“Educate a Girl and Educate a Nation” - the national slogan of development and education

It is not a surprise that women and girls in a developing country are sometimes still treated as second-class citizens, though not legally or politically but culturally.

Many young girls never finish school. If they do finish school and pass the national exam, they often do not have money to go to college. Girls are encouraged to find a man, if the family doesn’t want to pay. This trend unfortunately leads to prostitution and I have had a couple students who I’ve discovered are unfortunately participate in such activities. They are young teenage girls. Many girls become pregnant and leave school. I have one 7^th grade student who is pregnant. In some cases, men can simply claim a girl he desires to be his wife and so she is. Another unfortunate reality is that families often see no long term benefit to sending a girl to school since she will become married, have children, and take care of the household. As a result many young intelligent girls do not receive the encouragement and motivation to continue with their education.

In addition to lack of encouragement, the old mentality of gender equality is widely prevalent in a rural village. Many Beninese men have the strong conviction that men are superior to women. Some might not say it in so many words but the opinion is demonstrated in their comments. One man told me that all African women are lazy. Another man stated that since men can take second and third wives (a common practice here in both Christian and particularly Muslim families) and women cannot do the same, then therefore men are superior to women. Unbelievable, I know. And my favorite, women are only good for cooking and doing the laundry. There are so many other comments like these that the frustrations just become redundant.

In face of these adversities, I was impressed by the young girls surrounding me as an English teacher at CEG Toucountouna. They weren’t the timid girls looking at the ground as they cover their mouth with their hand when they speak in class, but confident and energetic girls. I felt so inspired. They were different from the norm that I hear of in other schools. I wanted to do something for these girls. That is when I thought of a scholarship program. I want to offer an opportunity to these inspiring girls with such potential. For its first year the scholarship will be available for five girls, one per class level.

I received the funding this year from my school’s accountant. He purchased a computer from me and I suggested he donate the money for a scholarship program instead of giving me the money. He was delighted to assist the school in anyway. But in coming years of course I will have to find other avenues of funding. Each girl will receive a scholarship of 25,000cfa (roughly 50 dollars) to pay for their school tuition, khaki for their one school outfit, and school supplies.

In addition to the scholarship, the selected girls will participate in unique seminars tailored to their personal and professional development. Our village is lucky to have a nunnery which has a room of computers available. I hope to teach some level of computer literacy. I will work with an IT volunteer to develop the lessons because I definitely need assistance to create computer lessons. I also thought that it would be fantastic to do seminars on public speaking. These girls need to feel comfortable and worthy to talk to most likely a group of men or a male employer in the professional world. To kick of the public speaking seminars I will be inviting my Education supervisor, Taibatou. She is a confident and intelligent Beninese woman who will be a great role model for the girls. It’s always important to include host country nationals (HCNs). She will give a speech to the school and then we will work with the 5 girls individually and as a group. I will be creating more programs this September for classes in mid-October when I’m not ridiculously busy running around the country. The school vacation will be filled with meetings, trainings, interviews, 3 week visit to the States, a girls’ camp, and training for the incoming volunteers.

All the girls with the highest GPAs were invited to submit essays on why education is important for girls in Benin. Some essays read as talking points straight out of a Development NGO  brochure and others interpreted education as the way to create better mothers and wives. To be a good mother and wife is of course important but I wanted girls that have dreams that would bring them to university and beyond. I also searched for girls that knew the reality of their situation and had the desire to change it.

38 girls submitted essays. 15 girls were selected for interviews. The five girls selected are Martine, Aurore, Naderge, Pascaline, and Agathe. I will provide the girls’ stories in the next blog.

With this program, I can keep myself connected to Benin long after I’m gone. I have loved my Peace Corps service and I want to keep it and Benin a part of my life. With the program set to start in October, I’ll have a year to set up all administrative aspects and training for Beninese partners of the program.

