USAID/Guinea: Manda Camano Goes Back to School

JULY 15, 2004

Manda Camano Goes Back to School

Once the victims of rebel attacks into Guinea from Sierra Leone and Liberia, residents in the Forest Region are now beginning to rebuild, and life is getting back to normal. For Manda Camano, this means being able to go back to school. Camano is now studying masonry at a vocational school in Gueckedou, which was recently rehabilitated with financing from USAID.

Manda Camano, aged 22, has just started her first year in masonry at the Professional Training Center (Centre de Formation Professionelle or CFP) in Gueckedou, where several classroom buildings were recently rehabilitated by non-governmental organization Plan Guineé, funded by USAID.

Although the CFP has been open for the 2003-04 academic year, the school had its official opening ceremony on June 3, 2004 to celebrate the successful completion of the renovation work.

When asked why she chose to study masonry, she said that it was a practical field—she knows that she will be able to find work after her training. Adds Camano, “I am studying masonry because I want to be useful to myself, to my family, and to my community.”

The Gueckedou Hospital was also rehabilitated with funding by USAID and is now in operation.

Just three years ago, the CFP stood in ruins, damaged when rebels entered Guinea from Sierra Leone and Liberia. Now that peace has come to the Mano River subregion (the region of West Africa comprising Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia, three countries closely linked by history, culture and trade), USAID has been implementing a special transitional project, or “Special Objective,” to help reconstruct essential infrastructure and help residents restart economic activities in three prefectures (Gueckedou, Kissidougou and Macenta) in the Forest Region of Guinea that were the most adversely affected by the rebel incursions.

In addition to the rehabilitation of classrooms in two schools, including the CFP, renovation work recently completed by USAID implementing partner Plan Guineé includes such major infrastructure projects as a hospital, a vocational training center, and a prefectoral education office, and a children’s nutritional feeding center. Other USAID-sponsored projects include the rehabilitation of a total of eight health posts, a work center for handicapped citizens, and the improvement of two community water sources, all of which have now been completed.

Future vocational students? Two young schoolgirls clap during the opening ceremony of the vocational school in Gueckedou. The rehabilitation project was part of USAID/Guinea's post-conflict project in the Forest Region of Guinea.

Complimentary USAID interventions include small grants ranging from $50 to $1,000, which were given to beneficiaries to restart small businesses as well as agricultural activities. USAID partners Premiere Urgence, ARC, and Plan Guinee selected 2,337 beneficiaries from the Gueckedou area to receive kits with tools for hairdressers, cobblers, blacksmiths, and other artisans, while 2,121 cultivators and farmers have received agricultural tools and seeds.

By stimulating economic activity and re-establishing key social services, USAID hopes to contribute to building a culture of peace in the region and to promote the return and reintegration of those displaced by the conflicts.

The reestablishment of viable communities is the first step in getting the Forest Region back on track toward development, and will allow for the resumption of the USAID development program in the Forest Region of Guinea.

Story and photos by Laura Lartigue