Waiting It Out in Conakry: Illness, Isolation, and an Unexpected Kitten

May 28, 2004

Rainy season has officially come to Guinea. So much mystery has surrounded this that I feared it would never materialize. People, and especially seasoned volunteers, would always invoke the warning, "Just wait until rainy season". They'd never finish the sentence so you'd always wonder what horror would await you come the rains. Is it going to be so bad that I'll risk drowning if I set foot outside from May to September? What will I do for all those months cooped up in my house? Will it be a curse or a blessing, or both? I don't know the answer to that yet as it only started to rain in earnest less than a week ago.

I thought that maybe there'd be a predictable pattern to it like it would rain every morning and get sunny in the afternoons, etc. In Kenya we had two rainy seasons - the short rains and the long rains - and in Nunguni it was very predictable. It would usually always be grey skies but only rain at night, most of the time. Here, I've yet to figure it out and have yet to get an intelligible response out of anyone who has spent more than one year in this area.

So far, the pattern seems to be that it will rain when it rains and it will clear up soon afterwards and get sunny again or, if it's nighttime, get clear. I hear that some days it can rain all day and continue into the next 2 days. Sounds like Seattle. Only I didn't have to bike through rain and mud to get to work in Seattle. As power here is hydroelectric, I was hoping that I'd get constant electricity during the rainy season. But alas, no. I've been told I'll always have 2 days of power, 2 days without, etc.(by the way, I only get running water outside in the mornings and the power on the 2 day on, 2 day off schedule).So who's hording this power? And what are they using it for? I can understand rationing during dry season, but let's have at it during rainy season!

I'm pretty sure I know where it's all going...La Cite of Kamsar, where all the ex-pats live. I hear they have electricity 24/7 AND running water in their homes. Imagine. Ok, let me get a little higher up on my soapbox for a moment. Americans, and many other Western nations, take for granted the luxury of running water and electricity they consume at an inordinate rate, day in and day out, without regard for the other 5+ billion people living in the world. More than 1 billion, that's Billion with a capital B, people live without access to clean drinking water. That's not even a statistic that takes into account how many more live without running water anywhere near them, let alone if it's clean or not or potable or not.

What's my point? Should we go without? No. I just would like to see the average American take to heart the act of conservation of these resources we arrogantly assume are inexhaustible. Let's limit shower time and shut off the taps when soaping up and brushing our teeth. Let's only flush when necessary. E gads, you mean not every time I toss a tissue into the toilet after blowing my nose? Yes, and after peeing too. Let's get back to the days when we used to say, "If it's yellow, let it mellow. If it's brown, flush it down." Who remembers that from the 70s? Or did I just make that up?

I know my family practices a moderate form of this conservation, and has since I was young, and my dad revels in the fact that he's "conserving" when he pees outside the house, which is often these days, much to the chagrin of my mother. I don't think this has anything to do with me or my current plight, he just likes to pee outside. It's a guy thing. If it were that easy for women, we'd probably do it all the time too. So, just be cognizant of the fact that you're not alone on this planet and that not everyone has it as good as you. Conserve when you can and encourage others to do the same.

Wow, I should run for President...When I'm not consumed these days by the plight of the less fortunate I'd say I was doing well here in Kamsar. It's a big town, certainly compared to Nunguni, and is taking some getting used to. I ride my bike about 2 miles to work every day. I don't do much at work these day but I'm sure it'll pick up soon, once the project gets rolling along. Many days I then ride from the office to La Cite (about 4 miles) to go shopping or mostly to go swimming at the pool.

There are cleaning implements strewn about near the pool but as far as I can determine, they're only for show. There's a green fuzz growing on the walls of the pool so I'm not sure how long I want to continue using it. Until the fuzz appears on me, I figure I'll keep doing my laps and just try and keep my mouth, ears and nose out of the water. By the time I get home, either after work or from swimming, I'm pretty worn out. Mostly just from the heat of the day. I'll usually just cook a quick dinner and settle in to read, either by candlelight or electricity, depending upon what day it is. If I don't have electricity, then my sleep is fitful as I wake up sweating multiple times a night. If the electricity is on and my fan is working, great. But, I still have a restless sleep as it will often cut out several times during the night and you can tell right away when it does as your pores instantly gush forth a stream of sweat that dictates your immediate attention.

The average temperature in my room is around 87 degrees F or 31 C (meaning sometimes it's 85 but sometimes it's 89).Turn up your thermostats for one night to 87 and leave it there for a week and let me know how you cope with it. You can't use your fridge either You can only use an electric fan every 2 nights. Good luck. Wow, this update took a turn for the worse early on and hasn't improved. Maybe I should just sign off now. I really am enjoying myself here, it's just that daily life is so difficult, you want to share the pain with everyone you know who has it "easy" :o)

July 11, 2004

Just noticed it’s been awhile since my last update. My electricity’s been spotty this past month so I haven’t been using my laptop much and thus not even thinking about an update. Not much has happened this past 6 weeks as things are still stalled with my project. I’ve been reading a lot of books and trying to study my French and Susu more often.

My project – the lunching of an insecticide treated mosquito net – has been running into lots of snags. It’s got nothing to do with the product, the market or even my organization. It’s due to the political situation here in Guinea. Don’t think I need to spell it out. It’s very frustrating. This product can save thousands of lives every year at no cost to anyone other than PSI and its donors. But, those aren’t compelling enough reasons to get through the red tape.

