Last week I had the chance to get out of village for a few days to attend a Gender and Development (GAD) activity and visit my good friend Sharon in her (very remote) village. Here’s how it went down:
Tuesday: My friend Alana biked out from her village to have lunch and pass the hottest hours of the day in Sare Sara. After filling up on white rice and mangos, we biked the ~35km East to Dabo where Dave, a 2nd year Environmental Education volunteer, lives. My friend Sharon was already there when we arrived, so it was a nice little reunion. After a delicious meal of meat (!!) and potatoes (!) we watched as the first of the heavy rain storms moved toward Dabo. The light show that preceded the rains was truly magnificent – it looked like a naval battle in the sky with bursts of light behind dense storm clouds. We momentarily speculated that war had broken out between the two Guineas. The rain that followed was less magical, as Dave’s roof quickly began to leak and a rogue lightning bolt may or may not have hit it – there was a loud pop, a red spark in the middle of the room, and no power for the rest of the night. Exciting!
Wednesday: As part of a girls scholarship program through SeneGAD – the PC gender and development program – Dave organized for Awa (leader of all things cross cultural) to come a give a talk to some girls from his school. The girls ranged in age from 13-18 and were finalists for a PC sponsored scholarship for middle school girls. Awa does a number of these talks around the country, where she promotes education, delaying marriage and pregnancy, and general girl’s empowerment. She’s really wonderful, and the girls seemed to enjoy it.
After another delicious meal, Sharon and I hit the road to bike to her village – Fass Kahone. After about an hour and a half of riding on a hard packed dirt road – where Sharon left me in her dust – and 15 more minutes on a bush path we arrived. Fass Kahone in a charming village of about 150 people. I am thrilled I don’t live there. Fass Kahone is in the middle of nowhere.
Thursday: A typical village day of greeting, eating mangos, wandering the fields and helping Sharon with her garden. Sharon’s family is great and the village is incredibly excited to have her. Peace Corps couldn’t have picked a better volunteer to put in tiny Fass Kahone – Cynical Katie would not be doing as well as Positive Sharon is without cell phone reception or an easy bike ride to the regional capital. I thought I was living the hard life in Sare Sara, but now I feel spoiled with my paved road, four boutiques and white rice (Sharon eats mostly millet – a cheaper and in my opinion less palatable carbohydrate).
Friday: Early morning bike ride back to Sare Sara. This included almost an hour and a half on 20km of bush path to get from Fass Kahone to the main road. With two nights of rain it was a fun ride of dodging puddles and sand traps but will soon be impassable. Another 15 km on the main road got me back home in time to plant my garden.
Total distance biked: ~90km
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