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A bit about
who we are, our background, and why we devote our time
to FOG.
Katalina Estrada - Secretary
secretary
@ friendsofguinea.org
Donald Parker - Projects Director
projects @ friendsofguinea.org
Brian Clappier - Membership
Director
membership @ friendsofguinea.org
Given
how I still occasionally write the numbers 1 and 7,
you may say that compared to many other Guinea-RPCVs,
I'm fairly fresh off the boat. From 2004-2006, I lived
18 km west of Labé in a charming highway town
called Hafia and served as a physics teacher at the
local collège. So it's really only been a couple
years since I was sitting in Mamou's ENATEF with a
few fellow volunteers, trying to map out Boys Conference
2006. This planning session was one of many, having
spent the past several months experiencing disjointed
radio-teleconferences, unnerving bush-taxi commutes,
and candlelit bookkeeping to organize the event. In
the end, everyone's efforts paid off by profoundly
and positively impacting the participating Guineans
and us, the volunteers. Looking back though, our fieldwork
was only one level of a larger collaboration.
Without the support of FOG, Boys Conference would
not have happened. Projects like the gender conferences
need our support from home, whether it's moral, technical,
financial, or otherwise. With each member of FOG,
we're building a vital network between those of us
in Guinea and those of us who often wish we were there.
I look forward to helping expand this base of members
and I hope that what we accomplish will lend a hand
to both Guineans and the Peace Corps program.
Originally from Wisconsin, I now live relatively close
to home in the Windy City and work as an advocacy specialist
with the Shriver Center.
Rosemarie Rose - Communications
Director
communications @ friendsofguinea.org
Shad Engkilterra - Financial
Officer
finances
@ friendsofguinea.org
Shad
Engkilterra graduated from Linfield College in McMinnville,
Oregon. He spent three years in Michigan as the Health
and Safety Training Coordinator for the Greater Kalamazoo
Area chapter of the American Red Cross. In August
2004, Shad moved to Anchorage to become the Health
and Safety Manager for the American Red Cross of Alaska
and in March of 2005, he added Preparedness to his
title. Just over a year ago, Shad was promoted to
the Southeast District Director position for the American
Red Cross of Alaska.
A former Peace Corps Volunteer in Guinea
(Banko, 1998-2000), Shad is an avid geocacher and
hiker.
Diane Carlson & Meghan
Greeley - Parent Support
gps
@ friendsofguinea.org
Mackenzie (Pfeifer) Dabo -
Newsletter Editor
newsletter
@ friendsofguinea.org
 As
a senior in college with a double major in Mathematics
and English Lit, I had no idea what I wanted to do.
I loved to travel, so I applied for the Peace Corps.
This decision changed the entire course of my life.
I was a PCV in Guinea from '00 to '03; however I spent
a total of four full years in Guinea. I was initially
a math teacher in the sous-prefecture of Saramoussaya,
which is between Mamou and Dabola.
After my two years au village,
I moved to Conakry. I spent one year as Gender, AIDS,
and Development coordinator with PC and a year as
an English teacher at Pepinaire Bikaz in the Miniere
neighboorhood. While in Guinea, I met Amara Dabo,
and in February '03, we were married at the Minister
of Foreign Affairs.
We moved to the US in August
'04. Since we've been in the States, it has been one
grand event after another. I completed my Master's
of Education degree in an American program run in
South Africa in July '05. We built a house for Amara's
family in the village. We bought a house just in time
to welcome our daughter into our home (she was born
in July '06). We've continued to travel and enjoy
life. I am currently a math teacher at a great middle
school. I also coach the youngest athletes on a local
YMCA swim team. We haven't been to Guinea since December
'05, although we look forward to going again soon
and are in frequent contact with our family in the
capital.
Rita Gerlach - Newsletter
Distribution Manager/Assistant
rita @ friendsofguinea.org
I
am humbled, surrounded as I am by these incredible,
accomplished men and women. My claim to fame is my
daughter Julie, now serving with G15.
The topic of volunteering with the Peace Corps has
long been a familiar one with us. Julie and I have
made a habit of volunteering, together and separately,
since Julie was in grade school. Don’t be fooled,
it isn’t that we’re particular altruistic,
it’s just that we like keeping busy and experiencing
new people and places. By the time Julie was ready
to graduate (May 07) with her undergrad degree she’d
submitted her application to the Peace Corps. December
2007, she was gone! Is it shameful to admit to vicarious
enjoyment as I watch my only child participate in
what I believe will be a seminal life experience?
When not otherwise occupied trying to figure out where
in the world Julie is, my husband and I enjoy sightseeing
while riding our Harley’s. (My husband Grant and
I met in Louisiana while both serving as Red Cross volunteers
immediately following Katrina and during Rita.) Most
days you’ll find me trying to figure out how to
move extremely large trucks and loads over bridges around
the state of California without overloading them.
Each one of our volunteers, past, present, and future,
have my utmost respect. I love the premise of the
FOG. Although I don’t have much in the way of
financial means, I have time, so here I am!
Karen Star & Jessamyn
Miller - Webmasters
web @ friendsofguinea.org
Urska Manners - Listserv Administrator
listserv @ friendsofguinea.org
 My
love of travel started at a very young age. I was
born in Slovenia but spent the first three years of
my life bouncing around between several countries,
before my family finally settled in Vienna, Austria.
We ended up living there for 13 years before moving
to Belgium during my senior year of high school. I
then moved to the US to attend college at Brown University,
where I studied geophysics. During my senior year
of college, I applied to the Peace Corps, because
it was something I had always wanted to do.
Peace Corps seemed like the perfect
mix of travel and volunteering, and it was. I served
in Guinea from 2000 to 2002, working as a high school
math teacher in Siguiri. During my second year, I
also became involved with APROFIG, an organisation
that helps girls succeed in school. Siguiri is notorious
for being very hot and politically active. I really
appreciated being able to learn about the inner workings
of Guinean politics while I was there. I probably
would have preferred not to experience the heat.
Upon leaving Guinea, I went back to
school to get my Ph.D. I'm now in grad school at UC
San Diego, studying seismology. Most of my research
involves using earthquakes to study the structure
of the interior of the Earth. Now that I'm here, I
find that I miss Guinea and hope I can go back and
visit some day. I try to keep some of the nostalgia
at bay by mentoring new refugee families and congregating
with San Diego-area RPCV's. And of course, I still
like to travel.
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