FOG
OFFICERS RECALLED; SCHWARTZENEGGER NOT TO RUN
Apparently inspired by political events in the state
of California, the entire board of directors of
Friends of Guinea recently launched a successful
petition campaign to recall itself from office under
the assumption that actor Arnold Schwarzenegger could
be induced to run for election as president of the
organization. As explained by Membership Director
Megan Wilson, “We thought that by bringing his high
public profile and considerable personal fortune to
bear on Friends of Guinea, Arnold could help us build
on past successes and take the organization to the
next level of development. Besides, unlike the United
States, we have no constitutional obstacle to a
foreign-born person becoming President.”
However as in the California recall campaign, those
who initiated the Friends of Guinea drive were not
able to maintain control of the process. Contrary to
their expectations, Mr. Schwarzenegger has not so far
been induced to throw his hat into the ring. Contacted
for an official response in his Sacramento office, the
Governor said: “What? Who is this? Can’t you see I’m
busy here?”
Brian Farenell, Advocacy Director of Friends of
Guinea, said, “At first I wasn’t too concerned. I felt
sure that, if Arnie bowed out because of his new job,
we could get Sylvester Stallone. He’s not governor of
anything yet, I don’t think.” The Stallone plan seems
however to have been no more fruitful than the
Schwarzenegger initiative. Contacted at his home in
Beverly Hills, Mr. Stallone’s commitment was
ambivalent at best. Informed sources quoted him as
saying, “Friends of...what?”
Marilyn Pearson, Director of Listserv Administration,
undertook simultaneous back-channel negotiations with
the staff of Hillary Clinton. However, as Pearson
ruefully admitted, “As soon as she understood I was
not talking about ‘Friends of Bill,’ the receptionist
hung up on me.”
Not all members of the FOG board have entirely washed
their hands of the organization. Jody Sites, Financial
Officer, commenting on his announced intention of
running for the same office again, said: “Ouch! Let go
of my arm! That hurts! Ow! Okay, okay! Uncle! I’ll do
it! Just let go!” Stallone partisan Brian Farenell, on
his continuing as Communication Director, said: “What!
I never...wait a minute, let me see that...I thought
Steph said ‘Remuneration Director’.” Some FOG
members-at-large were also reported willing to
re-enlist in their current positions. Woody Colahan,
Newsletter Editor, had this to say: “Lansana Conté is
my political inspiration. I’ll be dipped in #@%$ if
I’ll quit my job before he quits his.”
Stephanie Chasteen, the former volunteer who has
guided the organization since its inception and
presently serves a dual role as Secretary and Director
of Web Administration, downplayed the sense of an
impending crisis. “I don’t know what you guys are
talking about. We have an election every year to renew
the board. It’s in our bylaws. Honestly.” Chasteen
went on to outline the situation: “The last year as
secretary has been great, and I feel I've accomplished
a lot. Now I think it would be good for me to serve as
Membership Director, and help out with that position.
“I'm also leaving the Web Admin position open for
someone else. Brian Farenell is leaving his position
as Advocacy Director but is willing to take on the job
of Communication Director which means he will be even
busier than before. Jody Sites relented and agreed to
continue to serve as Financial Officer. Marilyn is
doing a great job administering the Guinealist
listserv on the one hand and the various GPS parent
listservs on the other, and is willing to continue.
“Woody wants to keep doing the newsletter until he
gets it right. Brian has agreed to take over the
vacant post of Communication Director, but that means
he will leave the post of Advocacy Director so we need
to find someone to step into his shoes there. Megan is
super-busy with grad school and Cherif is getting
married. I’ll be taking over for Megan in membership
but we need somebody to take over for Cherif in
Projects.”
Stephanie warmed to her subject as she outlined the
Projects position. “Cherif Diallo has been incredibly
dynamic as projects director and has initiated a lot
of great stuff. We want someone in that position who
can continue to field project proposals, establish
project priorities and generally coordinate all of our
projects efforts. It should definitely be someone with
projects experience and experience on the ground in
Guinea. Cherif was ideal but the right RPCV could also
do the job.”
