Aicha is a twice-yearly magazine, written by Guinean girls for Guinean girls, published by Peace Corps volunteers. It has been going since 1997, but is always struggling for funding. Friends of Guinea would like to help out.

Aicha has been published by Peace Corps since 1997. It is an unprecedented publication -- a magazine written by girls, for girls, in Guinea. It is aimed at school-age girls (from 7th grade through university). Submissions are compiled by Peace Corps volunteers, who choose and edit them. The actual magazine is used in classrooms throughout Guinea to teach and encourage discussion on women's issues.

Aicha is published twice per year, and 2500 issues are printed. For each issue that is printed, 2,000 copies are sent to the interior of the country to be distributed for free by 128 volunteers in almost every Prefecture and many Sous-prefectures in three regions of the country: Lower, Middle, and Upper Guinea. The remaining 500 are distributed free of charge in Conakry to advertisers and Peace Corps partners such as USAID, UNICEF, PSI/OSFAM, PRISM, Africare, International Rescue Committee, HCR, Institute National pour la Recherche et l'Action Pédagogique, Programme National pour la Lutte contre le SIDA, FAWE/FEG, Association pour la Defense des Droits de la Femme, Compagnie Taibou, Fondation Espoir, etc.

Eventually Peace Corps Guinea would like to hand over all publishing and editing roles to Guineans themselves, in order to make this a truly Guinean publication. Before which, however, Aïcha must be made self sufficient and sustainable.

Guinea ranks consistently in the bottom five countries in the United Nation’s quality of life index. Guinean women are at a particular disadvantage. Girls are destined to predefined roles such as early marriage, bearing and raising children, cooking, cleaning, farming and caring for others. A staggering 79% of Guinean girls have never been to school and only 7% make it to secondary school. They are seldom encouraged to look beyond their traditional roles and are rarely recognized as essential agents of development. While the community depends on the work of women, women rarely have leadership roles. Studies have shown that the empowerment of women leads to increased productivity, efficiency and economic advancement for the entire community; and that a woman’s education level is the best predictor of her child’s well being. Thus, we aim to empower women through giving them an avenue to express their concerns and to address their issues; these and otherwise.

The goals of Aicha are:

• To offer girls an avenue to express their concerns and desires.
• To encourage girls to succeed academically.
• To discuss and explore the role of women in Guinean society and in development.
• To introduce girls to possibilities for their futures which they may not have considered before
• To recognize and appreciate the traditional and nontraditional work that women do
• To help girls take control of their bodies and lives by addressing reproductive health issues.
• To build organizational and leadership skills.

The costs of production of the magazine is 3 million GF per issue (for 2,500 copies). Aicha is trying to curb reliance on altruistic funding and donations, so it sells advertising space in the magazine. The ad sales ensure future fiscal viability and allow for expansion of production. However, they are currently insufficient to cover costs. FOG hopes to help subsidize the magazine directly, as well as to subsidize advertisements from worthwhile organizations (such as those that promote women's health), who could not otherwise afford it. If Aïcha Magazine were able to secure continual financial support from donors, its production would finally be guaranteed and the difficulties related to ad sales would greatly diminish.

Aicha has been very successful. Guineans are excited to receive the issues, which are passed through classrooms and health centers around the country. The Ministry of Health has been very supportive, and donated 3 million GF towards the first year of production. In 1998-1999 Aicha received 1 million from the EDDI fund. In 2002 the English Speaking Women's Association donated 3 million GF.

Current ad prices are below. The exchange rate is about 2000GF per $US. Cut rates are given for multiple issue advertisements.

	Interior (B&W)	Inner back cover (color)	Back cover (color)
1 page ad	480,000 GF ($240)	680,000 GF ($340)	720,000 GF ($360)
2/3 page	380,000 GF ($190)	540,000 GF ($270)	570,000 GF ($285)
1/2 page	320,000 GF ($160)	440,00 GF ($220)	480,000 GF ($240)
1/3 page	280,000 GF ($140)	380,000 GF ($190)	420,000 GF ($210)
1/4 page	240,000 GF ($120)	320,000 GF ($160)	360,000 GF ($180)

The following are selected articles from selected issues of Aicha, in PDF format. You can download Adobe Acrobat for free to read them. Click on the image to download the PDF.