Latrine Sites!

Hello everyone,

We are coming to the end of my first week back in Founougo after vacation and in service training, and it has been a rollercoaster. I got a little time to unpack, re-settle in my cat Jack (he’s doing very well), and organize my house and thoughts from in service training.

Wednesday and Thursday things kicked into high gear and several latrine committee members and I visited sites for the latrine project! We confirmed there was a good spot for a latrine at 20 households, half the total for the project. Thanks to a suggestion from Josh, a volunteer who is doing a latrine project in Goumori, I took pictures of a person from each household at the location where there latrine will be. I hope and expect to be able to share some pictures with you the next time I am at a workstation. It was very tiring work, out in the sun, totaling to about 4 hours each day. I was lucky I had people with me who spoke multiple languages and did most of the talking. Besides the pesky details of writing down contact information, measuring distances from wells, and making sure the translators didn’t forget things, I apparently performed the role of ‘looking official’.

There were one or two households that were far enough away that you would want to take a moto, but I didn’t have my helmet. I told my counterpart Baron, and Ibrahim, our translating Committee Secretary, that they should go and check it out without me. Ibrahim said, “If we say it’s not a good site for a latrine, people will argue with us, but if you say it’s not a good site people will accept it, they will be content.” It’s good to know I was helpful!

Still I think my counterpart Baron was actually more helpful when it came to towing hard line. He would be the one that would notice first if a household already had a latrine. He was the one who would stick it to Ibrahim and say, “So we’ve seen houses in the nice part of Founougo B, what about in the center of town where houses are closer together and things really are dirty?” I really appreciated the insight (though there is some town politics to wade through).

I’ve also been spending some time writing up a grant for rabbit hutch construction. We will see how that goes. Talking with other volunteers at IST made me realize again how much projects can be on different scales for different communities. Working with a group leader who is illiterate and doesn’t speak much French cuts down your options for traveling for technical exchanges. Still rabbit raising seems like a good goal, so I am trying to reinvent my perception of the project, and trying to do my part to see it go through.

With the above tasks, some Bariba review, and a little bit of planning for summer camps, I have been pretty busy. That’s been really good though, because there definitely is a little bit of homesickness after having gotten to spend some good time with my family and friends. It’s really hard being away from you all. Usually unpacking my bags and finding homes for any new foods or things from home is exciting, but to my surprise, this time I just kept thinking, “but I’d rather be with the people that gave me these things, than be finding a place to put them.” God is good in that work is picking up and I can think of those people at their latrine sites and remember that I have work to do here.

All that being said, the visit to America has given me a major shot in the arm in terms of health and hygiene. Thanks to some Easter-basket soaps and enhanced heat-rash combatants my skin has never been so good in village (Thanks guys!). Timing has been pretty ideal too, because it has started to rain every few days (bringing cooler weather and easily collectible water) and mango season is finally here, so fruit is in abundance. All in all I am happy to say that village life is getting a significant boost right now.

Those are the updates for right now. Next week holds some in-country birthdays, and May Day. I hope you all are enjoying some good spring weather, while I am enjoying some occasional cooler weather!

Thanks for reading, with love,

Lauren

Boston Marathon and In Service Training

Hi everyone,

Wow, what a week it’s been. It’s inconceivable that only a week ago I was visiting in America. The incidents in Boston were very sad, and in many ways hard to hear about. I am so grateful to know that my friends and family are safe, (and that I was able to be in touch with them during this time!) and very grateful to the Boston police officers and other officials that handled the situation so well. Being away from home during this time was stressful. I am not sure what else to say. I am glad that we can now deal with the aftermath. I am proud to be from Boston.

In Service training was certainly affected by the news coming in from Boston. We all tried to share information. It was kind of crazy how quickly people were able to get in touch with each other to share news.

