School Starts October 5th

First off, thanks for checking back in on mssamek; it has been too long. The past three months have been spent training the newest education volunteers - I have been teaching a group of 17 fantastic men and women how to be an effective teacher (or so I hope.) It has been a really fun experience for me; they swear in as official volunteers on Friday. Some of the perks of the job included working with some of my fellow volunteers as they came in for two-week periods, a trip to the waterfalls with the trainees, and a visit to Guinea's national museum. The best part of it all was getting to watch the trainees as they began practice school; their enthusiasm, work ethic, and ambition is what is going to make all of them excellent teachers.

The training began in July and after the second week of August, the trainees went off to visit their future villages for a week. While they were off seeing their future homes and meeting their new neighbors, I took a vacation from training and spent a week in Mali. Mali is another West African country that borders Guinea to the north. Mali is significantly more developed than Guinea and Larc, Carolina, and I all enjoyed the benefits of paved roads and 24-hour electricity. (Larc and Carolina are two fellow education volunteers in Guinea.) Our trip began in Bamako, the capital of Mali. Bamako is also the capital of West African music; we heard live music one night at a small outside venue.

The highlight of the trip was a three-day hike/trip to Dogon Country. Dogon Country is a region of Mali about 500km from Bamako. It is an area that stretches 150 miles along a sandstone cliff called the Bandiagara Escarpment. The Dogon people originally came to this area to escape the conversion to Islam. It is truly one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen; the homes are made of mud and the villages are beautifully decorated with carvings. In some of my photos, you can see settlements that are no longer inhabited; these were the homes of the Telem people - they were pygmy people and you can see their little homes in the cliffs of the Bandiagara. Most of the other villages are still occupied and people go about their daily lives as tourists from all over the worlds visit. People were incredibly friendly as just about everyone I have met in West Africa has been. There is a new photo album of this trip posted - be sure to check it out.

Ramadan has ended which means school will begin soon! October 5th is the day we're set to go back, inchallah (God willing.) Teacher are still waiting to be paid from last year, but I'm hopeful it will all get worked out in time.