october 2, 2008

Thursday, October 2, 2008

Today is Guinea’s Independence Day – and it isn’t just any Independence Day – it is the 50th Anniversary of their independence from France. I’m a huge fan of the 4th of July’s activity back in the USA, so I was anxious to see what today brought. There were no Guinean flags to be found, no fireworks or patriotic songs, certainly no hotdogs or pink lemonade. It was a day no different than any other day. The only mention of it was a 30 second segment on the BBC. (I later heard that in some other villages, PCVs watched people raise the flag. The BBC mention during the “Focus on Africa” segment was sad yet honest. They reported that although today was the 50th anniversary, there was very little to celebrate, and the sentiment in Conakry was dismal. All of this lack of celebration refers to the fact that Guinea has yet to stand on its own two feet since independence. It was definitely a day to put in perspective how different my home is from here.