The training itself was good. There was a lot technical information on animal raising, latrines, Malaria, hygiene, etc. that I was very excited about. It’s great to catch up with other volunteers and visit with them a bit. It has been the good adjustment I hoped for getting back into Benin. I was nervous about how it would be, jumping back into life here. However, when I got my moto helmet back on and jumped on my first zem, I had a moment of, “yeah, alright. I’m back. Let’s do this.” Though I will say it was a day or so before I traded the sneakers for sandals, accepting the dusty feet that are a part of life here.

Tomorrow, if all goes according to plan, I will get to finally get back into my house in Founougo and see my cat. I am excited to get back there, to see little Jack (who is doing well!) to unpack my stuff, and settle down a little.

As always, thanks for reading!

With love,

Lauren  

Vacation in America

**Written on April 14th**

Hello Everyone!

For the last two weeks, I have been visiting my family in America. I am so grateful to everyone who made the trip so wonderful. To any and all of you that I didn’t get a chance to talk to during my visit, I am very sorry. Time really does fly.

In the first couple days I had a lot of fun adjusting to the food, amenities, cold weather of life in New England. I’m happy to say, there weren’t any parts that were very traumatic.

Seeing my family and friends was absolutely the best thing about the trip. I will never forget seeing my family at the airport, and it was so goodto get to catch up and hang out with a lot of my friends.

For your entertainment and for posterity I will try list some of the highlights. I got to take a 10 hour layover in Paris and see the Eiffel Tower and Notre Dame de Paris. At the arrival gate I was met by my Mom, Dad, Grandma, Granddad, Aunt Julie, Meg and her apartmentmate, Lauren Greene. Kev joined us later at the house. The first week we had an incredible amount of home made food including pancakes, Easter dinner, and home made chocolate cake. I got to go to two of Kev’s baseball games and in the second he scored the first two runs for his team! I got to have a party with my friends and show them some of my pictures. After Easter festivities died down my family got to take a hike at blue hills together. I got to hang out with Jason, and benefit from his ability to drive. I visited Kev’s University, and looked into the possibility of grad school there. I visited Meg’s apartment and got to go out in Boston with her. I went to the MFA. I visited Gordon with Jasmine, and saw a dress rehearsal of waiting for Godot. I got a hair cut and a massage and other pampering (so appreciated). And of course, I stuffed my bag with stuff to take back to Africa.

And then when it seemed like the trip had reached a close, My flight was over booked and I got bumped to a flight two days later! I had time for a few more delicious meals, some good hanging out, and even a dip in the hot tub.

I know I have missed some things, and I apologize for that, but I hope you get the idea. This trip pretty much couldn’t have been any better. I know we had a lot of fun planning it out in advance. Now I just hope that it revitalizes me and gives me happy memories to cherish during the next leg of work. I know there will be some transition time (just like there was coming back to visit home), but I hope the homesickness doesn’t hit to hard. It’s true there is a lot to miss!

Still, I am so grateful to all of you who have given me such constant support, and so grateful to all of you who read the blog. Thanks for being a part of this.

Talk to you soon and thanks for reading.

With love,

Lauren

Hi Everyone,

I am sorry that I haven’t written in a while. Could it be that we are transitioning into a time when day to day life in West Africa seems normal, and therefore doesn’t need to be blogged about? Surely not!

In fact March has been a pretty peculiar month here in Founougo. At the beginning of the month I was racing to finish off my grant applications for the latrine project (with much help from Baron-my-homologue, and Daniel my supervisor). Since those were sent off, I have been on the ‘waiting’ side of ‘hurry up and wait’.

However, the timing turned out to be pretty perfect, since as I mentioned, the Chaleur, or the hot season has truly arrived and it has been a pretty big adjustment. I have had an exceptional heat rash for the last several weeks (Which friends and neighbors have been happy to point out to me). The week after I sent in the grant proposals I suffered from a mild bought of heat stroke.

