Creative Writing Post

 I am a reporter for the New York Times who was recently moved to the Guinea the Great! section of the paper, and to get the best reports and stories for you I would have to move there which I did about two months ago. When I arrived in the tropical paradise the first thing that hit me, besides the beauty of the land, as I was canoeing to the mainland was the heat. At almost 40 degrees Celsius I was sweating buckets. After reporting to work in my new office complex in the capital of the country, Conakry, just off the southwest coast.  I live in a small house a few miles north following the beach dunes from the multi-thousand people coast of Conakry. My house is about what you would expect of a costal beach shack, though, because I am a wealthy reporter, its lawn is lined with mango trees and with a small watering hole for the baboons and large cats that occasionally cross my yard. I went to sleep sweating as the scorching and humid day left for a 70-degree, (Fahrenheit) humid night.

Day broke and from my little house in the sandy beaches my eyes opened and I said to myself, “Once I get this paper done I can go and enjoy a few hours of surfing.” This is a copy of the article that I wrote to be further revised later. It is kind of short.

 

Guinea the Great.
When someone says Africa most people think of a desert or savanna with a safari truck driving by a mountain lined bucket of heat. Off in the distance a lion roars, everyone in the truck is scared to death until two little lion kittens jump out of the bushes. I want to inform you that that is not how things really are in Guinea. Guinea isn’t some lion’s prancing ground and there aren’t safari trucks grazing the landscape with tourists taking pictures of everything, even a weed with an Oooh and an Aaaah. The only thing that people get right about the landscape is the mountains, of which there are a few. Guinea is a lush and beautiful country that will occasionally see a leopard or predatory cat. The Guinean people are kind and great to be with, though the only thing that I didn’t like was that some random girl was chasing me down with a dish of red spicy fish… Have a great year all lovers of Guinea.

The rest is to be left for further editing by my superiors.

I later unwound by surfing by the tropical underwater hills that have become islands off the coast, waiting to start another day much like the last in a Guinean paradise.

News Story in Guinea #2

Guinean Soldiers Extort and Rob:

DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — Elite soldiers in junta-ruled Guinea are taking advantage of an anti-corruption drive to rob, extort and beat intimidated civilians in the West African nation with impunity, an international human rights group said Monday.

Human Rights Watch said it was unclear whether the abuses were ordered or sanctioned by senior military officials, and the junta did not immediately comment.

Guinea's self-proclaimed president, Capt. Moussa Dadis Camara, seized power in December after the death of longtime dictator Lansana Conte. Camara suspended the constitution, but has since launched an anti-corruption crackdown and publicly interrogated top officials of the former regime accused of drug trafficking and graft.

The coup, however, "seems to have opened up a rash of abuses by the military," said Corinne Dufka, senior West Africa researcher for the New York-headquartered rights group.

Human Rights Watch gathered testimony from victims and witnesses who detailed at least 19 incidents in which armed soldiers in groups of 20 "raided offices, shops, warehouses, medical clinics, and homes."

Often intoxicated and usually wearing red berets belonging to elite security units, the soldiers stole "cars, computers, generators, medicines, jewelry, cash, mobile phones, and large quantities of wholesale and retail merchandise," the group said. The contents of some roadside shops were "emptied into vehicles driven by the military."

Soldiers also threatened and physically assaulted victims, and Human Rights watch documented one rape and several incidents in which "small groups of soldiers interrupted judicial proceedings or threatened lawyers in an apparent attempt to influence the outcome" of court cases.

Some victims have been targeted because they were suspected of involvement in trafficking drugs or counterfeit medicines, but many cases appeared unrelated to the crackdown, the rights group said.

In March, security forces in Camara's own office seized a digital memory card from an Associated Press photographer's camera because they believed he took a picture of a senior official sleeping. The card was never returned.

Victims who lodged complaints to the police have been referred to the military, and at least five victims who lodged complaints with military authorities have been ignored.

"The military's duty is to protect and safeguard the Guinean people, not take advantage of them," said Dufka. "The military should end the abuses and allow the police ... and judiciary to uphold the rule of law."

Guinea is rich in gold, diamonds, iron, timber and has half the world's reserves of bauxite, the raw material used to make aluminum. But as its leaders have robbed state coffers for decades, making it one of the world's poorest nations. In 2006, Transparency International rated Guinea Africa's most corrupt country. This info comes from Senegal.

