Picture Time!

pictures, pictures pictures!!!

The first one is my business club after our field trip. The second is my little neighbor girl that I think might be the cutest little girl in the world. People never smile in pictures here, but this little girl does because she's just always smiling like that. The things around her neck are charms to keep her from getting sick, as are the scars. The last pic is the girls camp I just got done helping out with in Bassila. I had a blast with these 50 girls!!!

Later

Picture Time!

pictures, pictures pictures!!!

The first one is my business club after our field trip. The second is my little neighbor girl that I think might be the cutest little girl in the world. People never smile in pictures here, but this little girl does because she's just always smiling like that. The things around her neck are charms to keep her from getting sick, as are the scars. The last pic is the girls camp I just got done helping out with in Bassila. I had a blast with these 50 girls!!!

Later

Happy Birthday Mom!!!!!

Happy Birthday Mom!!!!!!

What a June 10th! I say that, because I recently watched the home video of my last June 10th which was conveniently brought to my when my parents came to visit. Family, cake, hamburgers, “Happy Birthday to You, Happy Birthday to you….”, presents, swimming, 32 oz. steaks… I saw it all as if I were there again. It was my mothers 49th Birthday. So, guess what I missed today? That’s right, the big 5-0.

Why does life have to be so centered around sacrifices? There is never an all winning situation. I gave up a lot today. I have a severe sense of desertion for missing such a monumental day in the life of the woman who gave me life. What I wouldn’t have given to be there.

Though today my decision to come here has caused my conscience twinges of guilt and pain, I feel like my decision to come here is still a good one overall. In the big picture of it all, all is fairly justified by days such as today… There was nothing special about today, except that it was just another day of pure specialness. Let me tell you about my day:

I woke up at the incredibly late hour of 9:50a.m. I got dressed and went to the market at 10:45am (There are 3 marketless days in between each market day), where I bought 2 bundles of bananas, 1 mango, and garlic. I then stopped by the material stand at the market and almost bought some tissue (material) to make some long shorts out of (I would have taken it to a tailors and had my shorts by tomorrow for a whopping $4USD total), but I decided against it. I headed back home, and on the way I stopped by Therese’s house. Therese is a middle aged woman who lives in a one-room mud hut with her mother. Therese makes buille (a porridge usually of corn flour and water), and akassa (the infamous filler of Africa… also made of corn and water.). Today though, instead of buille of corn she had made buille of millet, and she had added baobob fruit to it, making it delicious!

Baobab trees are one of the legendary symbols of this area. As far as I know, this little area is the only place that they grow as large as they do. They grow as thick as the length of a sedan car in about 50 to 75 years. Their foliage is used to make a sauce, their fruit is sweet and used to make drinks, or just eaten plane, and their roots creep and sprawl out thickly and widely making great, shady seating. I’m told that in Ghana Baobob wood is used to make canoes out of (but the Baobobs don’t grow nearly as big there, and they aren’t everywhere like they are here).

It occurred to me, as I sat there with Therese underneath her mango and her much larger baobab nearby, that everything I was eating had been produced within 20 feet of me, and all organically and traditionally. Crazy, huh?

After talking about buille and her millet crops, I left Therese to go home and read some more of Puff, a hilarious comedy that was passed to me by another volunteer… but as it goes, I soon fell asleep till 2:30. I then went out again to visit Mama Agness, and on my way out I was stopped by a woman from Nadoba (the village next door, which is actually in Togo). She was part of the womens’ group that I had given up on… I had wanted to start a community credit union with them, but when no one showed up to my last two meetings I had given up on them. Before that, back in March, I had asked them to all bring the equivalent of $1USD every week for 2 months… This woman had come to tell me that they had finished saving for the 2 months, and they were wondering why I had disappeared. These 9 women have officially saved $72USD already!!!!! Now they want to get started on loaning the money to themselves and using the interest to loan more… yes, just like Grameen Bank. Success!!!

