A Look at Benin from A-Z

A quick look at life in Benin as a Peace Corps Volunteer from yours truly.

A: Animism – the technical word describing the traditional religious practices in Benin. Also called Voodoo, or Vodun. Based on the belief that everything, living and not living has a spirit. In my experience, the locals are not very open about showing and talking about it. They assume that we would not agree with it or think it is evil. The visible signs of it are fetishes made out of mud, clay, cement, straw, etc. that represent different deities. You can find them in outside of peoples’ homes and even in markets sometimes.  Some markets also have a fetish section where you can buy all kinds of items used in ceremonies, sometimes unidentifiable and weird-smelling.  Some include cowrie shells and animal skins.  

B: Babies- Benin loves its babies. You will never hear me say I am being deprived of seeing babies. The birth control idea hasn’t really taken flight yet, especially among poorer populations. Because women are so physically active here, babies become part of that action by being tied to their mother’s back. They also adapt to breastfeeding in odd positions so that the mother doesn’t have to stop what she’s doing (this is not always the case, but if the child is hungry they figure out how to get it!) 

C: CFA franc- Or franc CFA.  It is the official currency in Benin and seven other West African countries. It is guaranteed by the French treasury.  CFA stands for Communauté financière d’Afrique (“Financial Community of Africa”).

D: Discuter – The French word meaning to discuss. In the Beninese context, we use it to mean to barter or bargain. Just about anything can be discute-ed from zemidjan (see below) rides, to produce, to fabric. It is obligatory for anyone, but especially for foreigners. If we didn’t, we could easily pay triple the price. 

E: Elephant- The only elephants wandering around Benin are in the two national wildlife parks in northern Benin (Parc Pendjari and Parc W).

F: French, Franglais, and Fon- French is the official language in Benin, used in the government, schools, and businesses. Franglais is what many Peace Corps volunteers and staff end up speaking either because we don’t know how to translate a word, or just plain get lazy. When I first arrived to country, I was confused listening to the current volunteers speaking a strange mélange of languages (whoops).  Fon is the main ethnic group in Benin, concentrated in the south. They can be found throughout the country, and many times if someone speaks more than one local language, Fon is one of them. It is also one of the “Gbe” languages, a cluster of about twenty related languages, including Adja(gbe).

G: Gendarmerie- The most prevalent group of authorities that enforce the law in Benin. Includes the commisariat, brigade de recherche, and the brigade territorial. Not to be confused with the police force.

H: Humid- The main way to describe the weather in southern Benin (with the addition of hot and sunny).

I: Ice- Sold in clear plastic bags from people’s homes for 25 CFA. Can be frozen tap water (filled by hand) or frozen treated water (massed produced in a factory, then bought and sold as water or ice).

J: Jewels- Used to bedazzle women’s tailor-made clothing. Come in all colors and styles.

K: Kings- Many towns have a king that is follows a blood line on the father’s side.  Kings are not considered by the government as official authorities. However, they are highly respected and people are expected to pay them.

L: Là-bas- What some Peace Corps volunteers call the United States of America. Literally means “over there” in French. In conversation, the Beninese also refer to it as where we come from, for example “do they have malaria là-bas? “

M: Malaria- One of the top health issues in Benin (and Africa). It is the number one killer in Africa and one of the top reasons children do not reach their fifth birthday. The Beninese government, in partnership with a number of organizations, distribute treated mosquito nets, and provide health centers with rapid diagnostic tests, preventative medicine for pregnant women, and treatment.

N: Neem- A tree found throughout Benin that’s leaves and seeds have insect-repelling properties. Peace Corps volunteers teach people how to use them as an insecticide for plants and mosquitoes.

O: Obama- You can tell that the Beninese love Obama by the number of paraphernalia they have with his name. You can find Obama shirts, underwear, stores named after him (ex. Obama barbershop), soap, and beer!

P: Pagne- Translates to “loincloth“ in French. In Benin it is a 2-meter long piece of material.  The number of uses for a pagne is endless. Some include a baby-carrier, wrap skirt, blanket, sheet, and towel. 

Q : Questions- Refers to the stream of questions asked during any salutation. Did you arrive? Where did you go? How are your work, health, wife, children, and day?

R : Repose- Means “rest “ in French. Refers to the mostly respected three-hour pause from the hours of 12PM-3PM. Ideally, people will take this time to eat lunch, take a nap, and shower. In reality, some people continue to work during this time, but most understand that they should put off work matters until 3PM.  Businesses and schools are closed during these hours.

S: Snakes – There are variety of snakes found in Benin from harmless to poisonous. 

T: Taxi- One of the main forms of travel around the country. Most larger towns have a taxi depot where passengers go and find one going to their destination. When you show up, men will start calling out town names trying to find passengers. They will also try to help you with your luggage, so you have to make sure it goes with the right person!  Prices are usually reliable, but still need to be negotiated before departure. The amount of time you have to spend waiting before the taxi leaves depends on how many other passengers are there when you show up. If you’re lucky and you’re the last one you won’t wait at all. If you’re not as lucky, you could wait one hour, or four hours depending on the situation. Sometimes it is faster to find one on the side of the road where prices can also be cheaper. Taxis are almost always old cars, such as Peugeots that have refurbished seating. The two taxis sizes available are a 5-place and a 9-place. A five passenger taxi really means a six-person with two passengers in the front seat and four in the back. A nine passenger means two in the front, four in the middle and three in the back. It’s important to establish your personal space right away; otherwise you will find you don’t have any! If you do this well, you will have a little wiggle room to use when you start getting stiff from sitting in the same position.  Without air-conditioning, the windows are always rolled down to keep the heat down. Some of the roads in Benin are not well-maintained meaning drivers have to maneuver over pot holes, puddles, and dirt patches.  Taxis also get stopped a lot by the police and other toll stops.  If you want to simulate this experience in America, stuff as many people as you can into an old car, turn off the air-conditioning, make sure it’s a hot, humid day, and drive on a dirt road for about four or five hours, making frequent stops!

