This page has brief synopses of the Peace Corps Guinea newsletter. Scroll down to see full articles, or click on the month you are interested. Headlines for each month's newsletter are given below.

Thank you to the kind staff (past CD Lisa Ellis) of PC Guinea for providing this to us, and to our PC Guinea liaison (previously Nancy Fleischer PCV parent 2002-2004, currently Woody Colahan) for summarizing it for us.

To see photos of the new PCV house and offices, and other photos from PCVs in service, visit our PCV pictures page.

For security reasons, we no longer post current PCV sites on the web. If you are a RPCV and wish to find out if there is a PCV in your old site, write to info @ friendsofguinea.org and state who you are and what town(s) you are enquiring about, and why.

Sept/Oct 2004

Deteriorating economic situation in Guinea - CD Lisa Ellis leaving - New US Ambassador in Guinea - Small Enterprise Development update - Labe and Kankan to get new computers - Risky road travel...

August 2004

Illegal drugs discouraged - IST - Information technology for PCVs - Theatre group project - Non-native species

June/July 2004

Trunks no longer shipped by CBG - Peer Support System is back ("JET") - Tumba fly - Aicha magazine - Sean Cantella is a dad

May 2004

HIV/AIDS workshop - Local physicians for service to PCVs - NRM volunteers

April 2004

Minister of Women's Development requests PCVs - 2004 Girls Conferences - Fouta and Haute PCVs can fly - Fewer new PCVs due to budget constraints.

March 2004

PC Guinea adopts hotel voucher system - Malarone now used instead of Fansidar for self-treatment of malaria

February 2004

Kankan house closure. More information about the house closures from March 2003

September 2003

First Boys Conference - Cooking tips - New Trainees - New Staff - Safety issues

June 2003

Small enterprise development program - Travel restrictions - Memorial Road Safety Walk 2003

June 2002

New Country Director Lisa Ellis

December 2002

New APCD health - New office location - New staff members - Vacation policy for PCVs - When training groups leave

Lisa addresses the deteriorating economic situation in Guinea, reassuring PCVs that there is no sign of imminent civil strife, and reminding them that their communities need their help now more than ever.

Volunteers are warned away from certain restaurants in Conakry due to reports of criminal activity.

Peace Corps Guinea’s Public Health Guide has been updated with the help of several volunteers.

Medical unit reports a cluster of cases of amoebas and girardia in PCVs from Kankan. Water purification in the Kankan office seems to be good, so volunteers are advised to stick to bottled water when out on the town.

Volunteer Adam Watts shares the experience he had of being detained by the Guinean military not for taking pictures of a military base, but just for having a camera in his hands as he rode past the base in a car. Plus ça change, plus c’est la meme chose. PCV’s are encouraged to be as discreet as possible with cameras around government installations, lest they be mistaken for spies preparing for an American invasion of Guinea.

Crisis Corps Director May Angelini recently visited Guinea. Crisis Corps continues to deploy volunteers in Guinea, described as one of its “longest running and most vibrant programs.”

Peace Corps Guinea’s Small Enterprise Development program is working with the Guinean Office de Promotion d’Investissement Privé to explore the possibilities of producing shea butter for export to U.S. cosmetic manufacturers. Volunteers in Burkina Faso, Ghana, Togo and Kenya are already active in promoting this export product. Potential also exists for exporting coffee to the Maghreb.

GAAD Coordinator Victoria Chang bids adieu to Peace Corps Guinea and reminds everyone of the upcoming HIV/AIDS and Life Skills Training in October in Mamou, and of the Girls’ and Boys’ Conferences in February and March, respectively, of next year.

JET, or “Je t’entends,” the volunteer peer support network, introduces a new monthly column in the newsletter by reminding PCVs that they are all weird; or at least that is how their Guinean neighbors are bound to see them so there is no point feeling self-conscious just because people stare at them all the time. JET members are available to their fellow volunteers to help them cope with the inevitable episodes of loneliness, frustration, homesickness and culture shock that all PCVs know too well.

Country Director Lisa Ellis has been named to be the new Country Director for Peace Corps in South Africa. She will be moving to Pretoria around the middle of November. Congratulations, Lisa!

