Call Me Koria Conteh

Alright, I know what you're thinking, "but you told us your Salone name is Katiatu Kamara!" Well, in some circles, yes. But in Madingo Land, I am Koria Conteh, the Sunburnt, Mother of Chickens, Peace Corps Volunteer of Koromasialaia, and Not the First of Her Name.

It has been one month since I arrived in my new home, and what a month it has been. The village I have been very lucky to be placed in is called Koromasilaia, located in Koinadugu district, 6 miles outside the district capital of Kabala. Nestled below two great mountains, this small farming community has proven to be nothing short of special. It's picturesque mountain views awe me on a daily basis - awesome sheer rock faces atop two great mountains loom over the village, the blue-grey stones an especially beautiful contrast to the bright green bush. But even more impressive than the konka ba is the hospitality of the people.

From the very beginning, the people of Koromasilaia have made me feel welcomed, comfortable, and at home depsite the culture and laguage barriers. I've been given too many vegetables for one person to eat; I've had loli applied to my finger nails and hands; I've been given a hen; shown how to make pepe soup to soothe a common cold; and I have hundreds of very patient Madingo teachers.

Since I've arrived, I've been in Sponge Mode, soaking up everything there is to learn about Koromasilaia, including its health issues, goals for development, and all its assets. I've been shadowing at the clinic in the village, comprising of only two nurses, responsible for overseeing over 2,000 people (the population of Koromasilaia and the surrounding catchment areas.) Currently, the clinic has no electricity, which means no lights when patients come at night. There's no refridgerator to keep vaccines, which means the nurses have to travel to the government hospital in Kabala once a month with a cooler to recieve vaccines to distribute. At the moment, there's also no running water, which means they have to tote water from the water well, about a 5 minute walk away. However, the infrastructure is in place to have running water, all that's missing is the water pump - hopefully coming soon! There's no proper delivery bed, so often times women are giving birth on a sheet on the floor. These are the largest problems, so you can proabably imagine all the other essentials the clinic is missing.

I've also been interviewing stakeholders and holding meetings with the various community groups, for which there seems to be a group for everything - three different small service and loan groups, a mothers group, a male youth group, a female youth group, a community health club, two student health clubs for the primary and junior secondary schools, the village development council, and I'm sure there are more I have yet to discover. Impressive is an understatement. In my interviews with community stakeholders, I've been asking what they see as Koromasiliai's biggest strength, what sets them apart from other places to live. All said, "unity." So either I've found myself a cult, or the people of Koromasilaia truly rely on one another and lift each other up. I'm going to assume the latter.

So, while there's no question that this community has its challenges, there is a lot it has accomplished and successes yet to come. Stay tuned.

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konka ba: Madingo for "mountain"

loli: semi-perminant reddish-orange dye used for dying finger and toenails, derived from a leaf that is dried, crushed and mixed with water.

pepe soup: boku boku pepe (lots of pepper), fish, onions, sawa sawa (local leafy green), basil, and seasoning. Clears the sinuses right out.

catchment area: small settlement of homes on the periphery of a village, usually no more than 50-100 in population.