Wednesday, July 30, 2008

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.

Some Mauritania Pics

!!CAMEL BURGER!! This baby, believe it or not, is very tasty.
Thats me inside of a big sand dunne in Guerrou. I'm definitely going to Sandboard
This is the group of PCV Mauritania 2008-2010 . This picture was taken in the Atlanta Airport before we departed to Dakar Senegal.
Andrea is the current PC volunteer in Guerrou and a great person. I'm going to be working with her the next year promoting Girls Education and Empowerment.
And this is the main reason why I'm here at Mauritania: Girls Education. This is the group of girls that Andrea recruited at Guerrou. THEIR AWESOME.

Sunday, July 27, 2008

Next Target: ????


After several days of intense waiting and having vague thoughts about my unknown assigned place, site announcement is finally over; C’est finit. It definitely was a great event and well planned by the staff and current PC volunteers who drew a huge map of Mauritania on the sand and placed nametags on the cities that we were going to be situated. One by one, the Program Director’s started to call out the names of the trainees announcing what would be our fates for the next two years of our lives. Noahdibhu, Atar, Celibaby, Rosso, Kifa, Ayoun, Nema where some of the cities mentioned and after waiting one of the longest half an hours of my life, I finally heard Madame Siham, the GEE Director, call my name: !Luis Pablo Solorio, your going to…!


Well my site’s name is Guerrou. The cultural report that Siham handed me over reveals that Guerrou is a big and beautiful village that’s 55km away from Kiffa, the regional capital of Assaba. The population is about 21,000; Moors are the predominantly ethnic group; it’s a very conservative and traditional site; and Arabic Hassaniya and French are the most spoken languages. It appears that Guerrou has all the basic services that a city should have (some friends are going to spent the next two years without electricity or running water). There is a Girls Mentoring Center (GMC) which Andrea, the only PCV at the site, just courageously opened to address the problem of a high dropout rate among female students. Besides teaching English, computer and other academic lessons at the GMC, I will also going to be partnering with other international organizations such as World Vision, UNICEF and UNFPA; local organizations such as Women’s Co-ops and Parents associations; and the local Government officials, to promote Girls Education and Empowerment at Guerrou.

I will be leaving the Peace Corps Center at Rosso tomorrow morning. The ride is supposed to be an 8 hour drive with other 8 trainees. We will arrive first to Nouackchott and then we will take the road to Kiffa. Once we get there, I will meet with Andrea and leave with her to Guerrou the next morning so she can introduce me with Government Officials and active members of the community. I’m going to stay in Guerrou for one week to get to know the place and other work related information.


Although I don’t know what to exactly expect, I am very excited to be at Guerrou. It is definitely going to be an awesome PC experience, filled with different types of emotions and feelings. Yet again, this is one of the reasons why I decided to come to Mauritania and I know that with the help of God, it’s going to be awesome. Inshallah

Saturday, July 19, 2008

The next great step

The melody of guitars and garbage cans used as drums rocking the sandy and hot Mauritanian atmosphere; the quiet but obvious noise of people typing on their laptops letting the world know about their lives as PC trainees through emails, facebook or blogs; people kicking a soccer ball around sharing their PST experiences; while others try to recover after a month of battling an intense and different environment. This seems like a normal day at the nice Peace Corps Center at Rosso Mauritania but actually, it’s not. Something is about to happen and all these activities reflect an attempt to calms our impetus and get our minds prepared for the next step in our great adventure: Site announcement and visit.

Ever since I received my Peace Corps invitation kit on that snowy day in Alaska on the 25th of February, I imagined this upcoming moment. I’m definitely excited about being part of such a splendid endeavor like Girls Education and Empowerment Program. In whatever part that I get assigned at the Islamic Republique of the Mauritanie, I will give my best effort to promote the universal goal of human and gender egalitarianism. However, I must confess that that there are some questions that trouble my mind. Will I be at a big city or will I stay at the brousse? Is it going to be in the hot, intriguing and Moor north? Or will it be in the tropical and relaxed African south? Will I have a partner or will I be on my own? Will I have an existing Girls Mentor Center or will I have to start form scrap?

Well, on Monday we will get the answers to our multiple questions and, in a sense, we will find out what our lives are going to be for the next two years. Yes, the moment is almost here and even if we want to, we can’t stop it. If there is something sure, is that site announcement will rock our worlds. Inshallah.

Wednesday, July 16, 2008

Mauritania, the sunshine state.


Well, finally the time came. After waiting for 5 long but awesome months, I find myself in the sand dunes of Mauritania. There is so much say, to describe, to do, to show; so thats why I finally decided to open my blog account and share with you my life as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Mauritania working as a Girls Education and Empowerment Agent.

Its been one month since I got to Mauritania with other 75 PCVs. Its a very diverse, nice and prepared group which makes this experience way cooler. After living inside the PC center at Rosso for a week, I was sent to a small village at called Mbalal with other 3 volunteers and an awesome facilitator called Rajel to learn to speak Arabic Hassaniya. I'm living with a nice and BIG family that has graciously opened their doors to me. (picture: Habib and Mineya are my siblings.)

So far is has been a great Peace Corps experience, but don't get me wrong, of course I miss home, family and friends. I know that the road laying ahead of me is going to be tough, sometimes lonely and difficult but this is what I signed in for, and with the help of God, Ill continue to have an awesome time and impact the lives of other people. Inshallah