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A
Letter from Ouagadougou
by Stephanie Mullen, Yomou & Pita �88-�92
14 June 2001, Ouagadougou
As I got on the plane in Paris
I wondered what all these high school students were going to be doing
in Ouagadou; maybe a Habitat for Humanity project or a church group? It
wasn�t until I overheard one telling her Burkinabe seatmate that she was
going to teach science for two years that I realized they were brand new
Peace Corps Volunteers. Did I look that young? After the long flight,
you could feel the excitement mount among them as we broke through the
clouds and the dusty terrain and the occasional green tree came into view.
A cheer went up as we touched down, much to the surprise of fellow passengers.
It seemed fitting that I was
on this plane with new volunteers as I myself was on my way back to Guinea
for the first time since I left seven years ago. I�ve been skirting Guinea
for quite sometime, working in Cote d�Ivoire, Togo, Mali, Ghana and Burkina
Faso. I had an hour layover once in Conakry on my way to Lomé,
but didn�t get off the plane; I said my hellos through the window. I find
many of the things I loved about Guinea in these other countries, generous
and friendly people, busy market places, adorable children and excellent
peanut sauce, so I get my African fix a couple times a year at least.
But this time I�m going back to Guinea and I am both excited and apprehensive.
You know that feeling you have when you�ve been away for awhile and you�re
afraid things have changed so much that you won�t recognize anyone or
anything and people won�t recognize you. I plan to go back to Pita, although
I don�t know who is still there; my students surely have moved on. Yomou,
as usual, is just too far to visit this time.
These thoughts were on my mind
as I walked out of the airport into the Ouaga sunshine where I was met
by a welcoming cheer from dozens of current Burkina PCVs. I�d been mistaken
for one of their new recruits. Although flattered, I explained during
a pause that I wasn�t but that I was once in Guinea. There was a short
hesitation and then I got another round of applause ? I guess being a
RPCV counts for something no matter where you served.
How
It All Came to This
by Stephanie Chasteen
When I left for Guinea, just about 4 years
ago today, the web was still growing and we had yet to lose all that venture
capital in the silicon valley. I thought it would be oh, so cool, to start
a web site where my friends could read about Guinea and see the latest
letters and photos that I�d sent from the field. I scraped together an
ugly little site on my mom�s free web space from Concentric.net, and my
boyfriend Ulysses maintained it while I was gone.
My mom, Marge Chasteen, also
had an informal email list of parents of current PCV�s, and they shared
information, news, and support.
In two years, the web grew
a LOT and when I got back I went to work revamping the page. I was lucky
to have a friend (Dave Loebell) who did web stuff, and he set up the Guinea
List. I was amazed to see a group of 30 parents grow to a mass of over
200 subscribers in just over a year. Some of us started talking, and ?
now look at us! We are a full-fledged non-profit group, Friends of Guinea,
with members and officers and everything! I feel privileged to have been
the seed for this quirky little group, and I�m excited to see what�s going
to happen next.
I�ve been working hard
on that �ugly little site,� and it�s now quite useful, complete with a
directory of RPCV�s, online membership signup form, suggested reading
list, and more. We get about 500 hits a month on our home page, and the
page is referenced in many other websites on Guinea. We plan to get our
own domain name, too, so look for Friendsofguinea.org coming soon! I can
always use a hand on the web site, and would love help, advice, and suggestions.
There are also two Q&A sections on the site, one for parents and one
for prospectives ? please add your two cents! I could also use a hand
from anyone with any artistic or graphic design abilities, or from anyone
who wouldn�t mind scanning in some old issues of Awa.
Here is a rundown of what
is available on our website, and a partial list of other websites an listservs
of possible interest to RPCV�s and anyone interested in Guinea.
Friends of Guinea Web Highlights (*refers
to home page address)
Home: friendsofguinea.org
Membership: *membership.shtml
FOG Officers: *fogofficers.shtml
Books: *books.shtml
RPCV Resources: *rpcv.shtml
Parents & Friends� Resources: *tips.shtml
RPCV and FOG Directory: *registry.shtml
Other Websites:
NPCA: http://www.rpcv.org
You can add your name to a registry of RPCV�s at
http://rpcv.org/pages/email.cfm?category=6 and you can also search the
database for friends.
Peace Corps Writers: http://peacecorpswriters.org/
Any writers out there among you? I know there
are! Here�s a website for you.
