Monday July 26 2010---Day 5

 

       The alarm clock was set for 7 am and  to hear that beep-beep-beep-beep sound this morning was not much fun!   Another sleepless night in Conakry.  Some community celebration of music and drums kept us awake till 2 in the morning; add to this mix the nagging jet lag and you have a recipe for disaster…or almost!  I stagger out of bed, make coffee and head for the shower. Today we are going to school to get connected to the internet, meet  Jeanne our housekeeper, find out how to connect the TV and go get more groceries. It will be a full day!

       It was beautiful as I looked out my balcony this morning. The terra cotta buildings across from my balcony looked brighter than usual. I observe a small girl stepping out of her house. She might be 3 or 4 years old. She pulls down her underwear, squats and proceeds to urinate. Right there, right in the soil in front of her home. She has no inhibitions or concerns as she plays with the soil.  I watch her longer waiting to see what will happen next. She stands  pulling up her underwear, walks over to the veranda, picks up a broom made of long branches and starts to sweep. Seeing her do this startles me more than what she did previously.  In Africa, women are expected to work  and they start very young, but this young? She made fast sweeping motions with her broom as if she had been doing this for a very long time. I’ve seen young girls as young as 6 years old carry babies on their back and carry water on their heads. I have seen some boys also carry items on their heads, but I have not seen boys or men clean or cook yet. I wonder if they do.

      The rest of the day went well as we accomplished all the tasks we had set out to do. Our driver Bevin continues to amaze me with his driving skills; when he drives, he does not talk.  I’ve learned not to initiate conversations with him. He has to concentrate so much as there is so much going on all the time: huge potholes on the roads, people jay walking, people begging coming right at our window and young boys selling items from Kleenex to belts to soap. Everything you can think of is sold on the streets! You have to ignore it all because if you say no thank you, they keep nagging you to buy. Turning your face away seems to be the best way to handle this. It is difficult to ignore those begging. There is a mother with 2 babies wrapped on her body, one on her back and one on her front, a man with one arm and another in a man made wheel chair of sort, unable to walk, his legs all distorted. It is difficult and heart wrenching to  ignore and not give them 1000 Guinean Francs(about 80 cents) . I know that if we start to give money, word will get around that there are new white people in town and to go after them. Still, it is hard to see and accept poverty. If I had food to give, I would give it, but  I don’t. I was told that this is a hardship posting and I am just beginning to get a glimpse of what this really means.