I had zemmed to Banikoara hoping to do some work with the waste management company Bethesda, and I really wound up traveling on a motorcycle in the hot African sun, right around noon. It’s an uphill battle to stay hydrated here anyway, and I think that really knocked me back. By 3 I was feeling nauseous and dizzy and my skin was very hot, but I wasn’t sweating. Fortunately, I was with Katrina, the volunteer that lives in Banikoara and we figured out what was happening, and I sat down and drank probably three liters of water. If you live in Founougo (like I do) and you are going to get mild heat stroke, it is better to get it in the ‘big city’ of Banikoara. I was able to sleep next to a fan and have cold drinks and a shower before heading back to post. It still took a couple days for me to really feel like myself again. I was grateful for the time to rest in my house.

The next weekend was the Gender and Development fundraiser in Parakou. Most volunteers went, and Amber, Heidi, Bethany, Liz and I all got a gloriously air conditioned hotel room together. I meant to take a picture of our queen size bed and add the caption that the hotel room was ‘the perfect size for two people or five peace corps volunteers.’ Two people brought therma-rests, and three were able to sleep on the bed horizontally. With air conditioning and running water there weren’t any complaints!

The Gender and Development (or GAD) activities were a lot of fun too. I participated in bids on the dates that were for sale. To raise money for GAD, volunteers would organize trips to their posts or local attractions, or offer to cook or pay for delicious meals. It is expected that most bids will be bet on by groups of volunteers pooling their resources together. This is especially true for the legendary dinners that the Country Director, and other Administrators host every year. I participated in three winning bids (though none of the aforementioned winning dinners). In the next couple months I look forward to telling you about ‘partying in Parakou’ seeing the Sacred Monkey forest in Bassila, and the Waterfalls in Natitangou. I don’t think I did too bad, even if I did miss out on vegan-thai night in Cotonou. The fundraiser weekend also involved getting all dressed up, socializing and dancing with other volunteers. I hope to post pictures on facebook soon!

This week I am happy to say that I have been editing my grant applications (and consolidating them) thanks to feed back I got from my program manager. I have also been starting to pack for my visit to The States. I’ve also started letting people know that I will be gone for a while. With the trip to America and In Service Training, I’m a little bit anxious about spending so much time away from my post! Fortunately, I know that my post-mate Camille will hold down the fort.

I think those are all the headlines for the moment, I am sorry I don’t have more anecdotes to share at the moment. I hope the event overviews are interesting. Thanks for reading!

With love,

Lauren

The Hot Season Cometh

Hello Everyone,

Things are heating up in Founougo, and that is not only because project work is getting under way. The ‘Chaleur’ or the hot season is starting, and it is a big adjustment! Here in Northern Benin there is the rainy season from May to October and the dry season the rest of the year. The first half of the dry season is cool, and I actually wanted my fleece jacket on a lot of mornings. Those days are over. The other morning I woke up and stepped outside and at 7:30 it was already 90 degrees! And it’s going to get a little worse before it gets better. Cold drinks are going to be my best friend for the next couple weeks!

Fortunately, having some good work to do does take your mind off of the heat, or give you a reason to persevere it. Last week I had a ‘consequence assessment’ meeting with a couple latrine committee members that provided an interesting communication challenge. It became evident that I spoke French, Baron-my-counterpart spoke French and Dendi, the third meeting member spoke Dendi and Bariba, and the fourth spoke Bariba. This resulted in a weird translation telephone, as a question and answer circulated through the room, switching from one language to another. God only knows what we lost in translation, but we all tried to be attentive and clear, and the meeting was helpful.

In other news, I have become acquainted with a gardening group that has a fenced in space close to the flooded road. They actually were kind enough to give me a small plot of my own, and I have planted some carrots (fingers crossed that they grow!!). The first few days of preparing the soil, planting the seeds and watering were really a joy. It was so good to be doing some hands on work, and to be working alongside my neighbors. At one point I was waiting around at the garden, and I got to pull water up from the well for women who were watering their plots. The well at the garden is much smaller than the one at my house, so it felt like an easy way to help. It was so nice to really feel like I was being of assistance in an immediate way, and it was refreshing to, for once, have the other person in the conversation be the one trying to find a new way to say thank you every time they come back for more water. Finally the plots were watered and it was time to wash off our hands and feet. People do really try to stay clean, quite an uphill battle here. I was trying to rinse off my feet and one grandmother was ‘helpfully’ pointing out spots I missed. This is very normal here. Women have each other’s back, and aren’t shy about letting you know when something needs to be adjusted. However, before I knew it, the old gardener was actually helping me wash my feet, and then washing them for me. And suddenly I was back on my familiar side of the equation, receiving so much more than I could give. All I could do was laugh and be grateful and try to joke in Bariba, ‘She is the mom and I am the little kid!’

