Baking in Benin

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Hello Everyone,

I hope you all are doing well as summer starts in America. The rainy season is starting here, bringing some cooler days. We are all pretty happy about that.

Last weekend I got to make a quick trip to the Peace Corps Workstation in Kandi to celebrate the end of service for our two second-year volunteers in our region, the Alibori. Nina, one of the two, held a party in her village and cooked up a huge amount of potato salad, Chinese noodles, and some pork, with the help of one of her work partners. I thought it was really touching, the way that people got so dressed up, as if it was a real Beninese party, like a wedding. It is always encouraging to see when a community gets to show thanks for a volunteer. The party was a lot of fun.

In the change over of odds-and-ends that happens when volunteers close service, I picked up, among other things, a one-a-day Origami calendar, which I have been using with the kids in my compound. So far we have made newspaper hats (thank you, Dedham Times) and flower like pendants (thanks for the colorful church pages, Aunt Gerry). Doing origami with kids makes me think of my second grade teacher, Mrs. Reagan. I still remember how to make the type of origami hat that she taught us how to make for Children’s Day. Lucky for me, the kids here seem to really like the origami too!

The yet greatest moment of culture sharing this week happened just yesterday. But it all started with a social blunder a few months back. Months ago, I mentioned on my blog that one of Founougo’s Delegates had suffered the tragedy of losing his adult son. Now I’m not very good on the phone in French, and I definitely wasn’t then. The Delegate called and said something like, “About the meeting for the day after tomorrow; my son has died.”

I said, “Oh, I am so sorry.      ….So. [just to be clear] We aren’t having the meeting?”

“My son is dead!”

Needless to say I felt awful. It was a moment of communication failure. So, I did what I think any culturally Irish Catholic girl (or Pennsylvanian for that matter) would do, and baked him some Peanut Butter Bread.

When I talked to the Delegate, he said he was sorry he was so curt on the phone. That was more than understandable, and I said I was sorry for the bad communication, and I gave him the peanut butter bread. He loved it! He shared some with a friend that was there, and with his wife. They later joked that he hid the rest of it so that he wouldn’t have to share. His wife (who I happen to go to church with) was really interested in learning to bake it, and said that other women at the church were too.

It was only this week that we got all of our ducks in a row, and Wednesday morning 10 church ladies and I met for a cake baking demonstration. We made peanut butter bread and mango bread on charcoal stoves. They both were big successes, disappearing in minutes. The women contributed key ingredients like eggs, flour and mangoes, while I brought the remaining ingredients and my cooking utensils (they provided the charcoal and stoves). I also wrote up a French copy of both of the recipes for each of them.

That baking demonstration was possibly the most fun thing I have done with Beninese people so far. I got to share something that I already enjoy doing, and teach them something new that they wanted to learn. It was so fun to sit with them and enjoy their banter. Looking around the circle of the ten women I realized that I knew at least a little bit about almost every one of them.

Of course, it wasn’t all picture perfect. Our second charcoal stove got too hot, and my cheaper, back-up metal pot actually cracked. I wasn’t very upset about the pot, but I was embarrassed. I did remind myself that it was an honest mistake. I don’t usually cook with charcoal, and I had seen that the stove was too hot, and tried to bring down the temperature. Apparently the adjustments were not enough and were too late. Still, the women seemed to understand all of this too, and they didn’t seem to hold it against me.

When all the crumbs had been eaten or tucked away for later, Mama Chanelle, Mama Dorcas and the others thanked me, calling me Mama too, and helped me wash down the cooking materials and pack up. It was hard for me to convey how much the pleasure really was mine. Who knows, maybe I will be eating peanut bread at one of their houses someday!

In work news, I am finally getting some good contacts that should be able to help me sustainably ship solar lights here. So that is moving forward.

Next week is Girls Camp in Kandi. Some 30 secondary school girls from around the Alibori region will be coming for 5 days of camp. I have volunteered to co-lead the craft sessions: friendship bracelets, recycled purses, and Papier Mache. In past weeks I have been nervous about the camp, but as I practice the crafts a little bit, I am getting more and more excited. It’s also good to have origami in my back pocket if all else fails! I look forward to letting you know how it goes.