U: Underwear- Since there are no washing machines available, all laundry is washed by hand. If you hire someone to wash it for you, you need to provide the soap and a basin. It is not culturally appropriate to include your underwear in your laundry.  These need to be washed at home and hung where no one can see them.  I had a table with a hole in it to hold a basin built for my small kitchen in the back. I use it as a sink to do laundry and the dishes. The Beninese way is to do it all on the floor and bend over or sit on a small stool. 

V: Village- Where most people in Benin live. Village life is very different from life in the larger cities.  Many do not have electricity or running water and most of the homes are made from local materials.  The main source of income is farming and product transformation out of items like manioc and peanuts. You are more likely to see young children running around with very little or no clothing.  The level of education is much lower in villages and parents are more likely to send boys to school over girls. Every village has a chief who is considered the head of the village. There is also a village crier who goes around informing people about important meetings and events.  

W: Wells- Most people get their water from wells. They come in all different styles, but one of the most common has a long rope with a plastic container tied at the end. Another type takes two people to use and uses a crank-type handle. Benin has many different types of water sources besides wells thanks to projects that the government and other organizations have done. These include manual pumps that provide clean water. 

X : Xa vas (Ça vas)- The text message version of writing ça vas.  In English it means things are good/fine. It is sometimes used as a question to ask how things are going.

Y : Yovotomey- In Fon, “the home of the yovos (foreigners)” .  If you haven’t had any education, you might think that all yovos come from the same place.

Z : Zemidjan- Zem for short.  The Fon word for a taxi moto, meaning “get me there fast”. Used throughout Benin. Distinguished from other motos by the driver’s shirt. Every town’s zemidjan drivers wear a different colored shirt. Drivers register with the town and receive a number, which is painted on the front pocket and back of the shirt. Prices must be discussed before getting on.   

Happenings in March 2012

March 17^th, 2012

Some interesting opposites in culture:

Hissing or whistling is a perfectly acceptable way to get someone’s attention, mostly by zem drivers trying to recruit passengers.

Finding change is a constant problem. Unlike in the States where you will do anything possible to get rid of it, here there is always a shortage. Most things that people buy here cost less than 1,000 F CFA. Anything less than 1,000 is in coins.  Therefore, if you try to pay for something that costs maybe 200, it will be difficult to give anything bigger than a 1,000 bill. It’s not uncommon to have a seller walk around to find someone to make change for you before you can make a purchase. Sometimes zem drivers will try to get you to pay more by saying “il n’y a pas la monnaie” (there is no change).  But, instead of giving in I say if they can’t go and find change I’m not paying them! It really takes some planning to make sure you don’t get yourself in a situation where all you have are large bills. There almost as worthless as not having any money! At the bank, we have to plead for the tellers to give us smaller bills too. Certain boutiques as well as places that sell phone credit are usually good places to break large bills. 

For women, the major hairstyles are weaves, braids, or a very short, shaven head. The weaves are called “mesh”. They are fake hair that you pick out at shops before going to a local hair dresser.  The “mesh” is braided into the woman’s existing hair. This process can take hours- easily a whole afternoon!  Some hairstyles look somewhat natural and others completely unnatural.  Some have brown, bronze, or purple pieces in them too. They can last anywhere from one week to three months depending on how well they keep it and if they like it. One funny thing about having mesh is they can’t scratch their head or it will mess it up. Instead you see women tapping their heads with the palm of their hands, which I find quite funny.

Young girls, students, and many adults keep their heads shaven.  It’s the most easy, inexpensive, and easiest to keep clean style. It is recommended for girls in school because they save a lot of time and money by not going to the hairdresser. 

My favorite look for women here is in braids. They braid it in all different ways into their head, so that only a small piece sticks out at the ends.  It can stay for about a week like this.  It’s simple, neat, inexpensive, and beautiful!

Sports Competition:

The Japanese volunteer in my town put on a sports competition at one of the local primary schools a couple of weeks ago. Each grade was divided into three teams, and each grade competed in a different activity. The two youngest grades did a dance competition, seeing who had the best dance moves to piece of local music.  Another grade did a baton relay race, and the last threw balls into a basket that was balanced on an adult’s head.  The kids had a lot of fun and I enjoyed helping and watching.  A group of Japanese volunteers from the area came too.  They were all very nice and fun to hang out with. We talked about Benin, the US, and Japan.  Some spoke a little English, but we mostly communicated in French.

Voodoo Celebration: 

I also got to watch a local voodoo ceremony that week.  I heard they have it every two years, but I’m not sure exactly what they were celebrating. All of the voodoo initiates of the neighborhood sang and dance to the drumming and wore special outfits and jewelry. I didn’t get to stay long because it started to rain, but it was interesting!

