Tuesday, 15 July 2008
A lot has happened since my last post. The final weekend in June a bunch of volunteers organized Pork Fest (aka Pork-a-palooza). We all got together in Parakou and chowed down on a couple of pigs. (A few adult beverages might also have been consumed.) We had pork of some kind for every meal: breakfast sausage, pulled pork sandwiches, hand-made bratwurst (yes, we cleaned the intestines, ground the meat and stuffed them ourselves), and - of course - a whole roast pig. A fine feast was had by all. And it was a nice way to let loose before the next major event - the arrival of the new stagiaires!
They arrived on the Fourth of July and were greeted at the airport with great enthusiasm. We spent a few days in Cotonou, staying at a monastery just outside the city. The new trainees got their initial briefings, medical checks, immunizations, language evaluations...etc. And, of course, their first taste of "Peace Corps life", i.e., bucket showers, latrines, waiting, bush taxis, zemidjans, pate, waiting, nescafe, bureaucracy...did I mention waiting? They are a great group and I think most of them will still be around for swear-in. Of course there will be some who decide that either Peace Corps or Benin is not right for them (there have already been a couple) and I have to respect them for having the courage to make that decision and stick to it. There is nothing noble about being miserable for no reason.
After Cotonou, we all picked up and headed for Porto Novo where they met their host families for the first time. During stage, all of the trainees live with Beninese families so they can learn about the language, culture and customs first-hand. This group is pretty spoiled, however, because most of them are living with very well-to-do families. Almost all of them have electricity 24/7, indoor plumbing (toilets and showers), tile floors, blah, blah, blah. (OK, so I'm a little jealous, but can you really blame me?) They are in for a bit of a rude awakening when they get to post, I'm afraid. In Porto Novo they've gotten their first technical, cross-cultural and language sessions, initial bike training, more shots and of course more waiting.
Sadly, while in Porto Novo my computer finally died. I got one BSOD (Blue Screen of Death) on Friday and by Sunday I had a "Hard Disk Failure Imminent" warning whenever I booted. I am trying to get a new hard drive ASAP because, of course, I haven't backed up any of my data. C'est la vie.
At the moment I am in Cotonou. When I arrived last night I found out that the maman in my concession had passed away over the weekend. So there was music blaring away until 3am that started up again this morning at seven. Needless to say I got very little sleep last night. Now I'm headed for the beach at Grand Popo. My friends Steve and Jaren Schwartz are there with Jaren's parents, who are visiting from la bas. They (her parents) have renewed their wedding vows every few years in different parts of the world, so Steve and Jaren have put together a vow renewal ceremony for them out in Grand Popo. And they have asked me to officiate the ceremony! The best part is that her parents don't know about it yet! They are actually going to get invitations to their own ceremony. Steve and Jaren have arranged local musicians and dancers to perform for the ceremony...it should be very cool.
After that it's back to work and sleeping in my own bed...for a change.
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
Saturday, June 28, 2008
Raindrops keep fallin' on my head...
I’ve decided that it takes too much work to try to remember everything I want to share when I only send out big, infrequent updates. So…here is (what I hope will be) the first of many smaller, more frequent updates. Salut!
It is the middle of the rainy season here in Benin. Rain here doesn’t fuck around, either. Back home we get stretches of days on end when “it rains.” Usually that means there has been some minuscule, yet measurable, amount of precipitation. Not here. No, in Benin we had a two week stretch that just ended yesterday, when we had a good 2-3 inches of rain every day…every day for two weeks! Needless to say, the drainage system – such as it is – was massively overwhelmed. The roads around my house have up to a foot of standing water. And the best part, the drain behind my house got clogged with leaves and I had an inch of water in my bedroom and bathroom. Yippee!!! There is also paint flaking off of my bedroom ceiling in huge patches and the walls are all clearly soaked from the inside out; huge areas of dark sogginess are everywhere. Even the front door has expanded from the wetness to the point where I have to use my shoulder to get it open or closed. I think we must have arrived after the worst of last year’s rainy season, because I don’t remember it being anything like this when we got here.
The flip side of the rainy season is that it is also pineapple season…mmmmmmmm. Ginormous, yellow-orange, spiky footballs of deliciousness. Women walk around all over Cotonou with platters of whole, fresh pineapples on their heads. For 100f (about $0.25) they’ll peel one, slice it up and give it to you in a bag with toothpicks to make it easier to eat. THE perfect snack or dessert. Canned pineapple…never again.
A couple of stories from the “Cultural Adjustment Never Ends” file:
Was having lunch at a café not far from the bureau yesterday. It’s called Chez Tony and it serves what I think of as Lebanese comfort food: felafel, schwarma sandwiches, hommous, babaganouje and my personal favorite – sheesh taouk. (For those of you who know how much I love the sheesh taouk at The Mediterranean Kitchen in Seattle, this is nothing like that. But it’s still delicious. I digress.) Anyway, sitting there having lunch in the outdoor seating area and I felt something rub up against my leg under the table. When I looked down and saw a brown, furry thing I figured it was a small dog that wandered in from the street. But when it came out from under my chair it turned out to be a kid. NO! Not a child, a baby goat! C’est l’Afrique! (We actually have a little game we sometimes play here. We try to guess whether the screams we are hearing are coming from a child or a goat. They sound remarkably similar.)
And from the category of, “You ain’t all that enlightened, dude” comes the following incident:
I was buying grilled chicken from a street vendor near my house the other night. I do this a couple of times a week, so I know which ones are safe and which will leave me regretting it later on. Anyway, while I was waiting for my chicken a guy approached me and said that he had just arrived from Ghana and hadn’t found work yet and could I give him some money so he could get something to eat. As you might imagine, something like this happens frequently here in Benin – one of the ten poorest countries on Earth. I determined very early on that the only way for me to deal with these situations without going rapidly broke or crazy was to politely and consistently decline. So I said, “Sorry, I can’t give you any money.”
He asked again for money and I said, “I can’t give you any money, but if you want food you can have some chicken.”
He told me he needed money for him and his family, so I said, “Okay. Sorry, then. Good Luck.” And I left with my chicken.
As I said, this is a fairly common occurrence. I have long since gotten over any feelings of guilt I had about not being able to help every single person who asks. But as I was walking home I realized I was feeling guilty. WTF? Why, after months of routinely being confronted with the same situation, was I suddenly feeling guilty about this one?
