update in Dec.

I am back to Labe for a few days get some money and communicate with other PCVs about holidays plans. I am torn between going to Freetown (Sierra Leon ) for a few days with other PCVs and stay at my site since the Germans are coming the same time our trip is planned. Hopefully they will still be at my village when I get back after the New Year’s. I also have to go town to Conakry to get my application for Teaching English in France Program squared away. So, I will be down in Conakry around Christmas till end of the first week of January. Just found out that one girl in our group just got engaged to a Guinean that she has been dating, and the wedding is the first weekend of January in Mamou. Lightening speed. Wow! As for me, I get plenty of marriage proposals so I can take them to the States, but nothing serious. Sorry, no juicy stuff from me.

Okay, so the Teaching English in France program is a back up if my wish to do a third year cannot realize due to whatever reason, especially if something goes down in Guinea . The unions are talking with the government again about a possible strike which might potentially affect our vacation plans. So, we’ll see.

Here are some stuff I wrote since I got to Labe . Lots of random thoughts.

Happy holidays everyone! Sorry that I am lazy about getting greeting card out to you, but I miss you all and wishing you a joyous time with your loved ones!

It is so nice to sit on a double bed in a simple and clean hotel room, typing this on a laptop.
Saving it on a flash memory, so tomorrow I can upload it at the internet cafe, not have to pay the time to type it up there, also with a cell phone next to me, life is good. Thank goodness for technology.

There is winter in Africa ...
Is winter coming to you in full force? It sure is here in the fouta region of Guinea . The last week of Nov. and first week of Dec., the nights and mornings have been so COLD for sleeping in an uninsulated house or hut with a thin wool blanket or lack there of. Most of people in my village live in a brick house with metal tin roof. The roof is pitched up in the middle forming a triangle to allow rainwater to drain off. Where the tin roof come down and meets the wall, often times there are many gaps between the sheet metal and top of the wall. The windows and doors are mostly wooden that have warped over times and the frames are often not well done, so again there are gaps in the windows and doors. I also doubt many family have thick blanket to fend off the cold that “attack” us during December and January. I don’t know if this year is colder than last year, or I am just getting more use to the heat and not so much the cold. Probably the later. I tell my colleague that I am going to die when I go back to northeastern U.S. , can’t take the cold no more.

Of course my hut is worse than a tin-roofed brick house (at least I think) to fend off the chilly nights and mornings. I would wear 3-4 layers on top, 2 layers of pants and socks, double up my thin blanket with extra sheets that I have to sleep at night. It was hard to get up in the morning. When I go to my 8 o’clock class, I would slip a pair of pants under my skirt, wear my fleece over my top, white socks on two feet, slip on the flip-flops, and I feel like japanese woman (mostly due to white socks and flip-flops and force to trot small steps becase of long and restricting skirt). I probably should have a taken a picture of my funny outfit, to show you how unfashionable that Bonnie has became.

Well, it is definitely not as cold here as it is for you guys in the States, but people here don’t have the appropriate infrastructure or clothing for the cold weather. Because it is only cold at night and in the morning, and for a couple of months, people try to get by without buying warm clothing or blankets, simply can’t afford it. I ended up giving my family two pairs of socks that I hardly wear. I see so many kids riding bikes to school in the morning without gloves, hands getting so cold. Some kids ride almost an hour to school. Then there are elementary school boys whose uniform is short sleeve shirt and short. I wish I can give every kids fleece, pants, socks, gloves and hats. I got a cold ever since the last time I came to Labe for Thanksgiving dinner, and is finally getting over it now. Everyday I go into a classroom, the most prominent noise is kids coughing. I have to repeatedly tell them to cover their mouths when they cough, so we don’t all repeatedly fall sick. Sometimes I just feel like I should spend the money allocated for the library on buying warm clothing for the kids. (Sigh... am I doing the right thing with this library when there are so many other basic needs not satisfied in the community.)

Of course during the day between 10am and 5pm when sun is out, it gets warm or almost hot again, but it is chilly in my hut during the day, so I am not in my hut very much during the day this month. My lips also is chapped, and the lip balm that I brought with me finally found its use. Amazing what a year in Africa does to me.

“What, they are women???”
Peace Corps Washington sent two senior inspectors from the Inspector General office (an independent office to evaluate peace corps programs) to Guinea in the last couple of weeks. They randomly chose about 30-40 volunteers and I was on the list. So of course, I had to inform all the important people in the community about this visit. When I told my principal that there are two women coming, he said, “Ils sont les femmes?” (They are women?) I was as shocked by his question as he was shocked by two women inspectors. (Oh, geeze)

“Is that all the bricks that you will make?” said, the president of community rural developpment, who is also the history teacher at our college.

Reading between the lines, he really meant, “can’t you make more bricks for us or give us more free stuff?”. I must give you a little bit of the background on why I am picking on his statement. So, if you have read my previous posts, you might recall that there is a Guinean doctor who left our village to work in Germany for over 20 years. He came back with his family, and through help by his former german colleagues (also doctors), together they built an elementary school and a hospital in the village. The german come every year to see the kids that go to that school and treat patients, and I met them and talked to them quite a bit last year. They were concerned with overcrowdness of our college with an every increasing population of students, and they say it is because my 3 pages of observations and comments to them, that they decided to donate money to the college to add one classrooms, but as it turned out there are enough money for two classrooms. We are in the progress of building them. The germans are coming again toward the end of the year for two weeks to visit and see patients. I feel that here when some people receive too many generous supports, they begin to think that they are always entitled to free aid; that other “rich” people owe it to them. An attitude dangerous and hard to combate.

By Wednesday, I need a break, etc.
Teaching 7 classes, 18 hours a week is taking a toll on me. I teach Monday through Thursday, 4hours every morning, plus Saturday for 2 hours. By Wednesday, I wish I can take a break. I was really glad to get out of my site this time, largely due to that I am running low on cash, and for some reason I am craving for some comfort/luxury food, cold soda, carrots, just needed to treat myself a little. I’ve also started doing revision with my 10th graders on physics and math after school. I am also giving them a lot of math homeworks to prepare them for both math and physics.

Seeda seeda - Petit a petit - little by little
(I wonder if the french really use the expression of “petit a petit”, meaning little by little)

Remember I said that I had a hard time connecting with my female students? I am glad to report that I have found a small group of girls among the 8th graders who are quite motivated, outgoing and like to hang out with me. We have been getting together to organize books for the library. We have made a master list of all the books we want to put in the library, about 500 of them. Then, we grouped all the information books by their subject matter according to the junior dewey system, which means, for exemple all the history and geography books are labled 900 and on the lable there is color code as well to make it easier for younger readers to identify books. We are now on labeling the fiction books, by indicating on the spine, letter “F” and the first letter of the author’s last name. Hopefully, by next week all the books will be labled. I should also hopefully go back with a brand new library stamp, so we can stamp every single book as well. Then we will make a shelf catelog. Also in the last month, we’ve installed the metal anti-theft bars for the windows, which resembles metal bars at a prison cell a bit, but it is a common practice to do here. We have repainted windows and doors. The carpenter has made two books shelfs, 2 tables and 2 benches. I had to stop asking him to make more furnitures because I had go to Labe to get money. So, we are moving along, albeit slowly.

Frustrations
Transportation and communication is such a bitch here. I will say it again, I will say it over and over. So hard to plan a trip down to Conakry , coordinate with others when nothing is for sure. That was my biggest complain to the inspector general. But, what can they do.