so i am lounging on a couch, drinking wine, eating tarts and crab pasta with marinara sauce, talking on ethernet internet. where could you find all this wonderful goodness? an expat house in Cotonou where I am spending the night at the house of an employee of the embassy. the house is something that i would love to have even in the states. there are so many ammenities, comfy couches, and the couple who is housing us is giving us the works in cooking us meals and providing whatever we need. they were once peace corps volunteers too so i think they understand. it is beautiful to bask in the comforts of the could be's that rest at home in america. i haven't slept that well in some time; i haven't spent a night in air conditioning i quite sometime. i passed out immediately.
so why am i here? there is a big event at peace corps, the memorial of kate puzey, a peace corps volunteer who died last march here in Benin. they don't have enough room to house all the volunteers who are coming down to honor kate. I did not know her but everyone who did speaks fondly of her. i want to show my respect for her and help support the other volunteers who knew her so well. Her memory is well preserved here through her friends and those who loved her at peace corps.
Thursday, March 11, 2010
It is interesting that my diseases feel like the roadblocks I used to come up against when playing the
Well, we experienced something like the plague of bugs in
It is interesting how differently your body adapts to the changes in temperature. When the rains were over the morning air was not the normal hot and humid but definitely just felt like a summer breeze from back home. Nonetheless people had brought out their long sleeves and pants and I saw considerably fewer naked babies running around. The infants from next door ever were wearing crocheted hats that I would think of putting on a baby in the dead of winter while wrapping it in a thick blanket. I on the other hand was up eating my breakfast and wearing shorts and a t-shirt as I sat on my porch step.
I think African children help me appreciate life and the simplicity of it. Children are so happy with the littlest gifts. They love the notepads and pens that people sent from home and the little dinasour figures. All the candy that people send definitely isn't going to waste either. I realize that when I was at home and we would take trips, we would always stop and buy a drink for everyone in the car at the gas station before taking off, sometimes even if it was a short trip. I felt a guilty twang when a couple of the neighbor children spotted my empty can of fanta on the floor and tried to shake the last remaining drops from it. I also am saddened by the lack of quality school books, and the non existence of toys. Children really do play with trash if anyone ever had that thought, and so I have to watch out for what I put out in the trash pile, which is really just the field across the street. I keep crayons and coloring books in my house for the neighbor kids to use and eventually I want to get them interested in frizbee.
Well its getting harder to keep my eyes open. I love u all, and thank everyone who care to read this and hope I can write more soon. Starting to think about Christmas, it is a ways off but I am looking forward to seeing everyone and time will pass quickly until then.
Monday, March 1, 2010
sickness strikes again
i went to nikki this past week. there is a very big festival that is based around these kings from history. there is one king and alot of princes and they all ride in on horses. i helped in designing banners for a tourism booth in which we were promoting alot of the tourist sites in benin that people who came to the festival could visit. i was not able to see the main activities because i was passed out on my friends couch or running to the latrine for the entire day saturday. it is suprising how comfortable peace corps volunteers become in talking about diarhea and other sicknesses that i may have felt embarressed about in the past. i wont go into the other details but i am on some pretty strong antibiotics and taking oral rehydration salts. i feel better already but still get exhausted really easy. i cant wait to get back to post and sleep.
tomorrow i have my first meeting with a groupment in Toffo. we are talking about starting a savings and loans club. i love the nuns there that i work with. they are very compassionate and always have their hands d0ing something for the people who come to the center. we may be adding a health aspect to the group in which my friend, another peace corp volunteer, and/or her homologue would help in giving seminars on basic health or teaching the women about moringa. moringa is a plant that has alot of nutritional benefits that when used in food can help older people fight diseases and rehabilitate children who are malnutritioned.
in a couple weeks we are having a memorial for a volunteer from the previous group named kate who was killed at her post. i actually found out about this before leaving for benin. it is very sad and although i did not know kate i can tell she was loved by the way the volunteers and the staff hold her in memory.