Peace Corps extends a welcome to the new United States ambassador in Guinea, Jackson McDonald. He was formerly Ambassador in The Gambia and Deputy Chief of Mission in Ivory Coast. Last month’s Volunteer swearing-in took place at his residence in Conakry.

In an effort to reduce the risk to volunteers from road travel, PC Guinea has begun to discourage cross-sector projects between volunteers living in different regions of the country. PCVs are also warned against vacation travel to African countries that currently pose security concerns, including Liberia, Nigeria, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Morocco, southern Senegal, Sierra Leone outside of Freetown, and the Forest Region of Guinea.

Peace Corps headquarters in DC is anxious for all staff and volunteers to be aware that all sexual interaction with minors abroad is strictly prohibited under U.S. law regardless of host country laws or customs.

The economic situation in Guinea is beginning to affect Volunteer allowances. Tutoring, technical supplies and settling-in allowances have been increased. Living and travel allowances will be reviewed later.

Labé and Kankan Volunteer computer workstations are to be upgraded, with new laptops, power supply units and printers. Boké will be looked at in the future.

The Small-Enterprise Development program is still working on finding ways to link local communities with international markets for organic coffee and shea butter.

GAAD (Gender and [HIV/]AIDS in Development) members raised 1.8 million FG at a silent auction timed to coincide with G8 swear-in on September 23. The money will go toward a “GAAD Microfund,” and project proposals from Volunteers are invited. Auctions are planned to be held bi-annually in the future.

Congratulations! PCVs Magdalena Valderrama, Michelle Salmen and Laura Blinkhorn have received approval for SPA (Small Project Assistance) fund grants involving educational camps and a theater group.

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The August Peace Corps Guinea Newsletter begins and ends with reminders to PCVs to behave themselves while guests in another country. To begin with, it contains a strong reminder of Peace Corps’ zero-tolerance policy on illegal drugs. Lisa notes that a volunteer may be separated from Peace Corps on the basis of rumors or allegations alone, if they are found to have compromised the credibility of the volunteer or the program; and that in the past, Peace Corps shut down their entire program in one country after two volunteers were arrested for smoking marijuana. At Washington’s request, Peace Corps Guinea is presently working on the drafting of a policy on alcohol use by volunteers and staff, although problems related to alcohol abuse have not been an issue so far. All PCVs are cautioned strongly against engaging in sexual misconduct with host-country nationals, by the printing of a transcript of a television news report about Timothy Obert, a California man arrested under a federal anti-sex-tourism statute for relations he had with an underage host-country national while serving as a PCV in Costa Rica.

IST took place in July at the “Taadi Club Motel.” (A motel in Guinea?) Eighteen new trainees also arrived in July. They are all living with homestay families in Dubreka. Site visits for their group take place in August, and COS conference for the departing group takes place in September. Lisa promises something “special.” Small Enterprise Development Volunteers will attend a workshop in counterpart relations in late August, and a “Life Skills Training” seminar with counterparts (not necessarily the same ones) in October.

Information Technology continues to increase its presence in Peace Corps. New resources are available to volunteers including a very basic computer training manual from an African businesswomen’s group, and volunteers may also access a no-cost office software suite by Sun Microsystems for distribution to community groups and NGOs.

PCV Deb Harris writes about a summer camp she and PCV Steph Weber organized, which gave rise to a theater group that performed several skits on health themes, from which a short film was later created with the help of PCV Kent Brown.

Environmental volunteers are cautioned to be careful when promoting non-native species that may spread aggressively in a new environment.

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Too bad! Many RPCVs gratefully remember shipping a multitude of stuff home in trunks through the bauxite company, CBG. Unfortunately, the process has become too difficult and complicated because of changes in import regulations since Sept. 11. PCVs are looking into other ways to send the trunks home.

The Peer Support system is being re-introduced to Guinea. The Peer Support system began in 1997, where certain interested PCVs were trained as active peer listeners to support fellow PCVs in times of need. A total of 8 PCVs were trained in July, with the help of a PC psychologist. The members of the group have named themselves JET (short for je t’entends).