Lastly, I would like to end this entry with a quote from one of the scholarship applicants about women and education: “Women like men have the right to have their eyes opened.” And they certainly do…

Project Benin: Space to Learn -- Building a Secondary Classroom Building

After consulting with people in my village and observing what my village might need, I’ve decided on a few projects in addition to teaching. The first project is the construction of a classroom building with three rooms. My school currently has 7^th-11^th grade level classes. There are about 1,080 students and currently 11 classrooms. This number distribution means that there are 98 students per classroom. Each class has around 60 students. In the coming school year, my school will be adding two 12^th grade level classes further increasing the size of the school to 1,410 students. To compensate for the lack of classrooms, the school has night classes and classes on Saturday. Night classes are quite difficult considering the feeble electricity especially during the raining season when it pours and the electricity is cut. After observing all of these discrepancies, I decided a classroom building is a great sustainable contribution to my community and to my students. Students will have some free time to schedule extracurricular activities during the week since students are often busy on the weekends either with chores or working in the fields. Hopefully with this building there will be less night classes.

Fortunately, I will be working with a fabulous partner who is a fellow volunteer in the nearby town, Natitingou. Veronica Swank is a Small Business volunteer from Texas. We have worked together with Toucountouna community leaders and our chosen contractor. The contractor we’ve selected is a Toucountouna local. He will hire workers from Toucountouna and bring new work to the village. The community it very dedicated to this project as they have agreed to contribute 36% to finance the project.

The project is called a PCPP which is the Peace Corps Partnership Program. This program does not actually fund the project but it enables our family and friends to donate on the Peace Corps website and be a part of the Peace Corps experience. The grant money will go to building materials such as cement, tin roof, blackboards, paint, and labor. Veronica and I each will raise about $8,000 from contributions from family and friends (that means you! J ) and of course friends of friends or family of friends….  This is a great cause to donate to because you will not only be helping children in West Africa and the Peace Corps but you will be able to see what happens with your charitable tax-deductable donation.

I sent in the PCPP grant application including construction budget (translated from French, most difficult translation I’ve ever done) and it was approved. Yay! Now starts the fundraising process. The building cannot start until we reach our financial goal. When all of the money is funded, the money goes directly into my Peace Corps bank account and I can start funding the labor and the materials for the classroom building.

So how can you donate? Do you ask? You can click on the link below. Once you get to the Peace Corps Donate website enter in the project number ‘680-208’ and then you will see a short description of my project. Then in the right hand corner, you will see a delightful “Donate” link. You will then click and donate. Simple as that. J And don’t forget, it is a tax-deductable donation.

As an added incentive, everyone who donates will be commemorated in a mural on the side of the new building, thanking everyone who made this project possible for the Beninese students.

So please… GO DONATE! Help the children in my village and be a part of my Peace Corps experience! J

Donate at:

http://www.peacecorps.gov/index.cfm?shell=resources.donors.

Enter:

 “Berns” or “680-208” (Project Number ) in the search box. Then select “Secondary School Classroom Building” and click the “Donate” button.

Remember… Students in Benin, West Africa, face many obstacles, but limited classroom space doesn’t have to be one of them.

The Art of Negotiating

In most places in Benin, a set price does not exist. Most prices, for everything are just a suggestion. Thus one of the daily skills you will use is your ability to negotiate. It took me quite a while to hone this skill. I was often to quick to settle for a price and couldn’t hold my ground. But negotiating in Benin is all about the long pauses and supposed indifference or lack of interest.

Example #1

I was looking at a pretty leather woven handbag. I needed a new one since my small travel velcro over your shoulder wallet was a little worse for wear. Once my students started to make fun of the dirty little bag I always wear across my body carrying keys, money, and cellphone, I knew it was time to go shopping. Since I’m living on a poor Peace Corps budget, to get me shopping is a really big deal. The vendor was asking for 10,000 cfa (about 20 dollars). And remember, I receive an allowance every month of about 100,000 cfa (200 dollars).

1.       The first step to negotiating is stand strong with a confident steady voice and say you’ll give him half the price. The vendor will always say no to this response, but still hold your ground.

2.       Next take off the handbag, stare at the handbag. Turn it over in your hands. Shrug your shoulders with indifference. Think “Eh, this bag is not that big of a deal.”

