Farenya is a Susu village on the upper Rio Pongo. In 1964, Guinea historian Amara wrote: "The modern village of Faringha has about 500 inhabitants among whom 220 are taxable. The village has many houses covered with iron sheets and a school which has two classes. The inhabitants of the village are artisans, farmers, fishermen, weavers, and blacksmiths. Most of them are Muslim, but there are some Protestants, and some are Catholic." Since then, there have been no official census.

During our January 2006 expedition, I went to every home in Farenya with my interpreter, Ahmed Soumah, and asked:

1. Who is the man of the house?

2. How many adults live here?

3. How many children live here?

I defined a child as anyone not married and of school age. This generally meant children were under age 12, but sometimes the line was fuzzy.

It would have been virtually impossible to get valid information on occupation, income, and educational level. What I did find on occupation and economics of the village will be written in this series later.

Eleven adults and 30 children live in the home of Ansuman Soumah. The results of my quick-and-dirty census were

1. Farenya village has 49 occupied homes.

2. The total population is 508 - 269 adults and 239 children.

3. The average number of people per household is 10.4.

4. One house had 41 inhabitants, 11 adults and 30 children.

5. One house had 24 adults and no children.

6. The average number of adults in each home was 5.5, children 4.8.

Homes were of several types: rectangular cement block with tin roof, rectangular mud brick with tin or thatch roof, and round cement or mud brick with thatch roof.

Buildings other than occupied homes were the health clinic, school, several warehouses, mosque, ruins of an Anglican church, eight tourist bungalows, meeting house, two small shops (boutiques), several homes under construction, and many dilapidated vacant homes. The village is bordered by a dirt road on one side and the Rio Pongo on the other. It is crisscrossed by walking paths. Elevation goes from 49 feet at the port on the river to 112 feet at the school.

A family complex usually includes a round house where they gather and relax during the day. Most homesitessa contain a round, thatched building that serves as an open-air place for the family to gather and rest during the day. They sleep in the house at night. The outhouse is a hole in the ground surrounded by a palm leaf fence.

The temperature in the village goes from 70F at night to 90F during the day year round. During the rainy season, June to December, it rains everyday. There is little rain the rest of the year. Other than the occasional housefly, the village is strangely insect-free. All-in-all, it is a pleasant place to visit.

(Next week: Village economics)