We want the back pay of the salary increase promised to us from the last 9 years

In the last two days, soldiers have fired shots in the air during the night in their camps in all the major cities of Guinée. A well organized protest to demand government to pay them the salary increase promised by the old government for the past 9 years. Miss fire have hurt more than 20 people, one death. Aren't the military better fed than the rest of the population? What about the salaries that civil servants effectively lost due to depreciation of guinean currency in the past few years? Franc guinean lost half of its value in 2 years, prices kept going up, salary of the civil servants were never increased.

Ciwara

CIWARA : Ci = le travail ; Wara = lion

Le Ciwara, au Mali en milieu bambana, après plusieurs étapes d'initiation, récompense les plus grands travailleurs dans tous les domaines de la vie active.

Représentant une antilope, le Ciwara est donc le symbole du courage, de l'abnégation, de la sagesse, etc.

Ciwara, symbol of Mali. It represents an antilope, symbolize courage, self sacrifice, wisdom, etc.

Overwhelmed! Wow! I am in Africa.

I am so overwhelmed with choices to make. Where and what I should do for my 3rd year in PC. Human factors and political climate continue to cast a huge cloud of uncertainty over my plans. Africa tests me physically with its harsh climate, but more than ever she tests me in patience, flexibility and ingenuiety. Sometime I wonder if I have what it takes to go down a less structured career path in a even less certain environment.

For a Fouta girl, Bamako is too flat, too polluted and too yellow/brown (full of dust). Didn't take me long to find the countryside with rolling hills to bike to where air is a lot fresher and I am seeing more trees. Hills here are nothing compare to the mountains of Fouta. Roads are paved. So I can go for 70-80 km in less time than a bike ride of 45km in the Fouta. It's nice again to feel the wind in my face too bad not in my hair because PCV has to absolutely wear a helmet, and it's moment like this riding down the countryside that I say to myself, "wow! I am in Africa, cycling, not a tourist rushing through the sites, didn't think I could ever do this."

(here is a picture taken on the bank of Niger River)

So many days off

If you like to work in a country that there are many days off, whether due to religious reasons, national celebrations, or it is the day after presidential election, or it is because citizens won't go pick up their voter's card unless you give them a day off during the week, then you should come to Africa.

City folks of Bamako have to run around too much / work multiple jobs to make ends meet and they probablly don't think they can count on their government, so go pick up their voter's card is the last thing on their mind. It isn't structured here enough to have postal system for everyone. The government gave everyone last Wednesday off so people can go pick up their voter's card. Unfortunately the voter turn out was still low on Sunday, a whoping 25%. Then for reason unclear to me the government decide to give everyone a day off again today. Tomorrow is international worker's day (like our Labor Day), again we are off.