3.       Disinterested stare and silence

4.       He will then ask you again what price do you want?

5.       You augment only by 500 cfa (roughly one dollar)

6.       He will probably say no again. And he swears that he is giving you a good price. 8000 cfa.

7.       More Silence, silence, silence. Stay strong, do not budge. Keep that disinterested stare going.

8.       Put the bag down as if you’re going to walk away. The vendor stops you and now offers a price of 7500 cfa.

9.       Turn around look mildly interested but not quite.

10.   Give your price again, you can decide to add another 500 cfa or not, your call… I added another 500 cfa. Now we are at 6000 cfa. Now that you’ve changed the price twice, you should definitely hold your ground.

11.   He says 7500 cfa

12.   You say nope 6000cfa, that’s all you have.

13.   Stare down

14.   Stare down

15.   Don’t budge, I know you feel it. Stay steady.

16.   Stare down

17.   Alright, 6000 cfa, the vendor says. Yay! You got your price. 6000 cfa is quite a good price for a woven leather bag.

18.   Now be content with your purchase (no more indifference) and tell your vendor thank you and that you will send all your friends to his business.

Yes, a tad exhausting, considing that these stare downs can go on for 15 minutes or longer, but as a Peace Corps volunteer, you will develop your negotiating stamina. Since there is often no set prices, negotiating is part of the culture especially in the South where the Fon are a little more aggressive. Also in addition to the negotiating culture, we cannot escape our white skin which is a big flashing sign of affluence. Many Beninese think all white people are rich. Well certainly as a Peace Corps volunteer this is not a case. With these two elements in play, Peace Corps volunteers must haggle for food, consumer products, fabric for clothing, and zemi-johns (moto taxis). Negotiating with Zems is quite different from the indifference in the prior example. With Zems, you are often more aggressive.  I sometimes say, “You can’t pull one over on me. I live here and I know the prices.”

At the end of a day of negotiating, I come back to my nice cement house with tin roof in the tranquility of Toucountouna and sit in front of my beloved fan eating a mango.

A moment in my life in Benin…

I was just taking a bucket shower outside with water I warmed up on the stove. As I was washing my dusty self among the ash fallen from the annual crop burnings, I heard the FIFA South Africa Football Cup Anthem in the distance… “Give me freedom, give me fire, give me reason, take me higher.” The young kids next door are playing and the pots and pans are clamoring in preparation for dinner.  The roosters are posturing themselves as to who crows most cacophonously.  The goats cry loudly always lending themselves to the crying baby or goat game that Benin volunteers often play. Despite the soap and suds, dirt still remains. It’s caked on and it will not come off. I am literally a dust bunny. I stay ‘clean’ for maybe 30 seconds until I see more ash from the most recent crop burning falling from the sky and landing on my skin. Welcome to the life of the Peace Corps volunteer in West Africa. As funny as some of these things may seem, this has become home. And when some things happen, all I do is smile and chuckle to myself.

The Village Gathering… and killing a chicken

Today is Market (Marché) day. Every four days, vendors from all over the Atacora region (Northwest Benin) descend upon the quiet and quaint Toucountouna to sell their products. Today I rushed to the market because I heard that bananas had arrived (a nice treat) and I had to “get it while it’s hot,” or they would all be taken. On market day, I’m lucky to be accompanied by one of the Ali boys, usually Yannik. Without their help it would be quite an amusing folly to navigate through the maze of local languages. Yes, I know a little Wama, but hello, goodbye, and my name is, can only get you so far. There are about 50 local languages spoken in Benin of which five are the most frequently used. On market day there are 6 local languages spoken: Wama, Peul,  Ditamari, Natarri, Yomm, and Fon.

Sure, I can speak French, but local language seems to be preferred in marché territory. As I’ve learned in life, there is nothing that a genuine smile and a kind-hearted “ thank you” can’t get you, like an extra head of lettuce for example. J The staples here are tomatoes, onions, yams, corn, and oranges. All the produce is grouped in little pyramids for purchase. A pyramid of tomatoes can sometimes easily be found for 50 cfa. 500cfa roughly equals one dollar. So 50 cfa… pretty cheap. You can easily live off of two dollars a day here. I do go a little crazy, however, just living on yams and tomatoes. When I go town, I can go to the ‘yovo’ store. A ‘yovo’ store stocks Western/foreign food. I can’t get everything you’d expect in a western supermarket, but at least it’s something. I can sometimes find apples and grapes but as most things are in the yovo store, it’s very expensive.

