Migrant Professionals in the City by Unknown

Author:Unknown
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781134674756
Publisher: Taylor & Francis (CAM)

It was fascinating to be a part of this group of women. I was able to directly observe what four Western women living in Port-Gentil thought was important to know about living in the city, what kinds of things they felt were difficult to find and obtain, the places they refused to go, the places they insisted were well worth visiting. I was able to see what actually constituted known and useful physical space in the city through the creation of the map. This map looked very different from maps I had asked my Gabonese and foreign African cooperants to draw. The guide’s map was a clear representation of what constituted relevant social and physical space for PWC members, and not surprisingly, it excluded much of the legal space of the city, which was not seen as relevant to or safe for Westerners. I came to know a different side of Port-Gentil than I had known before. On one hand, I discovered a variety of stores and services that were beyond my own scholar’s budget such as restaurants, day-care centers, dance schools and casinos. On the other hand, I realized that part of the challenges faced by Western women in Port-Gentil—challenges that were enjoyable for some, not so much for others—included finding local substitutes for items that were simply unobtainable in the region. Other challenges included seeking out their own ways of understanding and experiencing the country in which they found themselves, purchasing certain objects that added special local flavor to their daily lives. One member of the group introduced me to what she called “the witches’ market.” where she bought handmade long-burning torches normally intended for evening ceremonies and ritual gatherings. However, she used them instead for her lively evening beach-front garden parties where oil executives and engineers drank vodka tonics and expensive beer and went skinny-dipping in the ocean just past her garden gate along the beach. Although I had been to similar market stalls specializing in ritual supplies in Libreville’s enormous Mont Bouët market, I had not previously known of this small section of Port-Gentil’s main Grand Village market where ritual and magical goods were sold (such as gorilla hands, wildcat heads, skulls of various animals, images of people carved from wood, musical instruments and powders and lotions about which I know very little). Although adjacent to the Grand Village market, these vendors’ booths did not seem to have direct access from the main market itself but instead required entry by way of a side street. And, unlike the rest of the market, it was snugly, enclosed by a permanent barrier. I would never have imagined that it would have been an American petroleum engineer’s wife who would have led me to this particular out-of-the-way and difficult-to-find (for me) marketplace.

When the time came to sell the Guide in public, our committee chairwoman said that we should advertise. She indicated that the Guide could also be used as somewhat of a recruiting tool to draw more women to us.

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