After setting up a meeting time for tomorrow, I walked happily to visit Mama Agness. I arrived Chez-elle to find her in a mad rush of preparation… I by that I mean she had several young girls working for and she was giving them things to do (child labor is free and obligatory for children. There is nothing wrong with it in the eyes of the people here. It’s actually their duty as children). Mama, in her ever loving and sharing way, took the time to sit down and eat kakayu fruit with me and offer me water. She then explained to me that it was a Saints day (I don’t remember which one), and that the church was doing a walking ceremony to let the statue of the Virgin Mary stop off at certain peoples houses and bless them, and Mama Agness had been chosen to be blessed. I left 10 minutes before the ceremony was to get started. It would be a while before they got to Mama’s house.

Continuing on, I walked to my buvette, La Providence, only to find my good friend Denise (who works the bar) wasn’t there, so I went on to my boutique to buy the phone cards to call my mother and wish her happy birthday. My boutique didn’t have any so, in true African style, they took my money and went and got them from Nadoba (6 km away) for me and delivered them to my door within the hour (16.00, or 4:00pm). While I waited I made a necklace for one of my neighbor kids. I then heard the church coming by for their ceremony, so I went out to the little road to watch them. I was taking pictures and video of them, and as always I gathered a group of on-looking children who then did a African modeling session for me.

What I call an African modeling session involves all the children of the area randomly jumping into the picture as they begin to see what we’re doing, and as they do you get a mixture of giants in the front and shy little ones hidden behind them, and some not looking at me, and absolutely none of them smiling. It goes without saying that they are still new at this whole ‘picture’ business. I don’t know why they don’t think they can smile in pictures though, but they never do. Even expert picture-children don’t smile. One of them though… she smiled. Not only did she smile though, she emitted the light of the world from within her tiny little face. She’s a beautiful little girl to begin with, and she’s always smiling like that. I then took a picture of her alone, and I swear it makes me feel happy every time I glance at it. I set it as my background on my computer. Screw Mona Lisa and her pompousness; the answers to all the world’s questions could be answered by this little girl’s smile.

After receiving the phone cards I went walking towards where I get cell phone service, and I talked to my parents for half an hour. I then went back to buy another phone card to call later so that I could talk to my whole family (they hadn’t arrived yet), and I went back home.

Once at home I used a Mac & Cheese packet Mom and Dad brought me from home to make some good ol’ Mac & Cheese, and after I made a cookie cutter out of a soda can I had saved. While I was doing this my neighbor boy who was the Vice-President of my Business Club stopped by. We have been working on his English lately, so I gave him another list of words and phrases to learn for tomorrow (All kids learn English in school here, but they don’t stand a chance of actually learning it. Why? Usually even their exams have errors in them). I then told him that I was going to call my family for my mother’s birthday… it completely boggled his mind that I could call them from here, so I then explained satellites to him. He didn’t even know they existed. He’s probably 15 or 16. I like to think that now, every time he sees one of those bright, fast-moving stars up above, he will think of our conversation tonight.

I then went back out to find cell phone service to call my family again. After having the phone passed around the room at home, every conversation being impressively wrapped up in 30 seconds or less, I wished my mother happy birthday again and told my dad I loved him before getting cut off.

So, here I am. That was my day. I know that was excessively detailed, but I hope you see the novelty in my details, because absolutely nothing is anything similar to home.

What a day to miss at home, but look at all I would have missed if I weren’t here!!! So today I wasn’t where I wanted to be, but I’m having the most incredible experiences over here on a daily basis!!! Sacrifices… it’s all a series of sacrifices and choices of which sacrifice is better. That’s just life I guess. Don’t get me wrong though, I would have really given anything to be there for my mother today. Not to mention, I can almost taste that homemade almond cake and homemade ice cream, all following hot dogs and hamburgers fresh off the grill. *Sarah drools*

Sacrifices.

--Sarah

Happy Birthday Mom!!!!!

Happy Birthday Mom!!!!!!

What a June 10th! I say that, because I recently watched the home video of my last June 10th which was conveniently brought to my when my parents came to visit. Family, cake, hamburgers, “Happy Birthday to You, Happy Birthday to you….”, presents, swimming, 32 oz. steaks… I saw it all as if I were there again. It was my mothers 49th Birthday. So, guess what I missed today? That’s right, the big 5-0.

Why does life have to be so centered around sacrifices? There is never an all winning situation. I gave up a lot today. I have a severe sense of desertion for missing such a monumental day in the life of the woman who gave me life. What I wouldn’t have given to be there.