PCVs are reminded that with the rainy season comes the friendly Tumba fly. While most PCVs have never seen one, the little buggers were the subject of our horrified fascination during training for many of us, an instance of a tropical disease we definitely did not want to get. The fly lays its eggs on drying clothes, which hatch and burrow when put in contact with warm skin. Eww....

Aicha Magazine, produced by the GAAD coordinator in Conakry, is still going strong. FOG has several sample copies available from past years. If anybody would like to help us scan these and convert them to PDF for archival on the website, please contact Stephanie at membership @ friendsofguinea.org. We hope to help support Aicha through fundraising in the future, and it will be helpful to have sample copies to show potential donors.

APCD Sean Cantella's a dad! He writes: Suus and I are happy to announce that Xavier Seamus Cantella arrived around 6:15 pm on July 15. He weighed in at 3.545 kg, or 7 pounds 13 ounces. He has a full head of dark wavy hair and is simply the most beautiful boy in the world. Mom and baby are resting at the Deventer hospital. It was a tough delivery but in the end, after about 12 hours of labor, the little one arrived screaming and peeing, much like his father when he’s angry.

On April 14-18, PC Guinea hosted a sub-regional T.O.T. (training of trainers) workshop on HIV/AIDS and nutrition, based on the “Hearth Model” that was originally developed in Haiti and has since been introduced in Asia and Africa. Participants came from Chad, Cameroon, Gabon, Ghana, Benin and Togo to take part, as well as from Guinea itself. This was a first for PC Guinea.

PC Guinea has identified local physicians in Conakry, Kankan and Labé that are approved to provide reimbursable services to volunteers. (The beginning of the first Guinean HMO? Maybe not.) Conakry is looking for others, and solicits recommendations from PCVs.

NRM Volunteers are helping to introduce improved beekeeping and honey-harvesting technology in several communities (four so far). In a SPA-funded project, one PCV has produced an audio cassette in French, Pulaar, Soussou and Malinké, featuring interviews with Guineans living with HIV/AIDS. This audiocassette is being distributed to all volunteers as way of stimulating discussion in communities. PCVs have already used the tape in community meetings and even at soccer games.

Planning for next year’s Boys’ and Girls’ conferences will begin with a meeting on June 21. Postcard ballots are being distributed to PCVs in advance of November’s general election.

In March Country Director Lisa Ellis and others made a presentation to government and NGO officials on the results of PCV efforts in 2003. The Minister of Women’s Development requested six volunteers on the spot and intends to introduce the GLOBE program in schools in Conakry.

Girls’ Conferences took place in March. Lisa Ellis characterized them as “extremely well thought-out and organized,” and tells of a young woman who was inspired by one of the first Girls’ Conferences to excel academically, and is now studying in the U.S. on a scholarship. Conference organizers are attempting to improve the system for monitoring the impact of the conferences on girls’ lives and behavior.

Fouta and Haute Guinée PCVs are offered reimbursement to fly to Conakry instead of traveling by road for their July-September quarterly visit, for reasons of reduced road safety during the rainy season. Recent congressional hearings on the safety of PCVs are well-covered, with full reprints of three news articles. PCVs planning vacations are reminded that Ivory Coast, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, southern Senegal and most parts of Sierra Leone are on the State Department’s “restricted travel list”. All are countries bordering Guinea.

A decrease in Peace Corps' operating budget for 2004 has resulted in an overall reduction in recruitment of volunteers, and fewer volunteers will be arriving in Guinea in the next group. Conakry is asking COSing Volunteers to prepare their communities in case they are not replaced. In another sign of the times, PC Guinea now has officially designated responders in case of chemical or biological attack.

An article on the nutritional value of mangos notes that they are an excellent source of dietary fiber, potassium and anti-oxidant vitamins. Apparently they are richer in vitamin C while they are still green, but richer in vitamin A after they are ripe.

PC Guinea staff member Odette, a native of Gueckedou, contributes an article on her experience of being a Catholic Christian in Guinea. She emphasizes the general mutual tolerance and conviviality between Christians and Muslims in Guinea but observes that there are, even in Guinea, extremists of the Wahabbi sect who refuse to accept Christians.