Peace Corps Crossroads: http://www.concentric.net/~jmuehl/links.shtml
A gaudy but terribly detailed and informative
site, especially for prospective PCV�s. Their list of links is exhaustive.
Guinea Forum: http://www.guinea-forum.org/
A site run by Guineans, with some nice information
and an extensive news section.
Other Listservs:
Peace Corps Storytellers Listserv
http://www.geocities.com/PCV-L/
Peace Corps Listserv
[email protected]. Send a message SUBscribe PCORPS-L
yrfirstname yrlastname. A nice active listserv which discusses various
politics and ramifications of foreign policy, peace corps, global warming,
just about everything!
Advocacy
Report
by Brian Farenell
As Advocacy Director,
I will be responsible for coordinating broad goals which Friends of
Guinea (FOG) will be involved in. The goals will be determined by the
membership but I will be in charge in implementing them, along with
the Projects' Director.
FOG will focus its energies
on two or three broad policy goals each year. It could be girls' education,
adult literacy, traffic safety or any number of other goals. Members
of the listserv will soon be asked to throw out and debate ideas for
these goals.
Eventually, members will vote on the two
that we will concentrate on this year. Anyone on the listserv is encouraged
to propose and defend the ideas, however only FOG members will be allowed
to vote on the final two.
I will be constantly
assessing policy needs in Guinea through communication with PC-Guinea,
local and international non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and FOG
members. I will also be coordinating lobby efforts with the aforementioned
groups plus PC-Washington, Guinean ministries and the National Peace
Corps Association (NPCA).
`One thing I want to
emphasize is the role of FOG members in these processes. The input of
members is not only important but essential to effective advocacy. Eventually,
we would like to have committees for each of the annual advocacy goals.
We may also need other volunteers to help with specific programs like
World Wise Schools. It would also be a good idea to have a volunteer
to focus in on each of the three areas which PC-Guinea is involved with:
education, public health and natural resources. So if you have an issue
which you are particularly concerned about or have special expertise
in, please consider volunteering a little of your time for FOG. If you
are interested, please contact me.
Already, Friends of Guinea
has been involved in a very ancillary role in campaigns by other organizations
to fight conflict diamonds and ban land mines. FOG will enthusiastically
lend its support other pan-African NGOs which engage in such campaigns
which have broad benefits for all Africans, including Guineans. Our
most active efforts, however, will focus primarily on programs which
directly help Guineans.
If you have any comments
or concerns, please don't hesitate to contact me at: [email protected].
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Financial
Report
by John Dowaschinski
Friends of Guinea is good
financial shape for a fledgling non-profit organization, with $1,030.29
in our bank account as of the end of May 2001. Most of our revenues come
through membership dues and donations, and the only expenses so far have
been for setting up the web page and for fees related to incorporation
and our bank account.
I have recently moved from
North Carolina, where Friends of Guinea was originally chartered, to California.
As the incorporating officer of the organization, I will need to file
new paperwork for us out here. That is one of two main items on my agenda.
Stephanie Chasteen (also a Californian) and I have gotten our hands on
the information concerning the steps we need to take and are planning
to work together on the incorporating documents.
The second item on my agenda
is to look for a bank that will give us a better deal on our account,
because we don�t want our precious funds to be eaten up by account fees.
If we can get out of those bank fees, our expenses will be really minimal
so if we can keep the membership base growing our increasing revenue should
allow us to contribute to some really worthwhile projects in Guinea.
Membership
Report
by Rebecca Konrad
Membership in Friends
of Guinea has grown significantly in the last few months. The total number
of members has doubled since April and will soon be approaching the 50
mark. We have a good mix of family and individual memberships. Approximately
50% of the members are RPCV's another 25% are parents, and the final 25%
are Guinean nationals and friends of PCV's or RPCV's.
Dues are $15 and $23 for
individual and family memberships respectively. Please encourage your
family and friends to join FOG if they have not joined already. A solid
membership base is the key to FOG's goals of 1) maintaining a network
of information and friends related to Guinea stateside, and 2) providing
financial support for Peace Corps projects in Guinea. Thanks again for
joining Friends of Guinea!
Secretary�s Report
by Stephanie Mullen
Friends of Guinea (FOG)
officially became an affiliate of the National Peace Corps Association
last fall, and this spring after much preparation we launched our first
membership drive.
