Yes we Kankan!

I have been waiting to make that joke for quite a while.  I haven’t had internet much recently and, to be honest, the idea of writing up all I have been doing was a little overwhelming.  I’ll try to summarize what I’ve done without droning on too long, for my sake and yours.

New Years Day, myself and the other AGFO and public health volunteers climbed a nearby mountain, ‘Le Chien qui Fume’.  It was an interesting hike, since the path was very narrow and didn’t actually go all the way to the top.  At one point we had to machete through a wall of brush and make a tunnel that we then crouched/ crawled through.  The view from the top was great though, and we all felt very accomplished upon reaching the top.  Because it is currently the dry season, it was too hazy to see all the way to the ocean as I’ve heard you can do, but it was cool nonetheless.

On the 4^th, we all headed to Mamou to do a workshop with our Guinean counterparts.  This was mainly to go over what the PC is and what is expected of both volunteers and counterparts.  It was also a chance to get to know our counterparts before we all went our sepearte ways for site visits.  The workshop was held at an agroforestry school, which was especially fortunate for us AGFO volunteers, because we got to see a wide variety of tree species we hadn’t seen before and had a session on tree identification and uses.

We all left with our counterparts that Saturday to head to our sites.  Several of us shared a bush taxi to Kankan, with 10 people in it (one counterpart in the trunk!).  It was about a twelve hour trip over very bumpy roads.  Fortunately, my site in Kankan was right along the route of the bush taxi, so I did not have to go very far once we arrived.  Others still had another two hour trip north after arriving in Kankan.

Kankan is very much a ville (city).  The roads are crowded with motorcycles and bicycles, although there are very few cars.  The president of Guinea has recently pushed for increasing the accessibility of electricity in Kankan, so power lines are going up all over.  This is great for me because it means I have almost constant access to soft serve ice cream and cold Coke.  It is also a very spread out city and takes at least an hour and half to walk from one end to the other. 

The quartier I am living in is called Dar Es Salaam.  It is about a twenty minute walk from Bordo, which is where my groupement’s garden is located.  A groupement is basically just an organization of people.  I am working with one called Fasso Demain, which is primarily a women’s group who practices market gardening.  My counterpart, Conde (pronounced con-day), is the president of the groupement’s son.  The groupement is very very enthusiastic.  When I met them, they all danced in joy for my arrival.  Then when they heard my Guinean name (Mahawa Conde), they all danced again!

There are two research centers located in Bordo as well.  One is an agricultural research center that I will be working with.  One scientist there is a consulter for Fasso Demain and I have been promised an office there.  They have a wealth of research that simply hasn’t been shared with the average Guinean, so I am hoping, as a PCV, to bridge that gap.  The other center works with bushrats (e.g. agouti).  One way people hunt for agouti is by setting bush fires to scare the animals into traps.  Unfortunately, this can lead to uncontrolled bush fires, a major cause of deforestation in Guinea.  This research center is working on learning how to raise agouti domestically, to lower the incidence of bush fires.  I’m not sure what exactly I will be doing with them, but they have offered to bring me along on several workshops to observe and help when I can.

I am staying in a new house in Kankan next to my counterpart’s house.  It is one big room with a queen size bed and inside latrine.  The front porch is ringed by a little garden that my counterpart has begun planting, although it looks pretty sad right now because the goats and sheep keep snacking on it.  I am hoping to plant some herbs and flowers when I move-in in February.

Now I’m in Dubreka for the final two weeks of training.  We are learning our local languages (Malinka for me) and some final technical skills.  Yesterday we made papaya jam and are in the process of making sun-dried tomatoes.  I will definitely be doing a lot of that at site!  Everyone is very excited because the African Cup starts this weekend and Guinea is in it! I imagine we will be watching a lot of soccer over the coming week. 

For those of you who don’t know, the official swear-in date for my stage (G21) is February 3^rd.  The ceremony is supposed to be televised (only in Guinea, sorry) and we are all getting matching outfits for it.  Shortly after that, I will be heading out to Kankan to officially start my Peace Corps service.

Anbe kofe, huh? (See you later in Malinka)