old school, new school-Gildas TCHIVOUNDA

Gildas and me in front of the elementary school in Mayumba, 1997. Below, here we are 9 years later as colleagues in the primary school of Mayumba, 2006.


Above: Circa, 1997: Before leaving the states we had our orientation in Phoenix, Arizona, the IFESH headquarters. There we met a former IFESH teacher named Michelle. She described her year and talked of the highlights as well as the challenges of working in the remote village called Mayumba. We would learn that the village was situated between the ocean and a lagoon, making for beautiful breezes and tranquil beaches. We would also learn that a young student named Gildas TCHIVOUNDA would be expecting Michelle to honor her word and send him a camera by way of the next set of IFESH teachers assigned to Mayumba.

We took the camera and the advice and headed for Libreville, the capital of Gabon, for a month of training. There were 9 of us; one would teach alone while the rest of us would be paired and sent to various villages. I bonded with several of the volunteers, two sisters in particular. We each applied for the same post hoping we would be paired together.

Here is my journal entry the day I found out my placement:
October 6, 1997- "Got the news today. I'll be living in Mayumba with John. Mayumba is the most remote village, the most isolated and it has rats that run along and inside the roof of the house! I'm jealous that Ann will have Cheryl and Cheryl will have Ann as post-mates but, I don't want to think, feel, or express any negativity about our assignments. There's something for me to see and experience in Mayumba."

So I packed the camera for Gildas and went to Mayumba. Now, 9 years later Gildas is still the "camera man." He told me that in 1996 when he asked Michelle for the camera it was because he envisioned documenting life as a Gabonese student in the village. He patiently waited and consistently takes pictures in the hopes that people will support education in Gabon, Central Africa and Mayumba in particular.

With the gift of a new digital camera that I brought for him from John, Gildas is still tacking pictures and still waiting patiently for that support.

old school, new school- Eric MOUNZEO

Circa 1997: Eric Mounzéo, the student in the middle and the one "cuttin' up" in class. He was affectionately called, "un bandit" meaning a class clown.This young cutie in 1997.

Now here he is, a French teacher, during his college semester break in the same village where he grew up.

Inside the classroom was an energy and enthusiasm not often seen during the regular school year in many US schools. These young Gabonese students willingly attend the summer school program founded by former students of their village called Mayumba. They are taught English, Spanish, French, math, and computers. (or should I say computer, since they only have one that they use to demonstrate basic computer skills). Their teachers also make sure they are given life lessons as well, always conscious of matching the social and educational development with the economic development of their people, their village, their country.

Below: DieuNoel MBOUMBOU, treasurer of the association, teaching English in the context of saving our youth from the devastation of HIV/AIDS.















I will post the video clip of Judicael MBATCHI who gives a rousing speech to the youth about the importance of education, focus, discipline and avoiding unintended pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases.

Top photo: Members from the Cercle de Reflection des Jeunes de Mayumba (Circle of Reflection of the Youth from Mayumba). Former Mayumba youth who now return to their village to run a summer education program.

Bottom photo: Students who voluntarily attended the summer school program founded by the group called "Cercle de Reflection des Jeunes de Mayumba." The group organized the program with their own limited resources and sacrificed their own vacation from college to uplift their village.

The guys pictured above are former students of the elementary school of Mayumba. I had the privilege of teaching them English while learning French and their native languages of Villi, Lumbu, and Bapunu. It was 1997-98, during that time we discussed politics, HIV/AIDS, sexuality, life in America, race relations, and of course, the black American-African connection.
I wanted to be more than their English teacher. I wanted us to share and touch lives in ways we never expected or imagined. I played basketball with the boys and danced with the girls. We traveled to the neighboring village of Tchibanga for a talent show and youth program. We comforted each other through bouts of malaria and shared meals when there was no electricity, or gas for cooking. We fetched water from the well and collected the rain off rooftops; we searched for bread and crossed the lagoon when there was none. We shared laughter with jokes told in broken English and shaky French- all the while hoping to reunite someday.