. Now these girls are tasked to spread the knowledge that they have gained to others in their village and local community. It was amazing the sincere excitement that was ignited in these young women of tomorrow to be the change that Guinea needs.





Learning about the importance of education.

This is the T-shirt design I drew! Yay!

The girls in session about excision.


This cute little creature is our friends Marg and John's new puppy. Her name is Nimba and she is only 5 0r 6 weeks old. Jon and I will be taking care of her for the next three weeks while our friends are at home visiting their families. She's definitely a handful and will remind me to think twice before taking responsibility of a dog, but in this photo she's pretty darn cute.

This weekend, along with the new trainees, we went to visit the National Museum of Guinea. Above are some of the pretty statues that are outside. The top picture is of a statue that used to be a fountain and was so pretty at the base of a grand kapok tree. The bottom is a statue of the wife of a prominent Fular official who was a major resistor to French colonization. Inside were many artifacts, masks, tools, and instruments from all the different regions of Guinea. It was interesting to see how very little many of the tools had changed, many of them are still widely in use in villages throughout the country.

Last night, to celebrate Jon's belated birthday as well as the "star day" of our friend Sue, we had a sushi party. With much assistance from our friends (and my mum!) we prepared, constructed, and consumed ridiculous quantities of it! Big thanks must go out to Rob who generously donated from his wonderful supply of sushi magic-making supplies. The night then lapsed into hilarity and an all night dance party. Great night, good people, and I believed one of the funnest nights I've spent since I arrived. And to continue with this theme of food (which, of course is my favorite theme), this morning through the wonder of care packages and thoughtful friends again we were able to make the most amazing breakfast this morning. My college roommate, Kate used to make the "Breffest burritos" containing veggies, sausage, herbs, and most importantly, goat cheese!!! I think she would have been proud at our creation. I was certainly proud to be eating it!!!

And to continue even more in this theme, for lunch, our friend Sue brought over some Indian food which warmed our tummies and our hearts.

I like Sushi. ALOT!



All is well. Time is flying. We're ready for a little down time back in Moussayah after being on the road for almost a month here and there. We are counting down the days until our vacation in Mali.

Hope all is well in your world.

Kim and Jon

How can you measue...a year in the life? Bon Anniversaire!

In just one day we will be welcoming the new group of trainees. We have reached the halfway mark in our service and it seems like it just flew by. It's strange to reflect on what we were doing, who we were just one short year ago. A year ago I barely could put together a sentence in French. A year ago I was afraid to eat even an orange and terrified of everything on my first trip to the market. A year ago, I was more concerned with the weight limits of my baggage then with really contemplating what joining the Peace Corps and teaching physics in a foreign language could possible mean. A year ago I was saying goodbye to all of my nearest and dearest, having one last American meal, checking and rechecking the packing list.

Now I'm feeling more and more comfortable in this foreign place. I am no longer afraid. I can travel alone unafraid. I go to the market in Conakry and negotiate its dark and treacherous pathways without missing a step. I eat pretty much whatever catches my eye in the market with out fear. I am more comfortable now riding in cars crammed full of sweaty people then I am when I have a whole seat (!) to myself. I cannot sleep or stay in air conditioning anymore, it makes me cold and sick. French now falls from my tongue with very little thought or effort. Granted, this french must be jumbled and improper but I can now communicate most everything that is necessary in a language that up until a year ago was completely foreign to me. Jon and I have been working hard to even learn Sussu to the same level...something that I never believed possible when we got here. We have wonderful friends and support here that keep us smiling and laughing. We have survived our first year of teaching large classes and have seen success...sometimes small, sometimes large. We have overcome stress and difficulties and thrived. We have a wonderful house, garden, and more animals then we have ever had in our lives. We have shared amazing experiences: hiking the mountains of Moussayah with hunters, amazing meals with our friends, drinking endless cups of tea, lazing around in the hammock, making the neighbors kids collapse in piles of giggles, soccer with the girls.