Though today my decision to come here has caused my conscience twinges of guilt and pain, I feel like my decision to come here is still a good one overall. In the big picture of it all, all is fairly justified by days such as today… There was nothing special about today, except that it was just another day of pure specialness. Let me tell you about my day:

I woke up at the incredibly late hour of 9:50a.m. I got dressed and went to the market at 10:45am (There are 3 marketless days in between each market day), where I bought 2 bundles of bananas, 1 mango, and garlic. I then stopped by the material stand at the market and almost bought some tissue (material) to make some long shorts out of (I would have taken it to a tailors and had my shorts by tomorrow for a whopping $4USD total), but I decided against it. I headed back home, and on the way I stopped by Therese’s house. Therese is a middle aged woman who lives in a one-room mud hut with her mother. Therese makes buille (a porridge usually of corn flour and water), and akassa (the infamous filler of Africa… also made of corn and water.). Today though, instead of buille of corn she had made buille of millet, and she had added baobob fruit to it, making it delicious!

Baobab trees are one of the legendary symbols of this area. As far as I know, this little area is the only place that they grow as large as they do. They grow as thick as the length of a sedan car in about 50 to 75 years. Their foliage is used to make a sauce, their fruit is sweet and used to make drinks, or just eaten plane, and their roots creep and sprawl out thickly and widely making great, shady seating. I’m told that in Ghana Baobob wood is used to make canoes out of (but the Baobobs don’t grow nearly as big there, and they aren’t everywhere like they are here).

It occurred to me, as I sat there with Therese underneath her mango and her much larger baobab nearby, that everything I was eating had been produced within 20 feet of me, and all organically and traditionally. Crazy, huh?

After talking about buille and her millet crops, I left Therese to go home and read some more of Puff, a hilarious comedy that was passed to me by another volunteer… but as it goes, I soon fell asleep till 2:30. I then went out again to visit Mama Agness, and on my way out I was stopped by a woman from Nadoba (the village next door, which is actually in Togo). She was part of the womens’ group that I had given up on… I had wanted to start a community credit union with them, but when no one showed up to my last two meetings I had given up on them. Before that, back in March, I had asked them to all bring the equivalent of $1USD every week for 2 months… This woman had come to tell me that they had finished saving for the 2 months, and they were wondering why I had disappeared. These 9 women have officially saved $72USD already!!!!! Now they want to get started on loaning the money to themselves and using the interest to loan more… yes, just like Grameen Bank. Success!!!

After setting up a meeting time for tomorrow, I walked happily to visit Mama Agness. I arrived Chez-elle to find her in a mad rush of preparation… I by that I mean she had several young girls working for and she was giving them things to do (child labor is free and obligatory for children. There is nothing wrong with it in the eyes of the people here. It’s actually their duty as children). Mama, in her ever loving and sharing way, took the time to sit down and eat kakayu fruit with me and offer me water. She then explained to me that it was a Saints day (I don’t remember which one), and that the church was doing a walking ceremony to let the statue of the Virgin Mary stop off at certain peoples houses and bless them, and Mama Agness had been chosen to be blessed. I left 10 minutes before the ceremony was to get started. It would be a while before they got to Mama’s house.

Continuing on, I walked to my buvette, La Providence, only to find my good friend Denise (who works the bar) wasn’t there, so I went on to my boutique to buy the phone cards to call my mother and wish her happy birthday. My boutique didn’t have any so, in true African style, they took my money and went and got them from Nadoba (6 km away) for me and delivered them to my door within the hour (16.00, or 4:00pm). While I waited I made a necklace for one of my neighbor kids. I then heard the church coming by for their ceremony, so I went out to the little road to watch them. I was taking pictures and video of them, and as always I gathered a group of on-looking children who then did a African modeling session for me.

What I call an African modeling session involves all the children of the area randomly jumping into the picture as they begin to see what we’re doing, and as they do you get a mixture of giants in the front and shy little ones hidden behind them, and some not looking at me, and absolutely none of them smiling. It goes without saying that they are still new at this whole ‘picture’ business. I don’t know why they don’t think they can smile in pictures though, but they never do. Even expert picture-children don’t smile. One of them though… she smiled. Not only did she smile though, she emitted the light of the world from within her tiny little face. She’s a beautiful little girl to begin with, and she’s always smiling like that. I then took a picture of her alone, and I swear it makes me feel happy every time I glance at it. I set it as my background on my computer. Screw Mona Lisa and her pompousness; the answers to all the world’s questions could be answered by this little girl’s smile.

