To reach out through public diplomacy activities to the interior of Guinea, Public Affairs Officer Andrew McLean, Cultural Affairs Specialist Serge Akhani, Academic Adviser Oumar Diogo Diallo, and Administrative assistant Sheik Kaba of the Public Affairs Section paid working visits for cultural exchange in Mamou-Timbo and Kankan on the 12th through the 16th of May.

In Mamou
Arriving in Mamou on May 12 about midday, the Public Affairs officer and his staff had lunch with Prefect Safioulahi Bah. Mr. Bah spoke about the local population’s appreciation towards the U.S. Mission for past collaboration. Afterwards, in company of the Mamou Prefecture’s Secretary General, the American Embassy team went to Timbo, a small town located 50 km outside of Mamou to show a documentary film entitled “A Prince Among Slaves”.

Inspired by a book written by an American historian-researcher from Northern Virginia College, Professor Terry Alford, the film reports the true and notable story of Abd Rahman Ibrahima, a young prince from Timbo who was sold as a slave at the age of 26 and released 40 years later thanks to the intervention of the then President of the United States John Quincy Adams. The Embassy Cultural Section funded the French subtitling of the documentary to expand access to Guineans. Among the film enthusiasts present were the Under-Prefect of Timbo, the town councilors, notaries, civil servants, teachers and students, as well as a crowd of curious onlookers and distant descendants of Prince, as Abd Rahman was known as a slave.

The spectators were touched by this account which delivers a small piece of the history between Africa and America to the public. At the end of projection, the audience in Timbo answered questionnaires which will help to measure the impact of film. The general opinion was that a Fulani language version would support a greater audience and a better understanding of the documentary.

Public Affairs Officer Andrew McLean explains the American education system to University of Kankan students

Activities in Kankan

The Public Affairs Officer and the President of the University of Kankan held a working meeting to discuss the management of the American Reading Room sponsored by the American Embassy, as well as upcoming arrival to Kankan of Dr. Hellweg, a Fulbright professor for the academic year 2008-2009.

To promote the American Reading Room (ARR), and with the invitation of the Embassy of the United States, Dr. Lansiné Kaba, professor of history at the University of Illinois in Chicago, gave a presentation in the ARR on the topic: “Primary elections in the United States” with a particular accent on an analysis of the American electoral system. Dr. Kaba indicated that the country carried a rabid interest because, for the first time in American history, “a major party presidential candidate will not be a white man”. He will be either the African American Barack Obama or the former first lady Hillary Clinton. To conclude, Dr. Kaba expressed his desire that the next legislative elections of November 2008 in Guinea be transparent and correct.