the final countdown

i leave Benin in 20 hours...depending of course on when the taxi to Togo wants to take off. I've been in Cotonou for over a week as I came down early for the newbies' swear-in ceremony and joint Peace Corps Benin 40th anniversary celebration. Had a lovely dress made and things went off without a hitch. Watching them take the oath (which is eerily similar to the military oath to serve and defend the USA), I flashed back two years ago in Natitingou when we were doing the same thing, having the same feelings of trepidation, excitement, and clueless-ness. What a wild ride they're in for! My replacement Christine got to post a few days after and David climbed the reception tree to tell me she was already doing amazing and I have nothing to worry about. One more thing to check off the list. I've been doing medical tests and having meetings with supervisors and basically getting the check sheet filled out for Peace Corps admin that says I am actually allowed to leave the Peace Corps. This involves running around the three floor bureau all day in sweaty, humid Cotonou, trying to figure out who needs to do what; all while attempting to stay fresh for meetings with the bosses...riiiiiight, i'm just a big daisy. my project reports are finished, i hate budgets, thank god for our fabulous staff who have really worked with me to make sure I can catch my flight. each volunteer is required to write a DOS (description of service), mine ended up being 6 pages, describing what i've accomplished or at least attempted during my service. looking at the final product, i have an immense feeling of gratification. it was especially nice to meet with the country director and hear her positive feedback and appreciation of my contribution to Benin. Every now and then, that kind of thing is really great to hear, particularly at a tumultuous time like this. All that is left to do is wait for the staff to come back from afternoon siesta time (i will NOT miss that, it screws up the whole day!) and give my last "sample" to the doctors to make sure I still have all of my intestines. got a little freaked out this morning as my body wasn't cooperating and they said "no sample, no check" referring the the readjustment allowance we get and incidentally, what i'm traveling around the world with....after copious amounts of coffee, papaya, and spicy spaghetti, we're a go for check signing. ohhh peace corps.
pretty sure my last post said it all but i needed to write one more sign off blurp. I leave tomorrow for Accra,Ghana where I catch a plane saturday night to Egypt. I meet my partner in crime Annie at the Cairo airport at 6am and we hit the ground running. the new blog to follow is www.boozerswithoutborders.blogspot.com it's Ramadan in the Islamic world right now so i don't know how much boozing we'll be doing but we'll have plenty to say anyways.
cheers to all, i'll be back in the states on christmas day, who knows after that....

done and done...almost

well, i did it. i left Guinagourou and wow, can we say whirlwind? i still have no idea exactly how i feel as i've been going nonstop since i left on the 31st. the night before, david, taylor, and our friend saka (my very own boys club) sat around until 10:30 just chatting and eating some amazing pounded yams (yam pilee) david's wife made. we also had a whole chicken to consume, my scholarship girl/best friend in village, Catharine, had given me her prize rooster the day before and absolutely refused money or even to come eat with us. at first she just opened my door and threw it in, so it crowed for a solid hour...inside my house. after my neighbor helped me chase it down i took it over to david's to prepare it. i'm a little worried that the catch and release concept has forever been removed from my reality.
they told me a bunch of old Bariba folk stories and we said good night but agreed to meet the next morning for the grande farewell. thank god i'd been packing in advance as this was the first time, i think in the history of Guinagourou that a taxi has been ready before 9am. the driver came and picked up all my peace corps stuff to be returned and i headed over to drag david out of church. waited around until the singing and drumming was done, soaked up all the sounds and sights i wanted to burn directly into my memory as i know those things fade, even if they seem incredibly intense at the moment.
david, saka, and catharine cut out early (those sinners) and my taxi rolled down the road to get me at the stop (a big mango tree) about the same time. we made the car wait a few extra minutes so we could take photos by the library. the roof is on, the doors and windows went in the day after i left and i have been replaced by a total rockstar who is super excited to manage this project. mailed the film rolls home to mom a bit ago so they should be circulating soon.
deep breath in, let it out, walk to the car. david had said he really didn't want to see me cry and i'd been feeling pretty solid about my decision to leave. of course that all went out the window when Catharine lost it, hugged me and took off down the road. david got all weepy but that smile never left his face. he gets that i'm excited to move on and is happy for me. suffice to say, i kept my sunglasses firmly on until we got to parakou, by which time i was totally distracted by the pain in my body. the rains have destroyed the road and my head slammed into the roof no less than 7 times. i kept trying to appreciate it as it was my last real bush taxi ride but i think i'm good for awhile on those. some friends were in parakou so we went out for celebratory drinks and it turned into a tour of the city, saying the big au revoir to the hot spots that have grown near and dear to me. went to lunch the next day and said goodbye to a really great volunteer friend who supported me a lot this last year. saying goodbye is hard! i know i'll foever be in contact with my group of folks here but this, what we're doing here, will never happen again. and i'm totally ok with that part. things end for a reason and life goes on, i feel extremely privileged to have been allowed this experience. Benin is a fantastic country, charming in its own right, equally as frustrating but i did it. i LIVED two years of this life and it wasn't always easy but that made it better. the people here have opened my mind and have earned a place in my heart that will be there forever. this is my home, i have real family here and real investments. discussing poetry with Catharine for the first time in her life (at the age of 25), watching david's baby girl Terese take her first steps, and then run to me, heckling the other women at the water pump, being the most ill i have ever been or hope to be, working a field all day with david and simultaneously solving all the problems of the world; this has been my peace corps. call us hippies is you want but we do make a difference. in our own lives even more than others. i am forever changed, who knows how much or in what ways just yet but i know whatever happened to me here made me better, stronger,and much more humble.
big thanks to everyone who has taken this journey with me, it's been nothing if not real.

