During my two years of teaching in Guinea, I’ve attempted in many ways, through conversations and analogies, to convey our different approach to education in the States but I can’t help feeling that they never quite grasp what I’m talking about. In the same way, I don’t assume that anyone back home will really get a true image of my school without seeing it for themselves. With this in mind, I was happy to participate in bringing the American tradition of Spelling Bees to my school. A group of education volunteers took it upon themselves to organize a country-wide Spelling Bee via our already existing volunteer network. I had no reason not to join in and I knew that it would be a good way to get kids more excited about education.
I held three individual competitions for the 8th, 9th, and 10th grades. The top two winners of the 10th grade competition (clearly the strongest spellers) were also chosen to attend the Regional Competition in Kindia. My two winners were Mariama Abdoulaye Bangoura and Mohamed M’Mah Camara. I was happy to see that Mariama came out on top, because we always try to keep things equal between the boys and girls but fairness for fairness sake isn’t always just—if you don’t know what I mean by that, ask. Circumventing that thought entirely, Mariama won and Mohamed got second place so off to Kindia we went. ----I need to add here, to clarify who these students are, that 10th graders here are normally 16-20 years old. Both of my two representatives are 18. Mariama even has a three year old, named Mafoudia, a cute little girl who surprisingly wasn’t afraid of me and instead attached herself to my hip. Before leaving, I had to clear the trip with the student’s families, as well as Mariama’s husband/fiancé/baby daddy.
It was a weekend affair for my students and I, being as Kindia isn’t too far. I have made this journey more times than I can recall at this point and thus its novelty was lost on me, but it made quite the impression on my students. I forget that despite how much smaller Guinea is than the US, Guineans do not travel too often and many have never left their native villages. I enjoyed answering my students as they asked endless questions with wide eyes gazing out the windows. It was in the middle of this ride when, Mariama, in between questions, told me how “cool” I was for taking her to Kindia and for knowing so much about Guinea. I smiled, humbled by my student’s awe, and laughed at myself for officially reaching the status of “the cool” teacher.
The competition took half the day to wind down but unfortunately it ended quite early on for my two representatives. Mariama and Mohamed lost during the second round. My heart went out to them and did my best to show them that I was still very proud of their efforts. Mariama even texted me from her seat as the competition continued, “Monsieur, I’m disappointed.” Comforting a student from the role of a chaperone is a bit tricky in the Guinean context, mostly because they don’t hug often here, at least not in the same situations that we do back home. So I told her how proud she should be for making it this far and for being the only girl to make it to the regional competition. The additional events of the afternoon helped her to forget the loss and enjoy the experience.
The rest of the weekend was a bit of a struggle for me as a stomach flu fatigued my whole Saturday. Sharing bowls of rice with small children will almost guarantee that. In the end, both of my students really enjoyed getting the opportunity to travel, to meet other students, and to meet other volunteers. Personally, I’m glad that I got a chance to hang with two of my better students and get to know their personalities a little better. School uniforms stifle my chance to see what kind of style they have but seeing them outside of school was a good way to see their true selves for once. I may not have gone home with a trophy but I was quite proud of my two competitors. I guess chaperoning isn’t too bad.
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