I thought maybe it was because I was buying food at the time, but I offered him food and he didn’t take it. Then I thought maybe because he mentioned his family, but I’ve actually been waylaid by mothers with children in-tow, so that wasn’t it either. It wasn’t until I got back to the house that I realized what it was. He was from Ghana…so this entire exchange occurred in English. Unlike most other times when I can dismiss the situation with a quick, “Ce n’est pas possible.” or the somewhat more deceptive but always effective, “A la prochaine.” (basically, “I’ll get you next time.”) this guy engaged me in my own language. Something about the fact that we were speaking English made it seem worse when I had to refuse his request. Why? The only thing I can come up with is that by speaking English he seemed more like me; there was less distance between us – he was less ètranger – and so it was harder. ♫ We are the world…♫ My ass!
So…a couple big things coming up. Next Friday, July 4th, there will be a big shindig at the Ambassador’s house to celebrate Independence Day. Then, after the festivities it’s off to the airport to greet the next batch of volunteers. There are 65 in total, including 12 SED and 3 ICT volunteers who I will be working with for the first week of training. Should be fun!
Then, toward the end of July we are going to execute the first step in the Marketing plan for CAMeC; a series of public information meetings all around the country to promote the use of arbitration and mediation as a way to resolve commercial disputes. We will have at least one stop in each of the 12 departments (basically, provinces) of Benin. It should last from 2-3 weeks and I’ll get to see most of the country in the process. More details as they become available.
It is the middle of the rainy season here in Benin. Rain here doesn’t fuck around, either. Back home we get stretches of days on end when “it rains.” Usually that means there has been some minuscule, yet measurable, amount of precipitation. Not here. No, in Benin we had a two week stretch that just ended yesterday, when we had a good 2-3 inches of rain every day…every day for two weeks! Needless to say, the drainage system – such as it is – was massively overwhelmed. The roads around my house have up to a foot of standing water. And the best part, the drain behind my house got clogged with leaves and I had an inch of water in my bedroom and bathroom. Yippee!!! There is also paint flaking off of my bedroom ceiling in huge patches and the walls are all clearly soaked from the inside out; huge areas of dark sogginess are everywhere. Even the front door has expanded from the wetness to the point where I have to use my shoulder to get it open or closed. I think we must have arrived after the worst of last year’s rainy season, because I don’t remember it being anything like this when we got here.
The flip side of the rainy season is that it is also pineapple season…mmmmmmmm. Ginormous, yellow-orange, spiky footballs of deliciousness. Women walk around all over Cotonou with platters of whole, fresh pineapples on their heads. For 100f (about $0.25) they’ll peel one, slice it up and give it to you in a bag with toothpicks to make it easier to eat. THE perfect snack or dessert. Canned pineapple…never again.
A couple of stories from the “Cultural Adjustment Never Ends” file:
Was having lunch at a café not far from the bureau yesterday. It’s called Chez Tony and it serves what I think of as Lebanese comfort food: felafel, schwarma sandwiches, hommous, babaganouje and my personal favorite – sheesh taouk. (For those of you who know how much I love the sheesh taouk at The Mediterranean Kitchen in Seattle, this is nothing like that. But it’s still delicious. I digress.) Anyway, sitting there having lunch in the outdoor seating area and I felt something rub up against my leg under the table. When I looked down and saw a brown, furry thing I figured it was a small dog that wandered in from the street. But when it came out from under my chair it turned out to be a kid. NO! Not a child, a baby goat! C’est l’Afrique! (We actually have a little game we sometimes play here. We try to guess whether the screams we are hearing are coming from a child or a goat. They sound remarkably similar.)
And from the category of, “You ain’t all that enlightened, dude” comes the following incident:
I was buying grilled chicken from a street vendor near my house the other night. I do this a couple of times a week, so I know which ones are safe and which will leave me regretting it later on. Anyway, while I was waiting for my chicken a guy approached me and said that he had just arrived from Ghana and hadn’t found work yet and could I give him some money so he could get something to eat. As you might imagine, something like this happens frequently here in Benin – one of the ten poorest countries on Earth. I determined very early on that the only way for me to deal with these situations without going rapidly broke or crazy was to politely and consistently decline. So I said, “Sorry, I can’t give you any money.”
He asked again for money and I said, “I can’t give you any money, but if you want food you can have some chicken.”
He told me he needed money for him and his family, so I said, “Okay. Sorry, then. Good Luck.” And I left with my chicken.
As I said, this is a fairly common occurrence. I have long since gotten over any feelings of guilt I had about not being able to help every single person who asks. But as I was walking home I realized I was feeling guilty. WTF? Why, after months of routinely being confronted with the same situation, was I suddenly feeling guilty about this one?
I thought maybe it was because I was buying food at the time, but I offered him food and he didn’t take it. Then I thought maybe because he mentioned his family, but I’ve actually been waylaid by mothers with children in-tow, so that wasn’t it either. It wasn’t until I got back to the house that I realized what it was. He was from Ghana…so this entire exchange occurred in English. Unlike most other times when I can dismiss the situation with a quick, “Ce n’est pas possible.” or the somewhat more deceptive but always effective, “A la prochaine.” (basically, “I’ll get you next time.”) this guy engaged me in my own language. Something about the fact that we were speaking English made it seem worse when I had to refuse his request. Why? The only thing I can come up with is that by speaking English he seemed more like me; there was less distance between us – he was less ètranger – and so it was harder. ♫ We are the world…♫ My ass!
So…a couple big things coming up. Next Friday, July 4th, there will be a big shindig at the Ambassador’s house to celebrate Independence Day. Then, after the festivities it’s off to the airport to greet the next batch of volunteers. There are 65 in total, including 12 SED and 3 ICT volunteers who I will be working with for the first week of training. Should be fun!
Then, toward the end of July we are going to execute the first step in the Marketing plan for CAMeC; a series of public information meetings all around the country to promote the use of arbitration and mediation as a way to resolve commercial disputes. We will have at least one stop in each of the 12 departments (basically, provinces) of Benin. It should last from 2-3 weeks and I’ll get to see most of the country in the process. More details as they become available.
Friday, June 20, 2008
Time flies...
This last month or so has been a challenging time for me, both physically and emotionally. In my last post I mentioned having strained a muscle in my side…well, it turns out that’s not what it was at all. After a week or so of the pain getting worse instead of better I went to see the PC Medical Officer (PCMO). He poked and prodded and asked lots of questions and came to the same conclusion I had already come to after consulting the Internet (aka, the oracle of all human truth) – that is, it might be a gall stone. So he sent me off to get an ultrasound and, sure enough, there was about a 2cm stone in my gall bladder. Yikes!
