The Past Few Weeks

After 5 days tenting out in Robertsport, Jon and I have continued our vacation in Monrovia to enjoy some creature comforts including Internet, A/C, grocery stores, hot showers and CNN. So we will use our ample Internet to hopefully post some photos, do some emailing, and catch up a little on news.

Here’s a small update on what’s been going on here in Liberia:
Unfortunately, most of the photo's wont load. We'll try our best over the next couple of days to get them up. I posted some photos to Facebook so you can see them there. We try but the speeds are just dismally slow!! Sorry!

Bunnies
There's a lady that raises rabbits in town. They're pretty great.


Yekepa
Jon and I took a trip up to Yekepa at the tip of Nimba County right on the border to Guinea and Ivory Coast. We had always wanted to hike up mount Nimba when we were in Guinea and so took the chance to go up on the Liberian side. Yekepa is an old mining town in the mountains. It has a strange Suburbia feeling about it. Nearly everything in the town was built or provided by the mining company. All the housing was built as row houses for mine workers. Instead of artfully named quarters of town, people tell you where they live by giving you a number and a letter. “I’m in C block 4”. The Mountain itself shares tri-border point with Guinea, Ivory Coast, and Liberia and has one of the highest iron ore concentrations in the world. There is so much iron in the mountain that trees can’t even grow on it. The place has a haunting, apocalyptic feeling due to years of mining operations followed by years of looting, vandalism, and civil war. The mountain looks like some strange stepped ancient ruins that runs down to a huge water-filled quarry. All around stand old rusting mining equipment and trucks as if work had suddenly and dramatically been halted mysteriously. Here and there are the burnt-out skeletons of the former mining infrastructure and establishment.
Needless to say we had a great time visiting the area and taking a break from the normal rhythm of life.




Rural Women’s Association Fund Raiser
On May 1st I attended a fund-raiser for the Tappita District Rural Women’s Associations. Groups from all over the district came together to raise funds for projects they were spearheading in their various towns and villages. Some were building women’s health clinics; others schools, warehouses, and marketplaces. I went with a friend of mine to a town about 45 minutes away called Grey. We arrived very early….meaning ‘on time’ in the US and had plenty of time to chat, eat, and chase her 3 year old around. When the program finally began there were many music and dance performances before the fundraising rally officially opened. Many important officials were invited including the CEO (roughly equivalent to a County-level Super Intendant), and the chief elder. I was asked to open the raffle and expressed how impressed I was with the women’s initiatives and explained how their work has been influencing the younger generation in the Tappita Girls Social Club. After that, each invitee was invited up to say some words and to officially give their donation. After many such speeches and plenty more dancing, we finally headed home around 5pm. I haven’t heard what the final tally was of the funds that they were able to raise but I am sure that they are all well on their way to achieving their various objectives.

The CEO’s visit
On May 6th the County Education Officer came for a visit to the school. The visit had been planned for the beginning of the school year but had been pushed back many times. Unfortunately because of the changes, there was less of a turnout then the school had hoped for. Even with the small attendance, the event was very entertaining. All 4 high schools in Tappita gave musical performances and the cultural troupe gave dance presentations to welcome the CEO Mr. Wolf. I will try to post some videos of these performances if the internet gods allow. During the CEO’s address he answered many of the teacher’s pressing questions and gave the school district some gifts and supplies from UNICEF.

Mock WAEC
The reason that Jon and I were able to take our small vacation this week is that presently, our 12th grade students are taking National Exams (the WAEC). These national exams are very important for these students to graduate or to move on in their studies. Generally the week before the exams, there is a trail run test given by each individual school with varying levels of success and resemblance to the actual WAEC test. Last week was rather trying because, for some reason, the school administration was looking to Jon and I for direction in the administration of the test. We were asked to take a leadership role in administering tests to 200 students at once for three days from 8am to 5pm and all of the small and large crises that arose in between. And then, on top of correcting our own exams and calculating the year-end averages for the 12th graders, we were expected to administer all the make up exams. After all that we felt that we deserved a little break so we took off to go to (see below….)

