🚀 go-pugleaf

--- On Mon, 18 Jan 1999 13:53:24 -0500  Jessica Jacobson
 <jessica_jacobson@JSI.COM> wrote:
Dear Randy,

I was thinking of volunteering with the Peace Corps in Gabon and I
received several responses.  Though I have no first hand experience, I
can tell you what people said.  Based on their comments, I decided not
to volunteer there.  Unfortunately, they were quite negative.  It is
the most wealthy country in Africa, with a per capita income I think
of about $4,000.  It is rife with foreigners and oil drillers and the
local culture has largely been lost.  The crime rate is extremely
high, especially in the capital, as is harrassment.  I assume this is
more of a problem for females than for males, but I heard from several
males of being mugged.  The volunteers who lived in the small villages
seemed to have much better experiences than those in the cities.  I'm
in India right now, but when i return to the states in February, I'll
see if I still have any of the messages and forward them to you.

Jessica

...
---------------End of Original Message-----------------
Randy and Jessica,

I'm not sure of the issues that were raised by people concerning Gabon and can't
 give you a
current status; however, I did spend a month there in Novemer 95 and found it to
 be a delightful
place to live and work.  I did not spend much time in Libreville the capital.  I
 normally try to
stay out of large cities either in the U.S. or elsewhere because they are not
 representative of
the country as a whole.  I was accosted in Libreville but not robbed or harmed.
 Did something
really stupid-walked down dark street at night by myself.

As far as the volunteer that was recently killed, there is a description on the
 PC website.  The
person was murdered in the area of Oyem, where I worked.  She was an agriculture
 volunteer.  I'm
not sure if she lived inside Oyem or in a more rural environment.  I don't know
 why she was
killed.

Gabon is probably one of the most stable African countries and has just
 undergone elections with
minimal violence.

For the most part, Gabon is a beautiful country with friendly people and lots to
 do.  They do
have some weird diseases but nothing to be overly concerned about.  The
 volunteers can call from
many different places and much of Gabon has electricity and plenty of food.  The
 embassy has
email, but I'm not sure how much access volunteers have to it.

Bill
--------------------------------------------------------
Bill Daniels-Zaire 78-82
E-mail: wdaniels@dsc.edu
Date: 01/19/99
Time: 10:14:17