At the marché, all of the vendors are 99.5% women. Whenever it comes to selling food or produce, the seller will almost always be a woman. Come to think of it, it’s the women who also do the purchasing at the marché as well. There are men walking around, but I suppose they come mostly to sample the tchouk, an alcohol from a fermented calabash squash that tastes like a bitter cider. They scoop it out from the giant squash with a little bowl and serve it. Whether it’s to drink tchouk or sodabe (essentially moonshine) or buy a basket of tomatoes, the marché is the social gathering place of the week. I see all my students, all my friends in village, and many colorful characters.

Every time I do my food shopping,  I attempt to buy wagasi. Wagasi is a hearty cheese that you fry. Wagasi has been one of my main sources of protein.  My other sources are 10 eggs a week and chicken once a week at a restaurant in the nearby town, Natitingou. Safely prepared cut meat is difficult to find in village, but of course live goat and chicken are plentiful. I had my chance to kill a chicken during Peace Corps training in Porto Novo but I just couldn’t do it. I thought about it and immediately thought differently.

To kill a chicken, you dig a little hole in the dirt for the blood drippings. Then you stand over the chicken with one foot on the wings and one foot on the legs. With the neck tightly in hand, you then slit the throat and hold it over the hole until it bleeds out. You have to be careful to not let go of the chicken until the bleeding stops completely, or else it might try to get up and run away with a slit throat and its head a little cocked to the side. This happened to one volunteer. She thought it was dead, let the wings and legs loose from her weight and it went jumping about spraying blood everywhere. If I was looking in at the situation, it must have been quite hilarious to watch these foreigners trying to kill a chicken and getting all worked up about it. There were quite a few on-lookers since we did this on the side dirt road. Many were laughing as if it was the funniest thing they’d seen all day. This will be one hypocrisy in my life that I’m perfectly content to live with… I will eat meat, but there is no way in hell I will kill it myself.  Well c’est la vie, I guess I can’t be well integrated on every front.

Anyway, I digress. Wagasi. A hearty cheese. Hearty enough to boil or sit in a pan for a low simmer for 20 minutes , which is a must considering the possible bacteria present. It has an acquired taste. You get use to it. And after a while you crave it. Especially with tomato peanut sauce, yum. The people who sell the cheese are the Fulani/Pole people.

 The Fulani are nomadic people that have tribes or clans in many African countries. They roam the country with their cows and go where the green grasses go. Most of the Fulani I’ve encountered only speak local language.  Its quite difficult to communicate with them because even the non-nomadic Beninese do not know their language very well if at all. The Beninese are usually familiar with a few local languages since the country is so small and the languages so numerous. But Fulani is not usually in their repertoire. So again a smile and a nod is my only way of communicating. Also, as I’ve heard some Fulani are a little scared of white people because they don’t see us often and we are then different and intimidating. Despite their elusiveness, the Fulani women are absolutely beautiful.  They are truly what you would see on the glossy pages of national geographic. Women dressed in simple but elegant embroidered cloths with many beaded necklaces as wide and sturdy as a tire draped around their neck.  They may also wear beaded bracelets, rings and headpieces. They sometimes paint their face… a vertical strip of rouge down the center of their lip or white geometric shapes on their face. They have intentional scars on their faces called scarification, which I believe is unique to Benin. Fulani and other Beninese clans have different identifying scars. I will get into scarification on another blog.

Honestly, ever picture from every angle of these women would be perfect. There is such a grace about them. Unfortunately, taking pictures is a little difficult. People either want money for the photo, or people think you’re just taking pictures to make money off of them. So if you want to see the beautiful Fulani women on market day… come visit me! J

Welcome to my Blog from Benin!

Welcome to my blog everyone. I have finally ventured into the blogsphere to share my adventures, cultural encounters, and funny stories that I experience throughout my Peace Corps service in Benin, West Africa.

I just received my laptop from my mother after a brief holiday sojourn in Paris thus you can expect many more blog posts coming your way.

I will use my first post to give you all a brief overview of the past 6 months in Peace Corps Benin.

