Eye on Conakry, Guinea: Poverty
Guinea is a country heavily burdened by poverty. The population sells anything possible. Drugged dogs can be purchased on roadways, from the comfort of your car, if you’re lucky enough to have one. Almost all food is imported. My friend tells me that, “you can’t look at prices when go to grocery.” Everything is unbearably expensive. A loaf of bread costs $8 in U.S. currency. Even for foreigners living in Guinea, the grocery becomes a place you would like to avoid.
When Guinea gained its independence from France in 1958 Ahmed Sékou Touré became the its first president. He rejected French colonial influence. In a stroke of anti-colonialism he decided to implement a deliberate reversal of French rule and law. Everything, including basic sanitation was reversed. Touré sent the country into an unending spiral of poverty. When his despotic rule was finally overthrown in 1984, it seemed to be too late to undo the effects of his ruinous policies, which seemed to throw Guinea back into a lawless, feudal era.
This country is a classical example of the paradox of plenty. It has a plethora of natural resources including gold, bauxite, gems and petroleum. While only 29.5% of its population is literate. This statistic is heavily slanted in favor of the country’s men. About 42% of the literate are men, while the percentage of literate women barely breaks the double digits. Almost half of the country’s population lives below the international poverty line. Every resource is exported from this country. The sand from Conakry beaches are dug up and exported. Everything is also imported, evidenced by the unbelievable cost of food. The current exchange rate is 455 Guinea francs to the dollar.
Guinea has very little infrastructure including waste disposal. Most impoverished residents defecate in the ocean, and trash-strewn streets are an inescapable part of life.
Potential foreign partners remain wary of investing in the country due to its widespread corruption. Yet there are investors, particularly the International Chinese Fund who are working to develop much needed industry in this country.
Guinea was once known as a beautiful country. Vestiges of its colonial beauty can still be seen in Conakry, underneath layers of trash. Outside of the city, well into the countryside Guinea exhibits every shade of green. Its wild, natural beauty is apparent in its lush forests and waterfalls. It seems impossible that such unremitting poverty and beauty can exist in the same country.
True to the seemingly impossible legend that it was once a beautiful country, Guinea is home to a population of mixed women: the Puelle. The heritage of these women often comprises three continents: Africa, Asia and Europe. Stories abound of how they made foreign men give up their families in Europe and chase after them. They drove these men mad. In local lore, there is the story of a maddened German man, who wanders the streets of Conakry. Mixed children flit through the rubbish-strewn streets.
My friend and her family lived in Guinea for several years. They left shortly after the coup, which occurred in December 2009. My friend describes Conakry, the nation’s capital as, “A —hole”. Trash fills the street. When it rains— and the rain is torrential, as it wont to be in the tropics— several feet of water and trash mix and flood the streets. The nearby beach cannot escape the ubiquitous trash.
The meager progress and development being made in this country was halted by the violent coup of December 2009. The veiled autocracy, disguised as a democracy, passed into a phase of military junta. The coup and its ramifications for this fragile country will be discussed in the second installment of this article.
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