by Stephanie Chasteen

Full report and pictures at
http://www.friendsofguinea.org/conference.shtml

In December, George Greer contacted me to ask for
FOG’s help in emergency fundraising for the 2002 Girls
Conferences. They needed $7000 by January 1 in order
for the conferences, now in their 5th year, to
continue. Many RPCV’s say that the conferences were
the most worthwhile thing they did during their
service, and I was a bit nervous about the short time
we had to fundraise.

I shouldn’t have been apprehensive. In just a month,
without FOG spending any of our project money, the
conferences were fully funded. It was truly a
remarkable show of solidarity and hard work by RPCV’s
and parents of PCV’s. Some recognitions are in order:

•LJILJANA MANNERS, mother of PCV Urska Manners, raised
$1060 from Femmes d'Europe in Belgium. She reports, “I
had to give a speech in front of 50 ladies.”

•KATHY TILLMAN $1,825.21 UU church

•JEN AKERS (98-00) helped mail out hundreds of
postcards and emails to RPCV’s to encourage them to
donate to the project

•Also involved and vocal were EMILY BYRAM (98-00),
SHANNON FAGERLUND (97-00), SHAD ENGILTERRA (98-00) and
several others who I’m probably forgetting. Thank you
everybody for your donations!

The Girls’ Conferences were held in Kankan, Labe,
Boke, and Lelouma, simultaneously from 15–18 of
February (except for Lelouma), benefiting a total of
124 girls from a variety of towns and villages. Most
sessions were led by PCVs, who led discussions on
subjects such as girls in school, careers, HIV/AIDS,
and female excision. There were also skits, videos, a
first chance to use email, presentations by a variety
of Guinean women, and lots of fun activities. Several
volunteers commented that"the girls seemed transformed
by the different topics they encountered and
discussed."

Many PCV’s and Guinean nationals gave a great deal of
energy so that these conferences could be a success,
in everything from the planning stage to leading
sessions on the actual day. Anyone who has done these
conferences know that it’s a tremendous drain… and a
tremendous boost at the same time. Good job to all our
PCV’s in the field.

We received several thank-you letters from those
involved:

"Dear Friends of Guinea,

It is with great pleasure and satisfaction that we
write you this thank you letter aboutyour great effort
and the help you provided for us Guinean girls. We
sincerely thank you and the Americans from the US
Peace Corps.You provided us with the opportunity to
enrich our knowledge because we attended sessions that
interested us a lot during this Fifth Seminar for
Young Women in the Fouta Djalon. These sessions
included gender roles, sexual harassment, excision,
depigmentation, sports, unwanted pregnancy, STDs/STIs,
HIV/AIDS, etc. We learned about these things by doing
different activities like models, skits, discussions
with professional women and university students; and
we did our own session on how to inform local
students.

Now with the subjects we have learned, we can help our
families, our community, and our classmates thanks to
you – the Americans who helped us and supported us.
Please realize that this seminar was important to us
and met our satisfaction. We enjoyed all of the
sessions of the seminar.

Thank you.

-- by the young women of Gaoual

Fatoumata Dialo Sow, 10th grade, 16 years old and
Fayelle Ly, 9th grade, 16 years old"

Dear Friends and Supporters,

I would like to thank you as well. I think my girls
have done a great job explaining their appreciation,
but I just wanted to add that being here, watching
these young women work and learn was a treat. For them
to have this opportunity was an experience of a
lifetime. Again I thank you for your support.
Witnessing the success of the conference and the way
the girls responded was a real gift. They will never
forget their conference in Boké.

Sincerely,

Sara Prudent, PCV English teacher in Gaoual”

Dear Donors,

The Girls' Conferences are now finished. We are all
thoroughly exhausted, but the conferences were a great
success! I believe that the lives of some of the girls
were truly affected. The changes will be small, but we
are laying the foundation for the future empowerment
of women.
Women and girls in Africa, and especially in Guinea,
have a tough time because of the many obstacles they
must overcome in order to be successful. Gender
equality is one of the problems stifling development
in Guinea. The goal of this conference was to empower
these impressionable girls, to boost their self
confidence, and to give them tools to educate their
peers back in the villages. We can honestly say that
our goals were very successfully met.
We could not have done this without your help. Thanks
again for helping us make a difference in these girls'
lives, and thank you for your continued support of
Peace Corps' projects.

