The village of Farenya in the nation of Guinea is in fast transition from self-sufficient communalism to market capitalism. In the recent past, the villagers operated on the principle of shared possessions and shared responsibilities. Their allegiance was to their family and their village. For all practical purposes, they were a cashless society.

In the past decade, and more specifically, since a road was cut through to the village in 2003, it has been moving quickly into the global marketplace. Prior to construction of the road, communication and transportation were by river and trail from Boffa, the provincial capital 26 road miles away.

During the slave trading era when Queen Niara Bely ruled the village (1809-1879), there seems to have been a two-level economy. The Queen and her husband, Capt. Styles Lightbourn, and their children played on the world's stage. Educated in Europe and America, they bought and sold in pounds or dollars and lived, as much as was possible, as expatriates in the village: wine, bread, and cheese on their table; tailored clothes, felt hats, and leather shoes on their person; Scottish cannon, French pistols, and high-carbon steel swords in their armory.

A 19th century drawing of a slave caravan along the Rio Pongo. The slave is in shackles. The caravan guard carries a rifle. Villagers stand in the background. The villagers, those who served the Lightbourns, lived a typical African life, however: communal, agricultural, simple, self-sufficient. Most villagers were farmers working the Lightbourn land and their own scattered parcels. Many tended the slaves being prepared for shipment.

They made their own tools - wooden handles, iron tips. There were very few draft animals due to the tsetse fly. Transport was by foot or by canoe. Payment for goods was by barter, usually in-kind trade.

Health care was provided by the local practitioners of traditional medicine. Herbs and potions were applied to wounds, while incantations were used to relieve internal illnesses.

Entertainment was centered around drumming and dancing. Storytellers, especially griots (oral historians), kept tradition alive. Before Islam took hold in the late 19th century, alcohol and tobacco were popular diversions among the men.

This photograph of a granddaughter of Capt. Styles Lightbourn and Queen Niara Bely was taken in the late 19th century and was in the possession of her grandaughter in 1999. After the Lightbourn era ended, the village lifestyle continued. The material goods of the Captain and the Queen decayed into the soil and are now waiting for the archaeologists.

(Next week: Village Economics - Today)

This great, great granddaughter of Capt. Styles Lightbourn and Queen Niara Bely died in Farenya in 2000. She was over 100 years old.