life update

so, here's what's been going on since porkfest. first of all, had to detox all the protein out of my system. overload! good thing there isn't much back in Guinagourou so fasting was super easy. some of you may be aware that there is a global food crisis happening. well, it's definitely here. everything has gone up and i'm actually seeing changes in the way people are eating. there's not much i can do except stand by and observe, not the best way to feel empowered. also, felt incredibly guilty about porkfest but hey, every now and then is ok...right? i headed back to post and since then we've been working to get these walls up for the library. rains are here!!!!!!!!! good god, i've never been so terrified of storms before. it's not because of the noise but of what it will do to freshly cemented bricks that need to stay put. we have had to patch some holes up but honestly, we're making way more progress than i had anticipated. time here is flying, every week when i take my mefloquine (anti-malaria) i realize it's one more week that i don't get back. i'm starting to take notice of things that have become so normal in my life but were once odd or different, right when i got here. trying to lock up the moments in my memory but am really afraid of loosing them too quickly. i'm on my 6th journal so i'm documented but i don't think there's anything that can replace the actual taste of street food, the smell of my neighbor's dinner cooking, or the sound of yams being pounded from sun up to sun down and after.
i just came from Porto Novo, the actual capital of Benin. the newbies are there and i met my replacement. she is a total rockstar and is psyched to get moving. we have post visit next week so it should be full of meet and greets with me loosing my mind trying to make sure i give her enough info and introduce absolutely everyone. how do i wrap two years up a few days to pass on?! to each is own and she will for sure find her own way as we all do. i must release my post, i must release my post. david is excited and really this will be a new page in his life as well. i'm in cotonou now for a med checkup to make sure i'm just as clean as when i came in...take that as you will. tomorrow i head to a town called savalou for the big yam fete that celebrates the new yam harvest every year. it's supposed to be a big deal and i love me some yams! i'm out of here in 3 weeks or so, around the world tickets are bought and secured! excited to have something to look forward to, to make this transition a little easier, if not a bit drawn out. www.boozerswithoutborders.blogspot.com is where we'll be at, don't take it at face value, there will be more said than just beer reviews ( but oh so many of those!) hope all is well with everyone and the school year kicks off well. abby goes to kent in a few days and i can't believe i'm not there to help move her in...though it may be better that we don't hit the town at once...

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.

BAAAAAck in the saddle again!

