“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

Sunday, April 28, 2013

World Malaria Month

Every 30 seconds, an African child dies of malaria.
What do you think the number one killer in Africa is? Do you think it is AIDS? What about malnutrition? The answer is malaria. It kills over one million people a year, most of whom are children under the age of five. To put it another way, 7 jumbo jets full of children die every day because of malaria. The saddest thing about this is that malaria is both treatable and preventable. My brother recently visited me here, and upon returning home he exhibited signs of having malaria. It was not a big deal because he just went to the doctor and got tested. He just had the flu, but if it was malaria, he would have just taken the medication and within a few days been back to life as normal. Did you know we used to have malaria in American? We eradicated it. All over the developed world, malaria deaths became a thing of the past. We will eradicate it in Guinea and we will eradicate in Africa, but it is going to take a concerted effort. And seriously, who is not willing to make a concerted effort to save 7 planes worth a day of adorable children with their whole future ahead of them from a preventable disease. So, as a CED volunteer, what am I doing to prevent malaria? I am working with people to increase their economic security so that in the case of an illness they have the money to treat themselves or their family. Mosquitos take the malaria tainted blood out of one person and basically inject it in another. If you treat your malaria, you cannot spread it so treating early (and always) can slow the rate of malaria infections. According to the "Against Malaria Foundation", spending £1m increases the annual African GDP by £12. As a CED volunteer, this is a fight we need to get behind. How will you stomp out malaria in 2013?

For more information, check out stompoutmalaria.org or Stomp Out Malaria on facebook.
My bed for training in Dubreka. Note the insecticide treated mosquito net

Tuesday, April 16, 2013

My mind is in America today


I got an email this morning from a fellow volunteer about some work we were doing. She studied at Northeastern and at the end of the email she added, “…did you hear about Boston? Wow, unreal, need to know more.”  What about Boston? I ‘quickly’ googled Boston not knowing what other terms to include in the search. While I was waiting, my Facebook page had finally loaded and saw a status from a friend living in Boston telling everyone she was alright and thanking them for checking in. My panic started rising. I spent one of the best summers in my life as an intern in Boston, I plan to settle there after Peace Corps and most importantly some of the most important people in my life live there. And then my search results loaded and I had information, but it still did not make sense. Why would anyone target a marathon with international participants for an act of terrorism? The Boston Marathon is one of our country’s greatest events bringing skilled and amateur athletes alike from all over the globe to show the world that they have the discipline and the heart to perform an amazing feat of endurance. Why would anyone want to change the scene of triumph at the finish line to one of devastation?

I don’t know who committed this terrible act and I don’t know why, but I do know that now more than ever the Peace Corps has an important place in this world. When people think about the Peace Corps, they think about trees planted or wells dug. For me, I have been talking a lot about the opening of our e-library and the training of entrepreneurs. But more than technical exchange and development, the Peace Corps is an organization of global friendship. About six months ago there were anti-American demonstrations across the Muslim world. Some Guineans called for a demonstration in Conakry, but nobody came. Guineans love Americans and it is mostly because of the Fote who buys tomatoes from them every week in the market or the Porto who taught their children math or the Toubaboo who comes over on rainy nights to eat mangos on the porch and listen to the radio. There is a daily exchange, human to human, of warmth and friendship and caring that makes hatred for the idea of “the American” impossible.

Maybe it is a foreign government or an international terrorist organization, or an angry American who is responsible. And I know that not everyone can be reached. No Guinness World Record breaking largest global hug is going to solve anything, but maybe if the Peace Corps mission of cultural exchange, understanding, and simple friendship can be adopted by people in their daily lives events such as this one, or the Dark Night massacre, The Newton School Shooting, or deadly attacks on US embassies will not occur in the future. 

My thoughts and the prayers of many Guineans who I have talked to this morning are with everyone in Boston and everyone affected by this tragedy. 

