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.