We all started our adventure in Philadelphia, where we could meet everyone with a brief introductory seminar and enjoy our last soft down beds, hot shower, and delicious American meal. I went all out with scallops in a fruity butter reduction sauce, asparagus, a selection of three variations of a chocolaty dessert, and a chilled glass of sauvignon blanc. I also found a place the next afternoon before our flight from JFK to gorge on guac and chips... a very important indulgence for any SoCal kid.

We left JFK around 11:30pm after I gifted myself with an airport massage. Hey, I know I’m going to be roughing it in Africa, so I knew I just got to get it while I can. We arrived in Cotonou, the biggest city in Benin, around 7pm the next day.  We were greeted by a gaggle of Peace Corps volunteers upon our arrival to our hotel. They all looked so foreign to us. Many dressed in African tissue outfits with the unavoidably permanent dirt on their bodies that seems to never leave our once pristine bodies. There were the iconic Peace Corps moto helmets worn after a year of heavy use strewn about the hotel lobby floor. It felt so surreal. I am in the Peace Corps world now and I’m in Africa for the first time. Here we go…

Before I became an actual full-blown volunteer, I went through the training program in the capital city of Porto Novo. This program includes an intense curriculum of French language, local language, cultural, health survival, bicycle maintenance, and of course, teacher training. Teacher training consisted of learning how the Benin school system works and throwing us Education or TEFL volunteers into a classroom of students to practice and hone our skills and be critiqued by other Peace Corps volunteer trainers and Beninese teachers. Model school was more of a test of our discipline skills and our patience. Lesson planning seemed to come quite easily to all of us and ‘model school’ turned out to be more of a test of our disciplinary skills and our patience. It was summer break and the grades didn’t count. Thus we soon found out, model school was more of a boot camp for the TEFL volunteer. Though it was difficult at times and my patience was tried by many pagailleurs (trouble-makers), I made my way through the fray and even developed one bad *ss teacher stare.

On September 17^th, we all took the oath of service and were sworn in as Peace Corps volunteers at the American Ambassador’s residence. All Peace Corps staff, some Beninese government officials and news stations were in attendance. Our swear-in ceremony was broadcasted all over Benin and many communities knew that a new batch of volunteers was coming.

On the 19^th of September, I began my 10 hour taxi ride to my village, Toucountouna. All of my belongings were stuffed in the car including my little refrigerator strapped on the top. Unfortunately, as is the issue with many taxis here, we had car troubles. Our car broke down three times before we even left the city of Porto Novo. Once we were finally on the road, the volunteer Cara who hitched a ride in my taxi was taking an innocent snooze. However the front door kept swinging wide open while the car was at full speed. I had to guard her body with my arms to stop her from falling out of the car on numerous occasions. After a departure of 7AM, I arrived in the tranquil and beautiful, Toucountouna at 6:30PM. I do have to say the first night, in fact the first week, was terrifying. Okay, terrifying might be a little dramatic, but I was having serious second thoughts. But those second thoughts did not last for long; it was just initially a very different and scary change. It was a situation where I was all alone in a village, with no food yet, where I had to learn a completely new way of living by trial and error and observation. Yes, this is the story of Peace Corps volunteers but that doesn’t mean that the first introduction to this new way of life is not initially scary. Fortunately, I have a fantastic neighbor family, the Ali family, who took me in and now helps me out with everything. You will probably hear a lot about them because they are for the most part my family here.

I could not be happier with the village that was chosen for me. And yes it is quite a mouth full. Just think of ‘can of tuna.’  Toucountouna is in the North of Benin in the Atakora region, which is by far the most beautiful of all of Benin. It’s the way you would imagine Africa to be. All the people are dressed in colorful fabric and head wraps. I've even had my own outfits in tissue (fabric) made and I feel fantastically bright in every outfit. One in particular is hot pink with pink ruffles. No joke. The women carry everything and anything on their heads from a can of tomato paste to a jug of water to heavy wood branches, which I have no idea how they manage to not topple over. I will give the art of head baggage transport a try one of these days. It just truly feels like you've stepped into another world untouched by time. It’s always been the same farmers, cows, mud huts with tin roofs, and quiet untouched land stretching past the horizon.