at the end of the month i will be going to the GAD dinner. there will be a talent show, where i possibly may be swing dancing with a friend, the dinner, and a date auction. i am excited about that and may be getting a special dress made. it is interesting how cheap it is for people to tailor clothes here as compared in the states. anyways, until the next time friends, hopefully soon.
tomorrow i have my first meeting with a groupment in Toffo. we are talking about starting a savings and loans club. i love the nuns there that i work with. they are very compassionate and always have their hands d0ing something for the people who come to the center. we may be adding a health aspect to the group in which my friend, another peace corp volunteer, and/or her homologue would help in giving seminars on basic health or teaching the women about moringa. moringa is a plant that has alot of nutritional benefits that when used in food can help older people fight diseases and rehabilitate children who are malnutritioned.
in a couple weeks we are having a memorial for a volunteer from the previous group named kate who was killed at her post. i actually found out about this before leaving for benin. it is very sad and although i did not know kate i can tell she was loved by the way the volunteers and the staff hold her in memory.
at the end of the month i will be going to the GAD dinner. there will be a talent show, where i possibly may be swing dancing with a friend, the dinner, and a date auction. i am excited about that and may be getting a special dress made. it is interesting how cheap it is for people to tailor clothes here as compared in the states. anyways, until the next time friends, hopefully soon.
Monday, February 22, 2010
current projetcs
so work....
i had a meeting with my groupment that went really well. we are getting more organized. march 2 i have a meeting with a second group of women to discuss doing savings and loans. i am excited about the second group because it is a group of women who come to this catholic run orphanage/center for helping the poor. they may not be able to save as consistently as the other group or give as much money, but it is cool because i am helping to form the group instead of working with an existing group.
training of trainers. i am teaching people how to teach others accounting and marketing. so not teaching yet technically, i am creating a guide so they know step by step of what to say/ what to put on the tableau. once i finish the guide they are ready to go.
i just got a pack of letters from a school i am corresponding with from back home. the students i am tutoring here are going to write letters in response to the students back home and then i will mail them off. i think they are excited about this and i hope they will be too.
i am leaving tomorrow for the fete de ghani in nikki. we are going to publicize different tourism locations in benin. i am helping my friend to create posters and i printed alot of brochures for him. it is a big cultural event that lots of people attend and they put it on the television.
i had a couple dreams recently. one was that we had to evacuate the country and i read the message wrong and didnt bring anything to cotonou. the other was that was home with swing dancing friends... josh and mike. mike picked me up and dipped me pretty low. all that to say i miss home but i also like it here. there are alot of things that suprised my expectations such as the rudeness of men, and the yovo calling (foreigner), but everyone asking for me to give them things i am wearing or holding... but i love the respect and partnerships i have made with some people, i love learning languages, and i love the kids. Children especially but also women work very hard. This is not something against men in america but men her definitely dont work at home alot. there are some but they are few and far between.
i had a meeting with my groupment that went really well. we are getting more organized. march 2 i have a meeting with a second group of women to discuss doing savings and loans. i am excited about the second group because it is a group of women who come to this catholic run orphanage/center for helping the poor. they may not be able to save as consistently as the other group or give as much money, but it is cool because i am helping to form the group instead of working with an existing group.
training of trainers. i am teaching people how to teach others accounting and marketing. so not teaching yet technically, i am creating a guide so they know step by step of what to say/ what to put on the tableau. once i finish the guide they are ready to go.
i just got a pack of letters from a school i am corresponding with from back home. the students i am tutoring here are going to write letters in response to the students back home and then i will mail them off. i think they are excited about this and i hope they will be too.
i am leaving tomorrow for the fete de ghani in nikki. we are going to publicize different tourism locations in benin. i am helping my friend to create posters and i printed alot of brochures for him. it is a big cultural event that lots of people attend and they put it on the television.
i had a couple dreams recently. one was that we had to evacuate the country and i read the message wrong and didnt bring anything to cotonou. the other was that was home with swing dancing friends... josh and mike. mike picked me up and dipped me pretty low. all that to say i miss home but i also like it here. there are alot of things that suprised my expectations such as the rudeness of men, and the yovo calling (foreigner), but everyone asking for me to give them things i am wearing or holding... but i love the respect and partnerships i have made with some people, i love learning languages, and i love the kids. Children especially but also women work very hard. This is not something against men in america but men her definitely dont work at home alot. there are some but they are few and far between.
to my friends (and family...included in friends)
i love all u guys. i love hearing from all of you, letters, packages. thank yous....
