So, I have been an elusive PCV the last three months, but never fear…I have the longest update in the history of updates coming and I guess I will try and do it around Chronological Order.
End of vacation – Last week of September
Mali was just too amazingly beautiful to comprehend. The roads were not paved and the taxis very run down so the traveling was slow and painful. It is funny how much seven to eight hours in a car squished to the brim doesn’t even effect me anymore. However, in this case I was doing it for the third consecutive week, so imaginable my patience had been lost.
Anyway, we finally crossed the boarder and arrived in Koro where we accidentally ran into the Peace Corps recommended guide – Omar. He was taught English purely by taking PCVs around and his slang English made me smile. “Come on you guys, what the f*** is going on?”
We made our plans and then continued North to Mopti were we stayed for two days. Mopti is the beautiful river town and the launch sight for Timbuktu. Sadly, that was as far north as we got. But, the boat tour just around Mopti gave us a sense of what the week long boat trip would have been like. Yep, we just ran out of time and energy. The next day we left to meet Omar, who guided us 30 km in total all over Dogan country. My pictures do not do it justice, but it was the perfect combination of climbing up peaks seeing water in the valleys and then having the cross cultural experience of interacting with the people who have called this area home for the last three centuries.
After Dogan we went back to Ouagadougou for a final day of shopping, cable TV, and American food. Then we came back to Benin where work for me immediately began.
English Teacher Training – October 10th-14th
So the next day after arriving in Benin I had three consecutive meetings the 3rd, 4th, and 5th of October in Parakou. First was the Gender and Development committee where I am not the assistant newsletter person and typical “The DePauw” fashion am now redesigning the format of it. Second was the Peer Support Network Meeting, basically I make myself available as a peer advocate like 8 other volunteers and this was a meeting to plan out our next year. Finally, I had a meeting with the English Inspector, Elsie to organize the training. During all of this I also received the check for the School Building – so yeah I had to guard over 6,000 bucks like a hawk.
When I finally arrived in Badjoude I was running around like a woman possessed. Simply getting all the details worked out for this formation. This meant making sure there was enough students, cleaning out the classrooms, getting the classrooms, and finding and information the participants as much as possible. Luckily, I had a lot of help from my fellow English Teachers but I just felt like it was going to flop.
It didn’t and I must say this is probably the most fulfilled I have ever felt as a volunteer. I am only here for two years, but now being able to pass information on to teachers, both experienced and brand new just makes what I am doing here so much more sustainable. Basically, teachers taught classes in the morning as the inspector and their peers gave them feedback. Then we had afternoon training sessions ranging from Lesson Planning to how to incorporate AIDS/HIV and women’s empowerment issues into the classroom. All the teachers were make but myself and the facilitator – Elsie were female, but she was received very well and honestly made the session go even better than expected. Now, my plan is to make this training replicatable so other volunteers will do it in their communities as well.
Building Construction – all of October
As I said, the money came at the first of the month and not a minute too soon. Classes officially began the 10th and by the 9th all of the cement had arrived and the first truck load of gravel and sand. I really have had to do very little for this project, which is exactly why I think it is going so well. This was a pressing community need even more so now as we are using a local primary school building in the meantime to held classes that simply will not fit at the secondary school. The parents association immediately deposited the money in the local credit union and the treasurer has done an amazing job informing me of the developments along the way.
Right now all that is left of the walls is a row of three bricks. The students have already finished their community contribution by filling in the floors with dirt that the masons will later cover with gravel and then concrete. It is going quickly and I think realistically by the end of November the entire project will be finished, ceiling, paint, and all.
Whipping Ceremonies – October 30th
Badjoude is a part of the ethnic group called the Lokpa, hence why I speak Lokpa. However, the ethnic group comprises five or six villages all throughout my area and that is it. Every year everyone comes back to the village they were born to watch the Whipping Ceremonies where young men prove their marriagability to the entire female population. That was then, now it is just an excuse to party and beat the hell out of one another. However, it was so neat to see my students participating in a cultural even one for centuries. I put pictures on line so you can see a little bit.
Ben, the closest vol and only other Lokpa speaker, and I hosted 15 other volunteers who also got a look at the cultural event.
Present – School Starts/Ramadan Ends
I started teaching on the 17th and have basically taught five lessons to each of my classes. I have the same classes as last year with some additional students. This means I am teaching two classes of second year English and two classes of third year English. It is an interesting dynamic right now because I have some new students who flunked last year and were held back, some transfers, and a few who have moved from other teachers. The new students are still getting used to me and it was funny how in awe they were of how fast I teach and how much work I expect of them. The other students, the ones I had last year, are setting a good example and it should be a fun year.
However, I still cannot find that same motivation that I had last year. Perhaps it is just knowing this is it and perhaps it is also knowing how slowly the first part of the year has gone. We have already had two holidays – one for All Saints Day and the other two days later for the end of Ramadan. This was last Thursday, November 3rd. I honestly do not think I have ate so much in my entire life. The custom is for families to send plates of food out to others to help them break the fast. Six plates later I was calling over neighbors to finishes the food with me.
Future Plans
* Besides school and the construction project, my time will be taken up helping to organize a sensabilization at my school in one week. Another volunteer is coming with her not for profit organization to talk about the importance of girls staying in school and yell at the teachers for sleeping with their female students, a common practice here. Last year in fact one of the teachers got a student pregnant. So, I am really looking forward to this and trying to rally community participation and perhaps a dance.
* Dad, Mike, and Tom fly in the 26th of December. We are going to tour around Benin for 10 days, including throwing a big party in my village to celebrate the new year.
* My last real real vacation will be in February. I will go to either to Niger or Senegal. Niger would be to see Abby and Allison, my buddies from DePauw again – only this time see their villages and then the dessert of Agadez. Senegal would be for an all-Peace Corps softball tournament. We will see.
Alrighty…that is all for now. I of course leave the best for last. WHITE SOX WON THE WORLD SERIES, yes I know this is old news, but it cannot be repeated enough. I was listening to the sports report the next day and let out a big yelp. My neighbors rushed over very concerned, but then laughed to find out it was just over a silly sporting event. I guess it is nice to know they are looking out for me.
k….keep in touch. Much love