Projects Director is an important position in Friends
of Guinea because that person has some of the most
direct influence on FOG’s impact on the ground in
Guinea. The Projects Director has help, too: “Five
members-at-large work with the Projects person,”
according to Chasteen. “Steph Mullen as Health
Projects Member-at-Large advises, researches and
coordinates on health related projects. Helen Thouless
does the same for education-related projects. We have
similar member-at-large positions open in
environment-related projects and small-enterprise
related projects. These are excellent opportunities
for volunteers to remain involved with the kind of
work that made their Peace Corps experience so
meaningful. In addition, Anne Redmond has a special
member-at-large position coordinating fundraising. She
does an awesome job.”
She also described the activities of the Advocacy
Director, saying, “The Advocacy person has to keep
their finger on the pulse of policy needs in Guinea by
staying in touch with FOG members, Peace Corps/Guinea
and local and international NGO's working in Guinea.
Then they coordinate with FOG board members and others
on the development and implementation of a yearly
Advocacy Action Plan, throwing FOG’s weight behind the
selected lobby efforts in cooperation with PC/Guinea,
PC/DC, NPCA, Guinean ministries and NGO’s. It’s very
important work because it has to do with managing the
moral capital of the organization.”
The other major positions needing to be filled for the
coming year are Secretary and Director of Web
Administration. As noted, Chasteen has been both for
the last year. “Basically what I do as Secretary is to
maintain FOG records and keep minutes of meetings, as
well as coordinate Board meetings and elections. It’s
not rocket science (although it does take an ability
to be organized and keep track of things) and Nancy
Fleisher and Marilyn Pearson help out a lot. Of
course, I’ll be there to hold the hand of whomever
takes over next year.”
FOG’s website was recognized by the NPCA this past
year as “Best Country-of-Service-Group website.” The
web administrator mostly updates the webpage as
necessary, keeping information current and responding
to occasional requests for changes or additions from
the rest of the board. Here again there is help from
member-at-large Scott Sackett, who maintains the
online directory of Friends of Guinea members.
Obviously some experience with web-development
techniques is necessary for this position, although on
the other hand Guinean experience is not important.
One anomaly of FOG’s organizational structure is that
the group has neither a president nor a
vice-president. Asked whether this represented a
extreme commitment to democratic inclusiveness and
consensual decision-making, Steph said, “We tried but
we couldn’t get anyone to take the job. Then it seemed
like we got along just fine without a president so we
don’t worry about it anymore.” She noted that FOG
might find it necessary to name a president as the
group moves closer to filing for 501(c)(3) status but
“We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.”
Chasteen said that Friends of Guinea was farsighted
enough to avoid the possibility of lawsuits due to the
use of obsolete punch-card type voting machines in its
upcoming election. "No hanging chads for us. All
members will receive an electronic ballot by email and
will vote by email between November 15 and November
21. If they are not currently on our email list, they
should please contact us and provide us with an email
address that we may use for the board election as soon
as possible. We also hope people will consider serving
in one of the open positions. Of course, all positions
are open. Just because someone has been nominated to a
particular office doesn’t mean someone else cannot
equally run for the same job."
She continued, speaking earnestly but with a twinkle
in her eye: “Friends of Guinea is holding its annual
elections from November 15 to November 21. We need
especially to fill the positions of Projects Director,
Advocacy Director, Secretary and Web Administrator.
There are also several member-at-large positions where
people can serve in a smaller role. All positions are
open to nomination, and nominees need not be FOG
members, although if elected they will need to join
the group before they can take up their post. Anyone
can get more information on the positions and the
people involved by going to our newly-updated
elections webpage at
http://friendsofguinea.org/elections2003.shtml. If
they are interested in serving in some capacity, I
hope they’ll contact us at
fogelections2003(at)yahoo(dot)com.”
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FRIENDS OF GUINEA DELIVERS
BOOKS TO PQG
On Saturday 11 October, Friends of Guinea financial
officer Jody Sites drove to Quebec from his home in
Center Barnstead, New Hampshire to deliver 110
French-language books to our friend Claude Lescan, who
operates Partage Québec-Guinée, a modest NGO devoted
entirely to supplying books to schools and libraries
in Guinea.
“We think PQG is a really good organization to partner
with,” says FOG Projects Director Cherif Diallo.
“Their goal is to provide at least two books for every
Guinean student between elementary and high school.
This year they plan to send school utensils and
clothing in addition to several tons of books, which
they receive from donations made by ordinary people
throughout Canada.
