[Guinea-list] Other current PCV parents out there?

[Alma Beck]

My son, Daniel, was also in Guinea last year and returned this past summer
when his site opened up again. He was/is in a village without electricity or
dependable cell phone access, so we had no contact during the strike. I used
all the methods you did, Nancy--this list, Google news alerts, PCV blogs,
etc. While ignorance may have been more blissful, knowing what was happening
sort of gave me that illusion of control. In fact, almost all the
events/news came from the larger cities, while in Daniel's village, all was
quiet. Government officials and military folks asked him to teach them
English to pass the time during the strike! Thus, my images of his
environment were quite inaccurate and much more dire than reality. When we
finally connected after the PC officials took the volunteers to Mali, Daniel
shared stories he'd heard from other volunteers, tales of being protected
and cared for by not only the ordinary people, but by military officials as
well. It seems that PVCs are well-loved there.

This time, even if a strike occurs similar to the last one (for the
Guineans' sake, I sure hope not), I will be much more relaxed about Daniel's
safety. I know the PC doesn't take chances with their volunteers and am
confident that their safety is never compromised.

Alma Beck
Little Rock, AR

On Jan 6, 2008 2:21 PM, Nancy White <nancy.white at asd20.org> wrote:


>

>

>

>

> Hello everyone,

>

> I have just signed up again for this Friends of Guinea email list after

> having joined it 2 years ago when my daughter Lisa departed for Guinea as a

> brand new PCV. Since then my email changed and I became "spoiled" by

> semi-regular contact with her via her cell phone and Skype. (only $.18 per

> minute!), so I didn't bother signing up again. Now, after talking with her

> today, she asked me to try to contact other current PCV parents given the

> latest worries over another pending strike in Guinea.

>

>

>

> Let me assure you that the Peace Corps took excellent care and precautions

> during last year's civil unrest.  This was pre-cell phone days for my

> daughter, so contact was sporadic and I worried quite a bit about her safety

> and welfare. I did several things to keep informed during that time.  I

> signed up for regular email news alerts from Google – using the keywords

> "Guinea" and "strike" – and this allowed me to read all of the latest news.

> (our local paper did not usually carry any news on the topic) Ok –maybe that

> didn't put my mind at ease so much – but for me, some news was better than

> no news.  The other thing I did was start reading the blogs of various PCVs

> in Guinea – some had regular internet access and so I was able to find out

> in real time what was happening. Here is a great link for you –that provides

> links to a large number of PCVs who have active blogs:

> http://www.peacecorpsjournals.com/gv.html. The other thing I did was check

> the FOG Blog regularly – as they kept us all informed of the situation and

> really helped ease my worries:  http://friendsofguinea.blogspot.com/ - you

> will also find links to other news sites there, but I think the Google News

> Alerts work best.  Another place you can check is the US Embassy in Conakry

> Consular Warden's message site:

> http://conakry.usembassy.gov/consular_warden.html , which right now has

> absolutely no warnings posted of any kind.

>

>

>

> Last year, the Peace Corps acted swifly to evaucuate all PCVs when the

> situation became unsafe. I know that they have a great communication and

> evacuation plan in place and that the PCVs are well trained in their roles

> in carrying out the plan. I feel confident that if things escalate again,

> they will be well taken care of. When I talked with Lisa today, however, she

> felt that the "mood" is quite different and that the Guineans seem more

> cautious and less willing to let things escalate because of the horrible

> consequences of last year. Let's hope she is right.

>

>

>

> Please feel free to email me if you'd like!

>

>

>

> Sincerely,

>

> Nancy White

>

> Peace Corps Mom

>

> Colorado Springs

>

>

>

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