1. jackie i got your letter and i love the longness, i didnt finish yet but when i do i will write u back, that doubles for brad only jackie's letter triples yours.
2. my deacon family. i love the package you guys sent and thanks mrs vanmeter for the monthly letters
3. mom--everything... packages, phone calls, love, letters
4. larry and sandy, christina and ryan, Grandma and grandpa....
5. younguns and church peeps for all your prayers
how i live, my daily routine:
get up, talk say hello to the neighbors, hug my little neighbor sister, pull a bucket of water (i take bucket showers), sometimes wash clothes (by hand, same bucket, getting more water from well). make breakfast or eat bwee... it is corn flour with sugar boiled... it is actually very good.
Going to work, work varies but right now i bike across town to explain accounting to people and use their computer to type documents.
Otherwise take a zemi (motorcycle taxi) to visit with groupments and give formations on savings and loan groups.
Come home for repo (12-3). Eat, read, take tiny nap.
Take 2nd shower. It is hot now and i can take 2 or 3 showers in a day to rinse off... sexy i know.
sometimes i will talk with artisans in village.
Preparing dinner. I cook by candle light. The electricity doesnt always work; and there isnt a light in my kitchen. Main foods: rice, noodles, yams...mostly rice... tomatoes, onions, peppers; fish. Problems with cooking: i don't have a fridge so everything has to be eaten within that meal or the next one.
Then i will visit with my neighbor friend or his sister. In answer to someone's church question from before... i was going to the baptist church for awhile but then i started going to the chuch around the corner from my house with some of my friends. it is in local language, but someone usually tries to translate for me. It is suprising how often they talk about bad spirits and praying against voodoon. I am also potentially teaching a song that i translated from english into french to the choir. i am trying to learn some songs in fon.
Killing coackroaches. This is a nightly ritual. I go to the bathroom in one of three holes in the grounds... latrines. i put gasoline in the latrine and they left. they are starting to come back but i know the secret now.
sleep. crawling into my mosquito net covered bed, sometimes reading a book, or the Bible, saying my prayers and going to bed.
so there are alot of other things i do for work... visiting my homologue, talking with different businesses, typing a manuel for this training program i am creating, talking with people and making connections that turn into something more for work. all in all this is me, more to come.
1. jackie i got your letter and i love the longness, i didnt finish yet but when i do i will write u back, that doubles for brad only jackie's letter triples yours.
2. my deacon family. i love the package you guys sent and thanks mrs vanmeter for the monthly letters
3. mom--everything... packages, phone calls, love, letters
4. larry and sandy, christina and ryan, Grandma and grandpa....
5. younguns and church peeps for all your prayers
how i live, my daily routine:
get up, talk say hello to the neighbors, hug my little neighbor sister, pull a bucket of water (i take bucket showers), sometimes wash clothes (by hand, same bucket, getting more water from well). make breakfast or eat bwee... it is corn flour with sugar boiled... it is actually very good.
Going to work, work varies but right now i bike across town to explain accounting to people and use their computer to type documents.
Otherwise take a zemi (motorcycle taxi) to visit with groupments and give formations on savings and loan groups.
Come home for repo (12-3). Eat, read, take tiny nap.
Take 2nd shower. It is hot now and i can take 2 or 3 showers in a day to rinse off... sexy i know.
sometimes i will talk with artisans in village.