Robertsport.
Robertsport is one of the most beautiful spots in all of Liberia. It is also a hot spot for beach lovers and Surfers from all over the world. We went down to visit our friend Raj at his site and to soak in a little sun. We found a great place to camp right on the beach for $5 a night, took our first surfing lesson, swam, ate incredible seafood, and slept all afternoon in perfectly placed hammocks. A few other Peace Corps friends were enjoying the beach as well. During the weekend, the whole place was packed with NGO and UNMIL Land Rovers but during the week, there was no one around and we had the beach almost completely to ourselves! It was a beautiful place and we are hoping to make our way back there again very soon.

Well that’s really about it. Time has been flying by. We are coming up on the end of the school year and we are beginning to turn our attention to our other projects in the community as well as the Peace Corps trainings in Sierra Leone and Liberia. We are yet to hear what our schedule will be like for the rest of our service but one thing that we do know is that we will be really busy!

Take Care and I hope that you enjoy the long overdue pictures!

Going for Weekend-Happy Easter

Hello all!
Again sorry for the long delays in our updates but in case you have forgotten…we live in West Africa where things never go quite as smoothly as you might wish.


We have been keeping ourselves busy over here. School has been quite a bit less productive as school days keep getting canceled for various events: the president’s visit, a teacher’s meeting, outdoor work days, holidays, the white guys are the only ones who showed up again days…there are various reasons that school just cannot possibly happen. But these days are not just disruptive in and of themselves but are compounded by the fact that when they occur, there is at least one or two days that students will “go for weekend” and just not show up. When there is no school, students who live far from the town will go home to re-supply money and food from home. Other students just don’t come. So for an example, if there is a holiday on a Monday, the students will not come on Tuesday because they went for a weekend or they are recovering from all the resting they did on the holiday. Wednesday is market day so every week, at best 1/2 the students at the school will show up. Maybe Thursday the teacher’s will decide to stay home or maybe have a impromtu meeting so school will be canceled again and everyone will “go for weekend until Monday…or Tuesday…..but then there is market day and the cycle continues. In the past three weeks there were very few days that we stayed at school for the whole day. We taught our classes but with 7 students in a class and no other teachers, there is only so much motivation to continue for the whole day.

Several University students came to hold tutorial sessions for the 9th and 12th graders who are preparing for national exams. I was pretty busy writing new lesson plans for tutoring sessions which included Saturday morning physics reviews….JOY. The students, who came from all the high schools in Tappita really enjoyed the sessions and so there has been some discussion in continuing them.

The girls group has broken ground for ther community garden. We wrote a letter requesting some help from the UNMIL troops in Tappita and on Saturday they came and promised to donate seeds and technical assistance and brought us delicious snacks: apples (a rare treat for the girls) imported oranges, guava juice, rice, beans, and cookies. The girls were thrilled. I hope that they keep up their ambitious good works. I have been going to the field with them for the past two Saturdays. It feels good toiling and sweating beside them. It is truly a cross-cultural experience. They are always so worried about me and if I really can do so much hard work with the hoe. I teach them about white skin and the need for sunscreen when there is not a shady tree in sight. We work and sing and talk and for awhile we can truly feel the differences fall away. We are hoping to plant tomatoes, cassava, peanuts, cucumbers, cabbage, watermelon, and moringa. I took some pictures and will post them when I can.

Jon and I attended a wedding at the Catholic church this past Saturday. The celebration was more western and less involved then the three day guinean wedding marathons that we used to go to. So this time, instead of spending our whole weekend and a few very late nights sitting, dancing, and feeling odd, we spent a wonderful day enjoying the event. The mass was very traditional, but with some fun African twists with the music and dress. The priest’s homily was really nice and made me think about our wedding. He spoke about how people should be whole human beings when they come into a relationship and not just be looking for the other person to make them whole.

We were honored with a surprise visit from out country director and the acting African regional director on Sunday afternoon. We sat and chatted. We had a small lunch and they gifted up some american food…including oreos!!! Double stuffed! YUM. Woe Woe likes them too! Earlier in the week we also had a vist from some other staff who came for lunch but ended up staying for dinner because PK's cooking is so amazing. So basically the whole staff of Peace corps Liberia were at our house last week!

I guess that pretty much brings us up to date. We are really enjoying ourselves here in Tappita. 5 of our friends came this weekend to spend Easter weekend with us. It's been great catching up and enjoying each other's company.

Just a quick update while there is some internet. I'll post some photos when I can!

