Guinea, abo I kin?

Guinea, abo I kin? (creole: Guinea, who are you?)

The Ol´Grande Hotel downtown Bissau still standing. PRIVATE PICTURE.

Colonized by the Portuguese as the Portuguese Guinea.

The apparatus for the #warga tea in the streets of #Bissau#.
PRIVATE PICTURE.

Got Independent in 1973 and is called Guinea-Bissau since then to avoid confusion with Guinea, previously French Guinea. Bissau is actually the name of its capital.

Sunday afternoon mood in Bissau. PICTURE PRIVATE.

The largest part of the population speaks Crioulo, a language derived from Portuguese. A smaller percentage speaks the colonial Portuguese. Many ethnical languages like Balanta, Mandinga, Fula are still strongly represented.

A proper place for a cold beer in #Bissau. PRIVATE PICTURES.

"Kuma ku bo manzi?" means "How did you get up today?" in Crioulo and is a common way of greeting.

Immortalizing the #Bissau harbor in B&W. PRIVATE PICTURE.

Population of approximately 1.700.000 inhabitants.

Reminiscence of the luso presence in #Bissau. PICTURE PRIVATE.

Guinea-Bissau has an area larger than Belgium and smaller than the Netherlands.

Old #Bissau still reflects the signs of its golden age.
PRIVATE PICTURE.

Guinea-Bissau was one of the main spots in the African continent for the ¨exportation¨ of slaves to the western countries.

Bissau harbor. PRIVATE PICTURE.

Guinea-Bissau´s GDP per capita is one of the lowest in the world as well as its Human Development Index.

At the gate to the Atlantic in the Bissau harbor. PRIVATE PICTURE.

Bissau downtown mood. PRIVATE PICTURE.

The country is divided in eight regions: Bafata, Biombo, Bissau (the capital), Bolama, Cacheu, Gabu, Oio, Quinara e Tombali.

Bissau harbor inspires melancholy. PRIVATE PICTURE.

In 2010 almost half of the Guinean population was under 15 years of age [source].

Downtown mood in Bissau. PRIVATE PICTURE.

Getting started in Guinea-Bissau

Two weeks have passed since I arrived in Guinea Bissau and teamed up with my new colleagues in the capital, Bissau. It's very calm and convenient town by the Atlantic Ocean. The sad thing: all around is mangrove and no beach in less than a two hours drive from Bissau.

Bissau downtown life. PRIVATE PICTURE

I'm living in a house with two other "Brazilians". Really cool cookies! They are "Brazilians" the same way I am. One a Brazilian-Spaniard, the other one Brazilian-Irish, and me, a Brazilian-Something. Maybe this is the reason why we get along so well with each other.

Roofs of Bissau. PRIVATE PICTURE.

The work has been very busy and exciting so far. We got a great team of international and local logistic people with a great task: renovate the pediatric station in an public hospital. We are pushing on with all the energy and seeing things getting done very fast.

Bissau downtown life. PRIVATE PICTURE.

Sometimes I get confronted, like many times before during my time in Kenya, with the reality of one of the poorest countries in the world. The events happening in the pediatric station of a hospital in such a country touches one's heart deeply and, every now and then, we have to get back to each other and look for comfort in the fact, that the work were doing is changing this scenario.

In a hidden yard downtown in Bissau. PICTURE PRIVATE.

Culturally, I getting to experience the local music, tasting loads of seafood and enjoying the good mood of the Guineans.

The very same hidden yard. PRIVATE PICTURE.

It's such a great surprise to get to know that the Creole, the most frequently spoken local "language", actually is a funny distorted way to speak the colonial Portuguese. The Guinean did so with the language so the colonial lords couldn't understand them.

It's feels great be back in the real world. To do something one loves. Share life with likeminded. To travel and seek for awe.
Cheers mates!