I know that Father’s Day was last Sunday, and I would like to end this post by wishing a Happy Father’s Day to my Dad, my Granddad, and any and all other dads reading this blog. My thoughts are with my Dad, who has been an endless source of support, enthusiasm, encouragement, and copies of the Dedham Times, during these many months of my Peace Corps service. And my thoughts are with my Granddad who has been a generously enthusiastic follower of this blog, and another wonderful source of encouragement and support during my service. Your love and attentiveness has meant so much to me, and I am glad to get a moment to thank you for it. I love you guys!

The gratitude for support and interest goes out to all of you who are reading this post. I am so glad I get to share my experiences with you!

Thanks for reading,

With love,

Lauren

Sacred Monkey Forest

Hi guys,

I am writing to you from the Kandi Workstation, on the way back from an in-country excursion with my post mate Camille. Workstation wi-fi is not working, which is a drag, but it is probably curbing my facebook addiction, and helping me focus a little more. With any luck I will be able to use my internet key a little bit.

This week I replaced one of my Peace Corps issued gas tanks in Banikoara. Originally I let my little neighbor Gael (Guy-yel) do a lot of the planning, he seemed very sure of the options available, and he really wanted to go with me. I’ve always wanted to travel with my neighbors, so I was very open to this idea. However, when time came to get going, I slowly realized how faulty his plan was, and I had to go it alone. I did feel bad that we couldn’t go together. When the second gas tank is empty (which will probably be soon) I will make better plans that he can be a part of. I don’t usually buy ‘gifts’ for my neighbors when I travel (unless they take care of my cat Jack) but I felt bad for Gael, so I bought him his own small loaf of bread, a traditional Bariba travel gift. That did seem to brighten him up.

I had a meeting in Founougo about the Solar lights and all 30 were sold in the first week. Banni, the bike vendor, thinks this is just the tip of the iceberg and word isn’t even really out yet. It’s exciting that there is so much interest. Now we have to worry about the logistics of reliably getting lights here.  That should be interesting. Exciting challenges.

In the second half of the week Camille and I traveled to Bassila, a town directly west of Parakou in the center of Benin. I had won a Gender-and-Development Benefit Date with my friends Heidi and Bethany. We wound up needing a fourth person, and Camille happily umped in. It was very exciting to travel to another part of the country (if a little harrowing logisitically). Bassila seems like the jungle compared to the Sahelian north where Camille and I live. We got to visit with three other volunteers, Henry, Marjorie and Mary, and enjoy their company, hospitality and good food. In the morning they took us to the nearby sacred monkey forest. We got to walk pretty far into the jungle (lead by the local chief, dressed in basketball shorts and a sleeveless shirt). The monkeys were a little hard to spot at first, but so cool when we did see them. It was amazing to watch them jump from tree to tree – they are pretty big! There is something really exciting about seeing animals like that free in their natural habitat. The walk through the forest/jungle was beautiful too.

It was also great to travel with a fellow northerner like Camille. First, it’s fun to have a buddy to travel with, but we also had some similar priorities, namely food we don’t get at post! We ate really well on this trip, and really travel went very smoothly. The first leg of our return trip was an hour and a half long motorcycle ride cutting across the middle of Benin. There was a little bit of a cool breeze, I was listening to my ipod, and it was lovely to watch the scenery and the Collenes or low mountains roll by. All and all it’s been a very fun trip.

To follow up on the illness mentioned last month, I did start taking medicine and am feeling much better (quite a relief before traveling). The neighbors are all doing well, and they are actually taking care of my cat right now. Speaking of whom, my cat Jack is still growing and is doing great. He and the neighbor kids are getting along better and better.

I think those are all the updates for this week. Let’s go Bruins!!

Thanks for reading.

With love,

Lauren

Selling Solar Lights

**I wrote this June 3^rd, 2013**

Hello Everyone!

This week I got to really start working on a solar light project. Planning calls and meetings have been happening for months between my Dad and Unite to Light in America, and Baron-my-Counterpart, and a bike-selling businessman here in Founougo. This week we got to start selling the first 30 lights, and the results have been very exciting. People have been coming to my house and stopping me on the road asking if I was the one selling the lights, and where they could get them. It’s exciting that there is so much interest and that these first things seem to be settling into place. Banni, the bike seller has proven himself to be really willing to work and generally be open and available, which makes a big difference when I think about the future of this project. I am looking forward to telling all of you how well the lights sell, and what our next steps will be.

