OH boy. Do I have a lot to update or what?
On August 15th we finally got a break from our
regular training routine, not to mention a break from Dubreka. We began by
traveling to Mamou, a town approximately five hours east of here in the Fouta
region. The Fouta is strikingly different from Basse Cote (where Dubreka is
located) – it is much more mountainous, less humid, and actually fairly cool
(long sleeve shirts at night)! We stayed at ENATEF, a forestry school, in
dormitory-style rooms. The purpose of our three nights in Mamou was to have a
Peace Corps-run workshop with our future supervisors, meaning the principals of
the middle and high schools where we’ll be working come October.
When we got off the bus in Mamou we were informed that some
of our supervisors had already arrived. I scrambled to get changed into nicer
clothes – I needed to look presentable to meet my future boss – and nervously
went outside to find him. Everything that I had been told about supervisor
workshop indicated that this first introduction is typically really awkward. One of the Peace Corps
trainers found me and introduced me to the principal of my middle school,
Moussa Konate. Sure, our first conversation was a little awkward, but not
nearly as bad as I had feared. I introduced myself, expressed how excited I was
to finally visit Cissela, and how much I’m looking forward to working in his
school. He told me that they were very happy to have another Peace Corps
volunteer and that Cissela has had three others in the past, three male math
and physics teachers.
The next two days were spent in sessions for the workshop.
Most of the information provided was intended more for our supervisors than for
us (history and mission of the Peace Corps, the principal’s roles and
responsibilities towards the volunteer, the volunteer’s responsibilities, etc).
It was a lot of sitting through French being spoken at us, but it’s important
to have the volunteers present so that we’re all on the same page. In my
opinion, the most useful session was an hour of one-on-one discussion time with
the supervisor. I was able to get a lot of information, mostly about my town
and my school. I’m lucky because my school is super tiny – class size is about
thirty students, which is almost unheard of in Guinea. There are only three
teachers, the principal included, four including me. When Monsieur Konate heard
that I studied Biology in college his eyes lit up, as his school desperately
needs a Biology teacher. I told him I’d be happy to try, so it looks like I’ll
be teaching both Biology and English. I’m hoping that Peace Corps can help me
get my hands on some materials, namely the curriculum and some additional
resources since I’ll be teaching bio in French…
After our three nights in Mamou, it was finally time to go
visit site! I was a combination of nervous and excited – previous volunteers
had told me that site visit isn’t the easiest, but that it gives a really
important impression that your village will have of you for the next two years.
To get to Cissela, I had my first experience in a bush taxi. Oh boy… those
things are CROWDED. The majority of them are old hatch-back Renaults, painted
yellow and with zero suspension. They
have three rows, one with a passenger seat and the driver, the middle intended
for three to sit, and the back for two. Well… in Guinea we like to keep it
cozy, so two sit in the front passenger seat, four in the middle row, and three
in the back. Since a number of us were headed to Haute, four volunteers and
five supervisors crammed into my taxi. The ride to from Mamou to Cissela is
BUMPY. Despite being the national highway, the road has not been maintained, so
it is scattered with deep potholes. Looking out the window, I could tell that
Haute looks markedly different from both the Fouta and Basse Cote. It’s less
mountainous, less green (though still fairly lush – it is the rainy season),
and the majority of homes are one-room round huts with thatched roofs (in the
rest of the country, most people live in concrete houses).
Five hours later, the driver pulled over and my supervisor
told me that we had arrived! I got out of the car, said goodbye to my fellow
trainees, and was finally the lone American in my village. We first stopped by
Monsieur Konate’s hut, where I sat for a moment and collected myself. We then
went and greeted the president of the APAE, the Guinean version of a PTA. My
supervisor explained that my home is a bit over a mile off of the main paved
road in the center of the village, so he found someone to drive my luggage and
me. As we drove through I got more and more excited – Cissela is such an
idyllic African village, and everything I had imagined when I applied for Peace
Corps. Finally we pulled in front of my HUT! It’s exactly what it sounds like –
a small, round room with a thatched roof. There are two doors, one that opens
up into the rest of my compound and one that opens to my own, private backyard.
The yard is an excellent aspect – it’s pretty tiny but it’s walled in and no
one can see me, which is a level of privacy that is rare here. My bathroom is
an outdoor latrine behind the yard. My hut is in the compound with the village
chief, which is from my understanding a good thing. His family is really, really
nice, but he’s the only one that speaks French, so I really need to work on my
Malinke.
After we dropped my stuff off, it was time to greet the
who’s who in Cissela. I was exhausted and overwhelmed, but had to remain
composed and polite. I met the mayor, the commissariat, the village sage, the
sous prefet, the head of the youth league, and the imam, among others. It was a
bit awkward; I met the imam at a funeral, and he gave me a large benediction in
front of all of the attendees. By the end of the afternoon I had met so many
people my head was swimming, so I went back to my hut to rest before dinner.
