Malaria Matangaké

April is Peace Corps Malaria month – that is, a month dedicated to malaria prevention (not the month when all PCVs get malaria!).  Malaria is the number one single cause of death in Guinea and the entire population lives in high- transmission zones. People also have all sorts of misconceptions about malaria. For example, they say that if you eat mangoes after mango season you’ll get malaria. Malaria prevention is not difficult; it’s just a matter of people understanding how malaria is transmitted and taking steps to eliminate mosquitoes and mosquito bites. Soon it will be rainy season, which means there will be lots of standing water around, and thus lots of mosquito breeding. This is why myself, with thousands of other PCVs across Africa are dedicating our resources towards malaria prevention this month. In addition to the daily activities that people have been doing this month, the PCVs in my region decided that we would have a mass effort to sensitize as many people we could in one single day, at my site.

                At first it seemed like a daunting task to plan a single day packed with malaria activities that 13 PCVS could all do together. However, after talking to some people in my community about it, they gave me suggestions and I realized how motivated my community was to host PCVs and to facilitate their work. The community stepped up and practically did all the work themselves. In the end, it was teachers, students, government officials, representatives of the health center, a theater group, a drumming group, soccer teams, and our local marching band who pulled together to make this day one of the most impactful and memorable days of my Peace Corp service.  We reached out to 735 students, visited 81 homes, hung 21 previously unhung nets, and informed over 500 community members who came to our malaria themed soccer match.

In the morning, everyone met at my house and we headed to the school together;  a  parade of Fotes! At school we went into each classroom and played a malaria trivia game with the students, followed by a malaria skit. By noon we had visited each of the 12 classes that were in session that day. We headed back to my house, where my family had made riz gras for everyone, with meat that was very graciously donated by my community to welcome the other PCVs. At the same time, 15 of my students from last year, now in Terminale, had been asked to come and help us to do community sensitizations. The students came on time (a miracle!) and motivated. They started sharing relevant malaria vocabulary in their local languages and practiced telling each other in Susu and Pulaar about malaria. We then split up into groups of two Guineans and two Americans and had a competition to see who could visit the most homes and hang up the most mosquito nets in the different neighborhoods of my site. I was astonished by the initiative that the students took, going right up to any women or families that were outside their houses and explaining in their local languages all about malaria. They showed the families pictures and convinced everyone who had an unhung mosquito net to hang it up. I was SO proud of my students; taking what they’ve learned in class and sharing the knowledge they have with their community members. After 2 hours we regrouped at my house to tally up the work we did: we were able to see hundreds of people in their homes.

Immediately afterwards, we got dressed up in our soccer jerseys to play a mini soccer game against a co-ed team of the soccer coaches of my village and my soccer girls at our cultural center. Tons of people showed up, mostly to watch the white people play soccer. Our local journalist reported the game and interjected lots of information about malaria. A representative of our health center talked about the impact of malaria and a theater group performed a malaria skit in Susu for halftime. The game ended 1-1 and then went to penalty kicks. No one scored until we were down to our last player, who, incredulously, scored. The crowd stormed the field, screaming, dancing and cheering for us. Then everyone broke out into dance with the traditional drummers. And that’s how we ended a great day.

Girls Conference

First off, a HUGE thank you to everyone who donated to our fund for the girls’ outdoor leadership conference and made this dream come true. We just got back a few days ago and it was a huge success. 

My principal and I had made announcements to all the 8-10^th grade classes about the conference. I put out an application form and received 22 great applications. Our school was allotted 3 spots for the conference, so I had to narrow it down. We ended up interviewing the ten best candidates and then I picked the best 3. When I announced the 3 girls that were selected they were absolutely elated. None of them had ever traveled much farther than our prefecture, let alone to another region. All three of them were Peuhl and neither they or their parents had never been to the Fouta Djallon (the homeland of the Peuhls). The voyage to see another region of guinea was half the excitement about the conference. As word spread about the conference, all sorts of people were asking me about it and were so proud that some of our students had this opportunity. 

The voyage from our village to Doucki is a day and a half long. The girls didn’t hesitate to tell everyone they came in contact with that they were on a voyage to the Fouta. Other passengers in our taxi were excited for the girls as well. It was smooth sailing, until the windy, mountainous roads got to one of the girls and she got carsick…all over the rest of us. There was a moment of shock, but everyone took it in stride and they all started laughing. Our expert chauffeur pulled over next to a stream so we could all wash ourselves off while he washed his car. We continued on and eventually made it to Mamou were we spent the night. Despite the mess we made in the chauffer’s car, he offered to pick us up the next morning and drive us to our next destination, Pita. Before we headed out the next morning, the chauffeur took us to a boutique so we could buy plastic bags, one for  each of us – which was a good call since another girl got carsick on the way. Despite being carsick, the girls listened intently as the chauffeur pointed out landmarks on the way and explained the geography of the area. The girls wrote down in their notebooks the name of every sous-prefecture, river or other landmark we passed. We made it to Pita and found a car going to the village of Doucki. All in all, we left our village at 8am on Thursday and arrived at Doucki at 3pm on Friday. 

