How does a chicken cross the road in N'Zerekore?

In most places in the world, walking down the middle of the road is not smart. In some places, it's suicidal. But, after much experimentation, I think I've discovered that the only generally safe place to walk on the roads in N'Zerekore is straight down the middle.

The roads here are about 85% dirt and 5% leftover pavement from sometime before the dinosaurs. With the shrinking number of NGOs/UN agencies here, the roads are now dominated by the only form of transport that locals can afford: moto-taxis... motorcycle drivers who pick up people along the sides of roads for a ride across town.

Motorcycles look for the smoothest space they can find to drive across, which does not include ridges of antiquated pavement... so basically, they drive in the dirt ditches along the sides of the road... which leaves the middle clear for walking. Makes sense, huh? :)

And of course, tomorrow walking down the middle of the road, I'm going to get mowed down by a car... yup... that'd be about right.

Stinky me...

Day #3 in N'Zerekore and I'm doing my best to pretend like I don't stink. But I do. But to take the optimistic outlook on this, atleast it's cooler now so I stink less than I did the last time I was here... I don't feel like I'm sleeping in a pool of my own sweat. That's an improvement...

Still no functioning stove despite the hours that dear incompetent Wilmott has put into fixing the thing. He just runs in circles... and talks in circles... poor little man is atleast trying, but I really would like to have a functioning stove... If nothing else so that I can heat up my bucket of water to take a shower with so that I don't feel quite so stinky...

Patience.... patience... patience...

Literacy by Lamplight

Last November, I came to N'Zerekore to write a proposal for literacy classes for children and youth in 58 Guinean communities. By February, we finally managed to get the proposal approved, and last week, I got to visit two of the literacy classes. After picturing the students (75% female, 100% under the age of 25, young mothers, refugees, displaced persons, OVCs [orphans and vulnerable children; gotta love these acronyms]) in my head via the proposal for so long, I was so excited to who was sitting in the benches and what they were actually learning about.

Surprises:
1. The students work all day, so the only time they can have classes is the evening. There is no electricity to light up the schools so the project bought lanterns: One lantern to light up the chalkboard and two for the 40 students. This might be a little problem.... :)

2. Young mothers come to class with their babies strapped to their backs. In one class the front center bench was filled with a mother and her three young children.

3. They were learning about the baton and the pumpkin. Hmmmm... the line and the circle and how you combine them to make letters. My mom taught me when I was 4 and I have no idea how she did it... but I don't think it had much to do with batons and pumpkins. :)