Here's a short post just to let everyone know what's going on. I guess the situation in Guinea was a little more serious than I gave it credit for. About a week after the events of that news article I posted Peace Corps evacuated all the volunteers in the country to a training compound in Bamako, the capitol of Mali. So we've all been here since Oct 7th in a weird consolidated state of limbo. For the moment Peace Corps Washington is deliberating as to whether or not they are going to suspend the program in Guinea. While they're making a decision there's really nothing for us volunteers to do but sit and wait.
A lot is going into the decision but it seems that a lot is going to depend on whether or not the U.S. State Dept allows non-essential embassy personnel to renter the country (for the moment they've all been evacuated as well). I'm trying to remain hopeful that we'll be returning in the face of all this uncertainty but a lot of people I've talked to are of the mind set that we're not gonna be able to go back. We'll see I guess.
Anyways that's all I can say for the moment. Once I get more info about the situation I'll write up a post letting everyone know what's gonna happen. Until then we'll all just have to be patient.
October 16, 2009
September 29, 2009
A nice place to visit
I just got back from a trip to Mali. It was a good time, I went with a few friends and we took a river boat up the Niger River to Timbuktu. Timbuktu was a really interesting place and it was a really cool experience to be wandering around a city that is so ever-present in pop culture as some mysterious and exotic locale. The people who live there call it the door to the desert and you really do feel that way when you’re there. It’s dry and unbelievably hot during the day. There is sand blanketing the streets and there’s almost nothing green in the entire city. The architecture is really amazing and is sort of how I imagine cities in Morocco or Egypt might look. It could have been straight out of “A thousand and one Arabian nights”.
After exploring the city we took camels out to the Sahara to play in the sand and see the sunset, which was a really great experience. I had never seen a camel in real life before and I can now report back that they are one of the weirdest animals there is. Their teeth jut out of their gums like long white fingers and their feet look like huge mushy bags that squash out every time they take a step. Also, 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.
After Timbuktu we came back down and did some hiking in a part of Mali called Dogon country, so named for the Dogon people that live there. The region has a really interesting history and you can still see the remains of the houses carved into the cliffs of the people who lived there before the Dogon. The landscape was really beautiful and it reminded me a lot of places I’d been in Arizona and New Mexico.
When it was all said and done I had a great time in Mali. The country is beautiful and incredibly varied. It was amazing to wake up one morning in the desert and goto sleep that night in a place lush with greenery and lined with amazing cliffs. And of course there’s always the allure of more developed countries and the inevitable western comforts they provide. I swear I think I’d be happy anywhere in the world these days as long as I could find a hamburger and French fries. Anyways I took a lot of pictures (not of the hamburgers) and I’ve posted a lot of them online. Goto the photo link on the right side of the page to check them out.
Unfortunately my return to Guinea was met with bad news. A round of protests against the government just took place in multiple cities around the country including the capital, Conakry. It’s still too early to say what actually happened but multiple international news outlets are reporting quite a bit of a violent activity and deaths. The last I checked BBC had put the death toll around 130 for the protest that took place yesterday in Conakary. Here’s a BBC article on the recent protest that summarizes what pretty much all the major news outlets are reporting.
Guinea rally death toll nears 130
At least 128 people were killed when Guinean troops opened fire on opposition protesters on Monday, rights groups and opposition figures claim.
Earlier police said 87 people had died, but local activists say hospital sources confirmed a much higher toll.
Human rights groups say they have had reports of soldiers bayoneting people and women being stripped and raped in the streets during Monday's protest.
Junta head Captain Moussa Dadis Camara denied knowledge of sexual assaults.
About 50,000 people were protesting over rumours that Capt Camara intends to run for president in an election schedule for next January.
But soldiers moved in to quell the rally using tear gas and baton charges and firing live ammunition into the crowds.
An eyewitness told Human Rights Watch: "I saw the Red Berets [an elite military unit] catch some of the women who were trying to flee, rip off their clothes, and stick their hands in their private parts.
"Others beat the women, including on their genitals. It was pathetic - the women were crying out."
Another eyewitness told the group: "I saw several women stripped and then put inside the military trucks and taken away. I don't know what happened to them."
There has been worldwide condemnation of the violence.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urged the Guinean authorities to exercise maximum restraint, while the West African regional body Ecowas is reported to be pursuing sanctions against the military regime.