Preparing dinner. I cook by candle light. The electricity doesnt always work; and there isnt a light in my kitchen. Main foods: rice, noodles, yams...mostly rice... tomatoes, onions, peppers; fish. Problems with cooking: i don't have a fridge so everything has to be eaten within that meal or the next one.
Then i will visit with my neighbor friend or his sister. In answer to someone's church question from before... i was going to the baptist church for awhile but then i started going to the chuch around the corner from my house with some of my friends. it is in local language, but someone usually tries to translate for me. It is suprising how often they talk about bad spirits and praying against voodoon. I am also potentially teaching a song that i translated from english into french to the choir. i am trying to learn some songs in fon.
Killing coackroaches. This is a nightly ritual. I go to the bathroom in one of three holes in the grounds... latrines. i put gasoline in the latrine and they left. they are starting to come back but i know the secret now.
sleep. crawling into my mosquito net covered bed, sometimes reading a book, or the Bible, saying my prayers and going to bed.
so there are alot of other things i do for work... visiting my homologue, talking with different businesses, typing a manuel for this training program i am creating, talking with people and making connections that turn into something more for work. all in all this is me, more to come.
Sunday, January 17, 2010
so where to begin
this is going to be long but i apologize. i have been getting slack from people for not writing blogs.
december...
we had a pre Christmas party at the us ambassador's house. free food and drinks and getting to meet a lot of cool people. the ambassador is opening the pool up on saturdays from 2-5p as long as it is working. i have been giving some accounting formations that have went well but i am frustrated that it is hard to motivate people. also, i have had a lack of attendance at the savings and loan groups in one of my villages. we are planning to start again in january.
Christmas i visited from friends up north in kandi and they had a very different Christmas from what i am used to. I was able to talk to alot of my family members and at least touch base as to what they were doing. My Grandpa Bretveld has been in and out of rehab and the hospital. Currently today, in January he is in the rehab portion of the hospital and does three hours of rehab work a day, hopefully he will be even stronger than before and will be able to go home and stay there. Please pray for my Grandma as well, being home alone. My uncle is there to help her and my mom goes to visit alot as well but it is still a difficult time.
I took a break at Christmas time, going up to Kandi and then visited the parks in the northwest side of benin. It was so beautiful and it actually gets cold at night because it is closer to the desert as opposed to my post which is in the valley where it is always humid even during the dry season. We spent a three days in the parks, seeing wildlife: lions, elephants, monkeys, lots of deer and antelope, some very colorful birds, and beautiful sunsets. We were definitely scared on multiple occasions because the lions almost charged the car. It is a cool story because I am able to say almost and I am here to write you all this post. The last day we stopped at the waterfalls and got to go swimming in the pool and jump of a little clif. There was a guy who could climb the entire cliff and jump off the very top in the time it took me to get a third of the way up. He made it look so easy and he looked so fearless when he jumped.
Back at post I spent New Years with my village. I ate and drank so much i thought i would burst. They were definitely excited for me to spend the "fete" with them. We even killed the concession goat. I have some pictures of that, i am going to try to put up pictures tomorrow. I even went to a dance party at my friend's house. I cant remember if i mentioned the all night dance party i had with my church but that was awesome too. I am learning to mix my style with some of the african moves.
So now to the past couple weeks. The monday after newyears I was called into the office because i had forgotten to turn in my form for vacation until quite late. I didnt realize it was a big problem but let me say I almost came home to see all you lovely people. I got a little punishment which i can deal with but it was very stressful. I also cannot work as a trainer for the next group of volunteers which doesn't mean much to you guys but it is a big deal here. I accept it though, it was a violation of policy and they needed to do something.
Anyways, last week we had a week long training session with my group of small enterprise volunteers. Our Beninese counterparts were with us and we were able to discuss our goals for the coming year and our action steps for the next 3 months. I think it was pretty productive and helped me to get on the same page with my counterpart. It was also an awesome time to catch up with other volunteers and hear about the projects they are getting involved in. We learned about possible fundraising opportunities and grant proposal options. For all of you who read my previous posts I will probably be posting a proposal on the peace corps website that you can donate to. I am looking into helping my community build latrines in the schools that don't have them. I will post the link on my blog when i find it. They are also looking for funds to help support girls coming to a girl's empowerment camp. I will be working as a counsler and hopefully be bringing some girls from my community.