This time last year, was the hardest 3 months of my whole life. With so many adjustments all coming at us at once, we felt unprepared, scared, slow, useless. So I want to salute all of us in G-16! We made it! Congrats!! One year down and so many amazing adventures yet to be had! Here's to a great second year!

All the girls of the group (12 for 12 and going strong!) made a wonderful dinner together the other night of green beans, eggplant parmesan, and garlic bread. We also baked an amazing cake with chocolate frosting (Thanks Allison!) and enjoyed some Amarula (a yummy South African liquor like Baileys that is made from the Amarula fruit. Thanks to Marg and Jon who brought some back from their incredible african safari!) We had an amazing evening and the rooftop could not be beat. This group of girls are amazing, motivated, wonderful people. Watch out cuz they will change the world!

G-12 Ladies: Nothing but Class!

Marg, Carolina, Ashley, Isy, and Christina.. prep time!

Sweating it out in the Kitchen



We went to a Hiv/Aids Conference which was informative. We brought two teachers from our school to get the training and they seemed very honored by the invitation and truly interested in the topic. A group of young people from a local hiv/aids mentoring group came for the training and it was really inspiring to see young Guineans that were so motivated for change at such an early age. There were many ups and downs at the conference but over all, it was well received. Although Jon and I had a lot of grading to finish up, it was nice to be with our friends again and it almost started to feel like vacation. At the end of the conference we had a candle lighting ceremony and everyone was able to share what they learned their aspirations for the future.



Mr. Bangoura and Mr. Soumah...our couterparts at the conference


Aminata from the youth group and me.


Jon and Bryan...Don't cry

Emily, Tiffany, and Rachel at the candlelight ceremony

Jon and I were invited to lunch to our "brother" James Boucher's house. For any of you who received a batik this past christmas, this is the artist who made them. He fed us one of the best meals I've had yet in Guinea. He took us into his workshop and showed up the painstaking art of batik making. Essentially, he draws a design on a piece of white cloth and then paints melted beeswax where he does not want a color to go, and then dips it in ink. Many of the colors he uses are all natural that he collects himself. Most batiks take a total of 2-3 weeks from start to finish. This visit definitely made me appreciate his work even more. He also showed me this amazing multicoloured batik quilt that he made. Here are some photos of J. Boucher at work:

Another Portrait of an Artist

Specially designed PC Guinea Batik

My friend Rachel came to visit Moussayah last weekend. Jon stayed in Conakry so it was just us girls which was wonderful. It's always nice to be able to have a friend come and visit because not only to you get to share your life with them but you also get to see your surroundings through new eyes which is always uplifting and amusing. We visited the school, I introduced Rachel (or Fatoumata Binta Diallo) to my friends, we played with little Mama and Papa, and sat on the porch with Yero. Basically, she really got a pretty accurate glimpse into our little world. ALSO...and very exciting-ly : Sierra had her baby! It's a cute little bundle of fuzz that Jon named Rocky. He is hilarious to watch especially when he comes out of the barn in the morning because he doesn't seem to know how to walk...only jump. It;s unfortunate that we will have to be away for so long and won't be able to spend much time with him. But as I have been informed, goats have babies every 6 months...so we will definitely have another chance!!!

Rachel and Rocky

The Mosque in Moussayah

The Farmer in The Dell

The New Family: Sierra and Rocky

So that's our life in a nutshell. We are working hard to plan a great training for the new group. We are looking forward to a bit of a vacation out to Mali at the beginning of September. Things are going well. we'll be in and out of the capital fairly often this summer with work so we will try to update when we can!

That being said, we do have some bad news to report.