So, back to the PCMO who ran a bunch of more tests to try to eliminate every other possible cause of the pain. In the meantime, he got in touch with the Regional Medical Officer to discuss possible treatment options. As we were discussing these possibilities, including being MedEvac’d to either Senegal or the US for surgery, I developed a lovely case of shingles. This was bad on many levels. First, it put any treatment for the gall stone on hold, because it is caused by a virus (the chicken pox virus, actually), so nothing more could be done until the rash was entirely dissipated. Second, of course, is the fact that shingles are really painful…no REALLY painful! Like codeine-before-bed-so-you-can-get-to-sleep painful. No shit. And the kicker is that the pain from shingles can manifest up to a week before the rash appears, which meant that it was entirely possible that the pain I initially went in for was caused NOT by the gall stone but by the shingles, and the ultrasound had simply revealed an asymptomatic stone that was just hanging around in my gall bladder minding its own business.
All of which adds up to the fact that there was nothing to do but wait, endure the pain (!!!), and see if the pain was still around after the shingles went away. The good news, I guess, is that once the shingles passed, the pain went with them. Which on the one hand means no surgery (yeah!), but on the other means no free trip home or to Dakar (boo!). So I think that one comes up a wash.
While I was spending most of the week with the PCMO, my counterpart was in Burkina Faso at in international conference on arbitration. Apparently, because we were both away, MCA took that opportunity to move us into our new office space. This should be good news. We’ve been waiting for this since I got here. It’s one of the reasons the business plan was such a priority; we couldn’t move until the funds were disbursed, which couldn’t happen until the business plan was approved. Unfortunately, the building where our new space is located is brand new…or more accurately, unfinished. There is power, but there are no phone lines, no Internet connection, and no AC. There is also almost no furniture; just the few pieces that came over from the old office. So now we are in place in a huge new space with almost nowhere to work and almost no way to do work. Needless to say, I’ve been spending a lot of time at the PC bureau.
One recent weekend was the first time since I got here that I actively wished I could have been at home. The Northwest Chamber Chorus just celebrated its 40th anniversary. The mayor actually proclaimed a Northwest Chamber Chorus Day in the city of Seattle. My mom has been singing with the chorus for all 40 of those years. The Chamber Chorus has been a part of my life for almost as long as I can remember. Of course, I didn’t always appreciate it as much as I have come to in my adult years. There were times, admittedly, when I hated Monday nights because mother was always in a hurry to get out the door to rehearsal. But I also have very fond, if somewhat sketchy, memories of singing with the chorus when I was a young boy. I remember in particular singing “Food, Glorious Food” in the sanctuary at University Unitarian Church. (This may have been with the church choir, I’m not entirely certain.) These days, it’s not really Christmas-time until I’ve heard the NWCC version of A Child’s Christmas in Wales – preferably in a live concert. And, of course, I have very clear and wonderful memories of going with the Chorus on their tour to France and Italy back in 2000 (was it really that long ago?) and being able to join in the warmth and camaraderie that have sustained their 40-year tradition. What a marvelous experience and what a great group of people to have it with! I am sad that I wasn’t able to be there to hear the anniversary concert and to help my mom and my friends in the Chorus celebrate this wonderful milestone. Birthdays and holidays come around every year, but something like this that only happens once makes me realize that life la bas really does go on without me.
All of this stuff has me, really for the first time in my life, confronting the fact that I’m getting older (NOT old, just older). I am closer to the next big round number than I am to the last one, and that next one is a big one. I’m effectively embarking on what could fairly be described as my third career. A big part of me feels like I’ve been all these places and seen and done all these things and yet I don’t have a lot to show for it. But if you were to ask me what more I would want I’m not sure I could give you an answer. C’est la vie?
And seemingly in the blink of an eye another month has passed. I think it was Marx who said, “Time flies like an arrow; fruit flies like a banana.” (If you’re having trouble locating that reference in your copy of The Communist Manifesto, look under: Marx, Groucho.) Mother’s Day and Father’s Day have slipped by (not unnoticed – I love you and miss you both) and the 4th of July is rapidly approaching.
Speaking of the 4th of July, it is going to be a HUGE day for PC-Benin because the next group of trainees arrives in Cotonou that day. Yes, 65 more poor misguided souls have decided to give up their comfy little lives to spend two years in our little corner of Hell. (Mostly kidding!) Preparations are well underway for their arrival; a load of new mattresses (beware!) arrived at the bureau the other day, water bottles and gas bottles are blocking multiple passageways around here, and there are probably a hundred bicycles in various states of repair out in the courtyard. Stage will be held in and around Porto Novo this year, which should make the logistics a lot easier. I will be working as a trainer for the first week so I get to initiate the newbies into PC life and life here in Benin. Last year’s trainers did a great job of making us feel welcome and bringing us up to speed on la vie du Benin, so we have a lot to live up to. I have also recently been selected as co-coordinator for the Peer Support Network, a group of volunteers who are trained to provide confidential support and counseling to PCVs who need it. So, I will be visiting the stagiaires occasionally throughout their training to make sure all is well and to give them ideas for things they can do to ease their adjustment and better deal with culture shock.
I guess that’s about all the news for now. Keep those cards and letters coming.
So, back to the PCMO who ran a bunch of more tests to try to eliminate every other possible cause of the pain. In the meantime, he got in touch with the Regional Medical Officer to discuss possible treatment options. As we were discussing these possibilities, including being MedEvac’d to either Senegal or the US for surgery, I developed a lovely case of shingles. This was bad on many levels. First, it put any treatment for the gall stone on hold, because it is caused by a virus (the chicken pox virus, actually), so nothing more could be done until the rash was entirely dissipated. Second, of course, is the fact that shingles are really painful…no REALLY painful! Like codeine-before-bed-so-you-can-get-to-sleep painful. No shit. And the kicker is that the pain from shingles can manifest up to a week before the rash appears, which meant that it was entirely possible that the pain I initially went in for was caused NOT by the gall stone but by the shingles, and the ultrasound had simply revealed an asymptomatic stone that was just hanging around in my gall bladder minding its own business.
All of which adds up to the fact that there was nothing to do but wait, endure the pain (!!!), and see if the pain was still around after the shingles went away. The good news, I guess, is that once the shingles passed, the pain went with them. Which on the one hand means no surgery (yeah!), but on the other means no free trip home or to Dakar (boo!). So I think that one comes up a wash.
While I was spending most of the week with the PCMO, my counterpart was in Burkina Faso at in international conference on arbitration. Apparently, because we were both away, MCA took that opportunity to move us into our new office space. This should be good news. We’ve been waiting for this since I got here. It’s one of the reasons the business plan was such a priority; we couldn’t move until the funds were disbursed, which couldn’t happen until the business plan was approved. Unfortunately, the building where our new space is located is brand new…or more accurately, unfinished. There is power, but there are no phone lines, no Internet connection, and no AC. There is also almost no furniture; just the few pieces that came over from the old office. So now we are in place in a huge new space with almost nowhere to work and almost no way to do work. Needless to say, I’ve been spending a lot of time at the PC bureau.
