Dysfunction, Instability, and Good Wishes

The Dysfunction
Quotes on Guinea from African Friends

"When I first got here, I said, that is not a soccer field! That is a patch of rocky dirt! In Gambia, we would have something better for ourselves."
- A Gambian friend in Yembering
"The cell phone coverage here is terrible, and it's always malfunctioning. It's not normal. In Senegal, the cell phone coverage is much better."
- A Senegalese friend in Yembering
"I find myself saying quite often to my Guinean colleagues: In Burkina Faso, we do things differently, and it works a lot better."
- A Burkinabe friend of a friend who works for a development organization in Guinea
"What? You mean the vacation is over, but the teachers aren't back? So what, Philippe, you're the only one teaching today? That is not normal. You know, in Cote d'Ivoire, there is one teacher for history/geography, and one teacher for physics/chemistry, and they show up. Here in Guinea there is one teacher for history, one for geography, one for physics, and one for chemistry. I think I understand why. It's so that if the history teacher is gone, at least the kids might have a geography teacher. Or if the physics teacher is gone, at least the kids might have a chemistry class. Apparently that's an important consideration in Guinea."
- A certain Ivoirian friend
"The thing about Conakry is that no one pays their electricity bills, and so the electricity, it hardly ever works, even for the few people who do pay. In Abidjan, people pay their electricity bills, and the electricity functions... even if there is a civil war going on! I tell you, Guinea is the most dysfunctional country in francophone West Africa, and the people here know it."
- Another certain Ivoirian friend
"Ah, la Guinee. It is not easy here. If you can make it here, you can make it anywhere."
- A Guinean friend in Yembering, who has traveled extensively in West Africa.
The Instability
A Rough History of Peace Corps/Guinea: The Most Unstable Peace Corps Program in the World
The US State department gives a pretty good history of Guinea, and is accurate and up-to-date as far as I can tell, except for that legislative elections have now been scheduled to take place in November 2011.
http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/2824.htm
I thought that I would elaborate on their one-paragraph mention of the Peace Corps in Guinea.
- 1950's: Guinea gained its independence in 1958.
- 60's & 70's: Peace Corps/Guinea begins operations in . After a few years, the 1st president of Guinea, Sekou Toure, asks Peace Corps to leave. A few years later, he invites Peace Corps back. A few years later, he asks Peace Corps to leave (that's two evacuations so far). Peace Corps decides to sit out of Guinea during the reign of Sekou Toure.
- 80's, 90's, and early 2000's: The reign of Lansana Conte. Peace Corps does pretty well for quite some time. There was a partial evacuation of the forest region around 2000, but the program as a whole continued to operate. Also, sometime around 2000, Peace Corps decides to start training Guinea volunteers in Guinea, as opposed to training West Africa volunteers en masse in Senegal. With the beginning of this "community-based training" style, they start numbering the training groups G-1, G-2, G-3, etc, meaning the 1st group of volunteers to train in Guinea, the 2nd, etc.
- The 2007 evac: In January, Guinea basically ceases to funciton because the entire country is on strike. Peace Corps tells volunteers that they're going on consolidation to Mali. Once there, Peace Corps decides to suspend the program. Goodbye Guinea volunteers. Several months later, the program reopens. A few Guinea volunteers come back. By December, Guinea is training its first full volunteer group (G-15) since the January evac.
- 2008: President Conte dies. Peaceful coup. Peace Corps/Guinea continues operations.
- The 2009 evac: In September, just after my group (G-18) officially swore in, the Guinean military massacres peaceful political protesters in Conakry. Peace Corps tells volunteers that they're going on consolidation to Mali. Once there, Peace Corps decides to suspend the program. Goodbye Guinea volunteers.
- The 2010 fake startup: In September, Peace Corps decides to resume operations in Guinea. A few Guinea volunteers come back. A few, more experienced, Peace Corps "response" volunteers come. But instead of putting the volunteers to work, Peace Corps puts them on consolidation. Turns out Guinea wasn't quite as safe as Peace Corps thought it would be, but not quite so unsafe as to merit evacuating/suspending/closing the program. Many volunteers transfer to other countries or opt to end their service, but a few stick with it. At the end of the year, Guinea holds its first democratic presidential elections.
- The 2011 real startup: In January, Peace Corps finally releases consolidated volunteers to their sites. By July, Guinea is training its first full volunteer group (for book-keeping purposes G-20... there was no G-19) since the 2009 evac.
The Chemistry Education Program in Guinea
In some countries, volunteers are simply trained as "teachers," and then end up teaching whatever subject their school wants them to teach, which they often don't know until their arrival at their sites. Peace Corps/Guinea, in an uncharacteristically well-coordinated manner, assigns volunteers a specific subjec that usually sticks with them from invitation to site. I was invited specifically as a chemistry education volunteer. Peace Corps/Guinea has been training math, physics, and English teachers practically forever, but the chemistry education program started much more recently (with G-12, I believe, in the summer of 2006). Because of all the subsequent turbulence, there has yet to be a chemistry education volunteer who has successfully completed 2 full and uninterrupted years of teaching chemistry in Guinea. G-20 will represent the 4th full generation of chemistry teacher Peace Corps volunteers.
There was some experimentation in my group (G-18) with putting math/science education volunteers at the high school level (as opposed to the usual middle school level), but I don't get the impression that this is continuing.
The Good Wishes
Dear G-20 (July 2011 new volunteers):
You are lucky. Guinea is a very special place. There aren't very many places left where you, as an American, might actually live in a hut for two years. The land is beautiful, and the people are friendly. If you let it, I'm sure that Guinea will one day occupy a special place in your heart.
You will be joining one of the smallest Peace Corps program in the world at this moment, but one with a rich history that is destined for growth. When you arrive, your group will essentially be Peace Corps/Guinea. Kind of empowering, right?
There are unique challenges to working within a program with a history such as Peace Corps/Guinea. And it's a shame that the Peace Corps office is choosing to so strongly limit experienced volunteer involvement in new volunteer training this time around. Personally, I can't imagine coming into Peace Corps for the first time in a program without tons of volunteers to help me adjust. In any case, it's been done before, so you can do it too!
But you've seen the Peace Corps Cribs: Conakry video, right?
http://alittleblurry.blogspot.com/2009/02/peace-corps-cribs-conakry.html
Now you're set. Bonne chance et du courage. And remember, if you can make it in Guinea, you can make it anywhere.