Benin

I just got back from a week in Benin. For those you who never heard of it, it is a west African country near the equator. I have heard it is also where voodoo originated. Since the Gambia is mostly Islamic with few animist practices, I decided to go to Benin for the international voodoo festival.

I really liked Benin. It reminded me of Brazil. When I stepped off the plane I was hit with a wave of heat and humidity (apparently it is the cool season. I cannot imagine how hot it would be during the other times of the year). Walking around town, I saw women carrying pineapples on their heads and cooking plantains on the sidewalks.

I visited Grand Popo, a beach village. We camped on the beautiful beach, and watched a local NGO release sea turtles with school kids. We took a boat trip in the lagoons visiting fishing villages and watched fisherman throwing their nets for fish.

We next went to ouidah for the voodoo festival. We almost missed some of the voodoo idols because all around town are these cement mounds. We figured they were left over cement, but we saw men kneel before them and we found out the mounds protected spirits. We later went to the beach for the voodoo festivities. We saw a lot of dancing, drumming, and haystack spinning (local gods). We also saw men cutting their arms and heads with knives and then pouring alcohol on themselves. It was crazy.

Spinning haystack

We travelled a little up country hiking in the hills around Dassa, and visiting a restored king's palace, which had a throne resting on skulls of his enemies. Cotonou, the largest city, was a lot more developed than The Gambia with an extensive system of traffic lights, roads, and sidewalks. Unlike the Gambia there were a lot of cars, but in the cities there are no taxis. Instead people ride on the backs of motorcycle taxis. We received helmets from the peace corps office, but i was still a little nervous riding them. They would make left turns into sea of cars, trucks, and zems (as they are locally called). Many times I thought we were going to crash, but always as if it was the parting of the red sea, a hole would open up and we would dash through it.

Kristina and I at the beach with our motorcycle helmets

Work for the New Year

Last month was the mid way point of my service. Around Thanksgiving of this year I will be coming home. While it is a long way off, I think the time will fly by. Here are some of the projects I will work on until the end of the year.

1. Elementary School - I want to continue working at the elementary school in the next village in the school garden planting trees and vegetables. I am working with a teacher on the use of the library and hopefully i can continue teaching environmental education to the older grades. We tried to do a play on deforestation to present to the school, but the kids could not remember their lines.
2. Tree Nursery Competition - I am the co national coordinator for the competition in all the elementary and middle schools of the gambia. I work with representatives from the dept of Education, dept of Forestry, and the National Environment Agency to motivate schools to participate and plant as many trees as possible.
3. Village sensitizations - I am probably the most excited about this project. I am building on work started by a peace corps volunteer last year. We will work in five surrounding villages planting central tree nurseries, and holding town meetings on the benefits of planting trees. The meetings will emphasize the financial benefits because I have realized while many people understand the enivornmental degradation aspect, the prospect of selling mature trees for cash will be a greater motivator.

While I have been frustrated with my work, I have a better idea of what I will be doing this year. Therefore, I think i will be able to accomplish more.