Be Well,
Kim and Jon

Woe-Woe-The hand that shook the hand of the president

I'm sorry that we have not updated our blog very frequently even though we now have the internet at our site. The internet that we have is pretty slow and that coupled with the speed of my "vintage" computer and that the process entailed in setting up the generator as well as dealing with a monkey jumping up every two minutes and threatening to pee on the keyboard means that we do not go online that often and when we do we usually only do one or two things.

So just as a quick update:
We've been busy working at the local library. When we first arrived it was just a dusty, moldy room filled with unpacked boxes of books and books jumbled up on some rickety shelves. Now, with some help from our librarian Etoile, We are beginning to get the place into better shape. We have organized all of the textbooks and unpacked and catalogued everything that was in the boxes. (It's surprising the kind of random books we across. If the local students ever start up a Cocktail Bar they'll have the perfect book to teach them how to bar-tend.) We alphabetized all of the fiction books and are now just waiting on some more shelves to be finished so that we can display the non-fiction. We've also organized a children's corner for primary school students. Kim likes to read to the students during recess, but she needs to be careful not to invite too many or the library gets overrun. So anyway, with some minor repairs and some more work, the library will be ship-shape in no time.

Kim joined a young women's empowerment group in town. The "Women of Destiny" are a women's group formed to help support the young ladies of the area as well as participate in social activities. The girls meet 3-4 times a week to play kickball and are making plans for a community garden project. They’re still in discussion as to whether they might be raising goats as an heifer-style economic empowerment initiative. Two weekends ago, they launched their group with a parade through town and an 'opening' ceremony. Kim was asked to give the welcoming speech and the address was broadcasted on the local radio station.

So Kim and I have adopted a 'child' her name is Mona Woe-Woe and she is, as far as we can tell, a Campbell’s Mona Monkey. She is just a tiny baby. She has imprinted upon Kim and thinks she's her mom so she can be a little clingy. But she has stolen our hearts and hey...when else in our lives will we be able to own a monkey for a pet? We get lots of attention when we walk through town with her on our shoulder and people are always asking about her. We will post pictures when we have more time.

Last Friday we had the honor of meeting the President of Liberia, Madame Ellen Johnson Sirleaf. The president stopped in Tappita briefly to see the new Chinese hospital that is being built up the road from our school. School let out early so that everyone could take part. Jon and I stood in the hot midday African sun to see her. Everyone was so excited. There was a lot of music, drumming, and dancing and the Gio "Long devil" was shaking his stuff on long stilts. The Market Ladies association dressed in white to greet the president with palm fronds, singing, and dancing. The massive convoy pulled up and the president’s car rolled right into the compound and so after waiting so long in the hot West African Sun, sweating and sun burnt we figured we had had enough and were not going to be able to see the president. We contented ourselves with a consolatory cold soda in the shade. But just as soon as we sat town another “Qui-poo” or white person starts yelling “Where are the Peace Corps people!!!! Peace Corps Hurry!!! Very confused Kim literally throws Woe-Woe (who had come to join the action) to a friend and we go over to the convoy. Apparently the US Ambassador to Liberia helped us out. She brought us, still sweating and sunburned, up to meet the President. It was incredible as the sea of people parted and the “Iron Lady” herself stood before us. We had only seen pictures, read her biography, and seen her in a documentary and suddenly she was right there shaking our hands. We barely knew what to say but we got to greet her briefly as she made her way back to her car to continue her trip around Liberia. Unfortunately it all happened so quickly that we didn’t even get to take a picture. Hopefully we will get another chance to meet and speak to President Sirleaf in the future.

A few nights ago we were invited to dine with the Captain of the Bangladeshi UNMIL at their compound in Tappita. We have been getting to know some of the UN guys in the area as incredibly enough we stick out when they are driving around town on their patrols. We had a great time chatting and the dinner was fantastic: chicken and fish with lots of tumeric, parsley, and spice and delicious naan. It was a great change of pace from rice and cassava paste!

So that’s about all the news that we have right now. Life is pretty good. We have basically had a week-long holiday because Wednesday was a holiday and so the students couldn’t come Thursday or Friday because they didn’t feel like it or went home to their villages and Monday also is a holiday so we’ve been keeping busy reading and napping. So as Kutch would say “Life is Tough!”