Back in Parakou! After falling asleep on the NYC subway and practically falling into a coma on the way to Morocco, I can’t describe the relief I felt stepping off the plane at 4 in the morning on Sunday. After the initial wave of humidity slapped me in the face like a wet blanket, I slid right back in to the groove and all was well. Waited around to go to my office until 6 and just chatted with some taxi drivers. Carrying back cameras and computers, I didn’t really feel like braving the streets of Cotonou in the wee hours, though there’s really not much difference between 4 and 6 except in my head. Rolled into my office and took the biggest cat nap in history. Got the chance to catch up with some friends and ate the food I’d actually been craving. I felt like the kids in “Hook” when they play the Neverland foods game. They eat by playing pretend b/c there is actually nothing on the table, but the kids are so excited! Given the nutritional content of most of the food here, I might as well eat “neverfood” but it’s so damn tasty! Spent Monday in Cotonou banking but the good news…the library money is in my possession! We’re a go! Spent some time hunting down a legal cement distributor and pretty sure I’ve got one so full steam ahead. My work partner, David is in Burkina at a Moringa conference so, come Thursday, we’re moving mountains (of sand) and building buildings, yahoo! I am going to village today for about 12 hours then coming right back (biking to try and work off the freshman 15 I put on at home!) as Camp GLOW starts Sunday and we just received the fund money today so there’s much to do! Other than that, all is well and we’re moving along full steam ahead. Onward and Upward!

slightly delayed post...