To assist the solar-light project, Baron and I went around to 26 households and surveyed them about their current lighting habits. On a personal level, it was heartening to see how much more confident and eloquent, and how much better of a team I felt that Baron and I are now, than when I did a mudstove survey back in October. I’m growing guys! Haha. The survey was also pretty helpful.

This week I also got to visit the home of my scholarship girl Adiza. I was relieved to get to find her house before the school year ends because she doesn’t have a cellphone and no one has a house phone, so getting in touch with her would be very tricky otherwise. I was able to give her a French teen wellness magazine, and she was excited about that.

In other news, I have been persevering some digestion related illness that has kind of put me in low gear. Nothing that forces me to spend the day in the house (or the latrine) but enough that my energy is a little low. There’s always something!

In other challenges to patience and fortitude, the kids who live close to me accidentally deleted all the photos I had on my camera. I knew it was an accident, and that they couldn’t have read the English on my camera, but I still was a little angry about it. The kids were very quiet and polite when they realized what had happened, and I was pretty quickly able to move past it. My Mom often quptes my paternal grandmother saying, “the only things in this house that aren’t replacable are the people.” Sharing my life and my stuff with new people has run the risk that something would get broken, and it was honestly good to remember that lesson and move on.

Well, I am excited to see what happens moving forward with these projects. In general it seems like things are clicking together more and more. I hope you are all doing well back in the States. I’m so proud of those Bruins. I’m glad to hear they are doing well. Maybe someday I will get to catch those Bruins/Penguins games, I’m sure they are something to see.

As always, thanks for reading.

With love,

Lauren

Jounrees Culturelles

Hello Everyone!

I hope things are going well for you and yours. Last night I got to talk to my Aunt Eileen, Uncle Gary, and my cousin Seamus who were all visiting Boston. It was so good to get to talk to them and hear how things are!

It’s been a good, if scattered week here. Tuesday and Wednesday I visited the workstation in Kandi. I got some work done, and got to visit with Alyssa, who also recently visited home. I also got to reunite with my second bag from my trip home. Taking two suitcases full of stuff (and a cat) back into Founougo seemed like too much, so I left one bap with Peace Corps for later. It was so exciting to finally get to that bag. I finally was able to enjoy the incredibly thoughtful birthday gift Megan made for me, in addition to treats from home like a shower bag and recent Time Magazines.

Inspired by my new winnings and some internet perusing, when I got back to my house in Founougo, I did a major reorganization session.  I finally set up a ‘bathroom sink area’ with my nice mirror, all my toiletries, and a large bowl for water, all on what used to be an entrance way table. I also hung up the pictures I got from Meg while at home. I’m really happy with the changes and the neighbors were pretty impressed too. They love the pictures Meg sent of the students and campers that she has worked with.

All that said, coolest thing that happened this week was yet to come. On Friday and Saturday the C.E.G. or secondary school held it’s annual ‘Jounees Culturelles’; which is a lot like field day. Friday morning a big procession of students paraded through town lead by a drummer and several students dressed as wise old men. Then there were games like Jeopardy and a game like ‘pin the tail on the donkey’ where students tried to pick prizes, and a game where you tried to kick a soccer ball through a tire. All the while there was music and dancing. In the afternoon there was a soccer game between the teachers and students, and Camille (who is my postmate, and and English teacher at the CEG) got to play in the game! She even got the honor of kicking the ball to start the game. I took pictures and was proud. It was really hot and sunny, I don’t know if I could do that! The teachers and students both played impressively well and it was fun and funny to be sitting at a high school sporting event again.

There was supposed to be dancing in the evening, but it looked like it was going to rain (and eventually it did) so things broke up a little early. The next day I was feeling a little sick and wound up spending the day resting at home.

I needed the rest, but I also knew I would thank myself on Sunday, when I hopped from my morning church service, to afternoon service at a friend’s church near Banikoara, with lots of food and visiting in between. All of it was really enjoyable, and I am glad I had a little rest going into it.

Those are the major news updates here this week. I hear exciting things are happening in hockey for Bruins and Pens fans. Enjoy those games, obviously they have the two best teams in them!

Thanks for reading, I am grateful to get to share this experience with you!

With Love,

Lauren

Letting Walls Down

Hi everyone,

Over the last week I have discovered something that has been missing in my life – a little kid that wants to touch all my stuff. This little girl, who like me and basically everyone else is called Bake (Bah-KAY). She is visiting the family that lives in the concessions around me. She showed up one day, trailing my 11 year neighbor behind her, and just started rattling on in Bariba (regardless that I don’t really speak it) and singing and dancing and wanting to look at all the things. Since then some of the boys in my concession (Jean-Marie, Sarre, Phillipe, and Giael) have felt more comfortable coming into my house and hanging out too.