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PC Guinea is adopting the hotel voucher system used in other PC Africa countries, which will allow a slightly increased limit on volunteers’ use of public lodging facilities each quarter. The official hotel in Kankan is the Baté, and in Labé it is the Tata. Tata owners Raby Barry and her husband Flavio are said to have sold their hotel in Senegal and to be moving back to Labé.

SPA has funded an ecotourism training project and a public health oriented music and theatre group.

The drug now provided to volunteers for self-treatment of malaria (as distinguished from prophylaxis) is the newer medication Malarone, instead of Fansidar which was used previously.

Peace Corps Guinea has several new videos on HIV/AIDS topics. Most are in French but two are in Malinké.

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Kankan house closes

The Kankan regional house will close on or around February 1, 2004. (The final rental date will be February 17, 2004). We have secured two apartments in a building next to the Grand Marché in the center of Kankan.

The Hotel Baté will serve as the official hotel for Peace Corps Volunteers beginning on February 1, 2004. The agreement with Baté is the same as the agreement with Hotel Tata in Labé. Hotel rooms cost 25.000FG M-F, 30.000FG S-S, each additional PCV is charged 7.000FG, with a maximum of four PCVs per room. It is likely that there will be a 2.000FG reduction in the price of dinners at Baté, which I will confirm in the next newsletter. Baté will also receive ten of our old mattresses from the PCV house so that they have enough beds in the event that they have an overflow crowd.

Upper Guinea based PCVs will receive an additional 50.000FG per month as part of their travel allowance to cover costs of staying at the Baté while in Kankan on official business. This is the same rate that Middle Guinea PCVs are now receiving in order to stay at the Tata. We will order the additional amount some time in January.

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BOYS CONFERENCE

9/03. In consideration of the success of Peace Corps Guinea's annual Girls' Conference, and in recognition that gender awareness may be further developed by including the other half of the population, Kristi Thane, Sonya Starr, Elise Reuschenberg and Brian Capitomino are in the process of organizing a Boys' Conference.

The tentative plan is to hold a two-day seminar in Mamou at ENATEF on January 17th and 18th. Themes will include, but are not limited to: professionalism and careers, relationships with women, HIV/AIDS, and environmental issues. Sessions will be conducted by PCVs in collaboration with 9 formateurs. The conference will accommodate 23 young men selected and accompanied by PCVs.

~Brian Capitomino

9/03. Instead of making an egg salad sandwich with Bama (mayonnaise), use avacados. It is a nice variation to the norm and much easier to get au village around this time of year. I sprinkle half of a maggi cue in their as well for an extra kick. The green tinted eggs will remind you of story time at the library.

(ed note -- had to include this for nostalgia's sake! Bama, Maggi, and creative cooking...)

NEW STAFF
9/03. Yamilee Bastien, the new APCD for Small Enterprise Development (SED) arrived in Guinea on July 6. Yamilee is a RPCV from Benin and also served as the Acting APCD for SED in Benin for a year.

Ann Frolich will be our second PCMO on staff. Ann is a Nurse Practitioner with 12 years of experience including experience as an Emergency Room Staff Nurse.

Ousmane Diallo started on June 23 as our new Safety and Security Coordinator. Many of the PCVs know Ousmane from training; he was the Cross-Cultural and Home Stay Coordinator.

SAFETY ISSUES IN CONAKRY
9/03. A PCV was mugged at 8 o’clock in the morning in a narrow alleyway not far from the PC office. The next night at 11 pm, a police vehicle attempted to force 2 PCVs in the back of their van for what I can only presume was a shakedown. The PCVs were headed to the Maison de Passage after picking up a pizza at the Riviera Hotel. Both of these incidents took place near the office but out of the patrol area for our guards.