Sincerely,

The Peace Corps Volunteers of the Fouta Djalon region
in the Republic of Guinea”

by Woody Colahan

On Sunday, November 11, Guineans voted in a
controversial referendum on constitutional change.
Offical sources reported that turnout was 87% and that
more than 98% percent of voters approved the proposed
changes to the country’s constitution. However the BBC
reported opposition sources as saying turnout was less
than 20%, while United Nations Integrated Regional
Information Networks (IRIN) said that local media
sources reported a low turnout and that diplomatic
sources reported a high turnout only in pro-government
areas.

IRIN reported no major incidents of violence in the
voting but noted some irregularities including
including "polling officials who did not know how to
count ballots."

The referendum was heavily criticized by the political
opposition, who mounted an aggressive campaign against
approval. The most controversial elements were an
article that extends President Conté’s term to seven
years instead of four and at the same time removes any
restrictions on the number of times he could stand for
re-election, and an article which changes local
decentralization authorities (the C.R.D.’s) from
elected officials to presidential appointees.

Opposition leaders argued that the referendum was
illegal in that the present constitution, enacted in
1993, allows for constitutional revision only by joint
action between the President and the National
Assembly. They complained that President Conté had
bypassed the National Assembly completely in holding
the Nov. 11 referendum.

The political opposition has been campaigning against
the referendum under the slogan, “No to a President
for Life.” Opposition leaders have been touring the
interior of the country in a convoy of vehicles,
attempting to hold rallies in major regional capitals.
Guineenews in Toronto reported on Nov. 3 that
government officials in Kankan and Labé had blocked
the approaches to their towns with tanks in order to
halt the opposition caravan and prevent them from
holding rallies, but that in Labé demonstrators had
simply gotten out of their cars and walked around the
tanks to rally in “tens of thousands” in the center of
the city.

On Nov. 4 the BBC aired an eyewitness report of the
entrance of the caravan into Conakry, where it was
attacked by the police at Matoto. The BBC reporter,
Alhassan Sylla, said the convoy was coming from
Kindia, where it had been prevented by the authorities
from holding a rally. In
Conakry it was met by a large crowd of supporters,
which were then attacked with tear gas and
dispersed.The correspondent did not report any deaths,
but said that he saw injured demonstrators lying on
the ground.After the police attack opposition
coalition leader Bah Mamadou was clearly angered, and
said that “from now on, force will meet force.”

Demonstrations against the referendum took place
outside Guinea as well. On Nov. 2, Guineans from the
New York and Philadelphia areas demonstrated in
Philadelphia before the African-American Business
Summit, chanting slogans such as “Conté must go!”
Afterwards they held a meeting where calls were made
for better cooperation within the Guinean expatriate
community. On Nov. 3 more than one thousand Guineans
demonstrated against the referendum in front of the
Guinean embassy in Paris, according to Guineenews,
with plans to demonstrate again four days later in
front of the French National Assembly.

Criticism of the proposed referendum also came from
foreign sources. The Thursday before the vote,
President Conté was visited by ambassadors from the
European Union and the G7 coutries, who came to
“repeat their concern” over the possible consequences
of the referendum on Guinea’s future. Diplomatic
sources speculated that the article in the referendum
making local officials into presidential appointees
was likely to sour relations with the World Bank and
IMF, because they and other international institutions
place much emphasis on the process of
decentralisation. In Washington a State Department
spokesman said that “any constitutional change in
Guinea carried out in an illegal manner would not
contribute to the development of democracy and
therefore would not be welcomed by the United States,”
according to Guineenews. While noting that the
official text being voted on in the referendum had not
yet been published, he denied reports that Secretary
of State Powell had threatened to cut off aid to
Guinea if the referendum went ahead, and said that the
question of whether President Conté should receive a
third term was a matter “for the Guinean people to
decide in a free fair and transparent process.”

The Standard Times of Freetown, Sierra Leone on Nov. 9
quoted Sierra Loenian refugees returning to Freetown
as reporting growing tension over the referendum,
saying that “Conakry residents have been having
sleepless nights due to night firing by armed bandits
and in the mornings one can see helicopter gun ships
flying at low range with heavy noise over the city.”

