Bonne Année !
Bonne Année, Happy New Year!
The new year is always an opportunity to reflect on the past and also look ahead to the future. In 2019, I went from being a "funemployed" woman with a college degree to joining to Peace Corps and moving halfway across the world to Guinea! It was a year of lots of growth and new beginnings.
To end 2019, I took my first vacation as a Peace Corps volunteer to the Forest region of Guinea. Myself and several other volunteers traveled to the city of N'zérékoré to hike the Mount Richard-Molard peak, the highest peak in the Mount Nimba Range. The peak extends throughout Guinea, Liberia, and Côte d’Ivoire. Since rich it's rich with flora and fauna, a significant portion of the range is protected and classified as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The hike itself was twelve hours, and even though I myself didn't make it to the top, it was still a really fun experience.
It was also a great time to reconnect with my fellow volunteers who I hadn't seen for several months and share our experiences.
We also got a chance to tour N'zérékoré and visit with a local guide provided to us by our hotel. He showed us around the city and took us to several art galleries, including his own where people sell their original works. So, of course, we all made a trip to the bank before spending all of our money on unique souvenirs. I myself bought gifts for my host family and neighbors as well as lots of Forêt Sacrée fabric! Forêt Sacrée is a hand dyed fabric that is made in the Forest region, so of course when presented with an opportunity to get a new outfit made, I will 100% take it. So, during IST I was able to ask my former practice school student and extremely talented tailor, Ibrahima to make me two outfits. And not only did he do that, but I got accessories to go with each outfit!
After about a week of traveling, it was time for me to come back to site. But, first there was a wedding to attend. While en route back to site, myself and some other volunteers found ourselves at a wedding! One of our Peace Corps driver's, Condé got married. It was a complete coincidence that we were all in our regional capital at the same time, but it was a fun experience to go to a wedding. We got to attend the legal ceremony as well as the reception afterwards. After the wedding festivities, I headed back to site the next day to ring in the new year with my host family.
I learned that many people at least at my site, from what I understand are religious reasons, celebrate the New Year on January 1st rather than on December 31st. So, on New year's Eve my host sister and I made our own celebration with her and her friends where we sat around a fire drinking tea until midnight, talking and enjoying each other's company. Then, on January 1st my sister cooked up a feast for the whole family and we ate until we could eat no more! I really enjoyed being able to celebrate the New year with people in my community and see how the new year is rung in.
Fast forward a few weeks and it's time for compositions/final exams and IST (in-service training)! After le Congé de Noël (Christmas break), students take their final exams, or compositions as they're called here to mark the end of the semester. Every teacher must submit their composition to the school administration (or direction as it's called here) before compositions begin so that they can ensure each class has a composition in every subject and that the correct number of copies of each test are made.
On composition day itself, students are divided into different classrooms where they are mixed with students from other grades to take their exams.
During my school's compositions I had to leave to go to IST, which meant it was time to head back to Dubréka! After a record thirteen hour taxi journey, myself and the other volunteers in my region made it safely back to the training center where we'd completed our three months of PST (pre-service training). Our IST was a week long training where we learned about the different types of secondary projects we can do and how to manage them. We also received additional technical training, which allowed me to figure out how to be a better teacher and give more effective lessons. We also were able to continue with language classes, which for me meant learning more Maninka! I've been really lucky to have several free tutors at site, but it was really helpful to gain some new vocabulary and improve my prononciation. I also, for the entire week of IST asked all of our trainers who speak Maninka to not speak to me in French (something I ask people to do at site as well). While it was challenging, I definitely think it paid off!
As part of IST, we were asked to invited a counterpart from each of our communities so that we can work alongside them to do a project in our community. I invited one of my colleagues from school, Mr. Condé who is a Physics teacher and has helped me navigate through my first few as a teacher and has a great ability to mobilize students. For example, people here really enjoy watching and playing football (real football, not American football), and our school recently held a tournament where students competed against each other and then against the teachers. The tournament lasted about a week and it was Mr. Condé who made sure that everything ran smoothly. I'm looking forward to collaborating with Mr. Condé on a future project!
It's been a busy start to 2020, but I'm starting to feel more comfortable in my service as time goes on. Even though I've had lots of ups and downs, I've been extremely lucky to have a wonderful community of people around me who know how to make a good day better and turn a bad day into a good one.
I've also increased my involvement at school by adding an extra day of teaching and also by holding revision sessions, both of which have allowed me to get to know my students better and improve my teaching methods. I'm looking forward to seeing how the rest of the school year goes, and am excited to start getting more involved with doing projects and making more connections both in my community at site and in Peace Corps.