I came down to Conakry on the 4th and will be here until the 25th. Unless the launch gets the go-ahead and then I’d have to hurry back to Kamsar for a few days. I’m here for a seminar put on by the International Labour Office. It’s training on how to train entrepreneurs in developing countries. I’m doing it with 3 other PCVs from my group. There are two parts to the training and we just finished one part this past week. The second part begins again Monday and runs the full week.

I then have another week of training to attend. It’s our in-service training, which happens about 3 months after you’ve been at site. I’m excited to see many of the people from my group that I haven’t seen since early April. Not excited about the training or staying another week in Conakry. I may just head back to site early but then again, what would I do once there? Have I said how frustrated I am?

If it weren’t for the fact that I’m able to work on improving my French and gain another year of international working experience, I’m not sure I’d have the desire to stick around much longer. I’m going to try and go back to site with an invigorated attitude and enough motivation to find another project for me to work on while my “real” one is stalled. I’m thinking of helping another volunteer (a Health PCV) with one of her projects. She’s working with a women’s group who collects and processes salt and sells it at market. She’s gotten them to iodize it.

No one iodizes the salt here and there are many adverse health effects as a result. Lots of goiters. Yes, goiters. Those big lumps that can form on the side of your face or neck and never go away without surgery. Anyway, she’s gotten them to iodize several tons of salt and it’s now in the market. I want to help her to properly market it. No one really knows what iodized salt is or why you should eat it. Tastes the same as the regular salt but costs more so why bother? I think UNICEF is also going to help her to promote it.

I’m also going to try and spruce up my house when I get back. I’m hoping to buy some furniture today and have it shipped to Kamsar on the next mail run PC vehicle in August. I want a wicker/bamboo couch, coffee table, bookshelf, rocking chair and bedside table. All that is going to cost over one month’s living allowance. But, starting in August I get an increase in my allowance – by 50%! Woo hoo.

That’s all the news for now. Hope everyone is doing well and enjoying their summer. Me, I can’t wait for winter…in Seattle. Got home leave for a month starting December 8th…can’t wait to freeze my @%& off!! Yes, it’s still 5 months away but it gives me something to look forward too while I sit around Kamsar growing mildew.

July 28, 2004

Hi ho everyone. I’m still here in Conakry…that makes about a month now. Mixed feelings about that as I don’t particularly have anything to do in Kamsar but don’t like spending this much time in Conakry. All my meetings are over so I’m extra bored. I’m just waiting around for medical clearance to go back to site. Have had some stomach issues for a couple months but all my tests were coming out normal. Very frustrating when you know something isn’t right but you can’t get medical confirmation of it.

Finally did last week. I’ve got amoebas. Amoebas are not worms but tiny animals – or parasites – that can be seen only with a microscope. I’m on a ten-day course of pills, 2 rounds, and will be finished with them by Friday. One round was to kill the amoebas and the second was to kill the cysts, or egg sacs. I’m not feeling much better and you should be right away with this medication so I’m sticking around a bit longer to give more stool samples.

Most everyone from my training group has left to go back to their sites. There are a few sticking around until Friday. It was great to see everyone but it was a bit overwhelming too. The house was packed full of people and noise. When you’re not feeling well it’s tough to rally yourself to go out and be social with everyone. I’ve been sticking around the house a lot and watching movies (VHS). Oh, and playing with my new kitten.

The Friday before last I was walking to catch a taxi early in the morning to make it to my seminar downtown. I wasn’t too far from the Peace Corps compound when a little kitten ran out to me, turned around and ran back to cower at the wall. It was one of 5 kittens but the other 4 were motionless and I presumed dead. I scooped up the live kitten and took it back to Peace Corps. I asked the guards to keep it for me until I returned that evening. Much to my surprise, they not only kept it, but also really took care of it and cleaned it up.

Animals like cats and dogs are not pets here, they’re here to serve a function. Cats kill mice and dogs protect your house. To have a cat for the pure pleasure of it is bizarre to them. When I got home that night I put her in a cardboard box in one of the bathrooms and fed it some milk. It’s been a long time since I had a cat of my own and decades since I had a kitten. She’s pretty young – the best guess is she’s now about 5 weeks old so was 3 ½ to 4 weeks old when I found her.

I held off on naming her until her personality popped out a bit. Shithead and Fang were high on the list for a while. I just finally decided on Conakry as that’s where she found me. I call her Connie for short. She’s litter box trained now and likes to eat canned tuna. She’s very playful but then again she’s a kitten and I think that’s par for the course. When she cuddles she likes to sleep at my neck and nibble on my ears. The hardest part is going to be getting her up to my site in a bush taxi. It’s only 3 hours (best case scenario) to Kamsar from Conakry now but I’m sure she won’t be happy to be in a carton the whole time.

She’ll have a room to herself in my house so plenty of room to run around. I’ll probably also let her outside to run around in my yard as it’s all walled in. I don’t want her to pick up fleas but also want her to be able to fend for herself outside in case she ever gets loose. I’m really hoping to be able to give her to another volunteer when I leave, as a Guinean wouldn’t care for her in the same way. But, I don’t want to think about that right now as I’ve got a good 7+ months to enjoy her. Do have to think about what to do with her while on vacation and home leave…

The internet has been off and on, mostly off, so I’m going to post this update quickly before the window of opportunity closes again. Hope everyone is well and enjoying their summer. I feel like I’m in Seattle in April – it’s been raining non-stop now for weeks.