In response, we have been able to secure an additional Intercon guard to escort PCVs to the 2 main junctions that intersect the road that runs in front of the office as well as escort you to the beach estaurant behind the office. The guard is available 24-hours a day. Please take advantage of this service to help ensure your safety. Moreover, the Embassy has provided us with an additional police officer to patrol the neighborhood. Finally, the Minister of Security has promised (and delivered!) increased patrols in the neighborhood of our office/Maison de Passage by the anti-crime brigade (BAC). They are a police unit that has been specially trained by the French. Last week, they arrested a suspect in the mugging incident.

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NEW PC GUINEA PROGRAM (5/03)

Peace Corps Guinea will be starting a new program in January 2004 – the Small Enterprise Development (SED) program. The program will begin with approximately 15 PCVs working in business advising, agribusiness, and information technology. I have hired an experienced SED APCD for the program who should arrive in country around August 2003.

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PCV TRAVEL RESTRICTIONS (5/03)

Due to the current war in Iraq and the threat to American citizens abroad, the following restrictions on vacation travel will apply until further notice.Travel to other Peace Corps countries is currently discouraged and travel to countries with US travel restrictions is currently prohibited. . The following countries are on the list: Turkey, Somalia, Liberia, Cote D’Ivoire, and Nigeria. In addition, the following areas have been listed as posing a terrorist threat or other substantial risks to Americans: Djibouti, Tanzania, and Kenya. Please check the State Department website for complete information.

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MEMORIAL ROAD SAFETY WALK (5/03)

The 3rd Annual Memorial Road Safety Walk will take place in Kankan on Saturday 7 June. Registration starts at 07h30 and the run/walk will begin at 08h00. It is a 10K run/walk this year. The walk will end at the Prefet’s and refreshments will be served.

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New Country Director

In June, 2002, George Greer stepped down as Country Director. His replacement is Lisa Ellis.

He writes:

"Well the time has really run out on this Guinea traveling circus and I'm taking down the tents and heading out. Yep, that fateful day has finally arrived and I'm on my way. We are leaving on July 2 and finish up in Washington with PC close out on July 11 and 12.

I would like to say what a great pleasure is has been to work with so many great Volunteers over the past five years in Guinea. It has been a little over the edge much of the time but on balance is has been a wonderful and rewarding experience and I really think we have had an impact. Of course none of this would have been possible for me, either as an APCD or CD, without the excellent staff of PC Guinea.

We are headed to the DC area where I'm hoping one of the numerous Guinea RPCVs there can offer me a high paying, low demand job!! Best wishes to all of you.

Du courage and stay in touch, (please email Stephanie at fogwebmaster @ yahoo.com for George's address)

George Greer

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APCD for Health, 12/02

Agnieszka Sykes, left her post in Guinea on December 6th to take a position with USAID in Benin. In speaking about Agnieszka’s two and a half years with Peace Corps, Country Director Lisa Ellis described her as enthusiastic, creative and hard driving and praised the advances made in the Health program during her tenure.

The Peace Corps office is moving to a new location 12/02

in Taouyah in mid-December. The new facility will provide space for new staff, new technology and additional programming, and will allow the program to comply with current safety and security requirements for overseas government agency facilities. Lisa describes the new building as spacious, spectacular and even “palatial.” The Maison de Passage (volunteer house) has already re-located into a house next door to the new office.

New staff members are: 12/02

• Sidi Conde, Information Technology Specialist, formerly with Mobil Exxon in Conakry.
• Catherine Kling, new APCD for Health beginning in January, who was a
• PCV/Health in Cameroon, served as a Crisis Corps Volunteer in Foreciah, Guinea and currently works with Catholic Relief Services in Sierra Leone.
• Sean Cantella, new APCD for Administration beginning in January, a RPCV from Senegal who has worked in Guinea with PSI and USAID in HIV/AIDS.

Vacation policy 12/02

for PCVs: Effective January 2003, standard policy will be strictly enforced (2 days of vacation earned for each month of service). Volunteers can no longer take additional vacation days and pay for them at COS (close of service).

Fundraising continues for this year’s Girl’s Conferences. See the FOG website at www.friendsofguinea.org for more information or to donate.

Training

There are 2 groups -

Education: July to Sept
National Resource Management (NRM) & Health from Oct to Dec.

Training is now in Dubreka.

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