There and back already. Seems like just a few days ago I was to the point of vomiting I was so nervous about touching down in the mother country after 22 solid months in West Africa. Dressed in my uber-hippie style Benin fabric skirt and an already dirty shirt, I left our Close of Service conference that was winding down to catch a 3am flight to Morocco then JFK. Not only does it take forever to get anywhere IN Benin, but it takes forever to get anywhere OUT of Benin. I had to show up around 7pm because I snagged a free ride there and it’s not smart to moto-taxi around at 2am with a couple hundred dollars and your computer…just for future reference. Don’t worry about me being bored though! I brought 3 types of reading material and had an arsenal of friends to text message….so of course I just took a nap. Right there on my pack, on the floor of the Cotonou airport, mosquitoes eating me alive but refusing to go sit in the air conditioned lounge as a 90 year old priest was doing calisthenics…preventing the clot?...and I would have frozen to death, they really crank it up for the ex-pats. Good thing it started pouring AFTER I got there. The only bad part was that it cut the power at least 3 times so the fans stopped working and then we just sweat all over the floor. About this time, after the lights came back for a bit, a nice enough guy walked over and after he proposed and I refused by saying men are expensive and liars (calm down folks, was just trying to head him off at the pass). After a few more blatant refusals, he left with his friends and I continued my nap, mosquitoes and all. I passed out almost as soon as I sat down on the plane. Royal Air Maroc is a great airline to fly. Even if you need some bells and whistles, from what I glimpsed, first class was doing all right. They even give you these little socks as they understand we’re coming off the equator, are freezing, and most likely not wearing appropriate foot attire. Good thing I didn’t realize I was in possession of socks until after I got off the flight  They keep those planes cold! We touched down in Accra to pick up a load of people, just like a bush taxi! I woke up terrified because it’s only a half hour flight and I had no idea why we were landing so early. It was dark so I scrunched my face up in preparation of a crash landing; thinking “ I better get at least one more piece of cheesecake before I die!” All was well and we got to Morocco by 8am or so. We had to change planes but were directed better than a herd of cattle so it worked out. There was a couple (who turned out to be really nice) who were driving me nuts. They had to figure out why their friends got bumped out of first class as the girl was the only one who spoke spotty French and once I heard her say “honey, get the dictionary!” I asked if they needed some help and we got it regulated. Was actually a good thing that happened b/c it got me comfortable talking to people, up until then I just hadn’t had a desire to be chatty. Once it came out that I was in Peace Corps, one of the other girls on the flight said she’d just signed her closing papers in Togo – we’re NEIGHBORS! The switch flipped on and it was full franglais and government acronyms for the rest of the conversation. She even gave me the book she finished on the plane, in true volunteer form, pcvs are always starving for more reading material. We got to JFK but they wouldn’t let us de-board (that’s a word right?) due to a few problems which the captain just rattled off to the zillions of standing, cranky people in his craft. After we sat down and stood up a few more times and taxi-ed around the tarmac, just for fun I think, they freed us and I blew through the customs. I grabbed my singular, overstuffed backpack and took off. My debit card still worked in the ATM so I got some cash and rather than take the expensive direct shuttle to Penn Station, I said nah, I’ll suck it up and figure the subway out from JFK to the Amtrak place. Liking NYC more and more. It worked perfectly! The problem was that Toot (who picked me up in Philly) and I didn’t factor in wait time so she ended up hanging around the Philadelphia train stop for 4 hours. That’s ok, don’t feel bad at all because I seem to remember a time, not too long ago when she didn’t arrive in Benin for DAYS, so it worked out. We got right in the car and drove straight home to Painesville. She even let me take the reigns for awhile and it was awesome, forgot how great driving yourself is! Rolled into my actual driveway at 4am, exhausted, kooky, and ready for a big sleep. No such luck as Mr. Miller was up and ready. Big hugs were had by all and the whole family decided to wake up. I think that means it’s time to eat cheesecake! We all had a fat piece and tucked ourselves back into bed. Poor toot, I was back up at 8am b/c the time change just screwed me up. No one else was up yet so we went downstairs to make coffee and toast. The damn coffee pot ran everywhere as I forgot to put about half the pieces and parts in it before the brew so Toot about died laughing while I raced around my totally new kitchen that is totally unfamiliar and tried not to ruin it before my mom got up. All went well and so began the vacation of gluttony. We must have consumed a whole pig worth of bacon that morning alone. I’m pretty sure that during my entire time home, my mouth was only empty when I was talking about getting more. The weight gain feels good though, comfortable, back in freshman year at Kent all over again. A few months ago, I sent my mom a list of things I NEEDEED to eat. We covered all those bases, a few times. I don’t need a beer for at least, well, a week or so. I made the library thank you rounds and updated people on what’s going on now. The check is waiting in Cotonou to cash and we should be standing in an actual room some time soon. This post would be too large to post if I went into detail about the madness that was my visit. All I need to say is that I saw my rugby ladies, saw my high school homies, and watched my sister walk across the stage at Harvey High with the biggest smile on her face that she’s ever made. That was really the whole reason I came home so glad it was a success! Also had the opportunity to talk to a friend who is just starting her Peace Corps journey this month, what a great feeling that is! I’m glad I’m winding down though, it’s time. I have no idea what filled up all our time but mom and I didn’t get one free second to touch the yard but we did manage to spend an entire weekend at dad’s new boat club. We accidentally spent 4 and a half hours out until right after sunset so I think I’ve racked up enough credit to be gone for a little bit longer. I’d list all the fabulous foods I ate but most of you readers live in the States all the time and butter on toast just doesn’t turn you all on like it does me. All in all, mom was a rockstar and had running water in the kitchen in time for me, cooked and cleaned the whole time too. Dad, well, we all know Mr. Butch is well, Mr. Butch, ‘nuff said. And my sister is going to Kent in the fall, life’s pretty posh right now. I’m in NYC sitting at a starbucks, sipping a vat of coffee after a full day at the Natural History museum. Air Maroc bumped my flight up a day so I fly out tonight and they are paying for me to have a night in Casablanca…..I keep saying life is so hard right?
So, thanks to everyone who dug into this library, NORVA (northern ohio returned volunteer assoc.), Painesville City Police Department, Ashley Kaufman and her crew at Seton Hill, Friends of Morely Library, Sandy the News Herald writer who did the article, countless more friends and family, Sandy Miller became a full fledged volunteer for a few months, and all the other people who made things a little smoother or just listened when I needed to scream. It’s been worth it! I’ll keep updating. In case anyone doesn’t know, I am done with my service in early September, so we’ve got a few months to wrap up. Hope all is well, oh and a new email- rmiller100@google.com but if it doesn’t work, just use the old one. Cheers all!

