Guinea, West Africa
15 February 2001
Hi Melissa,
Thanks so much for you letter. Admittedly, I don't
get too many anymore. This may be due to my increased
e-mail activity.
People - Peace Corps people - have been telling me that
their family/friends know about the website you made for me. They
enjoy it, but ask when it'll be updated next. Maybe you can add some
info to it with this letter.
I'll try to tell you what's been happening since I've been
back from the USA, that fabled land which every Guinean believes is heaven
here on Earth.
I've been working at 4 different schools as of late.
Two of them are junior high schools; one is here in Ditinn and another is
located in a town called Kebali, which is only 10 km away. You may
have heard of Kebali, since it's the town where a volunteer left early
(she's the one who came with mom and I and Linda to Conakry).
Hmmmm...wonder how she's doing?
At these 2 junior highs (colleges) I've been talking about
family planning - decreasing the amount of kids a family has and
discussion of birth control with the students of Kebali. We'll also
talk about drugs and alcohol next week. At Ditinn we've formed a
"youth group" and have been discussing AIDS, early marriage, and
performing theatre. The kids here are absolutely wild about theater.
I'm amazed and dumbfounded at why I never tried this earlier. (I
still remember some of the stuff from when I did acting in High School).
We're also planning on doing a tree nursery, but we'll
see. On March 8th, I'll be organizing a football (soccer) match
between female students at both colleges to celebrate International
women's day. Things are starting to get a bit hectic
organizationally - speaking, but I know what it'll come to pass. The
girls are real excited, since many of them never before had a chance to
play in an organized manner - usually the boys have teams and they use the
playing field all the time. Women playing sports is not too well
accepted in rural areas yet, but things are-a-changing.
I've been doing ecology clubs with students at 2 primary
schools. Lately we've been talking about composting and
decomposition. (Did 2 compost heaps with the schools this year.)
I also read a translated version of Shel Silverstein's The Giving
Tree to them, which went over okay. We also plan on doing
tree nurseries again this year, with the students.
At the start of this month I started up a garden, behind
my house near a river. I planted watermelon, squash, onions, carrots
and cabbage. Many people have tried to discourage me for I don't
know what reason, telling me that I planted too late, that my stuff won't
come up. Well, things seem to be happening, all except the carrots.
Let me tell you gardening is rough, especially when its all done with
hands (big blisters!) We'll see if it's a rewarding venture...
I've done a lot of thinking recently about what I'll do
after I complete my service. I may travel for one month with my
friend Damien to Southern Region of Africa: Zimbabwe, Botswana, South
Africa, Tanzania, and maybe Madagascar. I really want to see this
part of Africa - where the wild things are. It's hard to say if this
is a sure bet, but maybe I'll just come straight back?
I've mentioned to my boss that I'd be interested in doing
the next training, in October - December of this year. It would be a
good experience and good money. Well, I'll keep you updated.
It's certain, I believe, that I won't be here another full year, so that's
good, right?
Nice to hear from you. Take care.
Love, Mike