Since the seeds have been planted I have gradually relinquished gardening duty to some little kids that were very determined to help. Despite the feet-washing anecdote above, it can sometimes be tough to know when it’s rude to refuse help, and when it’s good to assert your American independence. I have been more and more grateful to those determined little kids though, because I have spent the last couple days traveling. I am happy to say that I am in the process of applying for the grant for the latrine project. This has required some meetings with my supervisor in Banikoara and more Internet and electricity than I can usually find in Founougo. I have to say, it has been a pretty ideal time to be in the land of cold drinks!

I hope everything is well with you as you are reading this. I understand that there has been some snow in New England. I hope you are all staying safe, and finding some time to enjoy the season.

Thanks for reading!

With love,

Lauren

Funny Valentine

Hi Everyone,

Happy belated Valentine’s Day! Time just seems to be moving faster and faster. I hope you all had a wonderful Valentine’s Day, and know that I am feelin’ the love in the time that you are taking to read this blog entry! I am sending my love to all of you, as I try to keep you in the loop about all the crazy things happening over here. I think about you guys back home all the time, and I appreciate your support so much. And also, at Valentine’s Day I always enjoy remembering ‘how deep the Father’s love for us, how vast beyond all measure’ and that motivates me to try to show and remind people how much they are loved a little more or a little better. It is certainly something to keep working on all the time.

As for Founougo, things have been going well here, with some worthy challenges cropping up. There are now planning committees for the latrine project in Founougo A and Founougo B. In Founougo B I required that a woman be part of the planning committee, and that has been a real educational experience for me. When I met her and learned that she was a seamstress and spoke French, I was so excited to make the connection and even hoped we might be friends. However, by the first committee meeting I was intimidated, to say the least. She came to the meeting (arriving more promptly than most of the other committee members) with a huge platter of over-the-counter medicines balanced on her head, which she was selling. She also had a three month old baby with her, who she was either bouncing on her knee, breast feeding, or securing on her back with a large piece of fabric. After waiting a significant time for other members to arrive, she turned to me and said, “I am a housewife, I can’t be here all day.” In a culture where rest-time is valued, and it is difficult to be in a hurry, this woman is busy. Fortunately, other essential committee members arrived shortly after that, and we were able to have the meeting. That whole committee has been impressively knowledgeable.

In light of a few successful meetings, I traveled to the Peace Corps workstation in Kandi to start filling out the grant applications. It takes a lot of time, and I got some good work done. However, I can’t say that I was suffering, because we all ate very well. We discovered a waffle maker in the workstation, and someone had left chocolate-raspberry coffee that they didn’t want. With the help of fancy electrical appliances, we were able to have iced coffees and waffles with strawberry jelly; two things I didn’t think I would see in this country.  I also received some packages from home, which is always very exciting. Mail might not be at all dependable here, but because of that, whenever it does arrive, it’s like a mini Christmas.

Back at post I had another meeting with committee B which featured a retired health worker who wasn’t able to make it to the previous meetings. He really pushed to make nicer latrines, even if that meant fewer of them. There are a lot of politics to deciding what kind of latrines we will make, so there is still some potential to discuss and agree about something middle ground. However, I was disappointed that people were pushing for more expensive latrines, even if it means that fewer people can get them. It is an understandable desire, but I don’t think that the more expensive latrines would be as beneficial for the community; they would be more like a one time gift. The more I thought about it the more I realized how strongly I believe that it’s important to build something that is durable, but made from simple local material so that the project can be replicated by community members without the assistance of a ‘project’. The discussion continues, and we will see how it goes.

