Here’s some important news: FOG membership is now free.  So don’t hold back. Renew your membership right here and now at the following link: http://www.friendsofguinea.org/membership/fog.shtml      

This decision came about for a number of reasons.  First and foremost, free membership will help us recruit and retain more members.  FOG is largely about providing information on Guinea and Peace Corps to as many people as possible and free membership allows us to do a better job at it.  Second, our digital format is more cost-effective and these days we can better afford to fund FOG through member donations rather than fees.  Third, we expect that when our members hear about project needs and plans, they will be willing to step up and meet those needs with occasional donations.  In other words, we still accept donations, because that’s how we fund Peace Corps volunteer and other Guinea-based projects, but we no longer require a fee to receive the FOG newsletter.

Please note however that membership in the National Peace Corps Association (NPCA), which is a separate organization, still costs $35.  Thus, if you choose to join “FOG plus the National Peace Corps Association,” you will need to pay the $35 NPCA membership fee.  Returned Peace Corps volunteers get their first year of membership with NPCA for free.

To recap: what does this change mean for you as a member? Regardless of your current membership status, you should renew yourmembership at the link above with your latest contact information.  Tell friends, family members, and RPCVs to do likewise.  Contact our membership coordinator, Brian Clappier, at bjclappier@gmail.com if you have any questions or if you’re willing to help recruit more members.  After all, joining FOG now is easier than ever.

 

 

Giving Back to Guinea
by Alan Tauber, Executive Director of DrumConnection

I am a professional musician, and have played percussion since the age of four. I’ve studied at the top conservatories in the U.S. and taught music and all forms of percussion for over 30 years. In 2002, I had the great opportunity to change my life and open my heart.

Traveling to Africa was about the farthest thing from my mind at the time, but a friend convinced me that I could and should do it. So I made plans to study drumming in Africa, and in December 2002, we landed in Guinea. The next morning I woke up in Cosa, a village near the Guinean capital, for my first drumming class with master djembefola Famoudou Konaté. It was an unbelievable experience for all 25 students in the class, and it changed my life as a musician.

After that first trip, I made it a priority to return every year to study the music of Guinea with Famoudou Konaté and other master drummers, dancers and griots. On my 2003-2004 trip, I saw signs of decline in conditions in the country. The more people I met, the sadder the faces were, and

the more my sense of shame increased. I was very, very saddened by what I saw, but saw no way to help improve the situation.

Then, during my 2005 trip, a friend of mine spent three weeks in a hospital with no way to leave because her family couldn’t pay her bill. So I paid it and she survived, and the family was grateful. That was an eye-opening experience for me. I saw how much that money changed things for the whole family, and I became inspired to try to do more for them and for other families in need.
As I planned my next trip, I decided to collect donations of medication, clothes and money for Guinean families. I also discussed my ideas with trusted advisors, including several Boston area physicians, and put their suggestions to work as I prepared for my trip. That was how the Guinea Fund began.  

Over the years, the Guinea Fund has changed in order to better help people in dire circumstances. It is now a crisis fund, which means we can make a greater impact on families and save more lives. We get a lot of requests for help, but have learned how to make the biggest difference with our limited resources.

Most of our donations come from the community around my drumming school, The DrumConnection. Our students want to make a difference in the country where the drumming they love comes from. The profits from our bi-weekly Drum Circles and our annual Benefit Concerts go directly to the Guinea Fund to help Guinean families. Together, we reach across the ocean to help people in need.

 

Making Connections With Travel and Music

Every November, I take students who are interested in West African drumming to Guinea for a complete immersion in the music, the language and the culture of the country. We all live with my Guinean family in Cosa for several weeks. Students are not segregated from the Guineans: we eat together, talk together, laugh and tell jokes a lot. We cry together when it is time to leave.

We believe that through these trips, we can do what was asked of us by the ancient ones and the ancestors: to keep the music and the spirit of Africa alive and preserve its fragile yet resilient nature. On these trips, we do more than that. We lift Africa up and say, “You are beautiful, you are intense, you are a part of who we are and we will never forget you. Long live Guinea and long live Africa!”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Alan Tauber, Director
DrumConnection
Boston, MA USA

drumconnection.com

001-781-316-8068

 

News from Guinea

by Brian Farenell, FOG Communications Director

In June, Guinea's Independent Electoral Commission announced that legislative elections would be scheduled for November 2011 and that it would allocate 200 million FG (around US$30,000) for the poll. President Alpha Condé subsequently expressed the wish that the vote be delayed so a national census could be conducted, but this was met with strong criticism from the opposition.

In response to a controversy earlier this year regarding poor handling by the Peace Corps of incidents of rape and sexual assault of PCVs, the House and Senate have introduced legislation intended to provide better security and protection measures for Volunteers. The House legislation would, according to the National Peace Corps Association, "require sexual assault risk-reduction and response training, the development of sexual assault protocol and guidelines, the establishment of victims’ advocates, and the establishment of a Sexual Assault Advisory Council." The NPCA described Senate legislation as "nearly identical."

In late July, Condé survived two attacks on his residence with bullets, rocket-propelled grenades and rockets, in what were described as a coup attempt. One bodyguard was killed. Dozens were later arrested, including General Nouhou Thiam, who had been army chief until being replaced by Condé. In the final years of the military junta, the size of the Guinean armed forces nearly quadrupled.

The subsequent crackdown on the media by Condé was harshly criticized by human rights groups and NGOs.

Note: You can stay current with Guinea, Peace Corps and PC-Guinea news via FOG's blog (friendsofguinea.blogspot.com) and Twitter feed (www.twitter.com/friendsofguinea)

Photo credits for all photos in this issue of ÇaVa?: Alan Tauber, Director DrumConnection
Boston, MA USA www.drumconnection.com
001-781-316-8068

 

Dear Friends of Guinea members, I visited Senegal with Tostan as a teenage and in part due to that experience; I'm now a lawyer at a Philadelphia firm doing pro bono asylum work for West African women with FGM histories.        I'm writing in hope of connecting to someone in your network -- perhaps a current Peace Corps member or an alumni still in Guinea -- that might be willing to help me reach the family of my client in Conakry, Guinea, for whom we recently won asylum in the U.S. based on her own FGM history and that of her eldest daughter, who died from the procedure after it was done without her mother's consent.  My client has four surviving children in Conakry who have been in hiding with a caretaker since their mother's departure over two years ago, and it has proven very difficult to establish the consistent contact necessary to complete the children's applications for visas.       I'm sure the current Peace Corps members are very busy with their own projects but I'm hoping that you might be able to suggest someone who would be sympathetic to this family's plight and willing to serve as a point of contact with a few key steps over the next year or so, such as helping the children get passport photos taken and sent to us, and helping them get to scheduled interviews at the US embassy when the time comes.  I don't foresee it being hugely time-consuming, but it would make a substantial difference in our ability to reunite this family as soon as possible.  I would so appreciate any direction you can give me about whom to reach out to on this.        Below is a link to a press release about the asylum work done by my firm and my own firm bio to add a little context and credibility for who we are and the work we've done -- the second bullet point in the press release is the client for whom I am now seeking help.  http://www.ballardspahr.com/eventsnews/pressreleases/2011-06-02_alan_j_davis_award_given_to_ballard_asylum_initiative.aspx http://www.ballardspahr.com/people/attorneys/greenberg_susanna.aspx Thank you very much! Best, Susanna Greenberg