Citizen Spotlight

Every Tuesday afternoon, I take my computer to the taxi station where I sit and charge it at one of the shacks there. This particular shack is run by one of the most interesting people I've met in Guinea. Don't get me wrong, he can be as annoying as the next guy, and sometimes even refuses to speak in French with me, but I've learned to overlook that and I would consider him to be one of my friends.

Camara Morlaye is his name and he has many games! He helps run the taxi station, he sells cellphone credit and SIM cards, he runs several plantations, and he plays a major role in the community. The other day we had a pretty serious discussion about something I cannot yet disclose, and I ended up crying in front of him. He handled my tears better than most grown men would and he soon had me laughing instead of crying. Once that was over, he voluntarily shared his life story with me. This man has visited every single prefecture in Guinea, of which there are over 30. This in incredible because I've talked to so many people here who have barely left their own prefecture, much less traveled around the country. After university, he got a job with Credit Rurale (Rural Credit), which is what it sounds like. He then spent at least two years in every region of the country working with Credit Rurale and became fluent in 5 different languages, four of them local to Guinea. He can therefore communicate with most Guineans, and really knows what is going on throughout the country.

Last week while at the aforementioned shack, a random stranger asked me to marry him so that he can get a visa to the United States. I replied that everyone wants to go to the United States and that at least one person a day asks me for a visa. Camara butted in to say that it isn't true that everyone wants to go to America, because he wants to stay in Guinea. This is not out of ignorance he explained, but because he wants to stay in his country and do what he can to help it develop. He knows he could have a better life elsewhere, but contrary to hundreds of Guineans who leave every year, he stays and works.

Camara also owns 2 plantations, one of which I visited just last week. He grows palm and cashew trees on his plantation, which is probably 5 times the size of the one I visited last month. In several years, the palm trees will be mature enough to start harvesting and he hopes to be able to run a fairly large operation. On his other plantation, he annually planted palm, orange and lemon trees only to have them destroyed by neighbors who burn their fields every year. He tried this three years in a row, but every year they got burned out. Less discouraged than I would be, he plans on only planting cashew trees this time around, because they are supposedly more fire resistant.

So that's my friend Camara Morlaye. I first noticed something different about him when Ebola struck Guinea. Before and after eating, he washed his hands with soap and bleach and made me do the same. Guineans almost never use soap to wash their hands, so I was blown away! I've also seen him reading a newspaper (not sure where he got that). This is a man who extremely is devoted to his country and who could very well become a key player in Guinea's history.