The first is concerning our "family" and Neighbors, the Camaras. Like all government officials, Sous-prefets are liable to very quick, last-minute "changements". Basically, whenever the government wants, it can remove or change the placement of any or all of its' posts. Mr. Camara had been made the Sous-prefet of Touge', a village to the far north and will be moving in the next few weeks. This is very sad because we have become very close to everyone in the family and truly considered them to be our Guinean family. They will be very missed and have very much brightened up our lives up on our hill. But I suppose, to look on the bright side, we will now be able to see some other parts of Guinean when we go to visit them.

Secondly, Houdini, our lovely friend has disappeared. We have our speculations, but we believe that maybe while we were gone he went too far to hunt and maybe didn't make it back. We are still holding out hope that he will turn up sometime but he has been missing for a while. We miss him a bunch. But one thing that you sense here really quick is that this is really an atmosphere of survival of the fittest....in many ways. Well, wherever he is, he is missed.

Love to you all,

Kim and Jon



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lightening always strikes thrice

Through the magic of Twitter we have been able to give all of you faithful readers (thanks mom!) up to the minute reports on our activities. But now that I'm in the capital and I have some time on my hands I can expand a bit on how things have been going. Kim and I are well. We just finished giving our final exams and the school year has pretty much ended. We still have a little bit of grading to do and we're waiting on some colleagues to get there grades in to use. Beyond that we have a few conferences to go to and a new group of volunteers to help train but I think its fair to say that Kim and I are more or less on vacation which is a great feeling. Something interesting: Kim went out a few nights ago with some other volunteers to see a French performance of the Vagina Monologues. It sounded like a really cool time. Today we went out to visit the workshop of an artist that lives in Conakry and makes tapestries. He showed us just how much time goes into the work he does. Besides that we made eggplant parmesan and have been watching a "True Blood" marathon.

As Kim and I mentioned, our house got hit by lightning a few weeks ago. It blew a couple holes in our walls and scared the crap out of us but we're fine. Unfortunately it wasn't a simple fluke. All our neighbors got hit as well. The cell phone tower next to our house wasn't grounded properly so when lightning would strike the currant couldn't reach the ground and jumped off the tower hitting nearby houses. Here is a before and after of where our house got hit and later repaired.

An up close photo of the hole made by the lightning when it hit our place. At a second hole you can actually see the course taken by the lightning because it burned the paint a different color as it passed by. Unfortunately I couldn't get that photo. Maybe another time.

This is a photo of the repair work that our community did for us. There was a huge crack made in the wall when the lightning hit.

Here is an additional photo of the lightening strike. That light grey line is the path that the lightening took through our house. Scarey..un peu

On a more uplifting note, our garden is going great. We planted a bunch of pumpkins, basil, squash, sunflowers, lettuce, carrots, etc. We're really excited to see what comes up. Kim in particular is taking a lot of joy from her time gardening and I can't think of a much more constructive tool for offsetting every day stresses and the frustrations we sometimes run into. Kim harvested some of the lettuce the other day and we made a salad with it and some of the crasins sent by her mom. It was remarkably great. After a year here in Guinea, its easy to get tired of the food situation. But I think that our garden will be a real treat during the up coming months. Here are a few photos Kim took before we left for Conakry.

Our first salad.

The garden as seen from the gate. I made the stump into a really great lawn chair; for when I watch the grass grow.

A cantaloupe flower.

A Cornstalk after the rain.

Besides the lightning and the garden Kim told me to post this video of our Neighbors' daughter - her name is Mama - doing the hula in an outfit Kate and Jim (our friends out in Hawaii) sent us. She's incredibly cute.

Mama on our front porch dancing the hula. Winning hearts and minds for the American way of life one overexcited child at a time.

On that note, and I hope you all appreciate the amateur home video, I'll sign off for tonight. I'll be having to get up early for trip out to the mountains for a conference on hiv/aids demonstrations. I hope everyone had a great father's day.