In the event, voting seems to have passed off
peacefully. Press reports cited a heavy military
presence in Conakry, and no word of violent incidents
in the interior. The government claimed an
overwhelming victory and the opposition rejected the
results out of hand. Minister of Territorial
Administration Solano called for dialogue with the
opposition, while Abou Camara, the Garde des Sceaux or
Attorney General, threatened to arrest and prosecute
some opposition leaders for “incitement to revolt.”
Alpha Condé, leader of the RPG, said “we will not
participate in any electoral consultation,” according
to Guineenews. Sidya Touré, leader of the UFR, said
appeals for dialogue had come “too late.” Bah Mamadou,
leader of the UNR, and Siradou Diallo likewise
refused to cooperate with the government after the
election. Late reports seemed to point to a breakup of
the opposition coalition, with Bah Mamadou and Alpha
Condé trying unsuccessfully to hold on tho the
allegiance of Siradou Diallo and Sidya Touré.
Political commentators expressed concern over the
political impasse, coming as it does only six weeks
before the national legislative elections on December
27.

An editorial in the Accra Mail characterized the
referendum as “pointless” and “retrogressive,” calling
Conté an “old-style African dictator” who had “set the
clock of democracy and development back many years.”

Interview by Supriya Pillai

(For those of you who may be interested, there is a
magazine out there called ManoVision which focuses
primarily on our sub-region of West Africa.
Specifically on Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia,
which are the members of the Mano River Union (thus
the name). They also have articles on other countries
in West Africa, but mainly on those three. In fact,
issue #21 has an article written by Brian Farenell
(FOG Advocacy Director) on the rebel attacks in the
Parrots' Beak and one written by Marge Chasteen
(mother of FOG Webmistress Stephanie Chasteen) on her
visit to Guinea.

Although published in London on a bi-monthly basis, it
is on sale in some places in the US. For more
information on the magazine, subscription info, etc.
see their website: http://manovision.webjump.com/.

The following is a harrowing but tragically ordinary
tale from issue #19, reprinted by permission of
ManoVision.)

My name is Chermor Nuhu Bah. I am 26 years old. I was
born in Makeni, the headquarter town of Bombali
District in northern Sierra Leone.

When the rebel war commenced in Sierra Leone on 23
March 1991, Makeni, my hometown, was unaffected.
However, when the regime of the Armed Forces
Revolutionary Council (AFRC) government overthrew the
democratically elected government of Ahmed Tejan
Kabbah on 25 May 1997, things began to change in
Makeni. During the rule of the AFRC, the entire
country suffered massive human rights violations,
which also victimized my family members.

My father, the chief Imam of our local mosque, was
also a cattle herder and he owned a large cattle farm
in a village 70 kilometers away from Makeni. Before
the AFRC came to power, he was actively preaching
against the activities of the rebel movement in the
country. He condemned the brutal killing of innocent
lives and also urged the youth in the town to keep
faith and not allow anyone to convince them to take
part in the brutal and ungodly acts of the RUF rebels
in the country. This was the main cause that led to
all of our suffering in Sierra Leone under the rule of
the AFRC/RUF.

During the early morning hours of 29 May 1997, a group
of rebels and soldiers arrived at our house and opened
fire. They asked for my father, who was fortunately
not around as he was at his cattle farm in Manjoro
village. They told us that they heard that my father
was one of the people who were spreading bad
information about them in the town and they were here
to arrest him. Since he was not home, they brought the
entire family out under the hot, burning sun and we
were seriously beaten. They completely looted the
house and it burned it to the ground. Then they took
me along with them to their base.

Upon arrival, I was stripped naked and tortured. They
then locked me in a small, dark room. I was alone in
there and was not allowed to see my people for three
days. During those three days I was left without food.
They were trying to force me to give them information
regarding the whereabouts of my father. I persistently
refused to tell them anything they wanted to know. I
was then released and went home to join my family, who
had already moved to our other house in the town.
After the rebels consolidated their hold on the town,
a law was passed from their high command that they
should stop harassing civilians. So we were no longer
harassed, but our movements were monitored and
restricted.

Nine months later, the Nigerian-led intervention force
ECOMOG, kicked the rebels out of power and restored
the democratically elected government. The rebels were
forced to retreat toward the provinces and it was at
this time that they entered our town again. They
intended to turn our town into their base from which
they could launch counter-attacks on the loyal
government troops. They stayed in the town for one
week after which they were forced to flee.