“PQG has established some important connections.
Companies such as Alcoa Mining and CBG (cie. de
Bauxite de Guineé) have agreed to ship all books to
Guinea at no charge for PQG. The Guinean customs in
Kamsar have agreed to allow the entry of those books
to Guinea duty free. Guinean workers in Kamsar and
Conakry have agreed to distribute the books throughout
Guinea.”
Jody accordingly left home in Center Barnstead
Saturday morning and went to Montpelier, Vermont to
pick up the books from Sally DeCicco, a former
volunteer in Ghana who had offered to donate them to
FOG. “After that I swung by Burlington to pick up a
friend who is in school there. Then it was off to the
border. We didn’t have any trouble crossing the border
into Canada, which surprised me a little because we
had 12 sealed cartons in the back of the car. But they
waved us right through.”
Once in Canada, however, things went less smoothly for
Jody. “We got to the town of St. Jerome and I started
asking where Rue Eva was. That was when I was reminded
how badly my French has deteriorated since I was in
Guinea. This was sad, because I thought it couldn’t
get much worse than it was when I was in country.”
Jody tried resorting to Franglais and hand gestures,
but to no avail. Finally he telephoned Mr. Lescan from
a service station but could not ask for directions
because he no longer knew where he was. “The gas
station lady got on the phone with Claude and said
that Claude would come and get me. Very nice.”
Lescan and his wife Julie came to the service station
to get Jody and Jody followed them to the warehouse
they use as a storage facility. After admiring this,
they showed Jody the site where the sorting and
shipping of books to Guinea takes place. “It was very
impressive,” said Jody. “Here is a man who essentially
works alone, who has collected, sorted and shipped
over 300,000 books to Guinea, and has many thousands
more in process.”
Lescan showed Jody the extensive documentation he
keeps of his operations to date, and some souvenirs
for his trip. After saying goodbye, Jody had an
uneventful drive back to Burlington and then finally
home to New Hampshire. He said, “It was a long trip -
over 800 miles - but I learned a lot, and had a great
time.”
We invite you to visit http://www.pqg.qc.ca for photos
and more information on the activities of Partage
Quebec Guinea. FOG encourages support for PQG, whose
continued existence means thousands of good books for
Guinean students every year. You can send your support
either directly to PQG or to FOG's financial officer,
Jody Sites (18 Waterville Ln., Center Barnstead, NH
03225).
Project Notes
Cherif Diallo, Projects Director
projects(at)friendsofguinea(dot)org
Friends of Guinea is pleased to announce that we have
recently provided assistance to two volunteer projects
in Guinea.
PCV Carrie Mitchell in Boké is coordinating the
Landouma Translation Public Health Project, which
involves translating public health information into
the local language of Landouma and playing the tapes
for local villagers. She requested a $100.00 donation
from FOG for a bicycle ($75.00) and some cassette
tapes ($25.00). FOG has pledged $150 to this project.
PCV Ann Clayton in Koliagbe, Kindia is in charge of
the Koliagbe Basic Hospital Materials Project. She
requested a donation from FOG to purchase a few basic
hospital materials for a village hospital from UNICEF
in Conakry, including a pediatric stethoscope ($10),
an adult stethoscope ($8), a blood-pressure meter
($20), a baby scale ($40), a baby bathtub ($5), linens
($10) and a scissors/forceps kit ($15), for a total of
$108. FOG has pledged $120.00 to this project.
FOG WINS FIRST PLACE
Friends of Guinea has been awarded first place for the
year 2003 in the NPCA Country of Service Website Award
Competition. This award honors those who have labored
to create and maintain these effective tools for
"bringing the world back home" and enhancing the RPCV
community.
In the Country of Service Group category, first place
went to Friends of Guinea. Second place went to
Friends of Morocco. Third place went to Friends of
Lesotho.
Congratulations to FOG’s founder, secretary,
webmistress and resident Wonder Woman, Stephanie
Chasteen!
Listserv Notes
Marilyn Pearson (Parent)
listserv(at)friendsofguinea(dot)org
The Guinea List is active with 303 members. Guinea
Parent Support groups have 106 members trading emails,
phone numbers, and tips. A new group will be forming
in January 2004 when the next batch of PTVs goes to
Guinea. The general parent group has 24 members who
seem to be communicating psychically because they
aren't using the listserv! For more information or to
join a one of these listservs, visit
http://friendsofguinea.org. The big news this quarter
is the instigation of the Message Corner in this
newsletter where family and friends in the US who are
FOG members can place personal messages for their PCVs
in Guinea.