-jonathan

Sophie the Cephalope, Zen Sprouts, and Lawn Chairs

Spending my last evening in the city catching up on the television and movies that I've been missing. Finally got to see 3:10 to Yuma, Nick and Nora's Infinit Playlist and Slumdog Millionaire and I'm working through the second season of Weeds. We've got some very packed and busy weeks coming up so its been nice to just veg out for awhile and relax. Also had to get some t-shirts printed for the girls conference that is coming up really quickly in mid-june. I will post some pictures of the design when I have some.

Some new news:

Recently one of our students, Yero, came to our house with a strange, brown, bunny-looking animal in his arms. Before we could really react or say a word, he throws this strange animal into my arms and says "Ça c’est pour vous" and smiles proudly over the present he has given us. Of course our next question is "What the heck is it?" He gives us a name in Sussu tokeh which didn't help us very much. Well we did a little research and found out this little friend is called a cephalope or commonly called a bay duiker which is a type of antelope that lives in the bush. She is a funny little cutie with tiny little ballerina hooves and a big shiny black nose. Here is a picture with Yero and one of her by herself.

Jon and I went on a hike a while back but I wasn't able to post any photos. A man from the USGS came by to do a GPS mapping survey of the area and talk to some of the local conservation groups. It was great! We were able to see a satileite image of our village and the surrounding areas. We also got to meet a former Peace Corps volunteer who is still working in Guinea. No chimps this time but it was neat to see the interest and ecological importance of the dense forest near us. We are hoping to continue working with them to help preserve the area.

Jon and I finally got our fence built and dug our garden. And in spite of the fact that everyone says we've dug it all wrong, I am very proud of us. Unfortunately I forgot to take pictures before we left but we have some sprouts already. We planted carrots in a special box and sifted all the soil and amazingly!! there are actually coming up! We also planted pumpkins, squash, and zuccinni, lettuce, basil and sunflowers and they are all doing really well. We have also planted a very nutritious plant called moringa but as of thursday they haven't come up. We planted some peas and beans but nothing has come up. If anyone could send us some more pea and bean seeds, we would really appreciate it. More photos to come as things start growing!

Our cement stone pathway to the garden....

Jon's Carrot Patch Zen Garden

This past weekend, we were out in Kindia, a city about 4 hours away to go a wedding of the daughter of the Sous-prefet and also my best Guinean friend, Mariam. We left with most of the family right after prayer call (aka VERY early) to take the one car that takes the direct route 3 times a week and even though there was already 8 people in the car plus the chauffeur, we still managed to find another 4 en route. Really, one must love the transportation system in Guinea.

Once there, we were introduced to the extended family and feed a breakfast of rice and palm oil. We paid a vist to some other volunteers in the area and went along with Mariam to see her university. We got to get dressed up in oue West African finery, eat almost constantly vast quantities of rice and sauce, and sat awkwardly for long stretches of time on plastic lawn chairs. BUT its was an amazing time. Mariam looked absolutely gorgeous and the dancing was fantastic! Unfortunately we also both got a little ill so we had to miss out on some of the festivities. but as Guinean weddings are full 2 day events, we still got to enjoy quite a bit. We had a blast, despite being under the weather. If I can manage, I will try to put up a video of some of the crazy dancing.

Who is that handsome fellow?

Other then all that, things have been fairly calm. Next week we will start reveiws and after that compositions will begin...then girls conference follows immediately, then an HIV/AIDS training in the Fouta region and finally we'll be helping out to train the incoming group who arrive in July. Life is moving really fast out here! I can't believe that we are coming up on a year in-country! We are having a blast, being challenged beyond anything else we have ever done, and finally finding the time for our hobbies and side projects in Moussayah.

Hope all is well in you neck of the woods. As for me....I'm going to watch some more television!

Love you all!

Kim (and Jon!)

twitter or why technology is awesome

I had been hearing very excessively about twitter recently on the copious amounts of BBC news that we have been listening to and so I thought that I'd give it a try. And its incredible...by some sort of magic, Jon and I will, with our cell phone, in a little village in West Africa be able to give day to day updates on this blog and on facebook on the happening chez nous for anyone interested, very bored, or in need of some good old fashioned procrastination.