Be Well Everyone!
Jon and Kim

So …
Where has the time gone?
As you may have noticed, our last blog post was quite a few months ago. Strange as it may seem, it feels like just yesterday that we were saying goodbye to Guinea/Mali and were on an airplane back across the ocean. Between that time and the present moment, it seems that we have lived many and various, and strangely inconsistent lives. It is hard to articulate but upon landing in America, after a few days it felt like our year in Guinea was this strange and vivid dream. Jon and I went to visit our friends Kate and Jim in Hawaii and that again felt like some alternate reality from the cold snows of the New England winter. We have only just hit our 2 week mark here in Liberia and it feels as though home and holidays were ages ago in some other realm. Time is strange like that…sometimes it leaps, sometimes it crawls, sometimes it stands still…and sometimes it just seems…fragmented…

After our evacuation from Guinea, we were sent home for a few months of R&R to await our return to finish our Peace Corps service in Liberia. We came home to a surprise visit from my parents at Logan airport and a warm welcome to freezing northern Maine. We spent a few weeks with Jon’s family, enjoying every minute…and putting back on all the weight we had lost! We spent Thanksgiving with my family in Boston and en route were able to visit many of our Maine friends. During this time I was studying for the GRE (not very fun or exciting) but as soon as that was over, Jon and I dashed off to Hawaii.

We spent two weeks snorkeling, hiking, lazing on beaches, and driving around The Big Island, Kauai, and Oahu. Kate and Jim were amazing hosts and really helped us to get out and see their favorite parts of the islands even though they had busy work schedules. We managed to make it to all the different sand beaches, including a pretty long, hot hike to a green sand beach. One of the best days was when Jim and Kate took us out to Makala’awena Beach a beautiful (and again hard to reach) pristine white sand beach. We drank Coronas, laid in the sun and played in the waves. Another Peace Corps Guinea Volunteer, Jake, who happened to be in the area, met us there. Then we headed up to Mona Kea, the highest point on the Big Island. Up on top is an internationally renowned astronomical observatory. Because of it’s location and strict light pollution ordinances, the observatory offers some of the most pristine images of the night sky. After a race to rent a car, make the trip there and a little harrowing race up the winding roads, we made it to the top just to see the sunset. We stayed as night fell and watched as the entire milky way lay above us. Jon and I also visited a botanical garden and offered a lei to Pele, the volcano goddess as close as we could get to an active lava flow. On Kauai, one of the most incredible things we did was to go on a boat ride with HoloHolo tours along the picturesque Napali Coast and got to do some more snorkeling near the “Forbidden Island” It was great…7 1/2 hours and more food that could ever be possible to eat!

Hawaii was incredible. Pictures will have to suffice since we are running on a generator right now and I could go on until it ran completely out of gas.

When we got back we had to fight the jet lag and jump back in a car to return for a northern Maine Christmas. We had a blast with our nieces. We have some really cute photos of them dressed in fairie and hula girl costume that they got for Christmas. Very shortly thereafter I had to run back down to Massachusetts to visit with my brother and other family coming into town. We spent New Years in Boston with my family, saw the parade and went skating on frogpond. We then met up with friends and went out to dinner in the north end and ended up staying with PC Guinea friends at their hotel overnight.

Which finally brings everything up to date.

We have been in Liberia for 2 weeks now. The town that we live in is called Tappita and we are teaching at Tarpeh Memorial High School. Jon will be teaching Grammar and Composition to the 10th-12th graders. I will be teaching Physics to 10th –12th and Chemistry for 10th grade. The school had a library desperately in need of some help as well as a computer lab that is suffering from lack of funds and the inundation of harmattan dust amoung other things. So we have some great projects to look forward too. Also, it appears as though the paints that were donated for our world map project did not make the return trip with the rest of our belongings so we are going to try and have that shipped here and we can work on that as well.

We'll post pictures and more information later but for now the generator is running low.

Be Well,
Kim and Jon

The Time

So..
Where has the time gone?