Another AIDS tour over

The second annual Borgou AIDS education bike tour 2008 rolled to a finish last Monday. This year went extremely well and left next years group with a lot of good ideas to pursue to make it even better! Everyone arrived on Thursday so we could have a short meeting on what exactly this trip would entail and practice with our groups. After a small logistics intro about the route and most importantly – what we’d be eating. We were a group of 20 volunteers and 6 Beninese educators. This year worked a little differently as last year we were obliged to find Bariba translators in each village which slowed the process down considerably and between French and local language there are some things that just don’t translate. Working with an educator who is already familiar with the cultural group makes a HUGE difference and we could see the women’s comprehension and involvement shoot up. In an earlier post, I mentioned that Parakou now has the first Beninese volunteer club, NGO certified. The president, Ibrahim, worked closely with us this year to try and smooth out some kinks. I asked if there were volunteers who spoke Bariba and had done AIDS education; and he said there wouldn’t be a problem. As this is the blanket answer, I was slightly concerned but things worked out great. Ibrahim has a habit of keeping his word so things actually get done! A team of 4 Beninese volunteers in their last few years of school came, along with my homologue David as well as Saka, a guy from my village who helped with a leg of the trip last year. He came to my house and asked if he could come along this time. I wasn’t sure if he was in it for the free tshirts or actually got what we wanted to accomplish. After prying a little deeper, he said that AIDS education is something that is important to communicate effectively to people in villages as they don’t always have the chance to get the public service announcements in the cities. One of the student volunteers didn’t speak Bariba so we brought Saka along to translate for the kids’ group. He was so animated! After a few villages, people settled into a routine and we were on our way, eventually touching 13 communities.
Every village we arrived in, we broke the group down into 5 sections, old men, old women, young men, young women, and kids. I chose to be with the old women again this year. I loved them last year and really feel there is a lot to be communicated and exchanged with them. David was with the old men again. He loves talking with them on the topics of community responsibility and the honor that comes along with having a healthy village. Even though about a week before we did this, another volunteer James and I rode the route and tried to get the villages prepared, along with ordering food, things didn’t always start right away. What usually happened was, we’d roll in, people would see a huge sea of foreigners and start gathering. Then we’d have the public crier go out and beat his drum along with the message that everyone should go to the public meeting place. This worked great everywhere as it’s the accepted method of communication. Once we’d gotten enough people together we’d split up and talk for 40 minutes or so on the paths of transmission, how to prevent contraction, and what to do if someone does have AIDS. There was also time for questions and by far the largest piece of misinformation was that people could get AIDS from mosquito bites. Hopefully at least a few people believed us that that was just malaria and you should still in fact use a mosquito net!
PSI, (population services international) in Cotonou donated a huge packing container of condoms so we distributed those as well. Not sure how effective that is as at my school the professors took all the boxes and said they would give them out in a more orderly manner…though the general consensus was that the professors would just keep them for themselves. There is only so much control we can have and at least someone is being protected. A local water filter-er donated 4 huge bags of individual water sachets so we didn’t have to worry about boiling and filtering for 20 volunteers. This helped immensely as we didn’t have anything more than a chase moto this year because the fire fighters’ ambulance was in repair. The moto was driven by Saka and carried our spare parts and all the condoms.
Speculation for next year is that we’ll change the topic to malaria or awareness or nutrition…something along those lines.
Incidents were kept to a minimum. Last year, due to the terrain of the backroads, there were at least 13 flat tires. This time around, we stuck to the standard red dirt road and only had 2 or 3 flats but two major wipe-out pile-ups but they were only surface wounds and people picked themselves up nicely. In all we talked with around 2,500 men, women, and children. Two of the towns, Guinagourou and Péréré, we only talked to the CEGs (secondary schools). Once we’d wrangled the kids into quasi-groups, they calmed down enough to listen and participate. This was one of the cooler aspects of the ride. These kids are at the age of discovery and have the chance to be pro-active about their lives. We are also seeing the emergence of the women’s equality movement here and it was really encouraging to see teenage girls explain how to use a condom and say she would refuse a relationship with someone who refused to use one. Who can say the reality of those situations but at least the seed is planted. A really awesome project has stemmed out of the Peace Corps bike tour. The Corps des Volontaires Beninoise has decided to tackle a tour of their own. This August, they are planning on biking from Parakou to Cotonou, a 7 hour drive in a taxi (on a good day) over a span of two weeks. The best part about this is they will roll in to Cotonou (hopefully) the same day the new trainees swear-in AND Peace Corps Benin is celebrating its 40th anniversary in country. This is a great representation of the impact we’ve made on the communities here and the passing of the torch to the people who will actually make a difference in Benin - the Beninese!