This being my first real experience in a third world country, it’s quite eye opening. But more than anything I really just see the beauty in this country.  In my region, Atakora, you will find beautiful waterfalls, lakes, mountains, lush trees – including papaya, banana, and lots of mango – red dirt, and national geographic-esque mud huts to complete the perfect picture. And I can't forget all of the chickens, guinea fowl, goats, pigs, and cows that are everywhere. Also mango season is quickly approaching. I see the flowers blooming on the mango trees and by the end of February, mangoes will be plentiful. I can buy a kilo of mangos for less than 50 cents. I will soon eat mangoes for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

But as I said, it is Africa. I am very fortunate to have electricity, but it is a temperamental connection at best. The electricity goes out maybe about 4 times a day, twice if I'm lucky. So sometimes I am cooking dinner by candlelight with a bike light secured around my head. And my little fridge, which I bought on the side of the road in Cotonou, sometimes requires too much voltage so my lights dim in and out at night. But thank god for my fan!!!! I seriously could not sleep without it. If I had no fan in my cement house with a tin roof which retains heat, I would be honestly sleeping in a pool of sweat trying to huddle close to my little window for the cool night air outside. But fortunately I just got a wood ceiling (Hanukkah present to myself – which I must thank Nils, Mom and Aunt Bobbe for their contribution) installed which should keep the heat at bay.

 I have no running water, but I have a well a few yards from my house and cleaner faucet water at my school that they let me use for free. So every Monday morning, a son of the Ali family comes for my huge trashcan and takes it on his pushcart (pouss-pouss) to school to bring me water for the week. I've tried getting my water for myself but, wow, I do not have African strength yet. I use the water to boil and filter for drinking, for cooking, and for my glorious bucket showers. Bucket showers are literally a bucket with a bowl to scoop water. My first few showers were interesting because you have to develop a strategy to single hand hair washing. Now having mastered my single handed shower, it is actually quite relaxing and refreshing.  Also no flushing toilet, just a simple hole in the ground, but the last volunteer left me a nice luxury, a cement toilet over the latrine hole. There is one thing that I don't think I'll ever get used to.... mice and bugs (particularly dare I say cockroaches). There is one mouse that likes to hang out in my house. I have to keep every morsel of food under lock and key. And yes, the cockroaches... I find them occasionally and they can be quite huge. I just cringe and bear it and smack the thing with my shoe. I yelp as I do it. The crunching of a dead cockroach is just… ew… makes my body shiver. One day I will become Peace Corps tough and I won’t flinch one bit when it comes to smacking cockroaches and rodents dead. That is really it when it comes to roughing it. In December I got the cutest kitten to regulate my rodent problem and so far she has been taking care of business. So the rodent problem is not much an issue any more. My kitten, Nutmeg, is an adorably curious and friendly calico cat.

Everyone in my community is extremely friendly and helpful. I already have their full support in anything I want to do which is sometimes difficult for volunteers to get. But being a teacher has its benefits. Teachers are very highly respected all throughout Beninese villages. The people already know your role in the community so they are sometimes more open to the ideas you have to bring to the table. I already had meetings with the director and accountant of my school, my work partner, and the mayor to discuss what possible projects they think are the best for Toucountouna. Details on my developing projects to come…

The French has come back quickly.  My speaking is even better than when I lived in Paris. In addition to the French – as I mentioned earlier in this offensively long blog entry – there is local language as well. I've learned a little of Fon, Wama, and Yomm. The ‘mamans’ teach me new words every day, though it’s difficult to retain strange sounding words just by memory. Sometimes they try to give me many new words and phrases at once and I have to remind them I can only retain one new word a day otherwise it will go in one ear and out the other. They always laugh with gusto whenever I say the in one ear and out the other line. Learning local language is very important because sometimes it’s the only way that you can communicate with people in your village. Also, if you learn it and use it, it’s a sign of respect and people are very appreciative, sometimes even tickled, that a foreigner is attempting their local tongue.
Everything is going well and it is definitely an adventure. Teaching is difficult. Trying to motivate and encourage learning and studying is what is difficult. But I will continue trying to find more ways to possibly interest the students.

Next blog, I will discuss more about teaching, my school, and my projects. Until next time…