Military Wack Attacks.

Alright, I know that all of you are probably glued to CNN waiting to hear the latest on the political situation in Guinea. But for the far and few between of you who have better things to do than turn your shortwave radio to BBC, I would like to take this opportunity to fill you in on the political happenings of GUINEA:

December 2008: The president goes MIA for a period of time. No one knows where he is. Then an announcement stating that he has died is made. A youngbuck military captain organizes a bloodless coup d’etat, seizes power, overthrows the constitution, and declares himself president. We welcome Dadis, for Dadis promises to return Guinea to democracy, will have elections ASAP.

ASAP: comes and goes. Election dates get scheduled, cancelled, rescheduled, pushed back. Dadis cracks down on drug trafficking, but if you ask me, at least the drug dealers had jobs. So in a sense, he raised the 99% unemployment rate. He insults foreign diplomats. He pays off youth to cheer for him in front of TV cameras. He promises he won’t pose as a candidate for presidential elections, but the entire nation calls him a liar. His military men roam the country with their guns thinking they’re God in camouflauge. (They even stopped me and my friends the other week while running, and were threatening to throw Souleymane in prison because he was wearing a camo tanktop. He begged and pleaded and swore to Allah that never again will he wear this shirt, which is a crying shame, because I know its his favorite.)

Last Friday: I drive through Mamou, and see HUNDREDS of police officers and soldiers. With big guns. They have innondated the city, and are posted all over the place.

Last Saturday: Dadis leaves the capital Conakry for the FIRST time since he declared himself president. He decides that he’s going to make an appearance in Mamou (my hometown) and Labe (3 hrs north) to try and convince people to stop hating him. I woke up to the sound of a helicopter over my house and people yelling. Wait- Guinea has a helicopter? Anyway Dadis goes to these cities; rumor has it in Labe everyone purposefully stayed in their homes so as NOT to welcome him, and that soldiers took buses to surrounding villages paying people to come fill up the stadium and cheer for him, giving TV viewers the impression of popularity. He was here in Mamou, there were small groups of protestors (who may or may not have tried to open my car door) and things were calm and cool.

Monday: Two weeks earlier, a political demonstration had been organized, with the underlying message: Dadis, do NOT run for president at the end of January. Dadis said that the demonstrations were prohibitied. People went anyways. The military went buck wild. Shot 157 dead. 1,200 others injured. Women were raped and perversely abused at the site of the protests. Military stole random things (like my friend’s cell phones) and were actually using knives and bayonets.

Tuesday: Shortly after arriving at work, someone runs into our office saying that people have begun protesting in town here in Mamou. First we get put on “lockdown” at the office, but soon after we return home. Vehicles are hidden around town (so protestors can’t damage them) and I get a little freaked out. Protestors are fine, burning tires don’t mean a thing, but if the military starts running around with guns, that’s when all hell breaks loose. I stayed home for the rest of the day. The military never went out. Protestors went home. Mamou is cool, calm and collected. Mom and Dad, I repeat, Mamou is cool, calm and collected.

Wednesday (today): Today and tomorrow are declared holidays to honor the 160 lives lost. Things seem to have greatly calmed down. Peace Corps has been in contact with us, they’re doing their job. No one is in any danger as long as they’re not leading demonstrations with a bunch of pumped-up youth. And like I was telling a friend, at least we're not stationed in some boring country that has no excitement.

For the CNN version, http://edition.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/africa/09/29/guinea.protest.deaths/index.html

Political excitement aside, things here in Mamou are great. Work evacuations, days honoring the dead and another random holiday on Friday are making work non-existant, but I’m adapting to this no-work all-play schedule.

Friday I head out to run a 10k race organized by another volunteer, so I’m really looking forward to that! Afterwards, if things cool down, I’m hoping to spend next week in Conakry with some friends, doing some work and vacation planning. Alright well that’s what I’ve got for the moment, I love you all and appreciate each and every letter/phonecall/package/facebook message that gets sent my way.