Live Birth:

At the health center, it was a typical Monday. I finished helping with the vaccinations and baby weighing and was heading over to “saluer” (say hi) to the women working at the maternity ward.  I said I could stay for a little while to help with the prenatal consultation paperwork. After the first woman, the nurse said she needed to go and check on a woman in labor. I had been hearing her from the room next door since my arrival but not realized what was happening. I asked if I could go with her and she agreed.  I suppose the nurse figured out the woman was coming along because she told her to move into the birthing room. This meant the poor woman had to get up and walk to the table in the next room by herself! She wasn’t fully dilated so all the nurse could do was keep the woman clean and get her tools ready. Just a few minutes later, she was ready to deliver. We saw the crown of the head make its appearance and then the woman and the nurse worked together to push/pull the baby out.  The baby didn’t make any sounds at first and was blue in some parts.  The nurse cut the cord and brought the baby over to a table with lights to start cleaning it off. Eventually, it started crying and the placenta came out. That was it! Quick and easy J I just stood back and watched it all, although the nurse wanted me to reach my hand in and feel the baby before it came out.  I politely refused!

International Women’s Day 2012:

For this holiday, people celebrate in a variety of ways all throughout Benin.  For many international days such as this, the celebration looks the same in my town. In the center of town, they put up tents, chairs, and a banner explaining the event.  Many important people from the town, county, and department are invited.  For this event, groups of women from each part of the department were invited too.  A few women’s groups danced and sang. Later some important people like the mayor and a representative from Cotonou spoke.  All of this took all morning and went until after 1PM. Also, celebrations like this never start on time. It’s not uncommon to start two hours late!

To continue the celebration, I visited a village not too far away.  A man who works with the Peace Corps for part of the year invited all of the volunteers from the region for his event. It was a discussion about women’s development, reducing poverty, and achieving their goals.  He invited women’s groups from the surrounding villages to share what projects they are working on. Some were using sustainable farming techniques, others made cassava/manioc flour, and another produced loofahs that are sold to Europe. They also wanted to hear from us and our thoughts on women’s development.  We explained the importance of girls’ education, having positive role models, and what kind of attitude and behavior is helpful to reach one’s goals.  They were so happy that we came to talk with them and they showed it by singing and dancing. Of course, they invited us to join them! Afterwards, we saw a library in town where girls can rent and share textbooks for the school year. Then they fed us a huge lunch of rice, beans, and boiled eggs.  

That day was the birthday of one of the volunteers.  After the event was over, some of us headed to a volunteer’s house to celebrate. We took zems (taxi motos) to the town next to where I live.  Then we went to the taxi park to wait for a taxi to the town where another volunteer lives. There were five of us, which meant theoretically we could fill up a small taxi and go without waiting for other passengers. However, supposedly the next taxi in line to go was an eight-person taxi. Whatever the problem, all of the drivers started yelling and couldn’t decide who was going to take us. We couldn’t figure out what the problem was (they were speaking Adja) or what we should do.  After a couple minutes we were told to get in a car, but then others told us not too! We eventually got in, but with much effort and many of the men still didn’t want us leaving in that taxi. To add to this adventure, when we were five minutes away from our destination we got a flat tire. The driver borrowed a moto to go into town and left us by the side of the road for over an hour. When he came back, he had a tire in hand.  In less than two minutes he had the new tire on and we were ready to go!

That evening we shared the birthday cake and sang “happy birthday” to the volunteer.  Then we went out to find a cold drink and something to eat for dinner. 

Girls Club:

I invited a nurse from the health center to come and talk to my girls.  She did a wonderful job, which of course made me very happy!  She talked about STDs and HIV.  Many of the girls had already learned a lot about the topic at school, but there are some younger girls who I’m hoping learned from the older ones. They asked a lot of questions and when I posed review questions at the end they responded well. The nurse and I worked well together too. To say thank you, I made her a chocolate cake. 

During the presentation, my supervisor from the Peace Corps called me to say he was fifteen minutes away from my post. I told him I was at the secondary school.  He came a few minutes later to give me invitations for me and my work partners for the next training in April.  He said hello to the nurse and the girls and left. It was late notice but at least he got to see me working!

Other things going on:

I just submitted my first Volunteer Reporting Form. It’s an electronic program to track all of my activities as a health volunteer. We complete two every year.  It was exciting to see everything I’ve done so far in one document.

The Peace Corps doctor visited me last week. It was his first and only visit to my post during my service. He made sure my living conditions were adequate, and asked me some questions about my health. Then we visited the zone hospital that is about a two-minute drive from my house. We met with one of the three doctors to explain that if there was an emergency I would go there.

In the past few weeks there have been many applications available for various positions and projects. I have applied to be a trainer for the incoming group of volunteers, to be on a food security task force, to be a representative of the peer support network, and to have a student-lead health team in my community. I am excited to see which ones I get to participate in and to have some more responsibilities!

Cotonou:
 
I spent this weekend in Cotonou. We had a meeting for the summer camps were are having in the summer to divide up the duties.  I also made some errands, went out to eat, and enjoyed seeing my fellow volunteers.  For St. Patrick’s Day, some of us wore green, and a group went out to celebrate at one of the restaurants. 

I was so excited to spend the weekend in Cotonou this past time. I hadn’t been there since January and I felt like I needed to get away for a few days. The balance between being at post and being away can be difficult.  Having a continuous presence makes it easier to integrate and get acquainted with one’s community. The locals get used to having a volunteer available to help work on projects, while the volunteer gets into a work rhythm and gets a better understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of the community.  On the other hand, volunteers need to leave every once in a while for a number of reasons. Since most volunteers live at a distance from other volunteers, making visits to other posts or workstations allows us to see our fellow American comrades. In my experience, this contact is needed at least once a month.  Although we do use our cell phones to call and text, many times it doesn’t suffice.  Other reasons for leaving post include visiting the doctor’s at the Peace Corps office in Cotonou, going to the bank, participating in all types of trainings and meetings, vacations, projects (such as summer camps), and other work reasons.  I’ve found that I have more reasons for leaving post lately other than just for a weekend away.  Like I mentioned before, there are a lot more opportunities for positions, roles, and projects available to use first year volunteers now.  My training group will soon be the leaders for the new group of volunteers coming in June as well.

