The drive from Freetown in Sierra Leone to Conackry in Guinea was a series of new life experiences and memories, both bad and good. I was told the trip would take between 5 and 6 hours, but it actually took us 10, because of the twelve times we were stopped by soldiers on the road who were asking us to pay them (bribes) and enjoying the opportunity to generally hassle and delay us. The two times we were stopped in Sierra Leone ( one of which I had to pay a woman at customs not to strip search me) were mild compared to the serious soldiers we encountered after crossing into Guinea, including one very drunk, machine gun wielding soldier who had made a reference to himself as a Texas Ranger (from a Chuck Norris movie)! My travelling companions were a driver and a man named Alieya, who was with the company I had rented the car from.  I felt terrible that these two incredibly nice and intelligent men were subjected to so much disrespect and had to work twice as hard, due to the fact that their passenger was white ($$$ to be had….).  The upside of this lengthy ride was that Alieya is well educated and well informed in the history, politics and culture of Sierra Leone, as well as a wonderful conversationalist. We talked for the entire 10 hours of the drive and I learned so much.  The countryside was beautiful, becoming more arid as we neared and crossed into Guinea.

Conakry is a fairly big city that is chaotic, at best. It is very hot and corruption is everywhere. My first night, however, was lovely, as I spent it at the home of my Habiba Diallo, my contact in Guinea, having a delicious dinner by lantern and candlelight (electricity is sporadic, even in the big city, as is running water) on her porch. We sat on a beautiful rug with pillows and also discussed her organization, Kanya Donse Fanyi (KDF) and the project she wanted to propose for consideration by the Pilot Light Foundation. Habiba is an elegant woman who has three passions, her children, food, and the needs of the people of her country. Her smile and her laugh are joyous and you cannot help but see the true kindness inside of her.

The next morning, we drove, along with her son Thierno, to Kindia. This is the town where she operates KDF and lives most of the time. Leaving the city, we climbed up a large hill and down a winding road through villages that were all selling their produce roadside. Habiba stopped to buy foods she thought I might not have tasted before and had me eating all the way there. Thierno suggested that we stop to see what turned out to be an amazingly beautiful waterfall and pond, on the way. We went into town for lunch and then a walk through the marketplace. Everywhere we went, women shouted out to greet her and came to say hello to me. She explained to me that these women were members of farming cooperatives that she buys from for the products that she makes. Supporting the businesses of local women is one of the main purposes of her work. She also buys wonderful little locally weaved baskets to sell her food products in. The other purpose is to combat malnutrition in babies. Although food is abundant, the rural diet consists of mostly starches and fruits and children can become malnourished, despite the fact that their bellies are full. That night, I again had a delicious dinner at her home by lantern light.

The next day, we visited two of the nine health centers, so I could meet with the doctors, nurses and other staff to talk about the demand for and proven success of KDF’s product that had brought me to Guinea, called Baraka. It is a highly nutritious food that Habiba developed and produces and sells at cost or less to the health centers, so they may in turn sell them to village mothers of babies of six months or more. The health centers chart the rate of growth and other health factors of the babies that eat Baraka and the statistics show that it reduces the risk of malnutrition to almost 0. It is inexpensive to make and to buy, but KDF needs the start up funds of ten thousand dollars to make a mass quantity to sell to all nine health centers, so it can be sold for a price that rural mothers can afford realistically. Once the initial quantity is produced, the sale of it can support the continued production. We spent the rest of the day in the KDF compound where I watched Habiba and her workers make dried mango, pineapple and potato leaves, which are foods that she sells, along with dried papaya, ginger and cassava leaves. She sells them in several countries, including a store in London and one in New York. Late that afternoon, a large group of women from the village surrounding the KDF compound came, because they heard I was there and wanted to tell me about the need for a part of their water pump that had been stolen. It is worth the equivalent of about 1200.00. I told them that it was not something that the Foundation would support, but told them a story I had heard about a group of women in Mali that started a goat cooperative to have money both for themselves and to maintain their water pump and the system they used to collect enough money to start that cooperative. They were extremely enthusiastic about doing it in a similar way and started organizing how they would do it right then and there.
The infrastructure of Guinea is so underdeveloped and the government is so corrupt, but the people are still very proud of and love their country, although I did hear a few people voice disgust at the corruption. The next day, it was back to the city and off to Rwanda.