After receiving the phone cards I went walking towards where I get cell phone service, and I talked to my parents for half an hour. I then went back to buy another phone card to call later so that I could talk to my whole family (they hadn’t arrived yet), and I went back home.

Once at home I used a Mac & Cheese packet Mom and Dad brought me from home to make some good ol’ Mac & Cheese, and after I made a cookie cutter out of a soda can I had saved. While I was doing this my neighbor boy who was the Vice-President of my Business Club stopped by. We have been working on his English lately, so I gave him another list of words and phrases to learn for tomorrow (All kids learn English in school here, but they don’t stand a chance of actually learning it. Why? Usually even their exams have errors in them). I then told him that I was going to call my family for my mother’s birthday… it completely boggled his mind that I could call them from here, so I then explained satellites to him. He didn’t even know they existed. He’s probably 15 or 16. I like to think that now, every time he sees one of those bright, fast-moving stars up above, he will think of our conversation tonight.

I then went back out to find cell phone service to call my family again. After having the phone passed around the room at home, every conversation being impressively wrapped up in 30 seconds or less, I wished my mother happy birthday again and told my dad I loved him before getting cut off.

So, here I am. That was my day. I know that was excessively detailed, but I hope you see the novelty in my details, because absolutely nothing is anything similar to home.

What a day to miss at home, but look at all I would have missed if I weren’t here!!! So today I wasn’t where I wanted to be, but I’m having the most incredible experiences over here on a daily basis!!! Sacrifices… it’s all a series of sacrifices and choices of which sacrifice is better. That’s just life I guess. Don’t get me wrong though, I would have really given anything to be there for my mother today. Not to mention, I can almost taste that homemade almond cake and homemade ice cream, all following hot dogs and hamburgers fresh off the grill. *Sarah drools*

Sacrifices.

--Sarah

Daily Life Update

Okay, I really do love it here. I’ve really gotten used to this place. Really… but, what I wouldn’t give for some sweet and sour chicken right now. But, maybe that’s not the right way to look at things. Maybe it’s more of a ‘Pudh Thai’ kind of night. Another thing, I don’t want to cook anything. Talk about a predicament! I can’t even get up enough of the good housely kind of energy to clean my dishes from a day ago.

I have no excuses. I’ve just had an awesome couple of days, and I just don’t feel like bringing it down with dishes. Besides, without a sink dishes become a lot more involved. Okay, that comment was an excuse.

Yes, It’s true; I’ve finally reached a point where I can say ‘awesome’ and ‘Africa’ in the same sentence. It’s not that anything has changed really. It’s just that my parents’ visit was the breath of fresh air I truly needed. I was suffering from severe homesickness, and I didn’t even realize it till now. Since then I’ve found the motivation to get things going a little bit more. Lately I’ve been visiting more people and really trying to get some work started… it’s really much harder than you think.

The latest great success, and really my first big one for Boukoumbe, was a field trip with my Business Club to Natitingou, the next biggest town in the region, and it was awesome!!! I filed for and received funding of 50.000f CFA ($100USD), and with it I was able to take 14 kids in two taxis for a day of visiting a bigger market and 4 artisans. Meeting with the artisans was awesome, because it actually showed them that they can do whatever interests them… and they don’t have to do exactly what their parents do (which is indefinitely agriculture). To top it all off, I also got them an exciting lunch (igname pile [mashed yams] with sauce and meat), and because I was in a good mood I splurged and bought them all soft drinks too. That was probably more treats than they’ve had since New Year’s. I think they were happy, and I was glad to give them a chance to see the business theories we had talked about actually being applied. They will be presenting what they learned for their parents and friends this Wednesday, and I’m really interested to hear what they found useful.

