Farewell Ceremony and Affectation

Agroforestry trainees with homestay families from Yorokogiya

Trainees wearing indigo fabrics popular in the Fouta Djallon region

All of my trainee group dressed up in traditional Guinean outfits and said a formal farewell to our home stay families. I wore an outfit my home stay family had given me for Tabaski, an Islamic holiday that celebrates the sacrifice Abraham offered to make of his son to God. We packed up our things and headed to the capital, Conakry, for our official swearing-in as volunteers. The ceremony was at the American ambassador's house on the ocean. Speeches were delivered in French and each of the three local languages. I gave the speech in Pular. I translated Ralph Waldo Emerson's definition of success as part of the speech, and couldn't help cracking up when I had to say "Ralph Waldo Emerson" after minutes of sing-songy Pular.

To laugh often and much;
To win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children;
To earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends;
To appreciate beauty, to find the best in others;
To leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch or a redeemed social condition;
To know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived.
This is to have succeeded.

That night some of us went swimming in the ocean by the Peace Corps house. I was running on the beach and tripped over a rock formation in the dark. I ended up with a few scrapes that healed quickly and all appeared well.