As you may have noticed, our last blog post was quite a few months ago. Strange as it may seem, it feels like just yesterday that we were saying goodbye to Guinea/Mali and were on an airplane back across the ocean. Between that time and the present moment, it seems that we have lived many and various, and strangely inconsistent lives. It is hard to articulate but upon landing in America, after a few days it felt like our year in Guinea was this strange and vivid dream. Jon and I went to visit our friends Kate and Jim in Hawaii and that again felt like some alternate reality from the cold snows of the New England winter. We have only just hit our 2 week mark here in Liberia and it feels as though home and holidays were ages ago in some other realm. Time is strange like that…sometimes it leaps, sometimes it crawls, sometimes it stands still…and sometimes it just seems…fragmented…class After our evacuation from Guinea, we were sent home for a few months of R&R to await our return to finish our Peace Corps service in Liberia. We came home to a surprise visit from my parents at Logan airport and a warm welcome to freezing northern Maine. We spent a few weeks with Jon’s family, enjoying every minute…and putting back on all the weight we had lost! We spent Thanksgiving with my family in Boston and en route were able to visit many of our Maine friends. During this time I was studying for the GRE (not very fun or exciting) but as soon as that was over, Jon and I dashed off to Hawaii.

We spent two weeks snorkeling, hiking, lazing on beaches, and driving around The Big Island, Kauai, and Oahu. Kate and Jim were amazing hosts and really helped us to get out and see their favorite parts of the islands even though they had busy work schedules. We managed to make it to all the different sand beaches, including a pretty long, hot hike to a green sand beach. One of the best days was when Jim and Kate took us out to Makala’awena Beach a beautiful (and again hard to reach) pristine white sand beach. We drank Coronas, laid in the sun and played in the waves. Another Peace Corps Guinea Volunteer, Jake, who happened to be in the area, met us there. Then we headed up to Mona Kea, the highest point on the Big Island. Up on top is an internationally renowned astronomical observatory. Because of it’s location and strict light pollution ordinances, the observatory offers some of the most pristine images of the night sky. After a race to rent a car, make the trip there and a little harrowing race up the winding roads, we made it to the top just to see the sunset. We stayed as night fell and watched as the entire milky way lay above us. Jon and I also visited a botanical garden and offered a lei to Pele, the volcano goddess as close as we could get to an active lava flow. On Kauai, one of the most incredible things we did was to go on a boat ride with HoloHolo tours along the picturesque Napali Coast and got to do some more snorkeling near the “Forbidden Island” It was great…7 1/2 hours and more food that could ever be possible to eat!

Hawaii was incredible. Pictures will have to suffice since we are running on a generator right now and I could go on until it ran completely out of gas.

When we got back we had to fight the jet lag and jump back in a car to return for a northern Maine Christmas. We had a blast with our nieces. We have some really cute photos of them dressed in fairie and hula girl costume that they got for Christmas. Very shortly thereafter I had to run back down to Massachusetts to visit with my brother and other family coming into town. We spent New Years in Boston with my family, saw the parade and went skating on frogpond. We then met up with friends and went out to dinner in the north end and ended up staying with PC Guinea friends at their hotel overnight.

Which finally brings everything up to date.

We have been in Liberia for 2 weeks now. The town that we live in is called Tappita and we are teaching at Tarpeh Memorial High School. Jon will be teaching Grammar and Composition to the 10^th-12^th graders. I will be teaching Physics to 10^th –12^th and Chemistry for 10^th grade. The school has a library desperately in need of some help as well as a computer lab that is suffering from lack of funds and the inundation of harmattan dust amoung other things. So we have some great projects to look forward too. Also, it appears as though the paints that were donated for our world map project did not make the return trip with the rest of our belongings so we are going to try and have that shipped here so that project may yet get off the ground!

We bought a USB internet card and a generator so we have entered the technology age and will have more constant access to the internet....and yes.....that may mean more blog posts for the 2 of you who actually do read this!!!

I will post photos next time we get the generator going....Be well all!

Love Kim and Jon

This is gonna be a long one.....

As in all life there are good things and there are bad....

we shall begin with the good....

About a month ago, Jon and I were able to take our first vacation out of Guinea to the neighboring country of Mali. We went with two of our friends and had a great time. We were finally able to see the entire stretch of the country; see the amazing contrasts of culture, language, ethnicities ecology, landscape, and architecture that makes up Guinea. We crossed into Mali and found the temperature there very similar to the eastern part of Guinea: dry, flat, and hot! But for us, coming from the coast, having heat that was dry instead of humid was actually a nice change!