One recent weekend was the first time since I got here that I actively wished I could have been at home. The Northwest Chamber Chorus just celebrated its 40th anniversary. The mayor actually proclaimed a Northwest Chamber Chorus Day in the city of Seattle. My mom has been singing with the chorus for all 40 of those years. The Chamber Chorus has been a part of my life for almost as long as I can remember. Of course, I didn’t always appreciate it as much as I have come to in my adult years. There were times, admittedly, when I hated Monday nights because mother was always in a hurry to get out the door to rehearsal. But I also have very fond, if somewhat sketchy, memories of singing with the chorus when I was a young boy. I remember in particular singing “Food, Glorious Food” in the sanctuary at University Unitarian Church. (This may have been with the church choir, I’m not entirely certain.) These days, it’s not really Christmas-time until I’ve heard the NWCC version of A Child’s Christmas in Wales – preferably in a live concert. And, of course, I have very clear and wonderful memories of going with the Chorus on their tour to France and Italy back in 2000 (was it really that long ago?) and being able to join in the warmth and camaraderie that have sustained their 40-year tradition. What a marvelous experience and what a great group of people to have it with! I am sad that I wasn’t able to be there to hear the anniversary concert and to help my mom and my friends in the Chorus celebrate this wonderful milestone. Birthdays and holidays come around every year, but something like this that only happens once makes me realize that life la bas really does go on without me.
All of this stuff has me, really for the first time in my life, confronting the fact that I’m getting older (NOT old, just older). I am closer to the next big round number than I am to the last one, and that next one is a big one. I’m effectively embarking on what could fairly be described as my third career. A big part of me feels like I’ve been all these places and seen and done all these things and yet I don’t have a lot to show for it. But if you were to ask me what more I would want I’m not sure I could give you an answer. C’est la vie?
And seemingly in the blink of an eye another month has passed. I think it was Marx who said, “Time flies like an arrow; fruit flies like a banana.” (If you’re having trouble locating that reference in your copy of The Communist Manifesto, look under: Marx, Groucho.) Mother’s Day and Father’s Day have slipped by (not unnoticed – I love you and miss you both) and the 4th of July is rapidly approaching.
Speaking of the 4th of July, it is going to be a HUGE day for PC-Benin because the next group of trainees arrives in Cotonou that day. Yes, 65 more poor misguided souls have decided to give up their comfy little lives to spend two years in our little corner of Hell. (Mostly kidding!) Preparations are well underway for their arrival; a load of new mattresses (beware!) arrived at the bureau the other day, water bottles and gas bottles are blocking multiple passageways around here, and there are probably a hundred bicycles in various states of repair out in the courtyard. Stage will be held in and around Porto Novo this year, which should make the logistics a lot easier. I will be working as a trainer for the first week so I get to initiate the newbies into PC life and life here in Benin. Last year’s trainers did a great job of making us feel welcome and bringing us up to speed on la vie du Benin, so we have a lot to live up to. I have also recently been selected as co-coordinator for the Peer Support Network, a group of volunteers who are trained to provide confidential support and counseling to PCVs who need it. So, I will be visiting the stagiaires occasionally throughout their training to make sure all is well and to give them ideas for things they can do to ease their adjustment and better deal with culture shock.
I guess that’s about all the news for now. Keep those cards and letters coming.
Saturday, May 17, 2008
Random observations of a Peace Corps volunteer.
Sitting here safe inside my office while a heck of a storm blows around outside. It looks a little like those pictures you see on CNN of the approaching hurricane; lots of wind, sideways rain and a few brave or foolish souls running for what appears to be their lives. Litter and loose objects clattering down the street headed G_d knows where. It’s really quite intense. I guess I won’t be going out for a while.
Many aspects of Western culture have found their way to West Africa and been fully embraced here in Benin. Hip-hop is HUGE here. There are even indigenous rappers who get massive play on Beninese radio. (…at full volume, at all hours of the night. I’m not sayin’; I’m just sayin’…) Cell phones, obviously. Most of Africa is just blowing right past the land line infrastructure, which is time consuming and expensive, and going straight to building cell towers. And, I might add, their pricing and service are much easier and more progressive. You buy a phone, then you buy a SIM card for whatever network you want (more often than not, several) and install it in your phone. Then you purchase credit for that network and load it on the SIM card and its good for TWO YEARS!!!!! No predatory, penalty-laden contracts like we have in the States. And the sale of “recharge” cards is an enormous part of the informal economy here. The cell companies allow you to purchase them in bulk at a discount, so there are 2-6 people at every major intersection in Cotonou selling credit for whatever network you might need.
[Just looked outside again and it now looks much more like the hurricane has arrived. Ten times more rain, the wind has probably doubled, huge fronds blowing off the palms outside…I just had to get up and put a chair in front of the door because the wind had blown it open. Big fun!]
Street vendors are a ubiquitous feature of life in Cotonou, by the way. The array of goods that it is possible to buy on a random Cotonou street corner is truly astounding. I think I mentioned before that the typical Beninese gas station is a table on the side of the road covered with recycled bottles and jugs full of smuggled Nigerian gasoline. But, I’ve also seen blenders, alarms clocks, wall clocks, watches, purses, belts, shoes, luggage, stereos, DVD players, guitars, mattresses and even small appliances. You gotta see it to believe it.
Speaking of mattresses…one aspect of Western society that has yet to reach this (…not exactly G_d forsaken, but at least divinely neglected) part of the world is modern mattress technology. I have three beds in my house (not counting the fold-away cot). None of them has a spring mattress. There are mattress stores all over Cotonou. None of THEM has a spring mattress. They are non-existent here. Mattresses in Benin consist of nothing more than foam (of widely variable thickness, density and quality) surrounded by fabric. Regardless of the various qualities of the foam, none of these mattresses are terribly durable or long lasting. The big double mattress on my bed has a very distinct valley in the middle from having been slept on for seven months. It has gotten to the point where it is self-exacerbating, because regardless of how hard I try to sleep nearer the edge where the good foam is, as soon as I fall asleep (and thus relax) I roll down into the valley for the rest of the night.
Writing that now it sounds almost comical, but I assure you it’s not. A few nights ago I was attempting to find a comfortable position on the limp tortilla that passes for a mattress on one of the guest beds and I managed to pull an oblique muscle in my rib cage. Any of you who have had such an injury know how much it sucks. If you haven’t, it is easily the most inconveniencing injury I’ve ever had (and I’ve had quite a few in my day). It is nearly impossible to carry on a normal daily life without using your oblique muscles almost constantly. This, of course, prompts one to try to compensate for the lack of regular mobility, so that now my whole trunk – from my neck to my ass – is out of whack. So from trying to get comfortable, I now wake up with a sharp pain SOMEWHERE every time I even move in my sleep.