If you take look to the right of our blog, there is a running tally of things I have been sending with my phone. This is very cool. I am a very lame, uninformed geek and the internet is magic.

Not too much new on the home front but since I was in town I thought that I would let everyone know that we are stil alive and kicking. I head back to site tomorrow to get working in the garden and get ready for the end of school. June is going to be a very busy month too with girls conference, a lifeskills (HIV/AIDS) training and the welcoming of our new training group!! So, I'm not sure how often we will be able to update. But now, with twitter, we can write little notes in the meantime so everyone knows whats going on in our crazy little lives.

Love you all and miss you tons! Hope all is well!
Kim and Jon

Sharing New Lives

It hasn't been all that long since we last posted but we've made it back to the capital for some work...and some repose. Life is just moving along here, everything is fairly calm, not too much new or exciting-and sometimes, that is a good thing!


The school year is winding to a close and we are preparing for the new volunteers to arrive in July for their training. We are planning for a trip to Mali and some fun side projects for the summer vacation. Our days are spent teaching, recovering from teaching, resting and reading, getting our garden ready for the rainy season, and studying our french and sussu. Each day passes quicker then the last although sometimes in the midst of the heat and stress a day may seem as if it will never end.


We've been spending an inordinate amount of time spoiling our new cat Houdini. And as all cat lovers do, we have photographed him in many a cute pose. Jon also loves him so much that I once woke up in the middle of the night because Jon was sleeping diagonally so that Houdini could have a comfy spot to doze...right on Jon's pillow. So, he is quickly making his way into our hearts...and our bed.



"What, did you want to sit here?"

A purse pillow for a sleepy one.

Houdini loves playing in our mosquito netting. Here is a picture that Jon took a few weeks ago. This is not as fun when it is three am and one is trying to sleep!

Cuddles beware, this cat is one good reposer.

A week or so ago, I was getting ready to go to my tutor's house for a Susu lesson. While I was getting ready, I took a look through our bedroom wedding and saw a sheep in our garden. This sheep was acting rather erratic so I decided to watch it for a while. Moments later, I realized that the sheep was in labor and was about to give birth in our garden!!! Jon and I watch in amazement as this new life entered the world. I was astounded. it was the first time I had seen the birth of anything, animal or human, and it was amazing. The most incredible thing was that just moments after it was born, the baby was already up walking around and looking for some food! Here is a picture just minutes after!!!

And there is always, of course Mia, our chicken who has just hatched 4 more (yet to be named) babies and our wonderful goat, Sierra who is getting fatter by the day. Sierra is in denile about her weight gain as she still tries to fit through the narrow bars of our porch fence. I think that soon we will have a Winnie the pooh episode on our hands! Here are some pictures of that funny goat as well!

I'm getting to be a bit of a Little bo Peep around town as she has taken to following me around. I love it, but the ladies in the market just don't understand!

"Do you have any rice to share?"

Look at that belly!! Pretty soon we'll have a new baby goat...or two!!

Last weekend, Jon and I went out to a neighboring village with our pal Mr. Bangoura because we were told that some "experts" were coming into town along with the Forestry department of the local prefecture. We were told that they wanted to take a hike out into the forest and we had been invited along. It turned out that these experts were two americans working with the USGS to do a geological survey of the area. It was awesome! We got to see a GPS map of the area including the dense forest that we are trying to protect. One of the american "experts" is actually based out of Conakry and is a former volunteer so hopefully we will be working with him in the future. We went up to the edge of the densest bit of forest, but due to time constraints, were unable to do much more. But we were able to find some really gorgeous views and had a really fun hike. We didn't see much wildlife, however. But, we have other trips in the works so we will keep you posted about any chimp sightings

That is all for now. We miss you all and hope that all is well, spring is springing and that the sun is falling warmly on your faces.