So thursday of the training sessions i ended up going to the hospital. I was allergic to the black mold that was on the ceiling of our room and had been having difficulty breathing the first couple days. It got worse on thursday and i tried taking my inhaler but it didnt help. My breathing got pretty respirated and my knees and hands were cramping up. My diagnosis upon discharge can directly be translated as "nervous anguish". So in other words they thought i had a panic attack brought on by asthma. I ended up getting oxygen and drugs in a mask and was eventually fine. I spent the night there and have to say that i highly recommend the nurses and doctors who were all lovely people. I went back to the last session on friday because we were supposed to be presenting in pairs.
Then there was saturday. not all of you are affected by this but Kathy Porter who went to my church back home passed away this week from cancer. i found out saturday night but i guess it had happened earlier this week. This is really hard on me but i think it helps to write it out here. She was an awesome, amazing, prayer warrior, kind hearted, caring woman of God. She fought the good fight and stood up for justice and the unloved. She was a radical Christian and I know that God must have missed her an awful lot to take her to him now. She was an incredible witness for everyone. I am staying in cotonou for a couple of days to work and to process this death. Although she is not direct family i think it make things real when death hits close to home and i am so far away. i hate not having closure, but i thank God for how Mrs Porter supported me even while i was here. she cared about me and even sent me a letter to africa and i know that i made it to her list of prayers that she kept so devotedly. Please pray for the family she left behind and all the friends who loved her so much.
december...
we had a pre Christmas party at the us ambassador's house. free food and drinks and getting to meet a lot of cool people. the ambassador is opening the pool up on saturdays from 2-5p as long as it is working. i have been giving some accounting formations that have went well but i am frustrated that it is hard to motivate people. also, i have had a lack of attendance at the savings and loan groups in one of my villages. we are planning to start again in january.
Christmas i visited from friends up north in kandi and they had a very different Christmas from what i am used to. I was able to talk to alot of my family members and at least touch base as to what they were doing. My Grandpa Bretveld has been in and out of rehab and the hospital. Currently today, in January he is in the rehab portion of the hospital and does three hours of rehab work a day, hopefully he will be even stronger than before and will be able to go home and stay there. Please pray for my Grandma as well, being home alone. My uncle is there to help her and my mom goes to visit alot as well but it is still a difficult time.
I took a break at Christmas time, going up to Kandi and then visited the parks in the northwest side of benin. It was so beautiful and it actually gets cold at night because it is closer to the desert as opposed to my post which is in the valley where it is always humid even during the dry season. We spent a three days in the parks, seeing wildlife: lions, elephants, monkeys, lots of deer and antelope, some very colorful birds, and beautiful sunsets. We were definitely scared on multiple occasions because the lions almost charged the car. It is a cool story because I am able to say almost and I am here to write you all this post. The last day we stopped at the waterfalls and got to go swimming in the pool and jump of a little clif. There was a guy who could climb the entire cliff and jump off the very top in the time it took me to get a third of the way up. He made it look so easy and he looked so fearless when he jumped.
Back at post I spent New Years with my village. I ate and drank so much i thought i would burst. They were definitely excited for me to spend the "fete" with them. We even killed the concession goat. I have some pictures of that, i am going to try to put up pictures tomorrow. I even went to a dance party at my friend's house. I cant remember if i mentioned the all night dance party i had with my church but that was awesome too. I am learning to mix my style with some of the african moves.
So now to the past couple weeks. The monday after newyears I was called into the office because i had forgotten to turn in my form for vacation until quite late. I didnt realize it was a big problem but let me say I almost came home to see all you lovely people. I got a little punishment which i can deal with but it was very stressful. I also cannot work as a trainer for the next group of volunteers which doesn't mean much to you guys but it is a big deal here. I accept it though, it was a violation of policy and they needed to do something.
