“Benin’s scarecrow”

Bean field near my house

18.08.2007

Had a great week in Azové with the training of the new volunteers. We do a rotation, and mine was the third week. Each week, they have about 20 hours of French, along with other random health, admin, biking, and cultural sessions. Then there is the technical training, where we second-year volunteers come in. We first took them to meet some different artisans in the community in order to see what they do and how they do it. Then I gave a two hour presentation on Savings and Credit in Benin, and how to teach it to Beninese. I did this in Franglish, as its good for the trainee’s to get used to French, yet hear enough English as to not be totally lost. It went well, and they are excited about getting started. Another volunteer and I also did a short skit on the differences in culture. At the end of the week, they learned their posts, and so that was a big celebration and a lot of excitement that lasted well into the night. Saturday they practiced with a Beninese class and I was really proud of how they did. This group of trainees sure has the stories. One girl has lived in Bangladesh for the past three years, working at an orphanage and studying at a meditation center. She invited me for dinner with her host family two times during the week and it was just incredibly interesting to talk with her. Another volunteer has been in the Air Force for more than 10 years, and has met two former US Presidents and M. Gorbachov. And he brought M and M’s to share! It was also cool to spend the week with the language teachers, as I have become friends with some of them in the past year, and now can finally speak good French with them. One of them, Sophie, invited me to dinner and we ate three plates of beans and gari! My favorite dish. We also had a group soccer game one evening which was so fun in the midst of a spectacular sunset.
The week was considered “work,” but really was a needed break with some interesting new people! Came back last Saturday and there was a big party going down in Avrankou, so hung out there with a lot of friends and my little four year old friend feel asleep on my lap. It was nice to come home to. This week I have been getting back into the routine, and reorganizing and planning some work for the coming months, as well as preparing to receive my parents, which amongst other things, means considerable housecleaning which is badly needed! I can’t wait to have them here. I started English tutoring with the kids at tanté’s house. They are at very different levels, so I break up the time. It is laid back and relaxing and I love how they love to learn. Always good attitudes and big smiles.
More later. Have a nice day. Love, Sara

samedi 4 août 2007

Sorry for the long absence. I have been fighting off some minor illnesses, but am all better now. Made it one year, without malaria! Knock on wood. Won’t mention the side effects of the anti malarial though. My good friend Tanté has been taking care of me, and makes sure I check in with our medical unit in Cotonou now and then. It feels good to have a “family” here to watch after me. I have been talking to most of you who are still with me on here, but here’s an update. I have been doing computer training with my artisans at my NGO. It is twice a week; really simple, start-up stuff. Took them a while to learn the basics- keyboard, mouse, etc. But now have moved on to Microsoft Word and Excel. This group was granted a computer by a Swiss NGO, so I am helping them learn the basics to enable them to perform simple bookkeeping and letter writing. I am still working on getting my orphanage project online, but taking a while as I am working with a lot of different people and to get the budget together takes a while, amongst my other work. Still doing the usual stuff – English with the apprentices, working on processing and marketing of Moringa plant with my rural women’s group, and planning some stuff for the coming school year. The new volunteers arrived a few weeks ago, and we were there to receive them. There were a couple of Iowans, so will be fun to talk to them. I will be working their training this coming week. I will be teaching them how to give sessions on savings and credit to Beninese groups, in addition to helping with general questions, translating, and logistical stuff with one other volunteer. Can’t believe it has been a year for me! One more to go.

In preparation for my parents visit in one month, my counterpart took me to a sacred voodoo site in the jungle near his house. We stepped in a sacred pond and gave coins to the fetish; afterwards a very old lady said in local language that the fetish had accepted my offering and I will go on my way under good spirits. Was very interesting, and will be cool to take them and do a full program there. Speaking of that, the fields near my house have different articles of voodoo in them. There are fetishes all around me, and sticks with random stuff tied on them in the crops to prevent theft. Kind of like we have scarecrows. I guess it works really well, as the majority of people believe (on some level) the Voodoo around us. And speaking of crops, I planted a few seeds that were sent to me with my women’s groups-- some varieties of green beans, cabbage, and peanuts. We will see if these take off, and I will help them market them. If they don’t work, well at least I had fun planting them. It felt so good to do some gardening. And since it is finally the rainy season, there isn’t much sun so I’m loving being outside! I also planted some sugarcane in my yard, with the help of some eager neighborhood kids. That should be fun! I have so much fun with the kids, as always. They just can’t get over the fact that I enjoy playing with them and acting silly. We chase chickens together, I help set up their peanut stands, help shell the peanuts for them when they are having a snack, and we eat local food together with our hands. Its fun bonding experiences, and just like another volunteer said, “I couldn’t’ make it here two years without my kids.” So true. They really make it fun and give you needed strength. My little Masim spent a Saturday with me, splitting banana tree leaves, and cooking snails on my porch. Never got a good fire going, and so the snails were prob. still alive when he pulled them apart and left all the guts on my terrace. Hehe. I didn’t even care; I love that something different happens every single day. I was happy to be around him, and as always, was interesting seeing how kids view things here. My cell phone has been cut for four weeks now. The provider is fighting with the government over taxes due or something, so that’s a little frustrating. Even in Africa, I managed to become addicted to cell service. Just can’t escape it.

Everyone have a great day! Love from Africa. Sara