No News Blues

 

Peace Corps assures the friends and families of volunteers that “no news is good news,” so I make no apologies for my lack of blog posts the past couple of months. The truth in my case however, is that it seems that “no news” is in fact, no news… but I realize that the life I’ve grown accustomed to here is still not at all resembling of the norm state-side, so I will try harder to get back to my monthly updates! Here are a few recaps of the memorable happenings of June and July.

June 1, World Tree Day, I got a group together to plant 50 trees at our local health center. Moringa, known as the “Miracle Tree,” is the focus of many of my activities related to food security. Though realistically it is comparable to other legumes, the whole tree can be used for various products from sauce with the leaves to soap with the seed oil. My group of Moringa enthusiasts would like to advocate its nutritional and medicinal properties to those in village who have limited resources and access to healthy foods and Western medicine, so we’re hoping for a nice little plantation by next spring. One problem – no materials or money to build a fence, and Moringa is essentially goat candy. The trees are pretty resilient and continue to grow despite their regular de-leafing, so fingers crossed…

Moringa morning. From left to right: Health Center Guardian, Innocent (my supervisor's son), Roland (intern at my farm), Gregoire (see more below!), Michelle, John (fellow PCV), Sylvestre (English teacher, and PCV enthusiast)

Gregoire, the Beninese man to the left of me in the picture above has become my champion work partner #1! He sought me out my first week in village, not for the shady reasons I’ve often associated with some Beninese men, but because he truly envisions a better future for Benin and the environment. He works for the mayor’s office as a community counselor, giving informational sessions in rural villages about child nutrition, diarrheal disease, and malaria. He has become a reliable contact for many of my projects in village, from my monthly nutritional seminars for preschool Mamans, to my new Amour et Vie team!  As I mentioned in a previous post, “Amour et Vie” (Love and Life) is a program run by Peace Corps, Population Services International, USAID, and other development organizations that trains a community counselor (Gregoire’s role) and two high school-aged “peer educators” to conduct informational sessions twice monthly for a target group, predominately concerning family planning, sexual health, malaria, and diarrheal disease. My team attended a training last week, and we are preparing a kick-off ceremony for mid August!

I am happy with my team and excited for the work we will do, but it was a lengthy process putting the team together. The boy peer educator was found immediately with no problems, but we went through 4 girls before finding one whose parents gave permission or didn’t request that their daughter be paid for the work. In one shocking and disappointing circumstance, a chosen girl showed up at my door with her uncle. While her single mother and older brother gave enthusiastic permission, her uncle refused. In a confusing, language-translated conversation, he explained that she was too young (“only 18”) to travel to a weeklong training, and that going out into the community to teach people things will bring “gris-gris” (voodoo curses) upon her, or people would expect money or favors if she tried to teach them things. I explained that it was a safe and important opportunity for a young girl, especially because she hopes to be a nurse. He was adamant however, and I felt powerlessly unable to defend this girl’s opportunity. The next morning, her maman approached me and asked that I not be angry with them for refusing her daughter’s participation in the program. She consoled me, “If her father was still alive, he was a school director, or if it were her other uncle who is a doctor, she would have been allowed,” she said. “But since he is the uncle who lives in village, his permission is necessary, even though he is wrong.” I assured her that I understand respecting an elder’s wish, but I also asked her why they let him have the final say, if they know that he was wrong. A simple, “what-kind-of-a-dumb-question-is-that?” response: “Because he is a man and I am a woman, so I must respect him.” That was such a hard thing to hear, and such a hard realization to let go of, that they can know he is uneducated and wrong, yet still be content in letting him make their decisions – certainly one aspect of this culture with which I struggle to empathize. I assured the mother that I was not angry, only sad for her daughter, and I promised to let the girl know if another opportunity comes up.

The cultural frustrations and slow days made for a restless June. While I hit my year-in-country mark, it seemed like more of a reminder that there’s a whole year and some change to go… So the getaways of July were much appreciated:

The first week was spent in Porto Novo at Camp GLOW (“Girls Leading Our World”), an amazing opportunity for young village girls to spend the week learning about how to be healthy, happy leaders. Like my Camp AGBASSA, it was so inspiring to see the confidence and knowledge gained by middle-school girls over one week.

From there, I was off for a 1½ week vacation to Morocco! Morocco was full of adventures like paved roads, air conditioning, hot running water, cold potable water, beds comparable to clouds, and rooms with rose petals sprinkled delicately, welcoming me to relaxation and luxury. It was ten days of over-eating, over-sleeping, over-bathing, and indescribable comfort. It re-sparked my travel bug, and got me thinking about post Peace Corps possibilities. While vacation was refreshing and very much appreciated, it’s hard to get back to nights of interrupted sleep and mornings of 4 am roosters.

But here I am, back in Benin, and heading to the next thing: this week, Camp BRO (“Boys Respecting Others”). Another week of learning and confidence building, though I imagine this one will have less singing and screaming than girls’ camp.

I look forward to the calm 2 weeks I will spend in village after July (mid August brings Environmental Camp, the final wrap-up to the summer vacation period), to reconnect with my colleagues, to get back to my projects, and to hang out with my Geo cat. 

This lengthy update is all the more reason for more frequent posts, so I’ll be sure to get back at it in August. I’m missing you all and your luxurious amenities!