Katy Murtaugh’s Next Big Adventure!

When at home, life here is remarkably similar to life in the States. I cook; I organize; I clean; I read; I listen to music; I mess around on the computer — granted, I do cook more, a lot more, than in the US and without all those wonderful conveniences (counter space, fridge, freezer, oven, a tool for every task) and I do clean more, a lot more, mainly because there are things living above my ceiling who send a light shower of dust down every time they move. I’m really lucky to have a comfy couch and two comfy chairs, so I’ve got a nice place for reading and napping in the “heat of the day” (upper-80’s would be my guess). Even better than at home, my morning routine includes yoga!

 When I’m not at home, but still by myself, life is remarkably similar to life while travelling. I walk; I explore; I run; every once in a while I take a picture — the main difference is that I say “hi” to a lot more people, basically everyone (as custom more or less dictates) and I’m more likely to pass someone I know and have a little conversation with them, or more likely I will pass the house of someone I know and so go knock to say hi (as custom also more or less dictates). When I go for an actual walk, there’s a dirt road that leads away from town along the face of a hill, which has a beautiful view of the valley and eventually it also has a few different spots where you can sit under (or in) a tree and just be. It’s wonderful. When things are out of sorts and I need to do a little communing with nature, this is where I go. It’s quiet; it’s beautiful; no one bothers me; whatever was out of sorts always seems back in place by the time I’m walking home. There’s one easily climbed tree with a big ol’ rock underneath it that’s maybe a 25-minute walk away and that is just far enough off the road that most people walking by don’t notice me — I’ve decided to make this my new “office.”

Those are all the things I do to fill my time when I’m not (and also to balance the time when I am) doing what I actually came here to do — living and working with Guineans!

Work so far has been, I think, just exactly what it should be. My counterpart has helped to set up many, many introductory meetings with individuals, but mainly with organizations, associations and small businesses. I use these meetings to introduce myself, tell them a little bit about my background and my role in the community, and also to learn about their organization or business so that a) I learn more about the community, b) I can start to see where/how I might be useful and c) I see who might be open to/interested in working with me.Thanks to my rare specimen of a counterpart, all of this has been going really well. He has helped to make sure people know that I have not come with any money, that I’m not looking for a husband, and other important points that carry a little more weight when coming out of a Guinean’s mouth than mine. Really, Mr. Sylla belies all cultural stereotypes and generalizations — he is motivated and responsive; he works to be on time to things; he is open to taking risks; more often than not, he is working with a long-term, bigger picture in mind. I am lucky to have him as my counterpart and it is entirely due to his willingness and eagerness to help me get my work going, that my first month has been as productive as it has been.

I should clarify. When I say “productive,” I don’t mean that I’ve been working 8 hours a day for 5 days, not even close, nor will I. Probably my most full, productive day here included two hour-long meetings, with a couple of other brief introductions to people — there’s a few things you have to realize about how a day unfolds here: 1) we walk everywhere, which could mean walking 20 minutes each way, and then adding at least another 30 minutes in going out of the way to see if we can catch someone at home to see if we can set up a meeting with them (we rarely, if ever, catch someone at home); 2) everyone takes a break from about noon to three; 3) it can take an hour to produce a basic meal, depending on what you have on hand (the quick stuff is also, generally, the expensive stuff you have to buy in Conakry).

 My immediate plans include, in addition to to continuing my introductory meetings:

- developing a short, basic series of English lessons tailored to hotel workers and tour guides;

- developing a training (or series of trainings) for the reception and customer service of a hotel;

- learning more about a group of leather workers, so I can build a costing/pricing training for them;

- learning to use a new big ol’ wood-burning oven, so I can teach a girls’ group baking skills;

- going for follow-up visits to everyone else I’ve met!

There are sooo many different potential projects and so many different people with different interests that it is clear a) there will be no shortage of work, and b) it will be one of my tasks to make sure my attentions are balanced across groups. (I can easily imagine the hoteliers taking over all my time, at the expense of some women’s and girls’ groups.)

My “host family,” the family whose compound I live in, is very nice and friendly. They tell me I can eat with them whenever I want, but they eat quite a bit later than I do and I’m really enjoying cooking, so I’ve only taken them up on it a few times — which is probably a shame because each time it has been very yummy! They have a dog named Milo who guards the house at night and he stops by my room a few times a day to say hi and get pet - we’re friends. He’s always really dirty though, so I have to go wash my hands every time I pet him, but it’s worth it; he’s the first friendly, pet-able dog I’ve seen in country! The grandson of my host mom lives here (his mom is in Conakry), he’s 2, and there’s also a little girl here (the daughter of a cousin, I think) who’s 7, though she’s tiny. They’re both still a little shy around me, but slowly they’re warming up and I look forward to kid play time in the future. We did have a good hour of bubble-blowing one afternoon and that helped to start to make inroads. There’s about 5 teenagers around most of the time; two of whom are the children of my host family; one of whom is here attending veterinary school; and then there are two girls who go to school part-time and otherwise help around the house. The family is relatively well off (one daughter working in France, a son at school in the UK, dad works in the big town during the week at the university, mom actively involved in women’s associations) and so there’s usually some extra people around, staying for a few days or a few weeks.

In training, they told us about the collective-ness of the culture and you see a hundred examples of it everyday. Whatever someone has, no matter how little, it is shared. If you have a kid out in a village and a relative in town and don’t need the kid to work at home, you send the kid to be taken care of and sent to school by your relative. In part because of this, it can be hard to figure out who everybody is and how they’re related. The daughter of your mom’s cousin’s might have lived with you since she was 7, and so you just call her your sister, but when an outsider, like me, is trying to figure out why one sister goes to regular school while the other sister goes to vocational school and does the majority of the housework, it helps to realize that the 2nd sister actually has different parents in a different village. Add polygamy to the mix (and the fact that an additional wife and her children may live in a different town) and it can be a feat to figure out anything close to a family tree! In Pulaar they have different words for a sibling who has the same father and mother as you do and a sibling who has the same father, but different mother. (I suppose we do in English too, though “half-sibling” doesn’t have quite the same implications as “sibling from my other mother.”)

So, I’m learning a lot and trying to make good use of my first three months to set a good foundation for the rest of my service. (After training, our first three months are supposed to be spent focused on doing a community study and building relationships, more than working on specific projects, and then we re-group for two weeks for an in-service training, where we can touch bases with our colleagues about ideas.) I’ve met some very dynamic people who I look forward to working with and I’ve met some people who I’m sure will be a challenge to me. Either way, I’m happy to be here; I’m happy I have ways to balance; I’m happy this as a challenge seems like a realistic one; I guess I’m just happy!