I also have been growing a healthy list of upcoming projects… but as upcoming projects go, a few (if not too many or all) might fail. It’s not that I don’t put enough effort into my ideas; it’s more to do with the African mentality of ‘the white person will give us something… that we’ll let fall apart because she wasn’t here to keep it going’, or ‘the white person will give us money for something and then we can steel the money’, or ‘that sounds like work, and if the white lady isn’t going to give us stuff, why should we take part?’. These are a few examples… but I think the point is clear. I might as well have skin of gold.

Anyway, so I have found a few tricks that I hope will get around the problem with the “African mentality.” First, I’m going to start a moranga garden. Moranga is a tree that grows very well in the African climate, and who’s foliage contains so many vitamins and minerals that a little bit sprinkled on each meal can substitute vitamin pills. The trick to making this project work: I’m not going to be working with Africans. My secret? Nuns. Hispanic nuns. Central and South America have sent over thousands, if not millions, of priests and nuns to Africa, and we just happen to have a Franciscan branch right here in Boukoumbe. Also, these nuns run a catholic pre-school, and they provide housing for many of the kids who live too far en brousse to get a good education. Being as these kids are African and have no idea of what a balanced diet would even begin to consist of, moranga could be very useful for them… and since the nuns prepare the food for the kids, it would actually get used. We are going to start planting in 3 weeks!

Second, I’m finally going to implement the hammock making project, but I’ve figured out how to get around the “African mentality” here as well. I tried to start the hammock making process, but if the Beninese don’t see someone else making a profit, they can’t realize that it’s possible. So, this time I’m going to approach it like I’m starting a business moi meme. This time, instead of just trying to give someone instructions, I’m going to actually hire and train someone and pay per hammock. When they have made a few, I’ll tell them to go sell them for me at the market, or somewhere else… and then when they bring back the profit to me I leave it for them. This way they see the profit – it’s actually in there hand. Afterwards they will most likely continue making the hammocks. Who can refuse big profits like the ones they could make?

Lastly, I’m still trying to figure out the tourism thing. I was uploading information to wikitravel.org, but I’m becoming a little discouraged by the fact that I can’t remove badly placed information, and I can’t reformat it in the slightest. The except new info, but once it’s posted it cannot be changed really. I’m still posting when I get the chance though.

I have some other, more idealistic ideas for the tourism here in Boukoumbe though. I think I’m going to try to get a Tourism Management team together for Boukoumbe. This would include everyone involved in tourism, from guides to restaurants. With this, hopefully we could gather information on each attraction and make it readily available in town. I don’t know how to get around the “African mentality” with this one though. The “African mentality” is going to want to make money by charging tourists – but there are enough difficulties in getting tourists to Boukoumbe as it is… and then, of course, if this did happen then the money would probably disappear and the group would fall apart. What to do, what to do…… Oh Africa.

Oh yeah, and I forgot to tell you guys about the Bike Ride!!! A bunch of us (volunteers) are going to do a Bike Ride for AIDS Awareness after the rain stops!!! We are going to start in Tanguieta and finish in Boukoumbe, and all along the way we are going to stop in the itty bitty villages and talk about AIDS. You wouldn’t believe the bad information that is spread about AIDS. Luckily, most seem to acknowledge its existence, but it’s the education that’s lacking. I once heard that a practiced (Beninese) health worker told a volunteer that AIDS could be passed through girls sharing bras. Many other people think that AIDS is spread through contact (like the flu), and so some villages outcast anyone who comes up with the virus. Other common beliefs are that you get AIDS from drinking after someone, or that it can be cured by local magic men. Oh yeah, and if a man has aids it is always the woman’s fault. Crazy, huh? Anyway, I’m really excited about the Ride, and so I’ve already started scoping out the villages. Today I biked about 40 kilometers or more just to check some villages out. I think I might have been the first white person some of those people had ever seen.

While I’m thinking of strange things that people believe, did I ever tell you guys about the woman who waved to the television??? I was sitting at my local buvette (which is outside) where they have a tv, and a middle-aged village woman walked by and started waving and talking to the television. She thought that there were people inside the plastic box who were watching us… like a window to another dimension. She had never seen or heard of a television before.

So, that’s my latest work report. Everything else is going really well for me. I am still all alone out here, but I’ve been visiting Mama Agness everyday, and we really get along. She’s a teacher by instinct, and I am the student of everything around me, so it works out well.