During their week’s stay, the same group of rebels who
burnt down our house, arrived at our new house. But,
this time when they arrived, they saw my uncle on the
verandah and shot him dead on the spot. They then
entered the house and gang raped my two sisters. This
time, my father was home. They found him in his room
and dragged him outside. They beat him until he was
nearly dead. They then took both my father and I to
their base. On the way, a jet belonging to the
intervention force flew over the area and dropped
bombs. Everybody scattered and many of the rebels were
killed. Luckily for us, we managed to escape during
this time. We went to our house and gathered the
remaining family members and fled our farm. We stayed
in hiding in the area until they were driven from our
region.

Eleven months later, the rebels regrouped and launched
the most ruthless and brutal campaign of terror
against the innocent civilians, which resulted in the
amputation of limbs of many poor people in the
country. They attacked my hometown again on 15
December 1998, but this time I managed to escape to
the Republic of Guinea. Before I came to Guinea, all
of my family was at the cattle farm. The rebels
learned of the family’s location and chased everyone
away.

They seized everything on the farm, shot all of the
cows and transferred the meat to their base. My father
was abducted and to this day we do not know his
whereabouts.

This has deeply affected us. My stepmother was
pregnant and due to the strain, she miscarried and
died from excessive bleeding. There was no time to
find a doctor for her. May her soul rest in peace. The
rest of the family was forced to flee to the forest
and they lived there for two months. This was not easy
for them. They later moved to nearby villages and
lived there until there until the signing of the Lomé
peace accord.

As a result of the atrocities committed by the rebels
on the civilian population, regional organizations,
ECOMOG and the international community, immediately
called for peace talks between the rebels and the
government. These were held in Lomé, the capital city
of Togo. After lengthy discussions, an agreement was
reached and the Lomé peace accord was signed.

Some of the rebels started disarming and handing over
their weapons to the UN Peacekeeping forces. The
disarmament process was slowly progressing, while the
UN forces continued to work all over the country. All
of a sudden, the rebels changed their minds and
started abducting UN Peacekeeping forces. This
resulted in the collapse of the peace process. A fresh
battle erupted between loyal government troops and
rebels. The intention of the battle was to counter
rebel attacks in the capital, Freetown.

The highway, which connects the capital to the
provinces, was completely cut off. This even affected
the rebels, who began looting and raiding villages in
search of food.

During this time, I sought refuge in Guinea. However,
having heard about the situation in my country, I had
to risk my life to save my family. I went to
Foracharia, Guinea, and then to the border town of
Pamalap, and finally to the rebel-held village of
Gbalamuya. On my journey, I was searched over and over
again. At one point, I was accused of being a
government spy, but I told them that I had no links
with the SLPP government in Freetown and I was allowed
to go my own way. I managed to see my people after a
lot of difficulties. During that time, a government
helicopter was conducting bombing raids around Makeni
in an attempt to force the rebels out of the town.
Many civilians were massacred during this bombardment.
My family and I narrowly escaped and we had to walk
for ten days before reaching the Guinean border on 2
July 2000.

Even in Guinea, we face many serious problems.
Recently, there were continuous rebel attacks in
Guinea and many of the Sierra Leonean refugees were
blamed for bringing the war into this neighboring
country. The Guinean government announced that all
Sierra Leoneans had to be rounded up and detained
until they could be sent back to their own country.
Because of this, we are harassed and many Guinean
youths and security officers stole our property. Now,
we are facing grave problems here in Guinea.

For now, we cannot go back to our country because the
rebels have earmarked my family and the war is not yet
over. We lost all that we had during this struggle and
now our future is at stake because we do not have
anyone to help us. One thing that I know for sure is
that if the attacks continue, Sierra Leoneans will
find it very difficult to stay in Guinea due to the
heightened harassment. We are not safe here. This is
our main problem. We are in a dilemma because we do
not know where to go. Life is difficult for us here.
Before I wrap up my story, I would like to write the
names of my family members:

Adama Jalloh, 42, mother
Chermor Nuhu Bah, 26, son
Alhodji Mamadu Bah, 23, son
Salieu Bah, 20, son
Aminata Bah, 18, daughter
Isatta Bay, 15, daughter
Alieu Bah, 12, son
Osman Bah, 8, son

Mano Vision magazine. The bi-monthly publication for
Africans and friends of Africa everywhere. We invite
you to participate in this forum by sending an e-mail
with your thoughts, views or article to:
<[email protected]>. Correspondence on
general issues or business can be sent to
<[email protected]>.

by Rachel Schneller (Mali 96–98)

(The following essay was the 1998 winner of the Morits
Thomsen Peace Corps Experince Award, named for the
author of the classic Peace Corps memoir, Living Poor,
and given each year by Peace Corps Writers to the
essay best describing the experience of serving as a
Peace Corps Volunteer. It is reprinted by permission
of Peace Corps Writers. Learn more about Peace Corps
Writers at http://peacecorpswriters.org.)