Friday, April 12, 2013

Dare to Innovate





If you have been reading my blog (this one or OsezInnover.com), you probably know that I think social entrepreneurship is the bees’ knees. The current system of aid is not sustainable. Countries cannot just throw billions of dollars at problems and hope that it helps. Over the past few decades, Africa has been the recipient of literally trillions of dollars of direct aid and some countries over the same period of time experienced negative economic growth. (If you are interested in this topic, check out Dead Aid). What does work is social entrepreneurship. You give an entrepreneur a loan. He or she starts a social business- for this example let’s say a girl’s magazine promoting literacy, employment, nutrition, fashion, and reproductive health- and makes a profit through advertisements and sales. The magazine employs 5 people and the loan is paid back after one year. The magazine is financially sustainable and the original loan goes to a new business. Instead of throwing hundreds of thousands of dollars at a sensitization campaign condemning female genital mutilation, the loan money is generating interest and being reinvested for an equal or stronger social impact.


Unfortunately, social enterprises don’t really exist in Guinea (see my previous post on Guinea coming in last). The Schwabb foundation celebrates successful social business people and supports the whole industry. They publish profiles on these people and there is not one Guinean on the list. In fact, there is only one business on the list that operated in Guinea and only on a small scale. We are trying to change this with “Dare to Innovate”. By the end of the summer we hope to have 20 new young social entrepreneurs and we hope their mentors, themselves successful business people, will start to think even more about the social impacts of their businesses. We want Schwabb’s list to be full of Guineans.

In brief Dare to Innovate will foster a community of socially-minded business leaders, teaching them to see challenges as opportunities for innovative solutions. Through partnerships with thought-leaders, the conference will be an opportunity for Guinean youth to access top-level training and jump-start a social enterprise sector in Guinea. The youth of Guinea have the motivation and intelligence to succeed; this conference will provide them with tools to excel in the field of social entrepreneurship and lift their country out of poverty.

The conference has four phases. The first is a training program that introduces youth to social entrepreneurship and innovatively generates ideas for businesses. In the second phase, they return to their communities to apply all that they have learned. The third part provides funding for the most promising ideas and the pitching skills necessary for all participants to find funding and advocate for their projects. The fourth stage is implementation. With strong Guinean mentors phase four has no fixed end. Some ideas will come to fruition providing a livelihood to a young entrepreneur while alleviating a social pressure. Realistically, some will never come to light, but the new mind-set gained over the course of the conference will have inspired a youth to innovate no matter where their personal or professional lives take them.

We need your help to make this possible. The community is covering 60% of the costs, but we need to fundraise the remaining 40%. You can make a tax-deductible donation at tinyurl.com/DTI-CSE. The dollar goes far in Guinea, so even the smallest of donations can make a difference. Don’t hesitate or delay. With one click you will help Guinea realize a brighter future. If you work for a company and would like to sponsor one of the prizes, please email me at Meghan.m.mccormick@gmail.com.

If you aren’t in the financial position to make a monetary donation, please consider following our blog OsezInnover.com or our twitter @DareToInnovate. Starting a movement takes more than money. We’d love to hear your ideas!

BiblioTech Bara Fa!


I know a little something about coming in last. For years, I was (let’s be generous) among the worst members of my high school swim team. I went to practice every day, tried my hardest, and at the end of the day lost race after race. I got to the point where I never even tried to win a race. Second to last was a cause for celebration. Guinea knows a lot about coming in last. It’s among the poorest countries in the world, has high levels of corruption, illiteracy, malaria, and infant mortality. I don’t even want to get started on their education system. They’re not trying to win anymore. They are just trying to not come in last.

Except this month, we’re coming in at the head of the pack. BiblioTech is becoming a reality. The Kindles are here. The books have been bought and day-by-day they are being downloaded, no matter how slowly, to our five Kindles. The room has been electrified; our logo and the quotes, “Today a reader, Tomorrow a leader”, “There is no friend as loyal as a book”, and “Books are like balls of light in your hand” (in French of course) have been proudly painted across the wall. Posters have been hung, and members solicited. On Saturday, we have our soft opening and the first members of Africa’s first e-reader library will be registered. While our research is not comprehensive, it seems that BiblioTech is actually the second dedicated e-reader library in the world. The first is weirdly also named “BiblioTech” and is in Texas. All week long, members of the community have come to watch the preparations. They have huge smiles on their faces and fight over who gets to be the first person to sign up. They are proud of AGUIDEP, proud of Kindia and, for once, proud of Guinea. All the hours dealing with BICIGUI and Amazon customer service, the “return to senders” and the “Purchase rejected” notes were worth it. I am so happy to be a part of this project and a counting down until Saturday when the people of Kindia can come a read to learn, to explore, and simply to have fun.