Those are the updates for the moment. Thanks for reading, talk to you soon.

With love,

Lauren

Fete du Ganni

Hello Everyone!

Happy February! A year ago today, I had just moved to Hawaii and was starting my internship in Agroforestry. It’s funny to think back to another time of major learning and transition. There were tough times, but I am so glad that I had that experience. It is an encouraging reminder during this adventure.

The past week had some long hours of being anxious that I wasn’t doing enough,h and (therefore) missing home. However, despite the angst, there were some really cool things that did get to happen, and that’s what I would like to get to tell you all about.

I had my first meeting with one of my two latrine comities. When everyone arrived, it became clear that none of the members spoke French, only Bariba! Apparently, there was supposed to be a French-speaking teacher, but he couldn’t make it. There was one guy who spoke some French and with the help of Baron-my-counterpart, who speaks several other local languages, we were able to muddle through. The meeting took over 2 hours. We did an exercise that Baron and I had done during a training session, putting the steps of a project on order. The comity members were surprised by how many steps there were, and it seemed like they felt like they were more a part of the process after doing the activity. We talked about various latrine logistics, and tried to decide what the community’s contribution would be. I got nervous that people were not ready to contribute significant time and resources. This would suggest that they aren’t very invested in the project. At the same time, I can understand wanting to see how much you can get out of a project, and therefore towing a hard line. Next meeting we will look at the budget in more detail, and it should become clearer then.

At the end of the meeting the president of the comity, who had not said much up until that point, spoke up. After all the logistics, and negotiating, and question answering was finished, he turned to me and said (with the help of other translators), ‘Please be patient with us, we have never done a project like this before, and this is all new.’

I really appreciated that he said that. Explaining my perceptions of a project, and trying to understand theirs, and explaining latrines, and negotiating logistics that are the best for the people of the town, all takes time and energy. Sometimes it feels like I am really just tiring out the people I am trying to work with, trying to incorporate them as much as possible. I felt like the comity president’s words indicated that they really do want to do this work, and learn how to do it better. We will see what happens next!

That meeting was on Friday, and Saturday was the “Fete du Ganni” in Banikoara, my closest major town. Ganni Fete is a traditional Bariba holiday when the local kings parade through town on horses. A couple of us volunteers got together to watch the festivities together. There were a lot of people out on the streets and, as we were able, we tried to chat them up in Bariba, which people loved. Some women befriended us and showed us where some traditional dancing was going to happen, and helped us get a good view. The local kings were all sitting in flowing robes in a row in front of the dance area. When we got there one older man was dancing holding what looked like a short horse-hair pony tail. There were perhaps four guys wailing away on the drums. After a few minutes 8 men in dance costumes, each with flowy pants, a fez, their owns small horse tail, and a staff, all took the dance area. They danced in amazing unison, sometime spinning their staffs of throwing them in the air. It was one of the coolest cultural moments I have gotten to observe so far.

After the dancing was over the woman turned to us and said in Bariba, “Now we eat”. They took us to a nearby house where we greeted everyone and sat down. They presented food in front of us (rice and yam pilé with spicy sauce). We all hesitated, sort of embarrassed to be accepting food from people we just met. They saw that we were hesitant and said, “Oh, wait a minute” and sent some people off. They came back with forks and spoon! The funny thing was, we each held our eating utensil and looked at each other and said, “you know, it’s actually easier to eat this with our hands!” After washing our hands we all dug in (without silverware) and thanked our hosts profusely.

The rest of the weekend held some good time hanging out together, and swapping work experiences and cultural tips. It is always cathartic to get to commiserate and encourage each other, never mind chat in English and trade news/gossip from the states!

I hope you are all doing well. I am looking forward to getting to visit home, now in less than two months! Time does move right along.

Thanks for reading,

With love,

Lauren