When a woman carries water on her head, you see her
neck bend outward behind her like a crossbow. Ten
liters of water weighs twenty-two pounds, a fifth of a
woman’s body weight, and I’ve seen women carry at
least twenty liters in aluminum pots large enough to
hold a television set.

To get the water from the cement floor surrounding the
outdoor hand pump to the top of your head, you need
help from the other women. You and another woman grab
the pot's edges and lift it straight up between you.
When you get it to head height, you duck underneath
the pot and place it on the wad of rolled up cloth you
always wear there when fetching water. This is the
cushion between your skull and the metal pot full of
water. Then your friend lets go. Spend a few seconds
finding your balance. Then with one hand steadying the
load, turn around and start your way home. It might be
a twenty-minute walk through mud huts and donkey
manure. All of this is done without words.

It is an action repeated so many times during the day
that even though I have never carried water on my
head, I know exactly how it is done.

Do not worry that no one will be at the pump to help
you. The pump is the only source of clean drinking
water for the village of three thousand people. Your
family, your husband and children rely on the water on
your head. Maybe ten people will drink the water you
carry. Pump water, everyone knows, is clean. Drinking
well water will make you sick. People here die every
month from diarrhea and dehydration.

The pump is also where you hear gossip of the women
from the other side of the village. Your trip to the
pump may be your only excuse for going outside of your
family's Muslim home alone.

When a woman finds her balance under forty pounds of
water, I see her eyes roll to their corners in
concentration. Her head makes the small movements of
the hands of someone driving a car: constant
correction. The biggest challenge is to turn all the
way around from the pump in order to go home again. It
is a small portion of the ocean, and it swirls and
lurches on her head with long movements.

It looks painful and complicated and horrible for the
posture and unhealthy for the vertebrae, but I wish I
could do it. I have lived in this West African village
for two years, but cannot even balance something
solid, like a mango, on my head, let alone an object
filled with liquid. When I lug my ten-liter plastic
jug of water to my house by hand, it is only a hundred
meters, but the container is heavy and unwieldy.
Changing the jug from one hand to the other helps, but
it is a change necessary every twenty meters. Handles
do not balance. On your head, the water is symmetrical
like the star on top of a Christmas tree. Because my
life has never depended on it, I have never learned to
balance.

by Rebecca Konrad

Friends of Guinea has had a very successful first year
in the membership department. Since February of 2001,
114 individuals have become members of FOG resulting
in 91 memberships and close to $3,000 in membership
dues. These members represent a diverse group made up
of 63 PCVs and RPCVs, 30 parents, and 21 other
individuals including Guinean nationals, relatives of
volunteers, and others related to or simply interested
in Guinea.

We thank you all for contributing to FOG and look
forward to providing you with another year of services
and information in 2002.

by Brian Farenell

Greetings from the largely winter-free northern New
York. There were a few days in February and March
where the weather felt like it was in the Fouta. Go
figure!

Friends of Guinea and ADNA

Friends of Guinea participates in ADNA, the Advocacy
Network for Africa. From its website, ADNA is a
progressive, non-partisan network of 200 US-based
organizations [whose] initiatives address issues of
peace and security; human, civil, political and
women's rights; environmentally and economically
sustainable development for poverty eradication;
social justice; popular participation and good
governance; and humanitarian and crisis relief. ADNA
holds a meeting in Washington, DC every month, usually
in the morning of the first Tuesday of the month. It
would be great if FOG had a representative(s) at these
meetings. Since I don't live near Washington, we could
use a volunteer(s) to attend these meetings. The
committment is minimal: one morning a month, although
it is on a work day, plus emailing me before and after
the meeting to coordinate things. So if anybody thinks
they might be interested, please contact me for more
details. (Don't worry, just emailing me for more info
doesn't to commit you! :-)

Friends of West Africa

One of my goals for the rest of the year is to
initiate contacts with Friends of Sierra Leone,
Friends of Liberia and the other Friends of West
Africa RPCV groups for our sub-region of West Africa.
Ideally, I’d like to set up a mini-coalition for these
"Friends of..." groups which will allow us to
coordinate advocacy efforts on issues of common
importance.