To end 2019, I took my first vacation as a Peace Corps volunteer to the Forest region of Guinea. Myself and several other volunteers traveled to the city of N'zérékoré to hike the Mount Richard-Molard peak, the highest peak in the Mount Nimba Range. The peak extends throughout Guinea, Liberia, and Côte d’Ivoire. Since rich it's rich with flora and fauna, a significant portion of the range is protected and classified as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The hike itself was twelve hours, and even though I myself didn't make it to the top, it was still a really fun experience.
It was also a great time to reconnect with my fellow volunteers who I hadn't seen for several months and share our experiences.
We also got a chance to tour N'zérékoré and visit with a local guide provided to us by our hotel. He showed us around the city and took us to several art galleries, including his own where people sell their original works. So, of course, we all made a trip to the bank before spending all of our money on unique souvenirs. I myself bought gifts for my host family and neighbors as well as lots of Forêt Sacrée fabric! Forêt Sacrée is a hand dyed fabric that is made in the Forest region, so of course when presented with an opportunity to get a new outfit made, I will 100% take it. So, during IST I was able to ask my former practice school student and extremely talented tailor, Ibrahima to make me two outfits. And not only did he do that, but I got accessories to go with each outfit!
 |
| Me wearing my Forêt Sacrée overalls |
 |
| Two Forêt Sacrée outfits & accessories (Left: pants and a necklace, Right: overalls and a hair tie) |
After about a week of traveling, it was time for me to come back to site. But, first there was a wedding to attend. While en route back to site, myself and some other volunteers found ourselves at a wedding! One of our Peace Corps driver's, Condé got married. It was a complete coincidence that we were all in our regional capital at the same time, but it was a fun experience to go to a wedding. We got to attend the legal ceremony as well as the reception afterwards. After the wedding festivities, I headed back to site the next day to ring in the new year with my host family.
I learned that many people at least at my site, from what I understand are religious reasons, celebrate the New Year on January 1st rather than on December 31st. So, on New year's Eve my host sister and I made our own celebration with her and her friends where we sat around a fire drinking tea until midnight, talking and enjoying each other's company. Then, on January 1st my sister cooked up a feast for the whole family and we ate until we could eat no more! I really enjoyed being able to celebrate the New year with people in my community and see how the new year is rung in.
Fast forward a few weeks and it's time for compositions/final exams and IST (in-service training)! After le Congé de Noël (Christmas break), students take their final exams, or compositions as they're called here to mark the end of the semester. Every teacher must submit their composition to the school administration (or direction as it's called here) before compositions begin so that they can ensure each class has a composition in every subject and that the correct number of copies of each test are made.
On composition day itself, students are divided into different classrooms where they are mixed with students from other grades to take their exams.
During my school's compositions I had to leave to go to IST, which meant it was time to head back to Dubréka! After a record thirteen hour taxi journey, myself and the other volunteers in my region made it safely back to the training center where we'd completed our three months of PST (pre-service training). Our IST was a week long training where we learned about the different types of secondary projects we can do and how to manage them. We also received additional technical training, which allowed me to figure out how to be a better teacher and give more effective lessons. We also were able to continue with language classes, which for me meant learning more Maninka! I've been really lucky to have several free tutors at site, but it was really helpful to gain some new vocabulary and improve my prononciation. I also, for the entire week of IST asked all of our trainers who speak Maninka to not speak to me in French (something I ask people to do at site as well). While it was challenging, I definitely think it paid off!
 |
| Myself and another volunteer, Sydney at Condé's wedding |
As part of IST, we were asked to invited a counterpart from each of our communities so that we can work alongside them to do a project in our community. I invited one of my colleagues from school, Mr. Condé who is a Physics teacher and has helped me navigate through my first few as a teacher and has a great ability to mobilize students. For example, people here really enjoy watching and playing football (real football, not American football), and our school recently held a tournament where students competed against each other and then against the teachers. The tournament lasted about a week and it was Mr. Condé who made sure that everything ran smoothly. I'm looking forward to collaborating with Mr. Condé on a future project!
It's been a busy start to 2020, but I'm starting to feel more comfortable in my service as time goes on. Even though I've had lots of ups and downs, I've been extremely lucky to have a wonderful community of people around me who know how to make a good day better and turn a bad day into a good one.
I've also increased my involvement at school by adding an extra day of teaching and also by holding revision sessions, both of which have allowed me to get to know my students better and improve my teaching methods. I'm looking forward to seeing how the rest of the school year goes, and am excited to start getting more involved with doing projects and making more connections both in my community at site and in Peace Corps.
 |
| Ala syla noya! (May God give you a good road in Maninka, a benediction often given before travel) |
 |
| Mount Nimba view |
 |
| New Year's Eve fire |
 |
| Mount Nimba hike |
Comments
Post a Comment