Teaching
Adventures
I have 16
tenth graders who come to school fairly consistently. Some kids walk more than
10 kilometers to get to school each day. At the end of the school year, my 10th
graders have to pass a national exam in order to continue onto the high school
level. About 10 of my 16 kids have shown an incredible amount of dedication. No
one in my village has passed the exam for the past four years, so I would be
thrilled to see even one person pass the test! I have taken on teaching physics
as well as math to my 10th graders because
our physics teacher has pretty much stopped coming to school. I think I might
take up teaching physics for all the grades next year! The past few weeks have
been challenging for everyone at school as the heat continues to get more and
more intense. But we fight through our exhaustion together and I think they
finally understand vector coordinates! Some of my students have started coming
over to my house after school to continue working math problems on my white
board! Of course, as soon as the problems are over, we move onto playing cards
or trying to solve the Rubik’s Cube! By the way, I have successfully solved the
Rubik’s Cube that was sent to me! Thanks Machinskis!
The Never
Ending Trainings
I just
finished a weeklong training in Mamou with all the volunteers from my stage. We
talked about the craziness that is our lives including the highest of the highs
at our sites and the lowest of the lows. It was so good to see the volunteers
that I haven’t seen since our initial training! The Fouta volunteers got lucky
and we got a ride to AND from Mamou in a Peace Corps vehicle. That means we did
not have to pay the price for a taxi and we got all the comforts of a
government vehicle! No need to stop for the military with government plates!
General Life
Although I
have adjusted to life here in Guinea, my adjustment in no way makes my days any
easier. So many things that we take for granted in the states require great
effort here in Guinea.
If I want to
take a shower, I have to fill a bucket with water and then haul the heavy
bucket across my compound to my latrine. Forget warm water! If you want a warm
shower, you have to boil water beforehand. And where does your water come from?
You turn a knob and you have your choice of hot and cold water. Here, I take a
10-minute walk to get to our village’s pump. It’s a hand pump that requires
about 2 minutes of pumping before water even starts to flow! You fill your
bidon (10 or 20 liter oil can) or your bucket and then you make that 10-minute
walk back to your house. The past month or so I have been incredibly grateful
to my students and other children in the village who have helped me with this
rather challenging task. I bought a large trashcan type bucket and I am able to
store larger amounts of water for drinking, bathing and cooking.
In the
village, we only have a market once a week. In Noussy, our market day is
Saturday. Market day means dressing up in your fancy clothes and walking around
greeting your fellow Noussy-ians. I guess people buy stuff too. I head out to
the market around 11:30 AM every Saturday with the same program. I drop my
phone and my computer off with a trusted student to be charged and then I
wander around the market greeting the market ladies and trying to find onions
and tomatoes and as many veggies as I can get! Of course, I have to stop by my
favorite nene’s stand to eat some delicious keke and practice Pular. I have made friends with many of the market
ladies despite my horrific Pular. In the states, I drove to Kroger and marched
up and down the isles filling my basket with whatever I needed (or wanted) and
when I was ready to check out, I almost always went to the self-check out.
Because really, who wants to have human interaction anyway? In Noussy, I
interact with everyone I buy things from and everyone I don’t buy things from. The
whole day is hilarious and heart-warming and challenging all at once!
Transportation
has been one of my greatest challenges thus far in Guinea. My village is
located about 18 km away from the major city Labé. I am lucky to be living so
close as sometimes I need to get into the city to use the internet for school,
for taxes or just for general entertainment. However, my village has zero taxis
that transport individuals to and from Labé. Why is this? Well, everyone in my
village has motorcycles! A motorcycle ride from Noussy to Labé only takes about
30 minutes and is extremely cheap. Motorcycles are strictly off limits to volunteers,
which leaves me with my trusty bicycle to get me to and from Labé. I am getting
pretty good at hauling my heavy bags up the mountain on my bike and I know most
of the people who live along the route!
Politics and
Ethnic Tension
The
political situation has been up and down in Guinea for the past few months.
There has been some violence although most of it has been contained to Conakry
(the capital). As of right now our travel throughout the country is limited but
as I don’t really want to leave my village, I am fine with that. My only
concern is the possibility of an evacuation, but I don’t see that happening any
time soon. Know that I am safe and happy
in my village and I am truly lucky to be outside of the large cities in times
like these.
My Doggie
Tonka
My dog has
gotten much bigger as you have probably seen on Facebook. Most Guineans are
still incredibly scared of her, but I love to see the little kids that learn to
love her after a few visits to my house. Every morning, I hear the “petits”
walk by my house yelling “Tonka, viens!” or “Tonka, on va manger?”. They want Tonka to
come play with them outside the compound. Tonka often takes that option but she
always comes back home! Sometimes she goes with one of my students
Overall,
things are still going really well. I have really tough days and really great
days. Apologies for my slow updates. I
have found that successful blogging is rather challenging for me. I struggle to
find the balance between the good and bad parts of my life here. Thank you to
everyone who has stuck with me!