Anybody got a spare mattress?
I’ve been enjoying very much having a refrigerator. I had no idea the heights of rapture that could result from a simple bowl of Jell-o. Never again will I doubt Bill Cosby.
A new side project has come my way since our All-Vol conference. During the conference we viewed a video that was made to commemorate the 45th Anniversary of PC in Togo. It turns out this year is the 40th anniversary of PC-Benin and our Country Director wants to make something similar to show at the big fete. So I have volunteered to take the lead on this little project. I get to go through 1,000s of photos and slides, as well as a couple boxes of video tapes, and try to distill the history and experiences of PC-Benin over the last 40 years; all in under 10 minutes. Should be fun!
It has lately become clear to me that PC is not primarily a development organization. Now this may have been obvious to many of my cohorts (and to many of you for all I know) before we left, but it was not to me. I came here believing that my primary purpose was to improve the lives of the Beninese people. Now mind you, if I can actually do that…so much the better. But the real reason we are here is to appear to be making the lives of the people better. We are really nothing more than poorly paid goodwill ambassadors for the good ol’ U. S. of A. As long as we can live within the culture and make it look like our intentions are good (which, don’t get me wrong, they are for the vast majority) then we have done our jobs well. Honestly, anything we accomplish beyond that is gravy. This realization has taken a lot of the pressure off of me to “accomplish something.” It has also made me want even more to go to work for an actual development organization once my degree is finished; if only to see what that would look like.
On that subject, some things to consider: I will probably take the Foreign Service exam in November, either at the embassy here or in Abidjan. Why? Because there are FS positions with USAid that I will qualify for once I have my MPA. Now, this depends entirely on who wins the election in November, but it’s a possibility. Equally dependant upon that outcome is the possibility of applying for a Presidential Management Fellowship. A PMF would most likely put me in DC, working for a similar agency, USAid, Millennium Challenge, State Dept., USDA, etc. There is also a small possibility that I could get an overseas appointment as a PMF. Also, anyone who knows or has connections to anyone in the international development arena, please mention that you know a PCV who will be coming home to complete an MPA next year – I need all the contacts I can make. Finally, from perusing various web sites that aggregate job listings in this area it seems quite likely that I may end up working in a post- (or even an active) conflict area at some point in the not-too-distant future. Ethiopia, Sudan, Angola, East Timor, Somalia, even Afghanistan and Iraq all figure prominently in the development world right now. This is by no means a certainty, but I mention it mostly to make the possibility explicit so I can mentally prepare for it. C’est la vie…
Many aspects of Western culture have found their way to West Africa and been fully embraced here in Benin. Hip-hop is HUGE here. There are even indigenous rappers who get massive play on Beninese radio. (…at full volume, at all hours of the night. I’m not sayin’; I’m just sayin’…) Cell phones, obviously. Most of Africa is just blowing right past the land line infrastructure, which is time consuming and expensive, and going straight to building cell towers. And, I might add, their pricing and service are much easier and more progressive. You buy a phone, then you buy a SIM card for whatever network you want (more often than not, several) and install it in your phone. Then you purchase credit for that network and load it on the SIM card and its good for TWO YEARS!!!!! No predatory, penalty-laden contracts like we have in the States. And the sale of “recharge” cards is an enormous part of the informal economy here. The cell companies allow you to purchase them in bulk at a discount, so there are 2-6 people at every major intersection in Cotonou selling credit for whatever network you might need.
[Just looked outside again and it now looks much more like the hurricane has arrived. Ten times more rain, the wind has probably doubled, huge fronds blowing off the palms outside…I just had to get up and put a chair in front of the door because the wind had blown it open. Big fun!]
Street vendors are a ubiquitous feature of life in Cotonou, by the way. The array of goods that it is possible to buy on a random Cotonou street corner is truly astounding. I think I mentioned before that the typical Beninese gas station is a table on the side of the road covered with recycled bottles and jugs full of smuggled Nigerian gasoline. But, I’ve also seen blenders, alarms clocks, wall clocks, watches, purses, belts, shoes, luggage, stereos, DVD players, guitars, mattresses and even small appliances. You gotta see it to believe it.
Speaking of mattresses…one aspect of Western society that has yet to reach this (…not exactly G_d forsaken, but at least divinely neglected) part of the world is modern mattress technology. I have three beds in my house (not counting the fold-away cot). None of them has a spring mattress. There are mattress stores all over Cotonou. None of THEM has a spring mattress. They are non-existent here. Mattresses in Benin consist of nothing more than foam (of widely variable thickness, density and quality) surrounded by fabric. Regardless of the various qualities of the foam, none of these mattresses are terribly durable or long lasting. The big double mattress on my bed has a very distinct valley in the middle from having been slept on for seven months. It has gotten to the point where it is self-exacerbating, because regardless of how hard I try to sleep nearer the edge where the good foam is, as soon as I fall asleep (and thus relax) I roll down into the valley for the rest of the night.
Writing that now it sounds almost comical, but I assure you it’s not. A few nights ago I was attempting to find a comfortable position on the limp tortilla that passes for a mattress on one of the guest beds and I managed to pull an oblique muscle in my rib cage. Any of you who have had such an injury know how much it sucks. If you haven’t, it is easily the most inconveniencing injury I’ve ever had (and I’ve had quite a few in my day). It is nearly impossible to carry on a normal daily life without using your oblique muscles almost constantly. This, of course, prompts one to try to compensate for the lack of regular mobility, so that now my whole trunk – from my neck to my ass – is out of whack. So from trying to get comfortable, I now wake up with a sharp pain SOMEWHERE every time I even move in my sleep.
Anybody got a spare mattress?
I’ve been enjoying very much having a refrigerator. I had no idea the heights of rapture that could result from a simple bowl of Jell-o. Never again will I doubt Bill Cosby.
A new side project has come my way since our All-Vol conference. During the conference we viewed a video that was made to commemorate the 45th Anniversary of PC in Togo. It turns out this year is the 40th anniversary of PC-Benin and our Country Director wants to make something similar to show at the big fete. So I have volunteered to take the lead on this little project. I get to go through 1,000s of photos and slides, as well as a couple boxes of video tapes, and try to distill the history and experiences of PC-Benin over the last 40 years; all in under 10 minutes. Should be fun!