Future FOG Advocacy Website

Another project of mine is to set up a Friends of
Guinea advocacy web site. I get emails on a lot of
different advocacy issues from ADNA and other sources.
But they might not be of interest to a lot of people
on the listserv. So by setting up an advocacy website,
we will hopefully be able to broaden our advocacy
efforts and as well as providing more targeted
advocacy opportunities for interested members. Stay
tuned to the listserv for more details.

Volunteer Opportunities

In addition to the ADNA rep, would could also use
people who would be interested in helping out with the
following two positions:

•World Wise Schools officer: to coordinate World Wise
Schools activities.

•Liaison officer: to maintain communication with
PC-Conakry, PC-Washington, the NPCA and other Friends
of West Africa groups. This could be shared if it is
too much for one person.

If you are interested in any these positions or have
any other advocacy related questions, please don’t
hesitate to contact me at: [email protected].

By the way, if you have an interest in helping out in
some way not mentioned above, please please please let
me know. I only listed above opportunities that came
to my mind; it doesn't mean there aren't other ideas
out there.

Thanks!

Brian Farenell

by Stephanie Chasteen

Last year we moved to a new permanent server, in
anticipation of the possibility that I may sometime
finish graduate school. The page is now housed
forevermore at http://friendsofguinea.org. That
server location is owned by the same guy who hosts the
Guinea List listserv, my tireless and good-natured
friend DAVE LOEBELL (thanks Dave!). You can write Dave
at [email protected], or visit
http://homepage.klatha.com/

The page also got a new look last year, thanks to HERB
CAUDILL'S ('97-'00) cartoons. Thanks, Herb!

Many thanks to DAVID PRINCIPE (RPCV TEFL '93-'95), who
helped us to list the new friendsofguinea.org site
with all the major search engines, such as Yahoo.
Thanks, David!

Friends of Guinea is a very popular site, receiving
about 1000 hits a month on the home page.

RPCV Directory

We also hope to revamp the RPCV directory
(http://www.klatha.com/guinea/index.php3, enter
username "rice", no password) so that it's searchable
by Years of Service, Name, Village in Guinea, etc...

Listserv

The Guinea List listserv is also still going strong,
and we have a good showing from the new parents of
PCV's. We have a total of 302 subscribers. Don’t be
shy about posting… it’s nice whenever we see some
discussion on there.

New PCV’s and Parents

I'd be interested in working with someone to provide
more services to new parents of PCV's, and to PCV's
in-country. I have ideas, as always. Contact me at
[email protected].

Peace, Steph

by Woody Colahan

The October 2001 issue of the Peace Corps Guinea News
shows us that Americans around the world are
struggling to deal with the September 11 attacks just
as we are at home. Country Director George Greer notes
that “all of us in the American Mission in Guinea have
overwhelmed by the outpouring of condolences and
support from Guineans in all walks of life.” Judging
from my experience in my village as a volunteer, this
is not hard to believe. I remember well how I was
deluged with condolences the day the news was reported
of the death of President Clinton’s mother, an event
of which I might otherwise not even have been aware.
Apparently American officials and volunteers have had
the same experience in spades. “The day after the
attacks President Conté and his entire cabinet came to
the ambassador’s residence to express their
condolences to senior American officials,” reports
George. “None have been more supportive than PC’s own
Guinean staff. I believe we are all very lucky to be
serving in Guinea.”

At the same time, the attacks have resulted inevitably
in a heightened awareness of security issues. Security
has been stepped up at the PC office and maison de
passage. George expects Guinea to remain safe for
volunteers, but asks any incidents of anti-American
activity to be reported immediately, just in case.

The swearing-in of a new group of PCVs was scheduled
for Sep. 13 at the Ambassador’s residence. Events
caused it to be rescheduled to Sep. 12 at George’s own
house. We imagine that, coming as it did a day after
the attacks, it must have been an emotional moment.