The Best way to summarize this article is to say: Guinea is raiding and really asking for trouble with its nothern neighborgh, Senegal. Also this is not a good turn of events considering that if this continues a war might erupt and since Guinea has such a good amount of resources it would be a bloody war. This could end up with Senegal not existing and Guinea Bissau being surrounded by Guinea (and what once was Senegal) then Guinea just moves inland on Bissau.

Guinean News Story

From Rueters UK news papers inc: CONAKRY, April 22 (Reuters) - The head of Guinea's military junta has threatened to shut down gold mines in the West African country run by AngloGold Ashanti (ANGJ.J) and Crew Gold (CRU.TO) over concerns about their impact on the local environment.

Moussa Dadis Camara made the remarks during a debate about mining broadcast on state television late on Tuesday night. A representative from AngloGold and workers at Crew Gold's operations in Guinea also took part in the discussion.

"We are going to set up a commission and send a team on the ground to see what's going on. But already, we want to have an overview of the mining process through to the refinery," Moussa Dadis Camara said during the debate.

"We are going to totally review the situation because we can no longer work on the same basis as before. If our demands are not taken into account, we would prefer to close these gold mines and turn to other sectors," he said.

Camara has made a series of threats to mining firms with operations in the world's biggest bauxite producer, a trend analysts say is destabilising an already fraught business environment for miners due to the economic slowdown.

A good way to summarize this is to say: Guinea will shut down gold mines that mainly fuel it's good economy because they are afraid of what the process will do to the environment. This means that Guinea's economy will be in the sewers if they go through with the plan, also this will impact the rest of the world by crippling its main gold mining industry and further worsening the bad economy of the rest of the world. This could mean that Guinea will be less productive in the way of health and antiviral research so this could erupt in several new lethal viral-diseases.

Marriage in Guinea

Guinean marriages aren't like what we experience in the United States. Here in the US both the man and the woman agree to be wed after the man proposes and after they get to know each other. In Guinea that isn't the case, the woman has complete authority in the decision to be wed because, as an elderly man told me, "Love comes first to heart of the woman, only after it has entered her can it come to the man." So if the woman wants to be wed with a man she will prepare a distinct fish meal, (distinct because of the red palm oil it is marinated in) give the meal to the man and after he eats it she will propose. For us men here that can be good and also bad because once she proposes you don't have a choice except to say yes to her. Also in your no choice marriage the woman is given unquestionable authority in the marriage. I prefer the way that we marry in the US by a long-shot.

Convincing you to Visit

Guinea's congress slogan is Nature, Culture and Hospitality. So, you could imagine that based on that they would host some amazing parties. And they do, they have a touring dance team that is award winning and romantic and vibrant music is heard almost everywhere you go. Musicians who want to be inspired will usually go to Guinea because of their amazing musics and festivals which you have a great time at. One of Guinea's party slogans is follow your dream: Here in the heart of West Africa, Guineans offer all the ingredients of a "Dream Vacation" if you long for an uncrowded, unspoiled, visitor friendly country. Some even say that Guinea is the African equivalent of European Switzerland.

Guinean Holidays

This is a list of all the public holidays, some of which I have no idea what they are :New Year's Day, Id al-Fitr, Easter, Labor Day (May 1), Anniversary of Women's Revolt (Aug 27), Mouloud, Referendum Day, Independence Day, All Saints' Day, Day of 1970 Invasion (Nov 22), Christmas. The Anniversary of Women's Revolt is a day that is dedicated to the day when Guinean women rioted for their rights and won them. Referendum Day is the day people celebrate their ability to freely vote for their leaders.  Day of the 1970's Invasion might be the day that Guinea acquired its freedom. 

Guinean Arts

Guinea was rapped up in metal and stone creations, an example of their 800s art techniques is that they would commonly make statues of swords and staffs out of stone and then they transitioned into metals. Then concrete became a more common sculpting material and was used to make statues of animals and people. Those kind of statues started out kind-of like stick figures, then because they became more popular and more natural looking. Then Guinean arts advanced even more in the early 10th century when copper was discovered and put into paintings after being melted and sometimes it was even formed into insect-like shapes that are now found in museums and sometimes in places that a people would go to a lot. Since the 10th century there hasn't been a whole lot of change in Guinea's art styles.