It has lately become clear to me that PC is not primarily a development organization. Now this may have been obvious to many of my cohorts (and to many of you for all I know) before we left, but it was not to me. I came here believing that my primary purpose was to improve the lives of the Beninese people. Now mind you, if I can actually do that…so much the better. But the real reason we are here is to appear to be making the lives of the people better. We are really nothing more than poorly paid goodwill ambassadors for the good ol’ U. S. of A. As long as we can live within the culture and make it look like our intentions are good (which, don’t get me wrong, they are for the vast majority) then we have done our jobs well. Honestly, anything we accomplish beyond that is gravy. This realization has taken a lot of the pressure off of me to “accomplish something.” It has also made me want even more to go to work for an actual development organization once my degree is finished; if only to see what that would look like.
On that subject, some things to consider: I will probably take the Foreign Service exam in November, either at the embassy here or in Abidjan. Why? Because there are FS positions with USAid that I will qualify for once I have my MPA. Now, this depends entirely on who wins the election in November, but it’s a possibility. Equally dependant upon that outcome is the possibility of applying for a Presidential Management Fellowship. A PMF would most likely put me in DC, working for a similar agency, USAid, Millennium Challenge, State Dept., USDA, etc. There is also a small possibility that I could get an overseas appointment as a PMF. Also, anyone who knows or has connections to anyone in the international development arena, please mention that you know a PCV who will be coming home to complete an MPA next year – I need all the contacts I can make. Finally, from perusing various web sites that aggregate job listings in this area it seems quite likely that I may end up working in a post- (or even an active) conflict area at some point in the not-too-distant future. Ethiopia, Sudan, Angola, East Timor, Somalia, even Afghanistan and Iraq all figure prominently in the development world right now. This is by no means a certainty, but I mention it mostly to make the possibility explicit so I can mentally prepare for it. C’est la vie…
The good, the bad and the...you get the idea
April 14, 2008
Please forgive the (latest) loooong delay between my updates. It has been a difficult few weeks for me here and I didn’t want to just vent my frustrations at everyone. That being said, it has by no means been “all bad” and I have no intention of leaving early as have some of my erstwhile colleagues. I am beginning to make plans for my Masters Degree project and am actively looking for ways to become more engaged in my (or some other) community. As with all things, PC is what you make of it and I am determined to make something I can be proud of when all is said and done. So…
Many of you have enquired as to what my daily routine is like. Oddly, it isn’t very different from many of you…for better or worse. Unlike “normal” PCVs who live and work primarily in small towns and villages far from Western amenities, I work in an office in Cotonou, with AC and internet. I work a normal “9-to-5” work week, although with a tad more flexibility than most of you probably have. I’m working on the marketing aspects of our little operation right now, so I spend time making contacts with press, business groups, gov’t officials, etc. – anyone who is in a position to help us get the word out. I spend what seems like an inordinate amount of time in meetings – many/most of which are frustrating on multiple levels. Often my French ability (STILL) proves to be inadequate for me to understand much of what is being discussed. Often, even when it is clear, we end up discussing (i.e., arguing over) trivialities. (An hour and twenty minutes deciding whether or not to offer a cocktail at our opening reception; I kid you not!)
I proposed a Marketing Plan for CAMeC back in December (I think) and a major source of my frustration is that it has yet to be addressed in any meaningful way. We’ve had one meeting about it in which we spent an hour and a half wordsmithing the first page. No one appears to want (or maybe to be ready) to discuss the substance of the proposals. One potentially interesting idea in the proposal is to create a radio serial with a lawyer/barrister as the protagonist. Each week he handles a new case and shepards it through the arbitration/mediation process, all to the satisfaction of both parties. Programs like this have been effective in other parts of Africa regarding other issues (HIV/AIDS, female genital cutting, domestic violence). We’ll have to see if it works for us or if we can even afford it, as I have no idea how much it would cost to produce here; especially since we would probably need to produce it in at least six languages (French, Fon, Yoruba, Bariba, Dendi and Adja)
Such are the pitfalls of having the least PC-like job in all of PC. Having a “real job,” I keep expecting things to happen at the pace of a real job in the USA. Such is distinctly NOT the case here. I don’t know if they just don’t yet understand that a deadline is actually a deadline, or if they just think that “somehow” the work will magically get done, or if they think the money will keep coming whether or not anything gets done…I just don’t know. And I don’t have any authority to act on my own. I can give them advice, I can cajole them, I can make suggestions – often very pointed ones – but I can’t actually DO any of the real work. I had a chance to have lunch with the Country Director for Millennium Challenge and her deputy on Friday and we’re going to stay in contact and see how things develop.
While all of that has been building, I have not been sitting still, however. I recently traveled all the way up to the Nigerien (not Nigerian) border to a town called Malanville, where another PCV had asked me to help with her women’s group. She is teaching them to make things like handbags and coin purses out of recycled plastic bags (there are A LOT of them in Benin). So she asked me to come up and talk to them about how to sell the stuff she is teaching them to make. For almost a week I got a taste of what “real” PCVs do on a daily basis. It was very eye-opening. Malanville is the farthest north PCV in Benin – and it’s f’ing HOT there. I think one day it only got to 98 degrees, every other day was over 100. THIS is why everyone goes inside and closes their doors between 12:30 and 3:00pm every day. You would die of dehydration otherwise. We spent one entire day at the only nice hotel in town, lounging by the pool and sipping the occasional beverage. Ultimately, we did a little work, had a lot of fun, and generally just enjoyed being out of Cotonou for a week. Everything up there is very different, from the weather to the landscape, to the people, to the food. It was a nice change.
Then the last weekend in March was our All-Volunteer conference. All the Benin PCVs got together at a nice hotel here in Cotonou for three days of workshops and drinking…um, I mean…training. The hotel has a pool, HOT showers (nobody in PC has a water heater) Wi-Fi in the rooms, a great restaurant and bar (DRAFT beer) with a patio that overlooks the lagoon…very nice place. It was a lot of fun – and surprisingly relevant. We had a general venting session called “Rumor Busters” where everyone had a chance to voice whatever rumors they had been hearing and got more or less frank answers from PC Admin. We had sessions on what is or is not working with PC Benin and got the opportunity to suggest our own solutions. And we had lots of sector-specific sessions where we got to share experiences and compare notes with the other PCVs in our sector. That was actually the least valuable for me, since I’m doing the least PC-like job in PC. Not much to “compare” to, I’m afraid. Of course, when we weren’t in session we were hanging out by the pool, drinking cold draft beer and eating pizza. ;-)
One of the highlights of All-Vol is the annual talent show (and date auction). Yes, I performed in the talent show. My friend Ben and I did a duet of an Irving Berlin tune, C-U-B-A (shout out to the Austin Lounge Lizards). Someone got it on video, so as soon as I get it I’ll post it here. We were a big hit, though we didn’t “win” on account of we had to go first and the judges had to leave room in their scores for the later acts. (Sour grapes, anyone?) The date auction (think, Bill Murray and Chris Elliot in Groundhog Day) is a strictly unofficial event organized by Benin PCVs to supplement the funds raised by the other big highlight of the weekend, the GAD Dinner and Auction.
