Photos From Charlie's Visit

It was such a treat to have Charlie here. We took him to Lelouma first to spend time with Matt's host mom, Nene Delanda and do some hiking and then headed to Kerouane to introduce him to the Kaba family. Charlie endured some of the worst travel experiences I have ever had in Guinea. There's a gas shortage (and now a water shortage) so people are hoarding gas, selling gas, trying to buy gas, etc. As a result almost every bush taxi we took had big jugs of gasoline *IN* the car. The fumes were atrocious and we were all sick by the time the car got where it was going- usually at night. Charlie is such a good sport. He took all the craziness (good and bad) in stride, learned greetings and phrases in French, Mandingo, and Pular and ate whatever was put in front of him. The kids loved him and we, of course, loved getting to share Guinea with him. So here are some photos from his trip.

Lelouma:

Matt and Charlie playing chess in Nene's courtyard

Nene's backyard. Inside the couryard walls are cassava plants and Papaya trees (out of view). Beyond the red door are some amazing hiking trails- mountains, waterfalls, creeks....

Charlie climbing down a canyon on a natural ladder made out of vines and bamboo twisted together. People in the area use these ladders to travel between villages with goods.



Matt, Charlie, Mamadou and two local kids at the top of the canyon after having gone down and up the natural ladders.

Me and Charlie hiking

Charlie, Matt's host mom Nene Delanda, and Matt. Like Kerouane, Lelouma got phone service a few weeks before we arrived. In this photo Nene is wearing her new cell phone around her neck.

Left to right: Nene Delanda, her best friend Nene Salimatou, Salimatou's daughter Oumou, her other daughter Hadja Kadiatou, Matt, me, a neighbor with child.

Charlie making bread on Nene's porch. Matt is sitting on the jugs used to store water here.

Kerouane:

Me, Matt, and Charlie with the Kaba family. From left to right: Papice, Na (Domanine Kaba), me, Matt, a neighbor who we all tired to convince not to be in the photo- he was causing problems with one of the family's friends and therefore no one was happy to have him around at the time, Bijou, bottom row: Max, Yi Assiatou, Sidiki and Charlie

At the nearby diamond mines.

Kerouane and surrounding areas are a major source of Guinean diamonds. A lot of people from Kerouane go the mines hoping to strike it big. Some people work for land owners and diamond dealers but a lot work for themselves. They perform backbreaking work everyday for the chance of finding and selling a diamond. This is an aspect of Kerouane that I've never really learned too much about. I see people go off to the mines and hear stories of people finding big rocks. It's certainly part of the culture of the town and area, but I've never been too curious about it. The great thing about having a visitor is that it gives you a chance to experience things you never would have on your own. This is a perfect example. Charlie was very interested in seeing the mines and so we enlisted the help of our friend Sekou and set out on the 4 mile walk to the mining site. It turned out to be a facinating time. We met miners who showed us the process of digging, panning, an inspecting the pebbles. We got to hear their stories, hopes, and experiences. It was a highlight of our time in Kerouane with Charlie.

Ansoumane panning for diamonds. After digging away at the earth (as in the first photo), miners take the piles of rocks to the river and wash and sift them.

Matt near the river, right next to a pile of the rocks waiting to be washed and sifted.

Charlie inspecting the washed and sifted rocks. Mr. Camera, a miner there that day showed us how to inspect the rocks on a clean, dry surface of earth using a small stick. It's amazing how intricate the process is.

One last thing about Mr. Camara and our experience at the mines. The first day we went was a Friday. Friday is the holy day here and therefore people are not supposed to work at the mines on Fridays. As we suspected the site was deserted. All of a sudden we heard a small noise. We approached and found Mr. Camara. He looked scared at first and explained that he didn't mean to be working but had forgotten something from the day before and came to pick it up. Once there he decided to work a little. He was a wonderful tour guide and took us through the entire mining process. He later told us that when he saw Matt he immediately thought he was the devil, coming to punish him for working on a Friday.
(We went back a few days later and got to see and meet all of the people who weren't there on Friday. We won't let Matt forget, though, that out of the three of us *HE* was singled out as the devil).


I can't resist posting this photo of Max and Tierno. Max lost his first tooth while I was there (right after Charlie left). Tierno had lost his first tooth a month before. I wanted to take a photo of their toothless smiles but they got shy on me.
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For now, Matt and I are still in Kankan. We're waiting until the end of March to head back to Kerouane to visit the family. For months now the population has been planning a national strike for the end of March. We've decided to wait it out here in the city just in case we need to leave the area. We'd like to be in a place where there are more resources and support in terms of transportation, foreign NGOs, reps from the embassy, etc. More than likely nothing will happen, but just in case, we'll be here through the end of March.

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And the dust? Well, the other night it rained and we got...mud! So now I have a new appreciation of the dust. And the water crisis? Well, it now comes around 2am every two days. We look back fondly at those glorious days when the water came at 6:00am . But at least it's coming regularly. One morning a week or so ago it simply didn't come. Matt looked at me and said, "darn, we had such big plans for today!" "Really? Like what?" I answered. In all seriousness he said, "We were going to do laundry and flush the toilet." I couldn't argue with him.

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That's all for now. We're thinking of all of you.