You guys should see Boukoumbe right now!!!! I hate to brag, but I think I might just be living in one of the most beautiful places in Africa! The people and atmosphere have always been wonderful here, but now add to it the lush, green countryside… the beauty of people bent over, working the fields with their hands and traditional tools… the smiles of children who just started their summer vacation… the beauty of those ominous clouds rolling over the mountains (they really do come out of nowhere)… It’s all almost too much for me to take in. I’ve been taking pictures though. Actually, I’ve been taking probably 5 to 10 a day! It’s that incredible.

Also, the weather is livable again. I even get chills occasionally. The cool air is a much-welcomed arrival, along with the rain that accompanies it. It is a funny season for produce though. Although the rain has started, nothing has sprouted yet. Because of this, there are literally NO tomatoes, and other things have gone up in price significantly. To add to that, the mangoes are becoming expensive again as well. Soon there will be no mangoes either. C’est la vie I guess.

That’s all of my news. If I get the chance I’ll try to post some of my best pictures. I’ll definitely get some posted before the end of this month. Till then, I wish you all the best of luck.

Sarah

Daily Life Update

Okay, I really do love it here. I’ve really gotten used to this place. Really… but, what I wouldn’t give for some sweet and sour chicken right now. But, maybe that’s not the right way to look at things. Maybe it’s more of a ‘Pudh Thai’ kind of night. Another thing, I don’t want to cook anything. Talk about a predicament! I can’t even get up enough of the good housely kind of energy to clean my dishes from a day ago.

I have no excuses. I’ve just had an awesome couple of days, and I just don’t feel like bringing it down with dishes. Besides, without a sink dishes become a lot more involved. Okay, that comment was an excuse.

Yes, It’s true; I’ve finally reached a point where I can say ‘awesome’ and ‘Africa’ in the same sentence. It’s not that anything has changed really. It’s just that my parents’ visit was the breath of fresh air I truly needed. I was suffering from severe homesickness, and I didn’t even realize it till now. Since then I’ve found the motivation to get things going a little bit more. Lately I’ve been visiting more people and really trying to get some work started… it’s really much harder than you think.

The latest great success, and really my first big one for Boukoumbe, was a field trip with my Business Club to Natitingou, the next biggest town in the region, and it was awesome!!! I filed for and received funding of 50.000f CFA ($100USD), and with it I was able to take 14 kids in two taxis for a day of visiting a bigger market and 4 artisans. Meeting with the artisans was awesome, because it actually showed them that they can do whatever interests them… and they don’t have to do exactly what their parents do (which is indefinitely agriculture). To top it all off, I also got them an exciting lunch (igname pile [mashed yams] with sauce and meat), and because I was in a good mood I splurged and bought them all soft drinks too. That was probably more treats than they’ve had since New Year’s. I think they were happy, and I was glad to give them a chance to see the business theories we had talked about actually being applied. They will be presenting what they learned for their parents and friends this Wednesday, and I’m really interested to hear what they found useful.

I also have been growing a healthy list of upcoming projects… but as upcoming projects go, a few (if not too many or all) might fail. It’s not that I don’t put enough effort into my ideas; it’s more to do with the African mentality of ‘the white person will give us something… that we’ll let fall apart because she wasn’t here to keep it going’, or ‘the white person will give us money for something and then we can steel the money’, or ‘that sounds like work, and if the white lady isn’t going to give us stuff, why should we take part?’. These are a few examples… but I think the point is clear. I might as well have skin of gold.

Anyway, so I have found a few tricks that I hope will get around the problem with the “African mentality.” First, I’m going to start a moranga garden. Moranga is a tree that grows very well in the African climate, and who’s foliage contains so many vitamins and minerals that a little bit sprinkled on each meal can substitute vitamin pills. The trick to making this project work: I’m not going to be working with Africans. My secret? Nuns. Hispanic nuns. Central and South America have sent over thousands, if not millions, of priests and nuns to Africa, and we just happen to have a Franciscan branch right here in Boukoumbe. Also, these nuns run a catholic pre-school, and they provide housing for many of the kids who live too far en brousse to get a good education. Being as these kids are African and have no idea of what a balanced diet would even begin to consist of, moranga could be very useful for them… and since the nuns prepare the food for the kids, it would actually get used. We are going to start planting in 3 weeks!

