Guinea: Finding my Guinean Family

What’s the biggest difference I’ve noticed between being in Guinea and being in the U.S.? It might surprise you that it’s not really the food, or the cost of housing, or the night life – I can buy delicious hamburgers, rent a US$3000/month apartment, or go out to club where people are dressed to the nine’s down the road from my house. 

Hamburger a la Conakry, Guinea.
(Complete with a fried egg on top!)

What has stuck out to me the most over the past weeks, and perhaps the root of the past weeks’ problems, is the importance of family and a sense of community.

This past week was all about immersing myself a little more, to assemble what might become my “Guinean Family.” I spent several hours volunteering for Remed 2016, an intensive week-long 42-hour public health writing workshop for medical school students at Gamal Abdul Nazeer University in Conakry. The students, who were all at different places in their medical training, were completing a thesis as part of their training, and the workshop was an opportunity to mentor them on how to turn their research into a publishable article. Although mentoring these students in French was a little challenging, I found the experience really rewarding. It took me three years to learn how to publish my first article – which recently came out, I am ecstatic to share – so I was happy to support others in learning from my experiences.

A beautiful mosaic in front of University Gamal Abdul Nazeer.

The full group!

Me giving feedback to a small group on their final presentations. 

The mentors.

Moussa, one of the mentees I've been working
closely with, and myself.

I attended a session at the 5^th Annual West African Social Action Forum, which proved to be a most unexpected yet informative experience. 

A booth on preventing gender-based violence.

As I was looking at booth in the Expo Space, waiting for the person who worked there to arrive, a group of young men noticed me looking at an educational picture book that showed different forms of violence against women. When they asked me about the book, and I realized no one else around, I didn’t want to miss the educational opportunity so I attempted to explain. 

One picture, in particular, led to a fascinating conversation about the role of religion, cultural norms, and what we consider in the advocacy world to be violence against women. This picture symbolized submission, which some of the boys actually said was a form of respect, but by the end of conversation, with the assistance of an older man and woman who overheard part of our conversation and intervened, at least one of the young men realized that norms can be changed, and that they can take part in that change. 

To make the moment even better, the Minister of Social Action came by the booth right as we finished this conversation, so I had a brief opportunity to meet her as well.

Panel discussion with the Minister of Social Action on
women, conflict, and violence. 

I spent some time again with HC3, attending a workshop and a national research survey training, learning more about their unique models of health facility capacity building in the aftermath of Ebola. I really appreciate the ways in which they engage with communities throughout Guinea, and plan to help them write about some of the innovations their pioneering here.

And perhaps most meaningfully, I met with a group of women from a small women’s microfinance and empowerment group to learn more about their communities and their lives. Each came dressed in colorful clothing, their heads covered with a scarf, one with a baby on her back. They were so willing to share their incredible stories of hardship and of triumphs, and to help me think through how I might deepen my understanding of the challenges young women here face.

Each of these interactions revealed to me a little more about life here, but it was really the personal connections that helped energize me this past week. Whether it was passing the morning’s with Alexandre, a medical doctor and current PhD student who was excited to connect me with the University’s emerging public health program…Or finally moving around the town with the company of Sebastian and Wesley, two lively New Yorkers who are currently calling Conakry their home…Or Cady and Mariam, two young Guineans that I’ve enjoyed chatting with from time to time…I’m starting to see how to make this place a little more like home. 

When it rains and the driver says he can't come...
You have to make moves yourself!

Our makeshift drumming session chez famed drummer
Pap Kouyate. 

Being “independent” here is not as easy as it is back in Boston, and, in fact, I’ve found that it makes the experience here a little less rich. But the sense of community I’m starting to find, and the people who are warmly welcoming me into their lives, have helped to start to create my Guinean family.