Honestly, it’s kind of a welcome change. When I first moved in here, the kids were old enough to be a little bit shy and to respect my space. At first I really appreciated that. It was good to have the privacy and security. Over time I have gotten to trust my neighbors more and more, through positive interactions, and especially since they have watched my cat Jack a few times. I think that it’s always good to be aware of your stuff, but I am at a point where I feel comfortable opening up a little more. And frankly it can be a little lonely having all that privacy!

Now Bake will often come in at some point in the day and I will give her paper and a pencil or a magazine to look at. One of the first times she and a few boys came in, they asked, “Do you have cards or something we could play?” As it happened I did have Uno, still in it’s plastic wrap from training. Apparently the kids recognized it from a previous volunteer back in 2008-2010 and they were excited to get to play again. We have set up an informal schedule of playing a couple rounds before lunch and dinner every day.

The kids sometimes come in and tell me that the floor needs to be swept and start cleaning it before I have a chance to respond. Sometimes I tell them I am going to go get water from the well and they take the bucket out of my hand. All the hanging out has been great for my Bariba, and great socialization for Jack too.

Of course they have lots of questions about all my weird fancy American stuff. I had been dreading those questions, but actually, it’s felt good to be honest and get to share some of that stuff (though I haven’t unveiled the laptop yet!) It has lead to some funny conversations like “What’s this?” “Sunscreen, it protects my skin from the sun.” “What’s this?” “Mouthwash, it helps make your teeth stronger.” “What’s this?” “Sunscreen.” “What’s this?” “Actually, that’s also sunscreen.”

I decided to be brave and show them my digital camera. They love it and they are even pretty good about not touching the lens and all that. I am happy to have a team of photographers to take the pictures of the concession that I was too shy to take. However, they do really like taking pictures of my shelves, bike, and frog wall calendar. I don’t think those pictures will hit Facebook.

Amidst the newly discovered socialization, there has been some work getting done. With the help of the secondary school administration, I picked a scholarship girl. Her name is Adiza (Ah-DEE-zah) and she is very shy, but wrote a good application. I hope that I can bring her out a little bit and find effective ways to support her. Almost none of the secondary school kids have cellphones and she lives kind of far from me, so it will be interesting. There’s always something to move forward with.

Besides that, we are compiling lists of latrine recipients to announce on the radio. After that I am afraid that project will be on hold until July, since it doesn’t make sense to start construction (and therefore hold information/training sessions) until the end of the rainy season. Girls Camp is coming up soon and some of the preparations and paperwork for that are underway.

I also cut my hair the other night. I am happy to say that the faux-hawk is back. I will post pictures soon. I had been thinking about it for a while, and then, like jumping in a pool, I just decided I was going to do it. I am really happy with how it turned out, but suspect there may be some uneven parts. Camille is coming over this afternoon, and hopefully she will be able to help me out if need be. My neighbors haven’t said anything about it. I don’t know if it means they haven’t noticed, they don’t like it, or it just doesn’t seem like it needs to be commented on, that could be a cultural thing. With hair braiding, people’s hairstyles often change dramatically over night. Anyway, I chose to play it casual and not really mention it, and they seem to have followed suit.  

I have to say, getting to interact more with my neighbors, really feeling confident that I know their names, getting to share my life a little more, it really makes me feel like I’ve ‘leveled up’. I’m in the second third of my service, and the new volunteers will be arriving in a little more than a month. How crazy is that? I am glad to be here. Glad I’m still learning, and glad I get to share all of this with you!

As always, thanks for reading,

With love,

Lauren

Women's Day and Camp Applications

Hello Everyone!

Life has been busy this week! The Latrine Project is charging along, as we continue to view possible sites for construction. It is also the last week of classes at the CEG, or secondary school. That caught me by surprise, and I am scrambling to select students for summer camps and a scholarship for next year. I am excited about all of these things, especially the scholarship girl, so I am trying to really hustle to have all the meetings and paperwork in order to make them happen.