Second, I’m finally going to implement the hammock making project, but I’ve figured out how to get around the “African mentality” here as well. I tried to start the hammock making process, but if the Beninese don’t see someone else making a profit, they can’t realize that it’s possible. So, this time I’m going to approach it like I’m starting a business moi meme. This time, instead of just trying to give someone instructions, I’m going to actually hire and train someone and pay per hammock. When they have made a few, I’ll tell them to go sell them for me at the market, or somewhere else… and then when they bring back the profit to me I leave it for them. This way they see the profit – it’s actually in there hand. Afterwards they will most likely continue making the hammocks. Who can refuse big profits like the ones they could make?

Lastly, I’m still trying to figure out the tourism thing. I was uploading information to wikitravel.org, but I’m becoming a little discouraged by the fact that I can’t remove badly placed information, and I can’t reformat it in the slightest. The except new info, but once it’s posted it cannot be changed really. I’m still posting when I get the chance though.

I have some other, more idealistic ideas for the tourism here in Boukoumbe though. I think I’m going to try to get a Tourism Management team together for Boukoumbe. This would include everyone involved in tourism, from guides to restaurants. With this, hopefully we could gather information on each attraction and make it readily available in town. I don’t know how to get around the “African mentality” with this one though. The “African mentality” is going to want to make money by charging tourists – but there are enough difficulties in getting tourists to Boukoumbe as it is… and then, of course, if this did happen then the money would probably disappear and the group would fall apart. What to do, what to do…… Oh Africa.

Oh yeah, and I forgot to tell you guys about the Bike Ride!!! A bunch of us (volunteers) are going to do a Bike Ride for AIDS Awareness after the rain stops!!! We are going to start in Tanguieta and finish in Boukoumbe, and all along the way we are going to stop in the itty bitty villages and talk about AIDS. You wouldn’t believe the bad information that is spread about AIDS. Luckily, most seem to acknowledge its existence, but it’s the education that’s lacking. I once heard that a practiced (Beninese) health worker told a volunteer that AIDS could be passed through girls sharing bras. Many other people think that AIDS is spread through contact (like the flu), and so some villages outcast anyone who comes up with the virus. Other common beliefs are that you get AIDS from drinking after someone, or that it can be cured by local magic men. Oh yeah, and if a man has aids it is always the woman’s fault. Crazy, huh? Anyway, I’m really excited about the Ride, and so I’ve already started scoping out the villages. Today I biked about 40 kilometers or more just to check some villages out. I think I might have been the first white person some of those people had ever seen.

While I’m thinking of strange things that people believe, did I ever tell you guys about the woman who waved to the television??? I was sitting at my local buvette (which is outside) where they have a tv, and a middle-aged village woman walked by and started waving and talking to the television. She thought that there were people inside the plastic box who were watching us… like a window to another dimension. She had never seen or heard of a television before.

So, that’s my latest work report. Everything else is going really well for me. I am still all alone out here, but I’ve been visiting Mama Agness everyday, and we really get along. She’s a teacher by instinct, and I am the student of everything around me, so it works out well.

You guys should see Boukoumbe right now!!!! I hate to brag, but I think I might just be living in one of the most beautiful places in Africa! The people and atmosphere have always been wonderful here, but now add to it the lush, green countryside… the beauty of people bent over, working the fields with their hands and traditional tools… the smiles of children who just started their summer vacation… the beauty of those ominous clouds rolling over the mountains (they really do come out of nowhere)… It’s all almost too much for me to take in. I’ve been taking pictures though. Actually, I’ve been taking probably 5 to 10 a day! It’s that incredible.

Also, the weather is livable again. I even get chills occasionally. The cool air is a much-welcomed arrival, along with the rain that accompanies it. It is a funny season for produce though. Although the rain has started, nothing has sprouted yet. Because of this, there are literally NO tomatoes, and other things have gone up in price significantly. To add to that, the mangoes are becoming expensive again as well. Soon there will be no mangoes either. C’est la vie I guess.

That’s all of my news. If I get the chance I’ll try to post some of my best pictures. I’ll definitely get some posted before the end of this month. Till then, I wish you all the best of luck.

Sarah