The sous prefet (a government-appointed leader of the district) invited me to
dine at his house. I had a lovely time with him and his family; his wife is extremely
sweet and his children adorable. I went home and slept soundly through night
one in my hut!
The next day was the Fete du Ramadan – the big celebration
at the end of thirty days of fasting. Everyone was all dressed up and out and
about. I spent the day with both my host family and my principal. In the
evening we went to a big soccer game in the village, where the announcer
presented me multiple times over loudspeaker, which was a little embarrassing.
Site visit was five nights long. It was probably the hardest
thing I’ve done so far in Guinea, but I know that all of the difficulties are
things that will improve with time. Speaking minimal Malinke is definitely a
challenge, since very few people (and essentially no women) are literate thus
my communication is limited, which gets a little lonely. I just felt a little
bit like a fish out of water for the five days, but once the village gets used
to me and I meet more people I’ll feel more at home. My community is small,
only about 800 people, so I’ll have the opportunity to get to know essentially
all of the families over two years. Incredibly enough, I have cell phone
service in my tiny village! Even more incredible is that my village gets
electricity for four hours each evening, and they are going to set it up in my
hut! Being able to turn on a light and charge my phone are little things that I
do not take for granted in this country…
I was fed incessantly during site visit. My principal, host
family, and the sous prefet would each feed me for the same meal, so it got to
be a bit much by the end, but it was nice to feel cared for! Also, everyone I
met told me that I’ll need to change my last name from “Sylla” to “Cissé” once
I move there… quite literally everyone from Cissela has the last name Cissé, thus
I must adopt it, too. So, call me Mariame Cissé!
My last day in Cissela, Tess, my closest volunteer (18
kilometers away) came to stay with me, since the next day we would travel to
Kankan together. Having her there to see my village, meet my host family, eat
with the sous prefet, and to just hang out in my backyard listening to music
was revitalizing. It also made me realize that I do love my village already and
that it’s fun to show other people around. We also discussed ideas to make our
huts homier. I have big plans!
We left Cissela on Thursday for Kankan, our regional
capital. A group of current volunteers that have already been here for some
time arranged a taxi to stop in my town to pick us up on the way to Kankan,
which was nice because otherwise I would have been completely clueless as to
how to get there! Our two nights in the regional house were lovely. The house
is really nice, equipped with a kitchen, big living room with tons of books to
be borrowed, bedrooms with bunk beds, bathrooms with running water (first time
I’d seen that in eight weeks), and a computer room (internet)! Once I’m a real
volunteer, I’ll be able to stay at the house for one weekend a month. It sounds
like it’s pretty nice (and necessary) to maintain your sanity. Nearly all of
the current volunteers in the region were there for the weekend (around 27 of
us including the nine from our group), so we were pretty packed in, but it was
a good time. The current volunteers cooked lavish meals for us that we devoured
like we hadn’t eaten in decades: pasta with homemade sauce, green beans, garlic
bread, French toast, homefries, scrambled eggs… it was heaven. We had a toga
dance party on the roof one night, and spent a lot of time relaxing, walking
around Kankan, and eating soft serve ICE CREAM… the flavor is a little odd, but
I’m not complaining. I had it three times in two days.
On Saturday the nine Haute trainees headed back to Dubreka.
I wish I could explain what the journey was like, but I don’t think words would
do it justice. I’ll leave it at this: we left at 5:30AM and got to Dubreka at
9:30PM. The roads are bumpy, we were crowded and sleep deprived, and we hardly
stopped for food save for some Pringles at a gas station in Mamou. It was…
intense, but we certainly bonded a LOT.
And at least we are alive; road travel in Guinea is definitely the most
dangerous aspect of my time here.
Arriving back in Dubreka was lovely. I didn’t realize how
much it feels like home here until I was away from it. My host family was
adorable and so excited when I got back. It’s been great to see the other
trainees and hear all about their crazy and diverse experiences during site
visit. I’m definitely looking forward to training coming to a close and to
beginning my actual Peace Corps service, but I imagine leaving Dubreka is going
to be pretty difficult.
Three more weeks of real training! This week is practice
school, so we finally get to teach real, full classes. I’m so very excited, and
I think time is going to go much more quickly! Less than a month til I’m a real
Peace Corps Volunteer!
P.S. THANK YOU so much to those who have sent letters and
packages. Words cannot express how good it feels to receive them, even if they
take forever to get here. And friends… if you haven’t written me yet, you should :) … my address is posted at
the top of this blog!
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