While in Cotonou, I visited the local artisans market. It’s in walking distance from where we volunteers stay and very touristy-looking.  It is surrounded by a colorfully painted fence and inside are all sorts of huts and buildings filled with anything a tourist could desire. They are items that can be found in many cities all over Benin, and probably West Africa.  You can buy wooden statues,, jewelry, drums, masks, paintings, and purses to name a few. Every stand or store has similar items and each merchant calls out for you to come and take a look at his wares. They even try to use their limited English vocabulary to draw you in. “Don’t worry, I give you good price”, and “It is very nice, you will like it” are some of their tactics.  It got overwhelming pretty fast with so many people begging for your attention and so many items to look at. On top of that, I had no idea how much things were supposed to cost. I knew they were giving us ridiculous prices since we were at a tourist stop and we are foreigners.  I decided to get some advice from other volunteers before draining my meager Peace Corps salary.  Afterwards, one of them told me to ask yourself how much you think it’s worth and not focus as much on its “real” price. Another said to divide the given price by at least three! Next time, I’ll be ready to put my bargain face on! 

I also took advantage of being in Cotonou by going to a tailor that works in an ex-patriot/international neighborhood. He is used to making clothes with European style.  He even has a booklet of magazine cutouts with design ideas.  I brought him some “basin tissu” that I found in my market.  It’s a shiny, fancier tissu (fabric) that people wear on special occasions. I picked out a simple dress pattern with some embroidery on the waist. I’m going to wear it for the annual Gender and Development fundraiser that volunteers organize in May. Surprisingly he didn’t try to rip me off too much and we set the date for my return, less than a week later.

After the weekend, I spent two days at post before heading back to Cotonou. I scheduled to see the doctor on Wednesday because I had to go to a training anyways from Thursday to Sunday.  After the appointment I spent the rest of the day and the next morning working with my training assistant on my current health project. It involves training women leaders in a local village to work with mothers with children under five and pregnant women.  Each leader will share a health message and stay updated on the health of the children each month. With the training assistant, we put together the materials the leaders will use and a survey that I will use to get baseline information about each household. Any time I give a presentation here, I try to use images, or boîte à image instead of materials with words.  We can’t assume that the people will be able to read or understand French. The images allow the message to be given in any language and reinforce the message.  I was so grateful for the assistant’s help. I knew she had a lot of other work to do but she took the time to work with me. 

After I finished getting all of my project materials together, I headed out to lunch with a few other volunteers. We went to an Indian restaurant in the expat neighborhood that is familiar with volunteers.  The food is delicious and reminds me of home (although the chutney doesn’t quite compare to Nikki’s Indian!) I split chaana masala and cheese naan.  Then we walked down the block to the tailor’s.  He had finished my dress and after a couple of small alterations we were on our way.  One other volunteer and I were headed to the capital, Porto Novo for a local language IST (In-service Training).  We found one of the dozens of vans that shuttles people back and forth between Cotonou and Porto Novo and we off.  In less than an hour we were back to where we had our training in Benin last year.  It was our “home sweet home” of sorts for eleven weeks, and now we were coming back- all grown up! 

We stayed at a place called Songhaï, where we occasionally had training last year.  They have a hotel, internet café, conference rooms, and restaurants, in addition to raising all types of crops and animals. We got to stay in the nice rooms with ceiling fans and air-conditioning (that worked some of the time). It was nice to be back to someplace that was familiar. We also realized how nice of a place it is, which we couldn’t have known until after being in the country for a few months.

Starting on Friday, we had local language training with our tutors.  The tutors had been there since Monday, learning teaching techniques and methods. For many of them, they have never been formally taught their first languages, which make teaching it to English-speakers very difficult. They have to in affect learn their own language in terms of structure and grammar before they can teach it to others.  Unfortunately, my tutor didn’t come until Friday. He was given a short summary of the training for a couple hours before he started practicing with me.  There were nine volunteers participating. It was a perfect size for this sort of training, especially since it was Peace Corps Benin’s first time doing it.  I found the training very helpful.  The facilitators helped me and my tutor a lot and taught us new teaching/learning methods.  They want the tutors to use as little French as possible, by using the local language with gestures and drawings to get across the meaning. At the end of the training we each made goals for our tutoring sessions for the next three and six months.

We were served breakfast (omelets, coffee, bread, and jam), snacks (juice, soymilk, croissants, and cookies), and lunch (rice, couscous, fish, French fries, fruit, and salad) during the training. It was a real treat to get spoiled with such good food!  For dinner, we were on our own, but found places to eat in the city. 

On Sunday, everyone left to return to their posts. I made a detour by visiting a volunteer outside of the city.  I had to take a zem to another part of the city, where I found another zem to take me to her house.  I got to see her house (which is possibly the biggest one of all of the volunteers) and two other volunteers that were visiting.  I stayed for a couple hours before grabbing lunch and hailing a taxi to Cotonou.  At the taxi park in Cotonou I quickly found a taxi going to Azove (my closest town) and waited for about thirty minutes for it to fill up. It was a nice ride back- not too crammed and it was cool and overcast. I made it home before dark and just before it started raining. 

