“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines, sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.”

~Mark Twain

Monday, July 23, 2012

I like washing the TV very much


I teach English on Saturday mornings to about 25 students ages 16 to 54. It's a very diverse group, but they are all excited to be learning English. Their homework this week was to write a paragraph describing themselves. Here are some of my favorites:

My name is Barry. I have 19 years old and teint black. I am a short boy. I am also fat boy, a big head and small eyes et black hair. I have a small mouth. 
Sounds like such an attractive young man. 

I like washing the TV very much
Hopefully he unplugs it first or doesn't use water.

Firsty, I'm a present...
???

I'm black boy. I like the childs.
In the US this would send up so many red flags.

I've got black hair and white eyes
Not sure why this was the most common descriptive phrase used.

I'm not married so my best friend come to divorced with her wife because she is always hungry...I's sunny and in my bedroom, I'm hot. I hope you haven't forgotten me?...I'm not so greedy after all. I just like food....I dream to fly in America.
Not sure what I can even say about this.

My name is Camara Mohamed Aissata II. I'm a young man, I'm a single. I'm a nice man, a smart man. I'm a pretty boy, I'm a jealous man. 
At least one student can write positive things about himself. I hope this wasn't a come-on.

I am a little ugly. I have a small mouth and short eyes.
Again, what is with Guinean self deprecation / honesty. 

I want to travel in America to so sea in Salematou a house. NB: I like my mistress Salematou beaucoup. She is taught very good the lecons in English. 
NB stands for Notez Bien. I think she is sucking up so that I invite her to America to "sea" my house. 



Monday, July 16, 2012

Going Commando


We are told that as Peace Corps volunteers we will have to give up a lot. Christmases, Birthdays, air conditioning, good food, movies, parties, toilet paper (ok, I have not given this one up, but TP is one of my most expensive purchases of the month). I’ve been ok with giving these things up. So, I did not get to watch the fireworks on the Fourth, but I did sis in the view of a mountain and eat homemade guacamole. And as for sushi, I just have vivid dreams about eating it thanks to my malaria prophylaxis. The one thing I never thought I would have to give up is underwear, but that is just what happened. I realized while I was packing for Mamou that I really did not have any clean clothes. I had two choices, wash them here, wait for them to dry and then go or bring dirty clothes and wash them with the running water at Mamou. I was among the first to arrive, headed straight to the big sink out back and did my wash. I even took off the ones I was wearing so that I would have a stock of clean underwear. I finished up in record time and hung it all out to dry. I went back a few hours later and it was still damp, so I left it. The other volunteers arrived and we prepped for our conference. Just as it was about to start getting dark, I went to take my clothes in (look up Tooba Flies) and found that while all of my clothes were where I left them, all of my underwear was gone. Trying to see the best in everyone, I went to ask the manager if someone moved it so it would not blow away or something like that. He told me he did not take it and confirmed that it did not blow away or fall on the ground. Thanks for the help buddy, but I checked the ground under the line first thing. I was getting frustrated and left at which point the man explained to the other volunteers that he didn’t like me accusing him of anything and that my laundry is not his responsibility. Can’t forget about that language barrier. I got Yama, a PC staff member to talk to him so we would avoid any confusion. Her basic take away is that the man was angry I did my own laundry instead of paying him to do it. She said that they may have taken it to teach me a lesson or maybe some kids stole it, but if they took it, it would be back by the end of the week. In the mean time, I had NO underwear. Not a single pair. And I was spending the week presenting in front of 72 youth. I started laughing/crying. I don’t know where the tears came from, but for the first time in Peace Corps I basically cried for no reason. I’m proud I made it almost 7 months. I was lamenting to one of the volunteers about trying to teach about assets and deficits maps all the while knowing I was going commando. She reminded me of the age-old adage of picturing the audience in their underwear to deal with nerves. She told me I could picture them in my underwear since that was probably what they were wearing anyway. And I made it. Besides the occasional oddly placed smile sneaking in when I remembered the ridiculousness of my situation, the conference went really well. My mom sent me more in the mail and I guess on the bright side, it was high time for some replacements anyway. 

Saturday, July 14, 2012

A Post that’s not about Guinea?!?!


Thinking back to early last summer when my response to, “What are you doing next year?” was still, “I hope to be leaving sometime in the future for some country in Africa”, I got an email from Peace Corps. It reminded me of the budget cuts and that some nominated volunteers would never be invited and to stay competitive. I figured my summer plans of lying on the couch watching “Toddlers and Tiaras” OnDemand did not count as “staying competitive”. I hurriedly searched idealist.org searching for volunteer experience that could enhance my resume and get me in a plane and on to the next part of my life just a little faster. I found Novi. They were a perfect fit. Their mission “recognizes the need to support and encourage the sustainable development of, simultaneously, education, entrepreneurship, and the environment so that economically distressed communities might become self-sustaining entities while preserving the traditional customs that hold them together.” Over the summer I fundraised for their SEEK Camp which brought together 60 youth for 2 weeks of learning how to innovate to be positive agents of change in their community. Thanks again to everyone who bought raffle tickets, came to that ungodly hot beach workout, and sent in donations. It was a huge success. Although, my work in Guinea is so life consuming that I am no longer on the Novi team, I believe in their work and so try to stay in touch with the founder. Novi has expanded rapidly in the last year and works with 8 cooperatives in 3 countries 6 of whom have started to sell in the US. They even started doing wholesale and Anthropologie and Whole Foods are interested in becoming buyers. The model of poverty alleviation that Novi has developed works! Unfortunately, on the US front, funding for the NGO is not going so well. There is not money for SEEK this year and if they do not raise money soon, the organization will have to close taking away the technical support for 200 artisan families and the possibility of expanding this model to the rest of West Africa (i.e. Guinea which is losing it’s CED program). So if you feel like you maybe have an extra $20 or $200 lying around I urge you to donate. Go to noviafrica.org. Although the website is under construction, you can still donate. Or go to novifairtrade.com and buy their quality shea butter soaps before they triple in price at Wholefoods and get ahead of Anthro’s trends with a cool handbag. Providing technical assistance and access to markets is the most proven and most sustainable route to poverty reduction in Africa.