We spent some time in the music captial of West Africa (and the capital of Mali) Bamako and treated ourself to delicious pastries, beer on tap, and amazing Italian cusine. We went to the markets and were astounded by the incredible craftsmanship of the artisans. After a stop in Mopti and another crazy day of shopping, we headed north on the Niger River on a big boat. As we made our way north, it was amazing to watch the landscape change from red and dry to sandy and dusty as we continued through the sahel and entered the lands of real desserts. We kept our eyes out for hippos but unfortunately did not catch a glimpse of one.

We got to Timbuktu, that place of myth and ledgends, on the "Fete" day to celebrate the end of the month-long fast of Rammadan. Because it was a day of celebration, everyone always dresses to impress in their long, colorful boubous and complets of shiny bazin. Many of the Tureg men wore their turbans and decorated their horses with colorful saddles. The city felt so mysterious and ancient. With everyone in their fancy clothes, it really felt like we had entered some old fairy tail or story from 1001 Arabian Nights. It was almost like we were in a ruins that people still lived in. We would see these old buildings of mud and brick, peek in the door, and the whole family would be sitting chatting sitting on their sandy floor. All the doors and windows were elaborately carved and beautifully decorated with bits of metal. There was sand everywhere! flowing over the paved streets, blowing on the wind, in your ears and between your teeth! In the evening, we took camels out to watch the sunset on the dunes. We have some great pictues and hilarious memories. And to quote my friend Jesse, " if anyone out there was wondering what sound a camel makes I would say it’s kind of loud warbly groan, pretty much exactly like a bantha from Star Wars." Jon's camels was a little unruly but we all had a great time.

The next day we continued on to Dogon Country. Dogon is an area that runs the length of an escarpment or sort of long cliff in the middle of Mali. The area is renowned for its mystery and distinct animist beleifs. We went hiking for three days there. Up in the cliffs there are said to be the remnants of the minature homes of the Tellem or pygmy people. The dwellings are very high in the cliffs and so there are many ideas and myths about how they got up there, what happened to them, and where they went. The landscape was beautiful and everyday we would hike through nice little villages nestled under the cliffs. Every night we slept on the roof under mosquito nets and woke to the sun coming up over the village. We passed through beautiful fields of millet, groves of boababs and besides one small run-in with beeeeees, we all escaped unscathed. During mid day, the sun was soooo hot that we were not supossed to hike so it was a nice paced hike with lots of down time to rest, drink millet beer, and explore.

And so, it was after 2 weeks of exploring and traveling that on our taxi ride back to Guinea that we heard on the radio that there were protests being held in the Capital. Now in a place that is as unstable politically as Guinea is, this is never a good sign. Also, knowing the disposition of the military and those in power, we were definitely worried.

And now the bad...

As many of you may know by now, we are back in the States for a little while.

On September 28th there was a huge opposition gathering at the stadium in Conakry to protest the president, Captain Moussa Dadis Camara's rule and his declaration that he would run in the upcoming elections. In 50 years, Guinea has only had 3 presidents and so people are very used to this game that is played by it's leaders to maintain power. This time, people were not going to let this go without their opposition being voiced. 50,000 people, many young and well-educated men and women from the universities were there to show their opposition. The military and red berets moved in and opened fire. They dropped tear gas and closed off the exits. The beat an assaulted many of the attendees. 157 people were killed and 1,200 were injured. The government has only aknowledged the death of 57 people and many of the bodies seem to have disappeared. We were on our way back from our vacation when we heard the news. Fortunately we were able to go back our village to say some goodbyes before the word came down that we were being consolidated in Mali. We were in Mali for few weeks until we were informed that the program in Guinea had been suspended or in other words, we would not be able to go back until the political situation righted itself.

Here are some news articles to read:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/8280603.stm

http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2009/10/27/guinea-september-28-massacre-was-premeditated?print

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=86819

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/from_our_own_correspondent/8334150.stm

Before we left, we were able to say goodbye to our friends and Guinean family. They will be missed very much and we hope to return soon to visit them. Sierra and Rocky, our goats went to live with my friend and her wonderful family (below) and we were given a very lovely send off by them.

These are the real people behind those headlines that you read. The ones that are struggling day to day and who are only looking for stability and a brighter future for their children. It is these people who are harmed by vicious dictators who are willing to rule at any cost.

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!)