The balance between being at and away from post that I mentioned before got a bit off balance due to the two weekends away in a row.  Being away for more than a couple days makes it more difficult to come back and get it the swing of things again.  I couldn’t do much about being gone that long because both were legitimate, work-related reasons.  It really helped having things to look forward to at post such as my girls club, spelling bee, and health project in a local village. It also helps knowing that I have plans to leave again in the near future. Next weekend is our regional taco night, and after that I have two more trainings to attend in Porto Novo.  

We’ve been experiencing “chaleur” or hot season in the south for about three weeks now.  This means it’s very humid and the sun’s already penetrating heat feels even hotter. I am constantly sweating. I  take between two and three showers a day. The first is before my afternoon nap at the hottest part of the day, the second one may be in the evening, and I take another right before bed. I have been successful at limiting the use of my fan surprisingly.  I save it for the really hot nights and afternoons and rely on shade, breezes, and showers to cool me off.  I get tired more easily and I’m drinking a lot more water.  Even though it has rained a few times, the long rainy season isn’t here yet. When the rains come, the hot season will end.  In the north, chaleur is a hot, dry, heat. However, due to climate abnormalities, I’ve heard from other volunteers that it hasn’t come yet. 

A nation-wide strike at all of the public schools lasted from the end of January until Monday, March 26^th.  It was confusing, even for the local to understand why.  It had something to do with salaries, of course. Every school has permanent, salaried teachers, and “vacateurs” or for-hire teachers. For the most part, the for-hire teachers kept on teaching.  Depending on a student’s schedule, they might have kept going to class a few times a week, but this only applied for students in secondary school. At the primary school, everyone stayed at home.  The strike manifested itself differently at each school, and wasn’t well-organized.  Every week there were different projections of the end or the next step in discussions. Finally, it officially ended and now everyone is back at school.  This all means that the school year will be extended in addition to having extra classes on weekends and breaks to catch up. For students taking the BAC exam (needed in order to go to university) the date will not change because the same test is given to students in many West-African countries.  We will see how it all plays out and what other consequences show up!

On Palm Sunday I went to my local Catholic church with a student from the secondary school.  Everyone brought a palm branch (the main part, without leaves) and my friend brought one for me too.  The mass was almost completely in Adja, and lasted for three hours. I was very ready to go home and take a nap at the end, but my plans were never realized.  When I arrived at my house, my supervisor called me. I couldn’t understand what he was saying, but eventually he handed the phone over to someone else. All of a sudden I heard the voice of a female American on the phone.  “Hi! I was a volunteer in Aplahoue twenty-years ago and I’m here visiting. We’re going to come and pick you up and eat lunch.” Of course I said yes! So, in less than two minutes I was picked up in a car (only on very rare occasions do I ride in a car that is not an old taxi) and we drove up the street to meet everyone for lunch.  I got to meet the returned volunteer and all of the friends that she has kept in touch with over the years.  Her friends were very excited to see her and I could tell that they had been very close.  I have a lot of work to do fill her shoes! We ate pâte rouge together and talked about how the Peace Corps and volunteer life in Benin has changed. She used to work at the social promotion center when it was in a smaller building.  It was such a treat listening to all of her stories and advice (and to be able to speak English with an American!). We made a few visits to other people’s houses around town and then we parted ways. It was a great surprise meeting a volunteer that lived in my shoes twenty years ago.  It was just the thing I needed to keep me going and to give some perspective to my stay here.    

Cultural Tidbits: 

In some local languages (including Adja), yesterday and tomorrow is the same word.  Also, most greetings, like I mentioned during training, are obvious questions.  Are you there? Are you in the middle of doing something? Did you arrive? Did you come back? Any obvious question is fair game!

A common thing I see here in Benin is children living with other family members. For whatever reason, if the biological parents cannot take care of one or more of their children, they are sent to stay with more well off family members. Sometimes their parents separate and the mother doesn’t want to take care of the father’s children anymore. Other times, living with another family member means the children will have better opportunities. If they move to a town, there will be a school close by with better teachers, more items available, and better prospects for jobs. My supervisor is an example of this. He has four children living with him in addition to his three sons. They all go to school and are expected to help with chores around the house.   

Holidays, The North, and More of My Beninese Life

Greetings! As everyone kept telling me when I first arrived in Benin, time is going by quickly and I have a lot to catch you up on.  

Before I left for my first in-service training I accompanied the Japanese volunteer in my town to a primary school to give nutrition and hygiene lessons.  It was a nice ten-minute bike ride away on a dirt road.  With the first lesson on nutrition I got to see how she presents the information and compare it to what we health volunteers were taught in our training.  It was actually pretty similar and I was able to help out quite a bit. The students enjoyed the activities and seemed to understand the importance of including all of the food groups into one’s meals.  With the second class I watched her give a presentation on hygiene. The kids looked at pictures and answered questions and then drew their own pictures depicting what they learned about hand washing and keeping one’s living space clean. 

One the way back to town, I must have gotten a flat tire somewhere along the way but I didn’t notice it until the next day.  I had to wait to get it fixed until I returned from my trip, and I wasn’t looking forward to fixing it by myself.  A few days after I came back from the training I told my work partner about my bike. He mentioned that there is a man near the market who repairs bikes.  This was great news! I should have thought of this earlier because there are quite a few people who ride bikes here. So that afternoon I started pulling my bike up the street when a man called to me from across the street.  The bike repair man was there just across the street from my concession! He immediately started working on the flat tire and appeared to perform all of the steps we were taught during training. I paid him 300 CFA and was on my way! It was wonderful to have him so close by and now I don’t have to fend for myself when I get a flat!

