Porkfest 2008

what else would 15 pcvs do at the end of an extremely exhausting week-long girls camp? Of COURSE we would buy two whole pigs and eat for three solid days. this idea was the brainchild of a pcv talking about rendering lard and as we talked the idea just got out of control and turned into near protein poisoning...but in a good way. the deliciousness that happened was the best i've had in years (apart from the stint at home in which i gained a solid pound a day) so, this is how it went down. 15 pcvs, 2 pigs, totaling 70.000 cfa (about $150) of our pooled money. we got the hook-up from our friend the beverage distributer with factory prices and were able to use our workstation to make it happen. the first pig came in on the shoulders of chris, and was immediately dismantled to pieces and parts, some for grinding, some for grilling. our first meal was ribs, slaw, and cornbread. the ribs weren't huge like back in the states but they sure did the job. the whole next day was eating and preparing. there was no shortage of breakfast sausage, eggs, gravy, and biscuits. on to the brat making. we'd ground the meat the night before and washed the small intestines out. i'm amazed at the things intestines can do! we stuffed those puppies full and left them under a mosquito net to dry. after boiling and grilling them we ate whole trays of 'em with green salad and german potato salad. throughout the day, there'd been a pit crew, in charge of pit roasting the second pig we'd ordered. the boys had a good time spitting it and throwing together the roaster which is roofing metal and borrowed iron bars. in exchange for the bars we bartered with the welder for some pig meat and he was delighted! dinner was around 10pm but oh worth the wait. if you've never had pit roasted pig, you need to go out immediately and find out the quickest way to consume it. it is amazing! i loved pig roasts in the states but this was so gratifying. we kept saying how COOL we were to be doing this ourselves. hey, a little pat on the back never hurt anyone. this was a great end to a great project. also nice because a bunch of us are COS-ing (close of service) from now until october so to have this last hurray was awesome. also on the list of activities was frying porkrinds, making pies (french silk, key lime, and apple) african yam pancakes with homemade applesauce, and paté making from the liver. i learned a lot as when a group of pcvs gets together it's all about food all the time and there were a lot of recipes to try out. hope you like the pictures, sorry they're not in order, i was in a hurry. off to hunt down the last ton of cement in the morning.

camp GLOW 2008

MY NEW EMAIL IS rmiller100@gmail.com it is not @google like i said before, sorry!

I think I explained in my post last year but for a refresher, Camp GLOW (girls leading our world) is an annual, week-long camp Peace Corps and certain partner organizations puts on. The volunteers choose up to 4 girls from village, preferably those who have demonstrated leadership, dedication to school work, and high spirits. Throughout the week, we have sessions on health, environment, women’s rights, goals and motivations, and take a few field trips as well.
This year rocked! This year I was the director, or “directrice” in French. We’d been writing project proposals since December and finally USAID had a chunk of money set aside for HIV/AIDS education. The three Camp GLOWs that take place in Benin were totally funded by this, coming to a total of over $20,000. The Borgou region (that’s ours) is the longest running and we worked some kinks out from last year. Things were set in motion before I went on vacation but as future planning isn’t a big thing here, most things had to wait until the day I came back. Walked into the workstation at 11pm to a letter saying the University shuttle bus they’d scheduled for us was no longer available. See what I mean about planning? Another volunteer, Sandy, in the training class after mine helped out a ton so she could take the reins next year. We signed the food contracts, verified the lodging reservations, sent out speaker invitations, and solidified the schedule. Sunday the 22, volunteers started rolling in from villages with their girls and someone we call a “tutrice”, or the chaperone woman responsible for the girls. Dinner was great and afterwards we had a dance party. Some of the tutrices were literally tearing girls who were too cool, out of their chairs to get down. It was hilarious and everyone was wiped out by 9:30. Our three field trips went extremely well. A trip to Songhai agricultural farming center, the local University, and the government radio station, ORTB all showed the girls options for later on down the road after school. The radio even sent someone over afterwards to record the girls singing their GLOW song and it will be transmitted this week. One of the highlights for me and I think the girls also, was a 2 hour session with two medical students from the University. These 2 ladies were finishing their 7th year in a PhD program and continuing on for another 4 years in their specialties, one in pediatrics, one in psychology. They gave the girls a presentation on sexual health and wow, it blew some minds. Once they drew the ovary/uterus diagram that we’ve all been seeing since the 4th grade, it was game time. The girls never stopped asking questions and the students had a great answer every time. The session even ran a half hour into lunch because we wanted them to get as much information as possible. I’m pretty sure this was the first time the girls have had this information presented to them and been given the opportunity to discuss rather than just memorize. Among the sessions we also had sports in which the girls had stations of yoga, aerobic dance, dizzy bat races, untying human knots, and them teaching us a few games from village. Red Rover got a little extreme when a girl tried to hurdle the arms of her opponents and as they raised the bar she got hooked up and slammed into the ground. No pain no gain though and she made a quick recovery. We showed a film, the new Willy Wonka, on Wednesday and whether they followed or not, the movie was cool. Though the things that were most interesting were seeing things like great dane dogs and snow falling from the sky. Friday, the girls each went out with a “mama model”, a working professional in the community in a certain network. The get the girls for a whole day and it’s basically like take your daughter to work day, just with someone else’s daughter. We took group photos that day too, we even found a woman photographer! Saturday was the closing ceremony in which we gave each girl and tutrice a certificate of completion and also introduced the spirit stick award, one for a tutrice and one for a girl. We had a little trouble explaining it and the girl we called up was SO embarrassed but the tutrice hugged Sandy and I and sang and danced a little. That afternoon was crafts so we did friendship bracelets, tye-dye, plastic bag crocheting, and making change purses out of ice cream packets. We tried to put an emphasis on recycling and reusing materials. Sunday, everyone got in their taxi and went home. Over all, this was a fantastic camp! I got really positive feedback from the girls, volunteers, and tutrices. Hopefully next year will be even better. Unfortunately, there was one sore spot in the whole week. At some point Saturday night, while we were having a candle light wish ceremony and of course, a dance party, someone came into the locked volunteer room and stole 40.000 from a pcv and took my brand new, totally amazing camera. It was quite the bummer and a slight kick in the teeth. All proper parties were alerted but I don’t think I’ll ever see that camera again. Really disappointing end to a stellar week but at least the university projector didn’t get snagged, or anything from the girls or tutrices. I’m headed back to village today to see how the library is moving along. Now that the bike tour and Camp GLOW have successfully ended, I can really enjoy my last few months at post.