Shortly after our arrival, PCVs Sarah and Juliette arrived with their students. We started the conference with a hike out to Lion’s Rock with our Guide Hassan. The girls reveled in the vast, mountainous landscape. At the top of Lions Rock, we shouted out words and heard the echo from the rocks across the valley. Many of the girls had never heard an echo before (!). After we returned to our “base,” we had a session about gender roles in Guinean culture. We ate a hefty meal of rice and “Mafe hacko bantaara” – manioc leaf sauce and then went to bed. The girls split up in threes and stayed in huts. The next morning we talked about the importance of the environment, how to protect it, and the rate of decomposition of certain objects. Then we went on a long hike into a rocky, forested ravine full of vines. The girls got to climb around and swing on the vines and climb the rocks. Afterwards we did a session about health in which we talked about malaria, HIV, family planning and nutrition. This was followed by a session on how to be a good communicator. We did one final hike in the evening where we walked to the edge of the plateau which overlooks a huge and beautiful valley. Throughout all our hikes the girls had noted certain plants which they saw an abundance of with respect to their villages – most namely a plant whose stem is fibrous and used as a traditional toothbrush. The girls picked lots of them to bring back as souvenirs for their families. That night we had a session about setting goals for the future and making plans to achieve them. Then we had a candle-lighting ceremony where each girl said what her goals were. No one wanted to go to bed the last night, so we stayed up playing games and teaching the girls American camp songs. The next morning we had a final session about how to present what the girls learned to their peers, exchanged phone numbers, received certificates and said goodbye. 

We had a long trip home, but thankfully no one got sick. We made it back on Monday night; everyone tired from the trip, but excited to share their experience with their friends and family. I think the girls will remember this for the rest of their lives – Not just the information they learned during the sessions, but how they learned to appreciate the environment and the natural beauty of their country and the friendships they formed among themselves.

 

Dry Season: Round 2

First off, sorry it’s been awhile since I’ve posted. The internet has been too slow to load blog posts recently.

We’re full swing into the dry season now, which means that it is very dusty and things are starting to accumulate a layer of brown dust, including my body. The wells are also getting low, especially our own. The other day when I pulled up the bucket from the well a frog jumped out. That’s when you know your well is too low. Now I have to get my water at the pump. The pump is great because the water is super clean – it comes from a solar powered water tower at the edge of the village that draws water from very deep underground. It doesn’t work much during the rainy season because there isn’t enough sun, but it doesn’t matter since there’s an abundance of pretty clean water during the rainy season. However, it has been cloudy recently and thus the power has been weak at the pump and the water just dribbles out. When I am able to fill my buckets at the pump I prioritize that water for my filter, and end up taking showers and washing my clothes with the brown, froggy well water. Other than the water issues, dry season isn’t so bad. My laundry dries in the sun in about an hour! Oranges and bananas are aplenty, and soon we’ll have mangoes again. Though, for some reason or another there has been abundance of insects in my house, including a tarantula-like spider that I found yesterday. I say tarantula-like because, though it very much resembled a tarantula (giant, hairy, fangs…), it moved much faster than a tarantula (!!). The mice are back too, trying to eat the delicious goodies from my care packages, and a pack of bush rats has started nesting outside of my bedroom window. Ahhh, the life!

My real fake-husband

I have lots of fake fake-husbands, like the guys that  gave me kola in the restaurant, the chauffeurs who inform me that I’m their wife, etc…

But I only have one real fake-husband. His name is Alia and he’s 3 years old (he’s my neighbor). You could say I’m literally robbing the cradle – except that there are no cradles here. But that’s beside the point. It's somewhat of a cultural phenomenon that people say that very young children are their husbands or wives. Even during training, when I was out and about in the market with my little host brothers, if someone asked me to be their wife I could just tell them that I was already married...to the 5 year old next to me, and they would accept that. I suppose, stepping back and thinking about it, it is a little strange, but in fact it’s just another way that Guinean’s like to joke.

My interaction with kids is one of the things that keeps me sane. Rambunctious, dirty, moody, silly, completely self-unaware, children.  They’re just like children anywhere in the world, and that’s what makes them awesome;  their presence reminds me that we’re all one and the same. And at the end of the day, it’s these kids that will run up to me and hug me on my way back from school, who always want to kick around a ball with me, or who just need someone to pick them up when they’re crying. And it’s the kids who can see past my white skin, who don’t think twice about the fact that I was born and raised in a place and a culture so different than their own. They don’t think of me as an outsider, but just one of their neighbors, their big sister, their teacher…or their wife.

The typical interaction between Alia and me:

Alia comes stomping into my house, wearing a shirt, shoes, but no pants.

Me: Alia, where are your pants (in Susu)?

