SOS Childen in Guinea

Overview of Guinea

Guinea in south-west Africa is among the poorest countries on the African continent, with very weak human resources and low social development.

School enrolment rates are low for both boys and girls and adult illiteracy remains high. Moreover, maternal mortality (1,600 per 100,000 live births) is among the highest in the world and HIV infection is increasing. While under-five mortality is declining, it remains high (201 per 1,000) and diarrhoea, malaria and acute respiratory infections persist as major causes. In rural areas, only 65 per cent of households have access to safe water, as opposed to 72 per cent in urban areas. These problems have been aggravated by conflicts in neighbouring countries which have resulted in an influx of thousands of refugees.

Our work in Guinea

Sinfonia

In 1985, we were given a plot of land in the village of Sinfonia, about 25 km east of the capital Conakry, to build a community, a nursery and a primary school. The SOS Children's Village Conakry opened in 1989 with eleven family houses. The school and the nursery became operational a year later, taking in children from the neighbourhood as well as the SOS children. In 1995, an SOS Youth Home was established in Conakry for the older children on the verge of leaving the village.

N’Zérékoré

We built our second SOS Children's Village in Guinea in N’Zérékoré in the south-eastern corner of the country in 2001. About 5 km outside the town, it has ten family houses as well as a nursery and a primary school, both of which are attended by local children.

Over the years, SOS Children has carried out various community outreach programmes, including the provision of shelter and food for children and staff evacuated from our community in neighbouring Guinea-Bissau.

Kankan

A third Village, together with a nursery and a primary school, opened in Kankan, the country's second biggest city, approximately 520 km east of Conakry in 2005. It has twelve family houses which are home to 120 children.

Aids Orphans in Guinea

Life in SOS Villages Guinea: who is the children's favourite pop star?

At SOS Children's Village Conakry, in Guinea, the children are only allowed to watch TV at the weekend and during the holidays. Everyone gathers in the TV room to watch cartoons, music videos, and the SOS mothers also join the younger ones in the evenings to watch their favourite Brazilian soap opera and to listen to the latest news. It was on TV that the children first saw the well-known international pop singer Shakira.

Ever since then, the village has had an amazing number of mini Shakiras! Not only do the children love her songs, but they are also love the way she dances. Both girls and boys try to dance and move like her.

As 16-year-old Marie explains: "Shakira's way of dancing and the way she moves her hips is amazing! My older sister Salimatou, who is 17, is an expert. She is good at copying her dances and also teaches us how to do them," she adds. "Every Saturday night, from 8 to 10 pm, we put on music for people to dance to. Even the little ones join in and copy the older ones!"

Ten-year old Ousmane is one of the best male dancers. And he is very proud to be able to show that he can shake his hips like Shakira.

Marie explains that the older children have even been organising dance competitions for the younger ones every Saturday for the past year. Two family houses are selected to compete against each other. Each house selects its own 'Shakira', who will have to perform one of Shakira's songs. Then the children from the two houses dance to Guinean music.

Ten-year-old Esther still holds the title of the 'Best Shakira Dancer', but every weekend (apart from during the exam periods when everyone stays at home to study) she has to defend her title.

*names have been changed to protect privacy

Local Contacts

SOS Children in Guinea

Association du Villages d’Enfants SOS de Guinée,

Quartier Yattaya - Commune de Ratom,

B.P. 3527,

Conakry

Postal address:

B.P. 3527

Conakry

Guinea

Tel: +224/602 12451, +224/605 96739

Fax: +1/360 3233984

e-mail: sos-no@sosguinea.org

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