Behind the scenes making
it all happen are 9 volunteers: DeDe Dunevant, President and Communications;
Rebecca Rhodes, Vice President; John Dowaschinski, Financial; Brian Farenell,
Advocacy; Woody Colahan, Newsletter; Stephanie Chasteen, Webpage/Listserv;
Rita Rossing, Projects; Rebecca Konrad, Membership and Stephanie Mullen,
Secretary.
Running on no budget and
traversing 4 times zones, this group has been able to hold 3 board meetings,
thanks to Yahoo Chat, and orchestrate the launch of FOG. Now that FOG
is up and running there are lots of activities to plan in terms of projects,
advocacy, and the newsletter to name a few. On the administrative end,
our next goal is to apply for tax exempt status.
If you would like to help
with any of these activities please let us know. There are lots of opportunities
and we really do have our hands full!
�40
Years of Peace Corps Writers� Tour
by Stephanie Chasteen
To celebrate the 40th anniversary of the
Peace Corps in 2001, RPCV Writers & Readers, in partnership with NPCA
and Peace Corps, will stage a series of readings by published Peace Corps
writers in cities across America.
The readings will be scheduled in colleges,
high schools, libraries and community centers ? locations where they can
educate, delight, and impress a wide variety of audiences. At each event,
anywhere from one to three authors will read from their own works, writings
that reflect on or were informed by their Peace Corps experience. They
expect to stage at least one event per month starting in January, 2001
and continuing until the NPCA Conference in September 2001 in Washington,
DC
For the latest information about this project,
check their web site at http://peacecorpswriters.org/ for �The 40 Years
of Peace Corps Writers� Tour ? or contact John Coyne at [email protected].
Le
Griot Nous Dit:
Scott Poe is in
Atlanta with wife Kay and dog Scout working at the CDC and finishing his
Ph.D. from Tulane University School of Public Health.
Mike McGovern is
back (again) from Guinea where he was working on his dissertation for
Emory.
Jill Jupiter is
in Nigeria with husband Anthony writing her dissertation for Columbia
University.
Scott Sackett (96-98)
married Kara last year, and has a quaint little job at a bookmark company
in Seattle. He and Kara are overrun by cats, including the still somewhat
sauvage kitty he brought back from Guinea.
Michelle Hynes and
Laura Zimmerman (92?94) are roommates in Atlanta, GA, and both
work for the CDC. Michelle works in Refugee Reproductive Health and her
most recent trip abroad was to Pakistan to work with Afghan refugees.
A trip to Thailand is planned soon. Laura tracks Rubella outbreaks around
the world and her most recent trips on the job were to Ghana and Kirghizstan.
Caroline Fichtenberg,
Shirley Woodward, Casey Golab, and Nolan Love (all 97-99) are
all living and working in San Francisco. Caroline and Shirley are going
to Johns Hopkins in the fall for graduate school.
Shannon Fagerlund
(97-00) recently made the grande tour of the west coast, leaving us all
gasping for air, upon her long-awaited release from an extended PC service.
John Pangia (98-00)
is in medical school, near San Francisco.
Kathy Tilford, (Country
Director 1996-2000) says: I'm still in Madagascar and will be here until
June 2002. Of course I'd love to stay longer but I'll have six years in,
one past Peace Corps' usual five-year limit so I'll be looking to Guinea
RPCVs to pass on info about interesting jobs.
Speaking of RPCVs, I've
been so pleased to hear from so many of you who have gotten into the school
of your choice or are now graduating or are starting exciting new jobs
or are getting married! Congratulations to every one of you!
I'm enjoying Madagascar
which is totally different from any other country I've worked in...something
new hits me literally every day. It's a fascinating and complex place
and I feel fortunate that I've been able to serve in two wonderful countries,
Guinea and here. My address is: Kathy Tilford, Dept. of State, 2040 Antananarivo
Place, Washington DC 20521. E-mail: [email protected] OR
[email protected].
Stephanie Chasteen
(Health 97-99) says: When I�m not messing around with FOG stuff, I�m working
on my Ph.D. in Physics at UC Santa Cruz. I love it here, and anyone looking
for a nice vacation getaway is more than welcome to stop in! Santa Cruz
is a lovely little town, nestled between the redwoods and the sea, full
of liberal hippies like me. It�s a great place to live, and I have a funky
little apartment with 6�3� ceilings and really low rent.