Videotape Gala
A bunch of Friends of Guinea recently mustered their
efforts and reached out to those poor underprivileged
souls in Guinea...the Peace Corps Volunteers, deprived
of the best assets of American culture. And so we sent
out a total of 13 videotapes for the Conakry house,
including Bowling for Columbine, Spirited Away, Lord
of the Rings, and American Pie. And a big thanks to:
<sum> Shad Engkilterra (RPCV '98-'00) who donated many
tapes
<sum> Carol Mermey (mother of PCT Elinor Lichtenberg)
for donating the money to purchase Bowling for
Columbine
<sum> PCV parents Lee & Nancy Fleisher for donations
for more tapes
<sum> Meryl Kiuttu (mother of PCV Ben Augustine) for
donating tapes
<sum> Stefania Pizzirani (friend of PCV Ben Augustine)
and PCV Sonya Starr for carrying tapes over.
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| MESSAGE
CORNER
(All members of Friends of Guinea can place one free
personal advertisement per year in CaVa?. These
advertisements are limited to 21 words and are
intended primarily as a way for families and friends
to send messages of support and encouragement to
volunteers serving in Guinea, although they might
equally be used to broadcast other messages. We
encourage you to take advantage of this free service
by emailing your message of 21 words or less to the
Newsletter Editor at newsletter(at)friendsofguinea(dot)org.
Please note that this service is available only to
current members of Friends of Guinea, so please submit
your advertisement under the name in which your
membership is listed so that we may verify your
status.)
To Jenni Pearson - Loved our visit to Chez Jenni en
Afrique. We're so proud of you! Love, Mom and Dad.
Hai Keita a Sanacia. We are so proud of you! Love,
Mom, Dad and Caren.
To Elizabeth Arlotti: Beth, We love you. Be careful
and behave! See you soon. Love, Mom, Dad, Linda,
Grandma, Uncle Pete.
Elinor Lichtenberg: Hope you’re settled in to your
brand new house, and doing well. We're so proud of
you! Love, Mama and Daddy.
Anne, Woman of Steel, we are very proud of you and the
work you are doing. Love, James, Mom, Dad, Dan
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Le Griot Nous Dit
DR CONGO RAPE CRISIS BENEFIT NOV. 4 IN DC
An evening of cocktails, hors d’oeuvres and Congolese
art and music will be held at Tryst, 2459 18th Street
N.W., from 6:30—8:30. Keynote speaker John
Prendergast, of the International Crisis Group.
Afterparty with Congolese DJ Patrick at Mezè
Restaurant and Bar, 2437 18th St. N.W., $35.00.
Proceeds to benefit Centre Olame, helping Congolese
survivors of rape by warring parties under the most
difficult conditions. More info at
http://www.en-avant-congo.org/.
LE GRIOT NOUS DIT…
In September, Jody, Anne, and Aidan Sites went to
visit Scott, Ellie and Baby Jack Turner in the
Bahamas, where they are stationed with the State
Department. “It was a great week of beaches, pools,
naps, good food, and good cheer. We were lucky enough
to be there when Baby Jack took his first steps! The
Turners will be returning to the States in the fall,
to begin training for their next post, which is
Naples, Italy. They've got a rough life, huh?”
Lesli Griffen writes: “I was able to briefly visit my
PCV, Kylie, in Paris last week. Not nearly enough
time to catch up, but I was able to transfer some
items to her for her Guinean-American hybridized
Thanksgiving dinner. After two weeks of vacation she
indicated she was feeling as if she didn't know with
what culture she belonged anymore. I'm wondering if
this kind of disorientation is a common experience for
other PCVs.”
Ibrahim Bah (ibrahim_bah(at)dell.com) has written to say
that he is looking for his RPCV teachers from Pita:
Jane Park (87-90) and Stephanie Muller (90-91).
Ibrahim is from Pita Timbi-Touni.
(If you have any news to share about yourself, your
family or your friends from your days as a Guinea
PCV, please pass it along to the griot at
newsletter(at)friendsofguinea(dot)org.)
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