In-Service Training:

My first week- long training in Parakou went well. It’s the second largest city in Benin but yet doesn’t have a city feel. It’s spread out with a lot of dirt roads and it’s not very noisy compared to Cotonou.  On the other hand, the main market was big and very crowded.  The main differences between northern and southern Benin are the weather (dry and hot in the north, hot and humid in the south), the Muslim population is much larger in the north, and the people are more laid back and easy going in the north.  This is most obvious when you are talking with a zemidjan driver (taxi moto) and bargaining over the price.  They are polite and don’t give you a hard time like they do in the south.  

Market in Parakou

It was a lot drier up north than in the south and much cooler at night due to harmattan.  We have harmattan in the south too but it’s not as extreme as in the north. At night it can get very cold. Volunteers up north report wearing sweatshirts, sock and pants to bed! Harmattan means cool winds that blow from the Sahara desert bringing sand with them. It lasts from about December to January. The rain stopped at the end of October meaning everything is dry and dusty. It’s important to cover everything and clean more often because of all of the dust.  Miraculously, things still grow without rain.  There are banana, papaya, mango, and orange trees still producing. However, most other crops are either nonexistent or grown in gardens, making most foods more expensive and less plentiful. 

The actual training was helpful but also boring. After being on my own for three months and making my own schedule, it was hard to sit in a conference room all day with little free time for six days.  Our work partners came to the training too, which meant that everything was in French.  Some helpful things I learned were potential project ideas and how to record my activities for the Peace Corps. I also got to hear from the other health volunteers about what their posts are like.  It was also great to hang out with people I hadn’t seen for three months or less.  Parakou is also one of the four Peace Corps workstations in the country. It was nice to have it close by to have as a place to relax, use the internet, and other amenities. By the end of the training we were all ready to get back to post and get started on projects!

Holidays:

For Christmas and New Year’s I stayed at my post in Aplahoue. On Christmas Eve I went to the volunteer’s house that is about a ten-minute zem ride away along with another volunteer. We made spaghetti and salad and then watched a movie.  The next day we had planned to go to the volunteer’s church but there had been some kind of festival that all of the churches were invited to so there was no one there. We started heading to my post to see if the festival was still going on with no luck. Across the street there was a Pentecostal church with its service still going strong so we headed inside to join them.  They helped us find seats and then I recognized a man who works at the health center.  He told us that he would invite us to the front to introduce ourselves and sing a song. “He wants us to do what?”, I thought to myself. We decided to sing “This Little Light of Mine”, but after we got up to the front and introduced ourselves, they told us it had to be in French. So we repeated of a couple of lines from a simple song with the words, “mon Dieu est bon” (my God is good). Then we proceeded to dance in a circle as the congregation was singing before dancing ourselves back to ours seat. Aren’t you glad that’s not how we greet our guests at church in the US?

My Supervisor's sons in their Christmas outfits

After church we made our way to my supervisor’s house for Christmas lunch.  His wife made our favorite dish of pounded yams with peanut sauce and fish.  We hung out for a little while and then their kids showed off their new outfits. Besides attending church on Christmas Eve and Christmas day, Christmas in Benin is a holiday for children (unfortunate I know). Besides making a special meal as for all holidays, children might get a toy and/or a new outfit.  My supervisor has three sons, and each of them received a full suit outfit. They looked so handsome all dressed up from head to toe!

For New Year’s Eve I went to mass at the local Catholic church with the Japanese volunteer and a mutual friend at 10PM.   It went until midnight at which point the choir led the congregation in singing and dancing to welcome the new year.  Afterwards we shared soft drinks and hung out for a little while at a local buvette.  After sleeping for a few hours, we all made lunch together, which consisted of pâte rouge (cornmeal mush made with a tomato sauce), fried local cheese, and fried rabbit.  Rabbit is a delicacy here and I’ve never had it- so I decided to try it. And? It tasted like chicken but a little meatier. Pretty much any time they serve meat here it’s fried, with the exception of shish kabobs.  This goes for fish and cheese too. Afterwards we headed over to my supervisor’s house again but this time for salad.  I had bought the salad ingredients the day before (lettuce, carrots, and cucumbers). Then his wife added hard-boiled eggs and a garlicky vinaigrette.  Other times, they make salad with cooked spaghetti, and boiled potatoes and carrots, which is odd but tasty.  It’s custom to eat salad with baguettes and is one of my favorite meals here (especially if there is avocado too!).

That night, I invited a few friends from town over and help me make a chocolate cake.  They enjoyed helping and while it was baking I taught them how to play UNO.  It was nice to have people over for a little while and share some American culture. The Japanese volunteer also shared some of here culture with mochi rice squares traditionally eaten on New Year’s Day for good luck.   

Pâte Rouge, Cheese, and Rabbit- our New Year's Day Feast!

Food:

December was full of learning about traditional Beninese food and to finish it off I went to a part of town not too far from my house to watch the making of a local snack. They are fried peanut butter rounds, but the process of making them is a lot more involved than it sounds. In this part of the country they are made into circles before frying, but in other parts they’re just sticks. They start by grilling the peanuts in a dry pot. Then they take them to be ground into peanut butter.  In a large basin they start working the peanut butter with their hands by adding water and mixing.  Eventually the batter turns darker and becomes a large mass that separates from the oil.  Then the oil is pressed out over a large wooden slab. The dough is formed by adding a little corn flour and then it can be rolled out and shaped into rounds. After they are left alone for a while they are fried in the same peanut oil.  I helped them roll them out for a little while. The whole process takes all day and the women take turns with the work.  After we rolled out a portion of the dough they served me a lunch of pâte with a sauce made from palm nuts and small dried fish.