Anyways, I’m posting all this info to let people know what’s going on but I also want to stress that I’m not in any danger and Peace Corps has volunteer safety in mind with everyone decision they make. All the violence has been confined to Conakry and my site and the area around it is perfectly safe. So don’t worry, nothing’s gonna happen to yours truly. In fact Peace Corps has advised us that the best thing we can all do is go back to our sites and wait this out, which is where I’m heading right now. So I advise anyone who’s interested to keep up to date with what’s going on at the BBC website and keep in mind that no matter what I am safe and sound. So don’t worry. And check out my picks from Mali!
After exploring the city we took camels out to the Sahara to play in the sand and see the sunset, which was a really great experience. I had never seen a camel in real life before and I can now report back that they are one of the weirdest animals there is. Their teeth jut out of their gums like long white fingers and their feet look like huge mushy bags that squash out every time they take a step. Also, 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.
After Timbuktu we came back down and did some hiking in a part of Mali called Dogon country, so named for the Dogon people that live there. The region has a really interesting history and you can still see the remains of the houses carved into the cliffs of the people who lived there before the Dogon. The landscape was really beautiful and it reminded me a lot of places I’d been in Arizona and New Mexico.
When it was all said and done I had a great time in Mali. The country is beautiful and incredibly varied. It was amazing to wake up one morning in the desert and goto sleep that night in a place lush with greenery and lined with amazing cliffs. And of course there’s always the allure of more developed countries and the inevitable western comforts they provide. I swear I think I’d be happy anywhere in the world these days as long as I could find a hamburger and French fries. Anyways I took a lot of pictures (not of the hamburgers) and I’ve posted a lot of them online. Goto the photo link on the right side of the page to check them out.
Unfortunately my return to Guinea was met with bad news. A round of protests against the government just took place in multiple cities around the country including the capital, Conakry. It’s still too early to say what actually happened but multiple international news outlets are reporting quite a bit of a violent activity and deaths. The last I checked BBC had put the death toll around 130 for the protest that took place yesterday in Conakary. Here’s a BBC article on the recent protest that summarizes what pretty much all the major news outlets are reporting.
Guinea rally death toll nears 130
At least 128 people were killed when Guinean troops opened fire on opposition protesters on Monday, rights groups and opposition figures claim.
Earlier police said 87 people had died, but local activists say hospital sources confirmed a much higher toll.
Human rights groups say they have had reports of soldiers bayoneting people and women being stripped and raped in the streets during Monday's protest.
Junta head Captain Moussa Dadis Camara denied knowledge of sexual assaults.
About 50,000 people were protesting over rumours that Capt Camara intends to run for president in an election schedule for next January.
But soldiers moved in to quell the rally using tear gas and baton charges and firing live ammunition into the crowds.
An eyewitness told Human Rights Watch: "I saw the Red Berets [an elite military unit] catch some of the women who were trying to flee, rip off their clothes, and stick their hands in their private parts.
"Others beat the women, including on their genitals. It was pathetic - the women were crying out."
Another eyewitness told the group: "I saw several women stripped and then put inside the military trucks and taken away. I don't know what happened to them."
There has been worldwide condemnation of the violence.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urged the Guinean authorities to exercise maximum restraint, while the West African regional body Ecowas is reported to be pursuing sanctions against the military regime.
Anyways, I’m posting all this info to let people know what’s going on but I also want to stress that I’m not in any danger and Peace Corps has volunteer safety in mind with everyone decision they make. All the violence has been confined to Conakry and my site and the area around it is perfectly safe. So don’t worry, nothing’s gonna happen to yours truly. In fact Peace Corps has advised us that the best thing we can all do is go back to our sites and wait this out, which is where I’m heading right now. So I advise anyone who’s interested to keep up to date with what’s going on at the BBC website and keep in mind that no matter what I am safe and sound. So don’t worry. And check out my picks from Mali!
July 21, 2009
I Remember
The new training group is here and PST is in full swing. It's been a weird experience seeing so many people viewing Guinea for the first time. I see myself in all of them and remember how, not too long ago, I was the wide eyed trainee stepping off a comfortable climate controlled airplane to be hit with the muggy heat of the rainy season.
I remember barely saying a word on the drive from the airport as I stared out at the streets littered with trash and people. I remember watching the ocean over the palm trees from the roof of the Peace Corps compound and thinking I had landed in a beautiful tropical paradise. I also remember my first trip to the market where I changed that opinion as I waded through rivers of sewage and tried to navigate my way through the labyrinth of unfamiliar sights and smells.
I remember constantly not understanding the people around me. I remember when I was still surprised that people would chant "White Person!" as I walked by. I remember not knowing how to take a bath with a bucket. I remember not knowing how to use a latrine. I remember thinking that toh was one of the worst foods imaginable, and then I remember getting used to eating it every day.