Anyways, last week we had a week long training session with my group of small enterprise volunteers. Our Beninese counterparts were with us and we were able to discuss our goals for the coming year and our action steps for the next 3 months. I think it was pretty productive and helped me to get on the same page with my counterpart. It was also an awesome time to catch up with other volunteers and hear about the projects they are getting involved in. We learned about possible fundraising opportunities and grant proposal options. For all of you who read my previous posts I will probably be posting a proposal on the peace corps website that you can donate to. I am looking into helping my community build latrines in the schools that don't have them. I will post the link on my blog when i find it. They are also looking for funds to help support girls coming to a girl's empowerment camp. I will be working as a counsler and hopefully be bringing some girls from my community.
So thursday of the training sessions i ended up going to the hospital. I was allergic to the black mold that was on the ceiling of our room and had been having difficulty breathing the first couple days. It got worse on thursday and i tried taking my inhaler but it didnt help. My breathing got pretty respirated and my knees and hands were cramping up. My diagnosis upon discharge can directly be translated as "nervous anguish". So in other words they thought i had a panic attack brought on by asthma. I ended up getting oxygen and drugs in a mask and was eventually fine. I spent the night there and have to say that i highly recommend the nurses and doctors who were all lovely people. I went back to the last session on friday because we were supposed to be presenting in pairs.
Then there was saturday. not all of you are affected by this but Kathy Porter who went to my church back home passed away this week from cancer. i found out saturday night but i guess it had happened earlier this week. This is really hard on me but i think it helps to write it out here. She was an awesome, amazing, prayer warrior, kind hearted, caring woman of God. She fought the good fight and stood up for justice and the unloved. She was a radical Christian and I know that God must have missed her an awful lot to take her to him now. She was an incredible witness for everyone. I am staying in cotonou for a couple of days to work and to process this death. Although she is not direct family i think it make things real when death hits close to home and i am so far away. i hate not having closure, but i thank God for how Mrs Porter supported me even while i was here. she cared about me and even sent me a letter to africa and i know that i made it to her list of prayers that she kept so devotedly. Please pray for the family she left behind and all the friends who loved her so much.
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
give thanks for water
they turned the pump back on this week so i have drinking water. I saw people carrying 3 or 4 bidons or barrels to the pump that day. I have 2 guys who are getting my water now. *
so last friday i took a moto ride out to this field that was donated to the artisans in the community. it is purposed for their offices for all the artisans in Toffo; for meetings and classes; and for hopefully a center for computers. right now it is just a field with corn in it though that someones brother or whatnot asked to use while they figure out what to do. so they told me that they are looking to me for help. could anyone who has an extra moment on the computer email me some outline formats for building or grant proposal fundings§ we are looking for a patron to helping in construction. I am looking to start a needs assessment. also i dont know how this would work but if anyone has connections to companies that could donate good working computers give me a holler. sigh; i miss everyone::::
happy thanksgiving everyone. i am going to my friends house a couple hours away and we are killing a chicken and maybe making curry sauce and coconut veggies: not the same as holidays with the family but i take what i can get
so last friday i took a moto ride out to this field that was donated to the artisans in the community. it is purposed for their offices for all the artisans in Toffo; for meetings and classes; and for hopefully a center for computers. right now it is just a field with corn in it though that someones brother or whatnot asked to use while they figure out what to do. so they told me that they are looking to me for help. could anyone who has an extra moment on the computer email me some outline formats for building or grant proposal fundings§ we are looking for a patron to helping in construction. I am looking to start a needs assessment. also i dont know how this would work but if anyone has connections to companies that could donate good working computers give me a holler. sigh; i miss everyone::::
happy thanksgiving everyone. i am going to my friends house a couple hours away and we are killing a chicken and maybe making curry sauce and coconut veggies: not the same as holidays with the family but i take what i can get
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