I have also gotten an opportunity to read some 60 applications from students, with more to come. There have been some really good answers and a lot of really funny ones. Sometimes students didn’t understand what the question was asking. For example, on the Environmental Camp application, I asked what they thought were significant threats to the environment. Some people started listing things like plants and trees and one person even said God! It’s been interesting that’s for sure. Their have been some applications that rose to the top, and I am excited to get to work with these kids at camp (Scholarship girl will be picked next week).

My church is having a big party on Sunday to celebrate women (in connection with Mother’s Day?). I actually had a meeting with my pastor because, to put it mildly, I didn’t think there was enough emphasis on the strong and assertive women of the Bible. You know, Deborah, Esther, Miriam, Ruth, Abigail, Rahab, Mary, Mary, Lydia, Phoebe, just to name a few. He seemed pretty receptive.

In addition for trying to do some cursory theological women’s empowerment lessons, Women’s Day does also mean that the church ordered a specific printed fabric for the Day. I bought some meters, and it is being stitched up right now. I am actually really excited to have a matching outfit with my church. Getting matching outfits is something that families will do, as well as clubs or organizations, and, as in this case, for special holidays. I don’t know, it makes me feel included! I will try to muster up the courage to take pictures.

Those are the updates now. Thanks for reading!

With love,

Lauren

a fish and three cakes

Hello everyone,

Happy May! This week has had a surprising number of celebrations here in the commune of Banikoara, so it’s been a fun week.

On Sunday I was excited to get back to the church I attend here, since I had missed the last couple Sundays because of travel. The service was good, but surprisingly short. Afterwards people were talking a about a party that would be held by the church in the town of Banikoara. They were making up a list of people going and someone turned to me and asked if I would like to go.

“Well, when is it?” I asked.

“Now!” they said.

With not much else planned for my Sunday afternoon, I said yes and piled in to the truck that would take us to Banikoara. I was happy to socialize with people from my church, but as soon as the bumpy, crowded truck ride started, I began to regret my decision. It turned out to be worth the long ride though, because the church service was very nice (I am jealous of the guitar and bass that the Banikoara worship band has!) the food was good (fried fish), and I even met two different people who had very good relationships with previous Peace Corps volunteers. All of this was very encouraging at a time when I was feeling a little homesick and lonely. By the time we were heading back, even the truck breaking down didn’t sway me from thinking that I was pretty lucky.

Tuesday was Camille’s birthday, and Suzanne and Josh were able to come and visit. It was great to see them and catch up (and good motivation to really clean my house too!). I got to surprise Camille with a homemade vanilla-chocolate chip cake. It was a little crumbly, but she seemed very happy about it. We had a great time walking around Founougo, sharing stories and work tips, and celebrating Camille.

We ate birthday dinner and cake at my house, and my neighbors teased that they hadn’t been invited. They don’t know Camille very well, so I don’t think our small party was a major faux pas, but I did feel a little bad. That was still on my mind when the lock on my front door, which is often sticky, finally gave up the ghost and refused to turn. My neighbors got a welder who, for four bucks, took the whole door off and replaced the lock.

That afternoon, my neighbor Pena was hanging around, so she and I baked a cake together which I gave to my neighbors to thank them for their help.

It was good to have all the cake ingredients out again because… Thursday was Josh’s birthday! So as soon as my neighbor’s cake was out of the Dutch oven, I put Josh’s cake in, completing my cake hat trick.

On Thursday Camille and I visited Josh’s village, Goumori, for the first time. It was funny to see Josh and also Suzanne again so soon. And I have to say, Josh knows how to throw a party! One of his neighbors had given him a sparkly shirt in traditional fabric, and Josh had organized for a donkey cart to drive us all around village. It was so much fun. That donkey can move!

Aside from all the fun and festivities (“party-party-party” as my Dad says) work does continue to move along apace. This week I got word that the Director of Peace Corps Benin officially approved the Latrine project, and the money is on its way! We have been getting green lights all the way through, but it certainly is a proud moment to know that the grant really was approved.

Besides that there has been some continued networking for the rabbit-raising project and for summer camps. Unfortunately none of that yielded any particular anecdotes this week. Stay tuned!

On Sunday the Director of Peace Corps Benin is coming to visit Banikoara commune. Hopefully that will all go well. It is exciting to have the opportunity to show him where we all live and work. Camille and I are still working on the agenda for his visit to Founougo.

Those are the news items for this week. I hope you are all doing well, I think of you very often.

Thanks for reading,

With love,

Lauren