I remember learning that even if the person you're talking to is a complete stranger you need to start every conversation with them by asking about their family. I remember the first time I got offended when a stranger didn't ask about mine.
I remember learning to slow down. I remember realizing that tea is drunk for the two hour chat that comes with it. I remember walks down the windy paths of my village where people I have never met call me by name and invite me to dinner.
I remember all this and more as I see the new volunteers experience it for the first time and I realize that this is really what Peace Corps is about. We come here to a new world and we find it full of strangeness and unfamiliarity. At first we're lost and we don't feel like we have a compass to find our way. But little by little we change the way we see our new world, and in the process we change the way we see ourselves. By the end, the strangeness has peeled away and all that's left is a place we call home.
I don't remember when Guinea became my home, but somewhere along the way it did.
I remember barely saying a word on the drive from the airport as I stared out at the streets littered with trash and people. I remember watching the ocean over the palm trees from the roof of the Peace Corps compound and thinking I had landed in a beautiful tropical paradise. I also remember my first trip to the market where I changed that opinion as I waded through rivers of sewage and tried to navigate my way through the labyrinth of unfamiliar sights and smells.
I remember constantly not understanding the people around me. I remember when I was still surprised that people would chant "White Person!" as I walked by. I remember not knowing how to take a bath with a bucket. I remember not knowing how to use a latrine. I remember thinking that toh was one of the worst foods imaginable, and then I remember getting used to eating it every day.
I remember learning that even if the person you're talking to is a complete stranger you need to start every conversation with them by asking about their family. I remember the first time I got offended when a stranger didn't ask about mine.
I remember learning to slow down. I remember realizing that tea is drunk for the two hour chat that comes with it. I remember walks down the windy paths of my village where people I have never met call me by name and invite me to dinner.
I remember all this and more as I see the new volunteers experience it for the first time and I realize that this is really what Peace Corps is about. We come here to a new world and we find it full of strangeness and unfamiliarity. At first we're lost and we don't feel like we have a compass to find our way. But little by little we change the way we see our new world, and in the process we change the way we see ourselves. By the end, the strangeness has peeled away and all that's left is a place we call home.
I don't remember when Guinea became my home, but somewhere along the way it did.
July 5, 2009
Ramblin Man
I've been away from my site on various errands and business since the beginning of June and plan to continue this trend until mid august. Apparently I've been getting too comfortable in my village because I seem to have forgotten the headaches that go along with living out of a bag and moving from place to place for months on end. Quite frankly I'm exhausted, and I'm barely half way through my travel marathon. Between a trip to Conakry for errand running and American food eating, a conference on HIV/aids prevention, and stint at the training facility assisting in the planning of the upcoming pre-service training I'm beat. I'm just counting down the days until I'll be back in my own hut with my own bed and my own schedule.
It seems to me that the grass is always greener is a philosophy that's quite directly applying to my life of late. Towards the end of the school year I was feeling a bit burnt out and was really looking forward to some time away to collect myself. But now that I've had that time I'm really missing my little corner of the world and I just want to get back and feel at home again. Although I'm sure once I get there I'll start turning my thoughts elsewhere again. Seems to be the story of my life.
On a more upbeat note the new training group is coming in three days and I'm excited to meet them all. It should be an interesting few weeks, anytime a new group of Americans comes to country it's cause for celebration. And what's more as soon as I leave training I'll be heading out to Ireland to meet up with my family. After a year away I'm just counting the days until I get to see them all again. It's going to be a nice little reunion. Not to mention some real westernized food.
Anyways I'm not sure what the moral of all this is but I guess I'll be thinking twice before I plan another stint of multiple months away from site. Not that I'll really have the chance again once school starts.
It seems to me that the grass is always greener is a philosophy that's quite directly applying to my life of late. Towards the end of the school year I was feeling a bit burnt out and was really looking forward to some time away to collect myself. But now that I've had that time I'm really missing my little corner of the world and I just want to get back and feel at home again. Although I'm sure once I get there I'll start turning my thoughts elsewhere again. Seems to be the story of my life.
On a more upbeat note the new training group is coming in three days and I'm excited to meet them all. It should be an interesting few weeks, anytime a new group of Americans comes to country it's cause for celebration. And what's more as soon as I leave training I'll be heading out to Ireland to meet up with my family. After a year away I'm just counting the days until I get to see them all again. It's going to be a nice little reunion. Not to mention some real westernized food.
Anyways I'm not sure what the moral of all this is but I guess I'll be thinking twice before I plan another stint of multiple months away from site. Not that I'll really have the chance again once school starts.
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