You might remember that
I graduated from college with a BA in Psychology, so the switch to Physics
has been, well, challenging. But I finished with the undergrad physics
last year, and I�ve passed 5 of the 8 required graduate classes, so I�d
say I�m doing well. Even more important, I�m really enjoying myself. I�m
involved in a project making plastic-based solar cells, which is personally
exciting and the physics is really interesting to me. I�m also interested
in becoming a science writer ? writing about science for the public. I
enjoy writing and communication ? I like organizing information and sharing
it ? so it just seems perfect. I�m also dating a wonderful man, Steve
Vance, who�s been very supportive through this whole time of transition.
Nathan Whiteside
(97-99, Math) says: May 22, 2001 was the last day of my 18 month stint
as a Production Editor at Sybex, Inc. Since then, I have been writing
a book, teaching chi-gung, practicing energetic healing, and most recently
I have taken a workshop in Life Coaching and will soon be building up
a practice in that, too. I'm very busy for someone who's generating almost
no income! I consider it to be a 6-month gift to myself, which I hope
to extend forever but I will be grateful for even 6 months.
Inside
PC Guinea
(Peace Corps Guinea Country Director George
Greer has been very supportive of Friends of Guinea and has offered to
help us by delivering our newsletter to serving volunteers so that they
may know we are here to provide a continuing link to Guinea after they
finish their Peace Corps service. He has also included us in the distribution
of Peace Corps Guinea�s in-country newsletter (expertly edited by Agnieszka
Sykes) so that we may be kept completely up-to date on events and conditions
Guineaside and the latest initiatives undertaken by volunteers. Following
are items related to these dispatches we have received from Conakry.)
June 2001 was packed with trainings, conferences
and ISTs. George reports the borders of the country quiet. Continued deployment
of UN troops in RUF territory in Sierra Leone encourages hope that the
sub-region might be on its way to lasting peace.
Peace Corps Guinea�s continued involvement
in AIDS education is reflected in a training workshop carried out in Conakry
in April and May, and focusing on a behavior education program developed
by Peace Corps called Life Skills, which stresses participatory exercises
on relationship and communication skills, negotiating techniques and self-esteem.
Analogous workshops are planned for the regional capitals in September
and October, to include PCVs and counterparts.
The Conakry staff are busier than ever with
up-country tournées, with a Haute Guinée tournée
scheduled for June, two separate Haute Guinée tournées plus
one to the Basse Côte in July, trips to the Basse Côte, Fouta
and Haute Guinée in August and multiple trips to Haute Guinée
plus one to the Fouta in September.
Conakry has ordered a large shipment of new
bicycles to replace older, worn units and expected to take delivery in
late June.
Conakry is also working to upgrade radio communications
between regional houses and the capital, with increased training, a program
of testing and monitoring, and improved antennas and power supplies.
Finally, the following item from Will Hibbits
caught our attention. We don�t know if Mr. Hibbits is a PCV, a staff member
or some other free spirit, but his message reassures us that creativity
and innovation are alive and well in the way Peace Corps is getting its
message across in the new century:
�Last summer Annie, Rachel and I gallivanted
through a few forest hamlets bringing games, puppet shows and songs to
the local children, all with a health/hygiene theme.
�Recently, I brushed up the old songs, translated
them out of the bizarre and more cryptic dialects of the forest and into
my own native toungue, Susu. As well, I wrote a few more directly marketing
jingles for PSI/OSFAM, such as a Prudence Plus ballad, an Orasel Lullabye
and more. Then I went down to their office, guitar in hand, and won my
first record contract (sold out before I even began).
�They are funding me to hire a backup band,
have all the material translated into Pulaar and Malinké, and hire
studio time to produce the cassettes. The tapes will be given out to all
PCVs in the hope they will be used to engage children in ideas of health
and hygiene through a musical medium, as advertisements on the radio and
hopefully just for fun to boogie to.
�I will be in Conakry for the last three weeks
of July translating the songs, trying out the bands I want to play with,
recording and otherwise...just jamming. So, come by and check it out.
If you play any funky instruments (e.g. pan flute, Jew�s harp, etc.),
I�ll make some space for you on the recording. I have already secured
a contract with Annie Nagy and Amy McCue to do the back-up vocals on the
album. See you in the studio.�
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