Making "klui klui" or fried peanut butter snacks

 

Like I mentioned before, this time of year is very dry, making fresh produce less available.  This is when gardens start producing a lot of food. I am lucky enough to have three gardens in my town and all within walking distance.  They’re not very big but they usually have something available such as cabbage, lettuce, leafy greens, carrots, and bell peppers. One time when I visited I got red bell peppers which are pretty much nonexistent here! If you find them in the market they are always green, so I was very excited to find them.  I am still enjoying working my way through our Peace Corps Benin cookbook, but I also eat with my supervisor’s family quite a bit.  Sometimes they let me help them prepare the meal and other times I hang out with the kids.  

Gasoline Situation:

In the beginning of January, there was a bit of a gas crisis here.  All of the gas in Benin comes from Nigeria. They suspended a subsidy on gas for Benin so the price sky-rocketed overnight.  The highest it got in Aplahoue was 1,200 CFA per liter when it used to be 325CFA. I went to Cotonou one weekend and ended up paying one and a half times more than usual for the taxi.  All of the zems were pricey too, on top of the normal higher prices in the city. Everyone had to get gas at the gas stations which are very rare and only found in towns and cities. Most of the time people get their gas on the side of the road that is stored in glass bottles and plastic jerry cans. The lines, as one can imagine were very long, stalling travel.  Afterwards, the price started to come down slowly but it still hasn’t reached where it used to be. During the first couple of weeks I limited my travel as much as possible. 

Projects:

I’ve done two health presentations with a local orphanage so far. There are about 12 boys and girls living there with one woman in charge. The social promotion center makes referrals to it and is responsible for providing certain services.  The kids are sweet and have participated well. The first time I talked about the three food groups and most recently hygiene. Afterwards I taught them out to play fruit salad, a kind of musical chairs game that they enjoyed. I gave the same presentations to the younger girls who live at the Catholic boarding house. They also played a relay game with hand-washing.  They were excited to participate and loved the games, even the older girls. 

I started a girls club at the secondary school in January.  There are 21 girls representing each of the seven grades.  They were chosen based on their grades, making them good role models for their peers. The goal is to lead discussions on topics that are important in their lives right now, and then they can share the information with other girls.  So far no one is rude or disrespectful. Instead, they are quiet and keep all eyes and ears on me. With my French level and lack of experience leading a girls group this is more intimidating than it sounds! Luckily, as we’ve gotten to know each other they are starting to speak up and the older girls are good at explaining the lessons and games to the younger ones.  We’ve talked about stereotypes for boys and girls, study skills, and role models. In the next few weeks I’m also hoping to have some debates and start playing some sports together. 

In addition to the girls club, I’ve started practicing for a local spelling bee in English with a group of students. In recent years, volunteers have organized an English Spelling Bee for students in their first, second, or third year of English.  Each volunteer that participates brings one girl and one boy winner from their local spelling bee to a national competition.  At my post, every Friday afternoon, we practice using a list of possible words.  I also have a local English teacher helping me. It’s got to be difficult spelling with the correct pronunciation, but they are trying and hanging in there so far! We have a few more weeks before we hold the local bee. Afterwards I will continue to practice with the winners until the national bee.

I have been spending a lot of time working with the health center. During the months of December and January I accompanied the nurse’s aide to surrounding villages to give vaccinations to infants under one year old. I also helped with the vaccinations on Mondays held at the health center. We’ve also started to weigh babies during this time. It is an easy way to track an infant’s health and catch any drop in weight before it becomes a grave situation like malnutrition. It is recommended to continue the weightings up until the child is five years old. This seldom happens because vaccinations stop once children have reached twelve months. Anyways, it’s an improvement from what they were doing before which was just giving vaccinations. Now I want to extend this practice when they do vaccinations in the villages and to include older children too.

The health center has some new staff members including a new doctor and head nurse. So far they really seem like hard workers and want to make improvements to the center. They are happy to have me working there too and told me they wanted me to expand where I work there. So, for the month of February I’m helping at the maternity area, specifically where they do prenatal consultations. I watched the first few times to get a feel for what they do. Later I started helping them fill out the patient forms and giving short health presentations to the women. I’ve given health messages on malaria prevention, exclusive breast feeding, and nutrition during pregnancy.  They usually have about eight women each day, with more women coming on Mondays and less on Fridays. There is still a lot of work that needs to be done in the maternal health field, which is why it is a main focus for health Peace Corps volunteers. Many women don’t come for a consultation until the third trimester of the pregnancy. Even if they do come for consultations, some women still have the birth at home which can be dangerous. Women who come for their first consultation get a mosquito net, and everyone takes two doses of malaria-prevention medicine during their pregnancy. They are also prescribed iron and folic acid supplements. 

Funeral:

I went to a funeral for my neighbor’s uncle in January.  It was a large funeral because he was old when he passed away.  The festivities went on for weeks! I attended on the day of the actual funeral when they had the burial. He passed away in October and they kept the body at the morgue at the hospital until January! During this time, they were announcing the funeral, giving family members living all over Benin and in surrounding countries enough notice to come. They also constructed a small house where the coffin was to be placed in the floor. This is traditional I’ve been told and is a way to have the dead close to you. Families spend a lot of money on funerals, and every member is required to participate.  On the day of the funeral they brought the body to the burial site and kept it in an air-conditioned display case for everyone to visit.  The casket was open and the body was dressed in all white, with only white netting over it. My neighbor took me into the room to stand next to the body and have my picture taken. I tried to not look too disgusted and got out of there as soon as I could! They also had dancers and deejays providing entertainment with lots of food and drinks. 

