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The Road Home

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My last week at site began with a party. The savings group from my last post celebrated a successful savings cycle. We sang and danced twice -once in the morning, again in the evening- and ate fresh fish, rice, and fried chicken. The group members even sang a goodbye song to me as the evening progressed. It was an excellent start to my week-long send-off. Later, my counterpart and I led one last compost session, and those women then gathered for a goodbye discussion of memories and mutual appreciation. It was profoundly touching to reminisce and share a few compliments. The next day I bade farewell to my favorite market vendors and spent my last day at site wrapping up my move-out preparations, walking around my community, shooting the breeze, and giving away my household goods that have no place in the Peace Corps office or my luggage. Leaving site was not a logistical nightmare, but neither was it a walk in the park. Final packing and cleaning was done quickl
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Share-Out

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The past month can be best characterized as one of sharing. From finances and composting to personal experiences, my service as of late has been all about collaboration and expression. Earlier this month the village savings and loan association (VSLA) my counterpart and I trained last year finished its year long cycle. Its nineteen members spent the last twelve months buying into the saving scheme, taking out loans, and investing in their entrepreneurial activities. Despite a few delays and hiccups with loan repayment, every borrower found ways to reimburse their credit. After the last savings and reimbursement meeting, we all got together to finish the savings and training cycle with the group’s last lesson on how to responsibly conduct a “share-out” of savings dividends.  VSLA savings schemes aren’t exactly the same as a savings account. Instead of depositing and withdrawing money at will like in banking, members buy “shares” of certain savings increments ranging from 50 cen
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Further Reading

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The Third Goal of Peace Corps is to improve awareness of our host country cultures and histories among Americans. It's been my primary reason for writing on my blog. What I've shared with my readers, however, is limited. My posts have been but windows into the much larger building of my experiences as a Volunteer. These views are also mine alone; every Volunteer has their unique experiences. At another level, there's so much about life in Benin that I'm unfamiliar with, unaware of, or difficult to explain by myself. With all this in mind, I've compiled a list of blogs, articles, and other media that will dig deeper and wider than I have/can. Some are Volunteer written, others discuss Beninese current events, and a few provide perspectives on cultural (mis)understanding. Please read, learn, and enjoy. Volunteer Blogs Chizoba Ezenwa is a fellow agriculture Volunteer who lives in the north. Learn about a different part of Benin through Chizoba's
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Reprise July

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The second year of Peace Corps service brings with it an odd mix of old and new. Routines are pretty set. New projects arise and with them a more level-headed approach to community work. We take on more leadership roles. In my experience, it’s a lot of the same, just better because we’re acclimated, comfortable, and more empowered. My month of July has seen many moments played on repeat from last year from a Fourth of July party to youth camp, and I’ve enjoyed the chance to improve and soak it all up anew. The same applies to a visit from a dear college friend where I shared common Beninese sites and sights, in so doing shedding light on my experiences for myself. Taken together, that’s why I call this month 'Reprise July.’ First, just like last year I hosted a Fourth of July party at my site. We had the same girls and boys inter-village soccer tournament followed by a ceremony, hot dogs, and a film screening. This year we had two nicer trophies for the winners as well a
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Yovo

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“Whatever white people do not know about Negroes reveals, precisely and inexorably, what they do not know about themselves.” James Baldwin When walking or biking around village most people call me Noé , a name that is no more than the French equivalent of Noah. I like the name. It's basically the same as Noah but still different, a kind of metaphor for who I feel I am in Benin. Other people in village and just about everyone outside of it call me something else: yovo . Many Beninese, especially in the south, use this label for foreigners, particularly those of a foreign race. Yovo becomes my name away from village, how strangers greet me, and the punctuation of shouts in my general direction. Generations have even passed down a song, often sung by children, with lyrics to greet and attract the attention of yovos: “Yovo, yovo, bonsoir! Ça va bien? Merci!” The label has often frustrated me. Some people in my own neighborhood still call me yovo instead of Noé eve
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Stomping Out Malaria

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The month of May heralds the beginning of the rainy season throughout Benin. Farmers prepare their fields, and temperatures fall. While everyone welcomes these advantages to rain, the ambitious rise of puddles and filling catchments (even those unintended) can create breeding grounds for the world's least favorite buzzer, the mosquito. Mosquitoes make for annoying and itchy evening in the United States, but in Benin the Anopheles mosquito can transmit malaria. Malaria is a disease most everyone recognizes but knows little about. It's caused by a parasite with symptoms of fever, chills, head and body aches, and even anemia and respiratory distress. It resembles and is treated like the flu, but even mild cases can take their turn for the worse and become fatal if not diagnosed and treated within 24 hours. Diagnoses confirm cases through blood samples, and oral medication for a few days can treat even the worst cases. That makes malaria preventable. Avoid mosquitoes by sl
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Consider Development

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In 2013 the Government of Benin appropriated funds for two large projects designed to increase the quality of life for all citizens. First, the routinely underfunded educational system received adequate finances so that all public primary schools could provide all-day kindergarten, or é cole maternelle in French. As a result, the youngest students of poor suburbs and rural villages would not be left out when local schools lack funds. Second, the Ministry of Communication and Technology managed the massive expansion of broadband internet access across the entire country. Previously, private internet providers only operated in major cities, but public investment paid for grid expansion and subsidized prices for poorer, far-off, and rural communities. The Ministry has promoted their project as bringing every Beninese student, farmer, and businessperson to global markets and information no matter their home community. What do you think of these policies? They sound like huge
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A Visit from the Embassy

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The US Embassy in Cotonou visited my site and made a promotional video on the work I do with CRIPADD ONG and other community partners. Beware that the whole video is in French. For those sans savoir, I discuss our work in gardening extension, tree planting, nutrition, environmental education, and tomato conservation. Enjoy!
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It Takes a Village

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It isn’t news, but I have to say that volunteering with Peace Corps is no walk in the park. Every day poses a myriad of social miscues, slow work, and feelings of isolation. I often take comfort and encouragement in messages from friends and family who appreciate my service. They remind me of the reasons why I chose this job, that I easily overlook the advantages of service, and why service outshines the entry-level office alternative I could have chosen. These messages -and the comments I received from strangers while on home leave- often emphasize the “do-gooder” nature of Peace Corps service. People imagine Volunteers as examples, paragons even, of virtue and self-sacrifice in the humanitarian struggle for a better tomorrow. We are imagined teaching earth-shattering lessons, feeding the hungry, and kissing the babies we vaccinate. Thinking of Volunteers as perfect do-gooders poses several problems. First, life is much muddier and the details of service more boring than people i
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Up North

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The lion stood no more than twenty yards from the car. Pardon the expression, but the massive male West African lion froze in the middle of the trail and stared like a deer in the headlights. It crept into the bushes as we approached, quickly creating space between it and us until it stopped, assessed us, and relaxed. We watched it for several minutes until it sauntered away. It was then we spotted two other lions further down the trail. For about a half an hour we rolled the car back and forth along the trail to catch better glimpses of these rare West African lions. They prowled through the bushes, laid around, and even chased each other, much to the delight of us smartphone-wielding Volunteers. It hadn’t occurred to me how dangerous such a large, strong, and ferocious cat could be until it came within 15 yards of our vehicle. Then I was happy to be behind metal bars in a big, scary thing called the automobile. I was on a three-day safari with five other Volunteers in Pendjari N
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