Alia: At my house.

Me: What are your pants doing at your house?

Alia: …they’re playing.

Alia storms back out and that’s the end of that.

 

Mid-Service Crisis

With less than 10 months until my COS (close-of-service) date, I’m going through a bit of a crisis, namely…what on Earth am I going to do after the Peace Corps? This is a time when a lot of other PCVs from my stage are looking at jobs, taking the GRE, applying to grad schools, etc…

Before coming in to the Peace Corps I had pretty much everything planned out to go to medical school after my service. Just three weeks before coming to Guinea I took the MCAT and was able to check my scores online during training and was happy with them. However, petit à petit, I’ve been starting to consider other alternatives. I can’t quite pin down the reason for my change of heart, but I think it’s just a combination of the things I’ve seen and learned, about both myself and about medicine. It’s been difficult to admit to myself that the plan I’ve had since as long as I can remember might not be the best option for me. I haven’t yet completely ruled itout, but for the moment I’m starting to think about my other options.  The problem is that I have many varied interests that I don’t think can all be satisfied at the same time. To sum it up: Biology. Education. People. Culture. Africa. Health. Social justice. 

It’s both scary and exciting that I have no idea what I’ll be doing this time next year… Here are a few rough ideas that I've been toying with:

Short term ideas

-Extend my service in Guinea for a year (stay in my village, continue to teach)

-Do Peace Corps Response (6-12 months somewhere in Africa)

-Take advantage of my 1 year non-competitive status from PC and get a job with the US government (Peace Corps, USAID, CDC, Dep’t of Health, Dep’t of Education???)

-Find a short term contract doing something related to health or education with an NGO in a developing country

-Take the GRE to prepare for graduate school

Long term ideas

-Get a Masters in public health and work in some sort of international health field

-Get a PhD in vector biology, entomology, tropical diseases, bacteriology, microbiology or immunology and study infectious diseases, do field work, and become a professor

-Go to med school, work for Doctors Without Borders, Partners in Health, or other related org.

-Get certified as a teacher and teach high school biology

Thoughts, anyone?!?

Thanksgiving Year 2

This Thanksgiving I’m thankful for (in addition to the obligatoire friends and family): My Guinean host family who looks after me and enriches my Peace Corps experience in so many ways, my fellow PCVs who have become great friends, my students who are motivated and excited to learn, the kindness of strangers, Guinean hospitality, an abundant rainy season, not having scabies (like last year), and my petits who help me get water from the well, wash my clothes, kill giant spiders and do other assorted chores that make my life a million times easier.

PCVs from our region celebrated Thanksgiving in Conakry, continuing the traditions we started last year, like Stacey making a million pies. I’m thankful that we had: stoves, ovens, running water, electricity, butter, milk, apples etc…

Mary showing off the Turkey

The work of Stacey. Plus the 6 other pies...

Brittany was pretty excited about her grandmother's homemade cranberry sauce

Yummmm

Richard enjoying a heaping plate of Thanksgiving

Girls' Outdoor Leadership Conference

Fellow PCVs Sarah and Juliette and I have been planning to host a girls' leadership conference in Doucki, Guinea to teach girls leadership skills, environmental awareness and discuss women's issues in Guinea. This conference will give girls a chance to travel outside their village, meet girls from other regions and cultures, discuss women's issues, participate in team-building and leadership activities in one of Guinea's most interesting and treasured sites and motivate them to share their new knowledge and skills with their peers back in their villages. We wrote a Peace Corps Partnership grant and are now trying to raise money to host the conference. Please read our grant summary below and, if interested, go to the Peace Corps website and make a tax-deductible donation to our project.

Girls' Outdoor Leadership Conference

Peace Corps volunteers have a long tradition of organizing and running a regional Girls' Conference in Guinea. Today's societal role of women in Guinea is such that they have limited access to education and work opportunities. In this vein, this project seeks to fund a 3-day girls' Outdoor Leadership Conference at one of Guinea's natural geological sites.

Hosted by a renowned Guinean tour guide, the conference has three objectives for its participants: leadership development, environmental awareness and girls' empowerment. The guiding techniques focus strongly on listening skills, self-awareness, verbal communication, and goal-setting, all qualities of leadership that the Peace Corps wishes to encourage in female Guinean students. Girls will benefit from the direct interaction with nature through daily hikes, as well as discussions about Guinea's current environmental issues. Finally, they will engage in participatory sessions about women in Guinean society and develop personal strategies for promoting women's rights among peers.

Ten middle school-aged girls from various communities will be selected by Peace Corps volunteers for their demonstrated motivation in school and positive attitude.

The girls' respective communities will provide a small financial contribution for cost of participation. In addition, the guide's hiking complex, guide services, lodging and food will be discounted by 40% for the sake of this event. The funds from the PCPP will cover costs of transportation, the remaining venue fee, and training materials such as handouts and certificates for the participants.