Hello Everyone!
What’s new in the last two weeks? Time marches on relentlessly,
doesn’t it? I hope all is well with you and yours.
As far as life in Founougo is concerned, I am happy to
finally be comfortably busy with good work. The latrine project marches on.
Camille and I are recording weekly radio shows. And I am continuing to work
with secondary school students trying to get a garden started.
Within that context, I have come up with a couple anecdotes
to share with you all.
Last week I got to help a student use the computer.
Djafarou, one of the most enthusiastic Environment Club members, came over to
my house one evening last week. He explained that an NGO “Education for All” is
holding a trivia contest and the 100 students in the county with the best
responses will receive laptops. Djafarou said that he expected that many
students would have teachers answer the questions for them. I am not sure if
that is true, but /I/ wasn’t about to give him the answers! I told him to meet
me at the radio station and we would use my computer and internet key to find
the answers on Google. When we finally sat down, I pulled up French Google, and
told Djafarou to write in his question. Then he really asked me, “How do I
write it?” “… with the letters,” I replied. Needless to say, it was a very slow
session. I don’t think that he had really every used a computer before, never
mind Google. Fortunately, I had helped teach a computer basics ESOL class in
Dorchester, and I thought back to the patience I had used for that. Djafarou
was actually pretty good at discerning which response from Google he wanted to
use. Also, he didn’t write his answers right on the contest sheet. Oh, no. He
wrote them on a scrap piece of notebook paper so that he could write the
answers in neatly later. I hope he succeeds, I thought that he did well.
A big part of the last two weeks has been trying to agree
about some sort of student garden here in Founougo. Forgive me if I repeat from
last post, but last year we just sort of jumped into gardening at the school
without much of a plan. Some things worked out, some things didn’t. This year I
was determined to start with a better plan of attack, before people put a lot
of work into an ill-fated endeavor. It looks like the students of the
Environment Club and I will be doing a vegetable garden close to the seasonally
flooded road. Baron, my great work partner found a space. The land is
relatively very fertile, and there is water available. My biggest concern is
seeing that kids stick to a schedule and water the garden regularly, even
without a school administrator ordering them to do so. We have broken ground,
and we will see how it goes!
The past weekend was Gaani Fête in Banikoara, our nearest
big town. Gaani Fête is the traditional holiday for the Bariba, the most
predominant ethnic group in this area. The Bariba kings of different areas get
together and ride through town on horses. I remember last year, getting to
watch people do synchronized traditional dance, and getting to be randomly
invited into people’s homes to eat. It was perhaps my favorite cultural moment
up until that point. This year I wasn’t able to stay as long because I had
plans to work on the student garden, which I did not want to put off. Still,
Camille and I were able to visit with one of our friends from the school
administration (all of us dressed up in our best Beninese party clothes!) And
we were able to greet the Banikoara King in his courtyard, complete with drums
and horns. It was fun to get to participate in celebrating the traditions here.
I wish Gaani Fete happened twice a year!
The last update for this entry is about exercise. I have
signed up to run a 10 kilometer race next Saturday, and I have been trying to
train into better shape for that. Camille and I have done several distance bike
rides (nice, since you get a good leg/cardio workout without the stress on
knees). I’ve also done some power walking, jogging, and even some leg workouts
at home. Saturday (Feb 8) will be my first road race and I suppose I am most
anxious about pacing myself. Anyway, it’s good to have a hobby, especially one
related to my personal well-being.
Ok, that’s all for this post folks. Thanks so much for
reading.
With love,
Lauren