GAD is the Gender and Development project, specifically intended to ensure that women and girls are accounted for in our efforts to assist the people of Benin. GAD funds a myriad of small projects throughout the country throughout the year and is almost entirely funded by the proceeds from the annual auction(s). All the PCVs have really amazing outfits made and let me tell ya, we clean up pretty good. Most of the ex-pat community in Cotonou is invited and they spend lots of money on lots of stuff to help support GAD. A grand time was had by all. I did my part as well, replacing my poor dead iPod with a brand new iPod Shuffle that was kindly donated by the nice folks at Apple. I also bought a basket of chocolate that somehow had two small boxes of Frangos!!!! in it. They were little boxes of four mints each and they managed to make it all the way here without melting…don’t ask me how.
Luckily, the remaining chocolate hasn’t melted yet because I recently got a REFRIGERATOR! (Full-size with a freezer!) Yes, folks, it’s hardly like Africa at all now that I can make ice, buy butter and store leftovers. Admittedly it cost me a bit of money, but I expect to more than pay for it over the next 18 months as I can now keep food fresh for more than 48 hours at a time. I can also buy things like beverages, meat and cheese in bulk quantities for much cheaper than by the meal’s worth. In the last week I have had ham and cheese and grilled cheese sandwiches. I realize that this may seem insignificant to you, but after 9 months of mostly starch this is HUGE! This alone has made an enormous improvement in my overall level of happiness. (Not to mention the cold beer.)
On the flip side, however, I recently had a zemidjahn driver try to mug me on the way home from a restaurant…so you take the bad with the good. I managed to get away unharmed and without loss, so it’s OK. But it didn’t make me feel very “warm and fuzzy.”
I’m getting involved with some side projects here and there. A volunteer who is working with the national parks department is going to put together a Benin tourism website (probably a wiki) and has asked me to be responsible for the section on Cotonou. I’m going to ask Jacques (my APCD) if I can get reimbursed for eating in restaurants and staying in hotels around town as part of my “research” for this project. Wish me luck…
I’m teaching a class on Business Leadership at a Biz Mgmt school here in Cotonou. I’m teaching it in English which is great for me but sometimes tough on the students. The idea is to expose them to a professional level English vocabulary while at the same time teaching them something about leadership. I try not to resort to French unless I really have to. I’m never quite sure if the students are “getting it” or not. But I get the occasional really intelligent question or insightful counter-argument that let’s me know that at least some of them are getting something. I figure that’s the best I can hope for.
Coming up at the end of April is a workshop on how to start and operate a village savings and loan association – basically, a micro-credit program. This should be very interesting, if not terribly applicable to my primary project. But once I’ve been through it, I can take the information to other PCV’s posts – like Meagan up in Malanville – and help them start programs in their villages. Yet another good reason to get the hell out of Cotonou for a while. (Can you tell it’s not my favorite place on Earth?)
And the thing that I think I’m most energized about. There have been a group of three filmmakers in Benin for the last few months working on a documentary about child trafficking. It is a big and much underappreciated problem in Benin. They recently went back to the states to resume their “normal” lives and to edit and complete their film. (For more on their project go to: http://unseenstories.wordpress.com/about/ ) They are going to be returning next summer with a short animated film in multiple languages that they will tour around the country, giving screenings and educating people about the issue. This tour is going to be largely focused around PCVs and their communities and I am helping to organize the tour. At the same time, lots of PCVs are holding independent events highlighting the problem; the first is a rap concert/party in Parakou on May 17th organized by my friend and fellow PCV Jaren Tichy in Tchaorou.
That’s about it from here. Saturday, I’m going to a Passover Seder at the home of our Country Director. That should be interesting. Other than that, I’m reading lots of books and watching lots of movies. I highly recommend Charlie Wilson's War and a novel called Arthur and George, by Julian Barnes.
Please forgive the (latest) loooong delay between my updates. It has been a difficult few weeks for me here and I didn’t want to just vent my frustrations at everyone. That being said, it has by no means been “all bad” and I have no intention of leaving early as have some of my erstwhile colleagues. I am beginning to make plans for my Masters Degree project and am actively looking for ways to become more engaged in my (or some other) community. As with all things, PC is what you make of it and I am determined to make something I can be proud of when all is said and done. So…
Many of you have enquired as to what my daily routine is like. Oddly, it isn’t very different from many of you…for better or worse. Unlike “normal” PCVs who live and work primarily in small towns and villages far from Western amenities, I work in an office in Cotonou, with AC and internet. I work a normal “9-to-5” work week, although with a tad more flexibility than most of you probably have. I’m working on the marketing aspects of our little operation right now, so I spend time making contacts with press, business groups, gov’t officials, etc. – anyone who is in a position to help us get the word out. I spend what seems like an inordinate amount of time in meetings – many/most of which are frustrating on multiple levels. Often my French ability (STILL) proves to be inadequate for me to understand much of what is being discussed. Often, even when it is clear, we end up discussing (i.e., arguing over) trivialities. (An hour and twenty minutes deciding whether or not to offer a cocktail at our opening reception; I kid you not!)
I proposed a Marketing Plan for CAMeC back in December (I think) and a major source of my frustration is that it has yet to be addressed in any meaningful way. We’ve had one meeting about it in which we spent an hour and a half wordsmithing the first page. No one appears to want (or maybe to be ready) to discuss the substance of the proposals. One potentially interesting idea in the proposal is to create a radio serial with a lawyer/barrister as the protagonist. Each week he handles a new case and shepards it through the arbitration/mediation process, all to the satisfaction of both parties. Programs like this have been effective in other parts of Africa regarding other issues (HIV/AIDS, female genital cutting, domestic violence). We’ll have to see if it works for us or if we can even afford it, as I have no idea how much it would cost to produce here; especially since we would probably need to produce it in at least six languages (French, Fon, Yoruba, Bariba, Dendi and Adja)
Such are the pitfalls of having the least PC-like job in all of PC. Having a “real job,” I keep expecting things to happen at the pace of a real job in the USA. Such is distinctly NOT the case here. I don’t know if they just don’t yet understand that a deadline is actually a deadline, or if they just think that “somehow” the work will magically get done, or if they think the money will keep coming whether or not anything gets done…I just don’t know. And I don’t have any authority to act on my own. I can give them advice, I can cajole them, I can make suggestions – often very pointed ones – but I can’t actually DO any of the real work. I had a chance to have lunch with the Country Director for Millennium Challenge and her deputy on Friday and we’re going to stay in contact and see how things develop.