building a solid foundation

Cement: necessary, heavy, and super rare here in Benin. On the scale of commodities, it’s right up there with rice as all buildings here are made inside and out with it. The Guinagourou library is being constructed with 4 tons of cement. That’s 20 packets per ton, 80.000 cfa per ton, that’s about $175. It was 70.000 but the price went up last week, no one can seem to tell me why. I tried a supplier in Cotonou but they only dealt with people buying 40 tons or more…I think I’ll hold back until my next project to go that big. The chief of something or other wrote me a letter explaining the situation to the person in charge in Parakou. Oddly, though this was the most sure looking contact, they have provided nothing and actually pointed me towards another supplier. The cement shortage has been around for at least a decade or at least that’s what the people tell me who are also waiting in line. They reminisce about the good ol’ days when there was such a surplus they couldn’t give it away. David and I found our first ton through a friend who inflated the price to 90.000 and on top of that we have to pay another 10.000/ton to transport the stuff by taxi the 50 kilometers to village. At this point I was leaving for the states and all money I had to front for the project was gone. I told David to just do what he can and we’ll have to see what happens when I get back. If there was ever someone who could manage and just get by, it’s David. That man knows how to call in favors like no one else I know. Once I got back from the states, I had all of 10 hours to go to my village, give out gifts, and get myself back in to Parakou for Camp GLOW (more to come on that). Didn’t even get to see David because he was in Burkina Faso at a Moringa conference so he actually got back a few days later than me. I gave him the biggest hug ever when he finally showed up at the workstation, I really missed that guy! He let me know the foundation was all set and we just need more cement; like every single other person in my village hadn’t let me know already. It’s cool to see people psyched, though I don’t know if it’s because I’m just building a building or because of what it will be. Throughout the Camp GLOW, (june 22-29) I made runs to the cement depot. The first time was quite the experience. Got there at 7am ready to throw elbows to get a place in line. Turns out that’s exactly what happens. Word got around that the white girl was buying not just one packet but 4 tons and I was sent around back to talk to the head honcho to see what we could do about it. I got sent back and forth about 5 times and finally they just said we’d wait until the truck comes. The semi truck schedules are never certain so it’s a constant waiting game. I headed to the front of the building and sat down. The truck rolled up and people literally flew into spots in lines, one for women, one for men. Apparently they sell 1 packet at a time at the front of the store so I was at a loss. One of the packet movers let me know I should just stay around back with the other people buying bulk and wait there. To be honest, I was staring in amazement at the madness ensuing due to the truck’s arrival. It seemed people were so terrified to loss their spot in line that they were smashing themselves up against one another and jockeying for the best position, even though that’s not really how a line works… Other onlookers were impressed by the show too. One guy (who is Beninese) said with a snicker “africans man, they will never change” and promptly threw himself into the mayhem. In my experience, this is how the bank works, the market, any store, the taxi stations, and apparently cement depots. The truck needed to be unloaded so the lines dispersed and we waited in the baking sun for a few more hours. I took a nap leaning against the building and was awoken by another stampede. Not needing a second viewing, I strolled around back to see what wee were doing about the bulk buyers. The people who’d been there at 7am and properly greeted the head guy, each got tickets saying how much we were allotted. 1 ton was the most anyone was allowed so I took my ticket and emerged to the front pay window feeling triumphant. By now everyone knew what I was doing because that’s what you talk about standing in line, how much cement and what you’ll do with it. I even got a couple high fives. I paid, and considerably less than the man in front of me buying the exact same amount…not sure what that was all about. David had called one of our taxi guys and they came and picked it up no problems. This whole ordeal took about 5 hours. Now I had 2 tons and we need 4. They took my phone number and later in the week, after yet another fruitless trip there and back, seeing no semi-truck, they called me. This time was much smoother; I walked up to the back door and paid. The boss also asked me for some American whiskey so we joked about it but I’m pretty sure I’m supposed to bring home a bottle of Johnny Walker the next time I go. That leaves us with 1 ton to find and I’m feeling pretty good about it. I go back today and pay the people who’ve worked for us on credit and we’ll keep looking for that last ton. So, that’s where we are with the library. Rain is here in full force so I’m curious to see how we’ll proceed, but we WILL proceed.