Back From Guerrou

After five interesting and eventful days at the Assaba Region, site visit is finally over. I'm back at the Peace Corps Center at Rosso ready to write about my experiences and expectations for the next two years living in Guerrou. So let us begin LOL.

The first part of this trip was, of course, the ride from Rosso to Kiffa. I left on Tuesday morning and had a 10 hour drive on our Peace Corp Truck called “The Vomit Comet”, where I had the opportunity to get to know more about the volunteers that are going to be living with me in the Assaba Region (The group on the picture). I also had the chance to contemplate the beautiful and diverse landscapes that Mauritania has to offer, ranging from big sand dunes to big mountains covered in trees and huge rocks.

Once we got to our Assaba Regional Capital, Kiffa, we met all the current volunteers serving in such region. Most of them have almost completed their PC service. I also finally met Andrea, the Super volunteer (I say this because she has done an outstanding job in Guerrou overcoming huge obstacles) which I’m going to be working closely for the next year at Guerrou. The first night we had a welcome party full of food and stories from the current volunteers. We also toured Kiffa, met some government officials and went to the market. The next day, Andrea and I got into a Taxi Brousse and left to my future home: Guerrou.

Like I wrote on my past blog, Guerrou is a big and rich city. It has a population of 21,000 habitants; two big markets, restaurants, big houses and has all the basic services that a community needs. The main economical income source is money sent from Mauritanian immigrants working in Europe, Senegal, Mali or other countries at Central Africa. One would think that this situation would persuade a society to be a little more open and hospitable towards foreigners, but it’s not like that. In fact I noticed it since the first moment I got there. It was amusing to see how people reacted when they saw Andrea and me walking down the street. There were a few that greeted us with overwhelming joy; several hided in their houses waiting for us to pass by; and of course the majority of people that just stared at us like if we were from another planet and probably asking themselves why in the world are two “Nasranis” (word that means Christians or in this case “white” persons) doing in a place like Guerrou?

During my time in Guerrou, Andrea kindly introduced me to some government officials like the Hakem and Police Chief, women cooperatives leaders, my counterpart, some of her friends, and of course, the Girls that I’m going to be working in the GMC. After getting to know the girls and some information about the people at Guerrou, there is no doubt in my mind that my work is going to be a complex task. People at Guerrou are really conservative and traditionalist; and of course, they are wary of foreigners that try to teach girls how to play a more active role in their community. However, after listening to the girls of the Center sing “Old Macdonald had a Farm”, I understood that the huge responsibility that lays ahead of Andrea and me, is definitely worth it and achievable.

After spending three days at Guerrou, Andrea and I headed back to Kiffa where we had a Mexican Night eating burritos, pico de gallo, beans and some other food that the volunteers cooked for us like Ice Cream and Borwnies. Al though I didn’t have the opportunity to interact with the majority of the volunteers that are going to be living in Assaba during the first month of stage, after this experience I believe it’s a very strong and supportive group which Im going to be happy to live with. That last night at Kiffa was a great occasion, an occasion that I know its going to be repeated constantly during the next two years. Inshallah.