While all of that has been building, I have not been sitting still, however. I recently traveled all the way up to the Nigerien (not Nigerian) border to a town called Malanville, where another PCV had asked me to help with her women’s group. She is teaching them to make things like handbags and coin purses out of recycled plastic bags (there are A LOT of them in Benin). So she asked me to come up and talk to them about how to sell the stuff she is teaching them to make. For almost a week I got a taste of what “real” PCVs do on a daily basis. It was very eye-opening. Malanville is the farthest north PCV in Benin – and it’s f’ing HOT there. I think one day it only got to 98 degrees, every other day was over 100. THIS is why everyone goes inside and closes their doors between 12:30 and 3:00pm every day. You would die of dehydration otherwise. We spent one entire day at the only nice hotel in town, lounging by the pool and sipping the occasional beverage. Ultimately, we did a little work, had a lot of fun, and generally just enjoyed being out of Cotonou for a week. Everything up there is very different, from the weather to the landscape, to the people, to the food. It was a nice change.
Then the last weekend in March was our All-Volunteer conference. All the Benin PCVs got together at a nice hotel here in Cotonou for three days of workshops and drinking…um, I mean…training. The hotel has a pool, HOT showers (nobody in PC has a water heater) Wi-Fi in the rooms, a great restaurant and bar (DRAFT beer) with a patio that overlooks the lagoon…very nice place. It was a lot of fun – and surprisingly relevant. We had a general venting session called “Rumor Busters” where everyone had a chance to voice whatever rumors they had been hearing and got more or less frank answers from PC Admin. We had sessions on what is or is not working with PC Benin and got the opportunity to suggest our own solutions. And we had lots of sector-specific sessions where we got to share experiences and compare notes with the other PCVs in our sector. That was actually the least valuable for me, since I’m doing the least PC-like job in PC. Not much to “compare” to, I’m afraid. Of course, when we weren’t in session we were hanging out by the pool, drinking cold draft beer and eating pizza. ;-)
One of the highlights of All-Vol is the annual talent show (and date auction). Yes, I performed in the talent show. My friend Ben and I did a duet of an Irving Berlin tune, C-U-B-A (shout out to the Austin Lounge Lizards). Someone got it on video, so as soon as I get it I’ll post it here. We were a big hit, though we didn’t “win” on account of we had to go first and the judges had to leave room in their scores for the later acts. (Sour grapes, anyone?) The date auction (think, Bill Murray and Chris Elliot in Groundhog Day) is a strictly unofficial event organized by Benin PCVs to supplement the funds raised by the other big highlight of the weekend, the GAD Dinner and Auction.
GAD is the Gender and Development project, specifically intended to ensure that women and girls are accounted for in our efforts to assist the people of Benin. GAD funds a myriad of small projects throughout the country throughout the year and is almost entirely funded by the proceeds from the annual auction(s). All the PCVs have really amazing outfits made and let me tell ya, we clean up pretty good. Most of the ex-pat community in Cotonou is invited and they spend lots of money on lots of stuff to help support GAD. A grand time was had by all. I did my part as well, replacing my poor dead iPod with a brand new iPod Shuffle that was kindly donated by the nice folks at Apple. I also bought a basket of chocolate that somehow had two small boxes of Frangos!!!! in it. They were little boxes of four mints each and they managed to make it all the way here without melting…don’t ask me how.
Luckily, the remaining chocolate hasn’t melted yet because I recently got a REFRIGERATOR! (Full-size with a freezer!) Yes, folks, it’s hardly like Africa at all now that I can make ice, buy butter and store leftovers. Admittedly it cost me a bit of money, but I expect to more than pay for it over the next 18 months as I can now keep food fresh for more than 48 hours at a time. I can also buy things like beverages, meat and cheese in bulk quantities for much cheaper than by the meal’s worth. In the last week I have had ham and cheese and grilled cheese sandwiches. I realize that this may seem insignificant to you, but after 9 months of mostly starch this is HUGE! This alone has made an enormous improvement in my overall level of happiness. (Not to mention the cold beer.)
On the flip side, however, I recently had a zemidjahn driver try to mug me on the way home from a restaurant…so you take the bad with the good. I managed to get away unharmed and without loss, so it’s OK. But it didn’t make me feel very “warm and fuzzy.”
I’m getting involved with some side projects here and there. A volunteer who is working with the national parks department is going to put together a Benin tourism website (probably a wiki) and has asked me to be responsible for the section on Cotonou. I’m going to ask Jacques (my APCD) if I can get reimbursed for eating in restaurants and staying in hotels around town as part of my “research” for this project. Wish me luck…
I’m teaching a class on Business Leadership at a Biz Mgmt school here in Cotonou. I’m teaching it in English which is great for me but sometimes tough on the students. The idea is to expose them to a professional level English vocabulary while at the same time teaching them something about leadership. I try not to resort to French unless I really have to. I’m never quite sure if the students are “getting it” or not. But I get the occasional really intelligent question or insightful counter-argument that let’s me know that at least some of them are getting something. I figure that’s the best I can hope for.
Coming up at the end of April is a workshop on how to start and operate a village savings and loan association – basically, a micro-credit program. This should be very interesting, if not terribly applicable to my primary project. But once I’ve been through it, I can take the information to other PCV’s posts – like Meagan up in Malanville – and help them start programs in their villages. Yet another good reason to get the hell out of Cotonou for a while. (Can you tell it’s not my favorite place on Earth?)
And the thing that I think I’m most energized about. There have been a group of three filmmakers in Benin for the last few months working on a documentary about child trafficking. It is a big and much underappreciated problem in Benin. They recently went back to the states to resume their “normal” lives and to edit and complete their film. (For more on their project go to: http://unseenstories.wordpress.com/about/ ) They are going to be returning next summer with a short animated film in multiple languages that they will tour around the country, giving screenings and educating people about the issue. This tour is going to be largely focused around PCVs and their communities and I am helping to organize the tour. At the same time, lots of PCVs are holding independent events highlighting the problem; the first is a rap concert/party in Parakou on May 17th organized by my friend and fellow PCV Jaren Tichy in Tchaorou.
That’s about it from here. Saturday, I’m going to a Passover Seder at the home of our Country Director. That should be interesting. Other than that, I’m reading lots of books and watching lots of movies. I highly recommend Charlie Wilson's War and a novel called Arthur and George, by Julian Barnes.
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