For this occasion, I dressed in the same fabric pattern as the friends and family.  As with any party or celebration, everyone buys the same pattern and wears it on the day of the celebration. It is a sign of solidarity and people continue wearing it long after the festivities are over. Everyone was impressed and excited to see me wearing the same tissu (fabric)! The next day the women all prepared pounded yams with sauce and meat for all of the guests. They cooked all day long, with a constant flow of people showing up. I helped where I could and played with the kids.

The last time I was in Cotonou, my netbook was waiting for me in my mailbox! I had it sent to the states via a volunteer that was going home for Christmas to be repaired and everything went smoothly.  It is so nice to have it back. On the other hand, I think it was a blessing in disguise that I didn’t have it during my first few months at post. It gave me more time to get to know my community and to read.   

 

At the start of this adventure in Benin I couldn’t see myself getting attached to the people, food, or places. But, I’ve already started to see that change. I’m very used to the food by now, and obviously I’ve met some pretty nice people. I’m used to where I live and how to get around. There are even quite a few things I would think about bringing home to share with friends and family.  

Gaani and a trip up north:

I got to take my first vacation in Benin in February thanks to my supervisor. We went up north to Kouandé where he was the director of the social promotion center for eight years. As to be expected, he knew a lot of people there both in town and in surrounding towns and villages. We stayed with some of his good friends who were amazing hosts. The food was great, they let us borrow their moto to visit some surrounding villages, and they helped me find some items that you can only find in the north such as shea butter and honey. When I mentioned I wanted to get some peanut butter too, which is more plentiful up north, they bought some from the women that make fried peanut butter snacks. They gave me a huge jar and refused to let me pay for it! One day I complemented the wife on her outfit. On the day before we left she presented an outfit just like it to me as a gift! They also gave me a bag of large onions and a day planner. These people were so generous and welcoming I am still shocked and humbled by it. They made me feel like I was part of the family and they had just met me. I also had fun getting to know their kids and the wife’s sister who is my age. When we arrived my supervisor gave them a large bag of oranges, many loaves and different varieties of bread, avocadoes, powdered milk, and canned rice pudding. Gift giving is important to say the least.

The journey up north takes about a day but it isn’t too painful. From my house, I take a short zem ride to the taxi park in the town where I do most of my shopping (2 miles away). Then I wait for a taxi that’s going to the closest town where the buses depart from. This can take an hour or longer to wait for the taxi to fill up, so if you’re in a rush you can take the hour-long ride by zem directly to the bus park The buses leave somewhere between 10 and 11AM for a number of cities in the north. They range in luxury from the new buses with air-conditioning and a TV to those that are older and need more upkeep. Buses are a nice way to travel because you are guaranteed your own seat, unlike taxis where they put at least one extra person in each row. They are also safer because they can’t go as fast as cars. Additionally, you know your bags are safe because they are inside the bus, not strapped to the top or back of a taxi. Whenever the bus stops, there are always women waiting to sell you whatever local goods they have prepared or some cold water. Many times you don’t even have to get out of your seat because sellers board the bus or hand items through the windows.      

One of the Princes at Gaani festival

The town we stayed in was a good size with all of the necessities.  It was the capital of the Bariba kingdom in its day and there is still a palace where the king, queen, and princes stay. Every year there is a festival called Gaani which includes the Bariba princes riding and racing their horses and wearing elaborate costumes. The same festival takes place in a few different towns in the north. We went and watched for a couple of hours in between visiting my supervisor’s friends around town. That night was the annual Miss Gaani pageant. I suppose it was similar to pageants in the US. There were seven girls competing by performing a traditional dance, modeling, and answering questions. The winner got a brand new moto.

The next day we visited an environment volunteer in a village about 10km away. He showed us his post and the gardening projects he has in the works. Then his work partner shared with us some home-made millet beer and wasa wasa- a couscous-like dish made from dried yam flour. That evening we took the moto to a town about an hour down a dirt road. There is a volunteer there who teaches English at the secondary school. We talked to her for a little while about her activities, including her team of students that give health presentations to other students. It’s a project called Amour et Vie (Love and Life) and is something I hoping to start later this year. Despite the difficult travel conditions (dust, bumpy road, nightfall on our way back, and the aches from riding a moto for so long), it was very scenic with lots of open land, small villages, trees, and cows grazing. The vegetation consists of more scrub brush and tall grasses.  In addition, there are also many stone deposits, hills and small mountains that we don’t have in the north. This adds to the beauty of the region and some people make a living selling the stones or turning it into gravel. The geography reminds me of places in the western United States, which of course I think is picture-perfect.

This one decided to wave at me!

The rest of our stay in Kouandé was spent visiting friends and seeing more of the town. For the last day of the trip we went to Natitingou, the most prominent town in the region. It’s a nice quiet town with all of the amenities and none of the hustle and bustle of Cotonou. I got to do some shopping and visit the Peace Corps workstation where I used the computer, checked out the library and sent off some paperwork to Cotonou (where the main Peace Corps office is). They get a lot of tourists in this town because it’s not far from one of the two national parks in Benin where people can take safaris. During my trip I got to enjoy my fair share of igname pile (pounded yam) with all different types of sauces. People eat this more than they eat pate in the south and it is a lot less expensive. People also eat a lot more meat than they do fish because it is more available. It wasn’t a problem to find substitutions for me such as eggs, cheese, tofu, and some fish. Overall, it was a worth-while trip and I got to experience the generous northern hospitality.

Some huts in the north