It is Sunday November 21 today. It has been 4 full months since our arrival in Conakry, Guinée. Why does it feel like we have been gone from Canada for years? I suppose the answer to that would be that we have lived so many experiences in such a short time. Everything has been so intense and so foreign. With a forced week-long holiday, due to security reasons, I had time to relax and take in all that I had experienced in the last 4 months.
The calm that has reigned in Conakry since the curfew was enforced has had a very positive effect. So what is a curfew? A curfew like the ones we as parents imposed on our children is a time when you must come home. Here in Conakry the curfew was imposed from 6pm to 9am. In concrete terms, this means that vehicular traffic are not permitted around the city between these hours. The curfew started on Wednesday and I noticed a huge difference. When the sun came down at about 6:30pm, people went in their homes and everything quieted down, no music played and no kids were kicking soccer balls on the street below. Loud conversations that used to be held by groups of men and women sitting on outside benches, some drinking tea, others with a baby on their laps were non-existent. Life quieted down considerably. As a result, I slept very well during this past week. That was really good!
I surprised myself this week. I stayed calm and peaceful. The first 2 days I did not go out at all; Raymond and I just stood on our balcony to observe Guinean life and took in some hot and humid air. I couldn’t help comparing my experience to my experience in Saudi Arabia. At that time, I was so frightened. I was vibrating at a level of fear almost constantly. Because we had our children with us and we were told to be vigilant in our whereabouts, I was always afraid that something would happen to them. I was full of anxiety. Reflecting on this, I realize that I have grown and have dealt with many of my worries and anxiety in the past 6 years. True that while living in Saudi we were dealing with a different issue as was the entire world. We were all trying to get a grip of this issue called terrorism. It was new to all of us and it had come to shake our world.
My experience here is different. A city in chaos, burning tires, gunfire, violence by youth as the election results angered the losing candidate partisans is nothing new to developing countries. Guinée, since its independence 52 years ago, has never held democratic elections. It is a new experience for all. Something else is at play here: poverty, extreme poverty. What I have learned from my daughter Nadine and her research of the past years with STEEP is that poverty and violence go hand in hand. When you are poor and hungry, you can become violent very quickly. Despair sets in and rational thinking goes out. Consequently, education is also needed, a good sound education that is meaningful and pertinent. The entire school system in Guinée needs to be completely revamped. This country has so many challenges and it will take many years before real change happens.
Back in my apartment, I realized that even if I have had a restrictive life this past week, I did not feel trapped or imprisoned. I felt free and grounded. I accepted my situation as it was: confined to our apartment for security reasons. I had a deep inner knowing that everything would be ok. I did not get pulled into by the sensationalism of the acts of violence that were occurring in other parts of my city. I stayed at peace within myself. I felt this was a time of rest, a time when I could do whatever I wanted moment by moment and day by day. I baked, read books, reorganized our apartment, exercised with my yoga CD’s, wrote, did some hand sewing and did go out for short walks around our neighbourhood. I felt comfortable and peaceful. The words a friend of mine had told me surfaced during this week. She said she had never felt so free as the time she had spent 3 months in prison. Those words had always struck me and they came back to me this week. She had found who she was in prison and had freed herself. Not like I am in prison here, but being confined did have an effect on my choices. Choices to react negatively or positively. It was a good week.
School starts up again tomorrow. Month number 5, here we come!
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