George reports that flooding in Kankan and Mandiana
has displaced 30,000 local inhabitants and washed out
the bridge in Mandiana. As a result two Mandiana
volunteers were withdrawn from their sites and one new
PCV is waiting in Kankan for the waters to subside.

One majorish piece of news from PC Guinea is that the
Peace Corps Office of the Inspector General (OIG) has
decided to eliminate funding for all SPA projects in
Guinea. Apparently it was generally agreed after a
program review that infrastructure projects were not
successful, although “technical assistance” or
capacity-building projects had a much higher success
rate. PC/Guinea has asked headquarters to be allowed
to continue supporting technical assistance projects,
but it is not yet clear whether funding will be
restored.

IST’s were held in January for 1st year volunteers.
They were in Mamou. I guess the beach at Kassa is just
too distracting.

Ms. Virginia Grover says: ANNEMARIE CISSE and her two
adorable kids visited me in France last summer! Much
time was spent reminiscing about "the good ole days"
in Kindia.

Ms. Ann Grodnik reports: KERRY PHILP recently sang her
rendition of Frank Sinatra's “My Way" in a karaoke bar
in San Francisco; CAROLINE FICHTENBERG is going to
start her Ph.D. in epidemiology at Johns Hopkins (ask
her about start date and details); SHIRLEY WOODWARD is
going to get her MPH at Johns Hopkins starting soon.
SHANNON FAGERLUND still parties like a rock-star.

KARI EGGERLING (93–-95) and BOB CAPELLO (92--–94) were
married on April 27 in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

REBECCA KONRAD (96-98) finished up her actuarial work
last summer and
began the University of Minnesota's MBA program in the
fall. BRIAN MCKENNA (Bounouma 96-98) has moved to DC
and is in school at Johns Hopkins School for Advanced
International Studies (SAIS). We think that's what it
stands for. MIKE NEMEC (Boffa 96-98) has moved to DC
and is getting his masters in Public Policy at
Georgetown. MARTIN KIFER (Beyla 96-97 and Boké 97-98)
has moved to Minneapolis and is pursuing a Ph.D. in
political science at the U. of MN. KAREN PILLIOD
(96-98) has moved to Chapel Hill and is getting her
MPH at UNC.

KIM MAGGIO ( Maci, Pita 96–98) got married Nov. 2 in
Conakry. She says, “I met this great guy, Gabriel
(a.k.a. Gaby), in 1999 at Timi's (a night club for
those of you not familiar with Conakry) while I was
still a PCV in Guinea. Actually he was introduced to
me one night, by my good friend Chavanne and it took
us about 6 or 8 months to actually go out together. He
says he didn't want to date a PCV because we all end
up leaving the country (I think he has realized no one
really knows when I'll leave.) Too make it even more
amusing I was the one to ask him out, to a movie at
the Marine house, of all places.

“To those of you for whom I have been a poor
correspondent I apologize and blame the technology of
the Guinea. Needless to say you are still in my
thoughts.”

CARRIE REGAN (RPCV Doko & Siguiri 1994-97) was the
first person to realize that the famous "Afghan Girl"
had been found. Carrie is an associate producer for
National Geographic Television. The “Afghan Girl” was
the subject of a famous cover photograph on National
Geographic Magazine some years ago. The story of her
rediscovery was aired on MSNBC in March. As the only
woman in the National Geographic crew, Carrie was the
first to meet her. Coverage of the “Search for the
Afghan Girl” can be found at
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/index.html.

WOODY COLAHAN (RPCV Maci, Pita 1993–96) will be
married to Ni Nyoman Erawati on July 4th in Bangah,
Bali, Indonesia. Era teaches Balinese dance at
Colorado College in Colorado Springs. Woody is
studying Indonesian frantically. They will be leaving
for Bali at the end of May and returning in mid-July,
after which they will live in Colorado Springs. Woody
says, “It kind of started when Era, whom I hardly knew
at the time, asked me to go to Bali with her. And I
have a strict policy: whenever a beautiful girl asks
me to accompany her to paradise, I always say yes.”

Woody will also begin graduate school in the Fall,
pursuing a double Master’s in Guitar Performance and
Music Theory at the University of Denver Lamont School
of Music. He plans to continue teaching classical
guitar at University of Southern Colorado, Adams State
College and Pikes Peak Community College.