Context not Content

In the western world, we would like to think that the things we say are worth saying. This, of course, is not always the case. We say things that we don’t mean. Or mean things we don’t say. Or say mean things that we ought not to have said. You get my point. In general though, the content of our speech is important to us regardless of how successful we are at producing quality. In Benin, it is often a little different. 

In this cordial country, context is king. This is especially applicable when it comes to salutations. Oral salutations are mandatory whenever feasible; a wave or a head nod simply won’t suffice.  This means, for example, that drivers regularly stop driving in the middle of the road in order to greet other drive that they know. 

My absolute favorite greeting is A do fine à? – Are you here? The answer, of course, is always, Een, un do fi. – Yes, I am here. Outside of a profound, metaphysical discussion, this question seems to be exceedingly banal and its answer to be equally self-evident. 

This is where context is vital. The greeter is not in doubt as to the presence of the greetee. The questioner is merely acknowledging the latters presence. In other words, it’s simply a greeting, the content of which matters not. 

Several other examples of greetings are as follows:

A de wu à? – Are you in the middle? This is used here when the greetee is simply in the middle of some action. It is an encouraging remark, implying that the person is working hard. 

Azon yi atòn – It’s been three days. This is how you would greet someone that you haven’t seen for a while, regardless of how much time has elapsed since you last saw them. The best part is the response, Dokpo d’eji – And one more.  This is a wonderful example of the importance of context over content. 

There are many more examples of this throughout the language and culture. 

Two Week Site Visit

At some point, I will write up a comprehensive layout of the training process that volunteers must complete before being “sworn-in” as official volunteers. The process is long and frustrating so I’ll spare you for now. I will say that it all feels worth it when your perminant site is officially announced. Almost immediately after receiving this all-important information, you are sent on a two-week site visit.

It is basically a meet-and-greet with anyone you come within earshot of: locally elected officials to those with more royal pedigrees, Clergimen to taxi-men, venders, re-venders, restaurant owners, school masters and medical doctors. And all of their spouses, children, mothers, cousins and brothers if any of them happen to be in the vicinity. It is a fantastically social experience. 

It is also the first time you will get to hear about the work you will be doing for the next two years. As a volunteer, it is your responsibility to aid the community in attaining its dreams -maybe with a little tweaking where necessary, but never to instill upon the community, your own, singularly personal visions or morals.

For this reason, I have been spending as much time as possible trying to find projects that my counterparts are most passionate about and how I can make the biggest impact within my two-year service. 

Here is a list of some of the largest projects that seem to be the most important to my community and my Beninese counterparts (There are other secondary projects that are not mentioned here). 

1. Creating a waste management service. In the developed world, we are used to throwing our trash in cans, putting them out on the curb and forgetting about what happens to the wrappers, bottles, and scraps we put in them. Forgetting about those things is impossible here, where there is no such service and trash is often left in piles outside, and more than often – burned. Trash is often overlooked by development agencies because, let’s face it, it’s trashy. There is no flash or glamour in the work and it doesn’t tug on the heart strings of donors quite like building orphanages and giving children shoes. It is nevertheless a fundamental element of hygiene, environmental stewardship, and tourism. As a Community Economic Development volunteers, I will add that it is also potentially, a cash cow!

2. Restructuring a Hospital. There is no health insurance for people here. There are clinics and private hospitals but, similarly to in the  U.S, services are very expensive. For this reason, a hospital with which I am working, is trying to restructure itself as a membership organization that provides health services to its members. This would, in effect, function like an HMO with only one medical service provider. This would provide reliable services to patients while providing a reliable income source to the hospital. 

3. Harnessing the power of ecotourism. The farm with which I work has several extra rooms and not enough hands. The road to my village has recently been repaved and it is only 60 kilometers to the national capital. There is therefore, renewed potential for tourism here, especially given the peaceful past of this West-African nation. 

4. Engaging with youths. At least half the beninese population is under 18 years-old. There is therefore, an abundance of unmet need in this area. I will be running English clubs, entrepreneurship clubs, and environmental action clubs at several local schools. This well help development efforts in the years to come. Encouraging creativity and analytical thinking will be a priority in all these classes since the educational system here generally emphasizes pure memorization of raw information. 

Yovo! Yovo! Bonsoir!

In America, we have become accustomed to mandatory political correctness. Oddly enough, one of the current presidential candidates symbolizes the rejection of this social mandate. I would like to believe that most humans, no matter where they are in the world understand deep within themselves that categorical, malicious discrimination has never solved any problem ever.

That being said, I would like to share with you all a phenomenon that exists here in Benin, that virtually every white American would experience if they happened to visit this lovely country.

Yovo;

Yovo;

Bonsoir!

Ça va bien;

Merci!

This is a song that little children will sing as you go past. It might start with one child and spread to several more. Occasionally, it might become a small heard that follows you for a half kilometer. Honestly, I doubt they know where the song came from or how it might appear to us as Americans. Here is the translation:

White (Fon language);

White;

Good evening (French)!

I’m well;

Thank You!

Most people looking in would think of this as being unacceptable and malicious behavior. Here though, it is the norm. It is not malicious. It is simply a relic of an era long past. French missionaries used to come to Benin with presents for the children. From my understanding, after talking to several Beninese, this song was original meant as a welcoming song for the missionaries.

The children today mean no harm and are simply singing a song that every child has grown up with for decades. Salutations are also very important here which is an other reason why they are calling out to you. Often they have huge smiles while they sing and giggle and scamper off if you say much more than “Bonsoir” back to them.

Nevertheless, this song does bother some Peace Corps volunteers. Here are the two options I can offer to help combat this:

1. Introduce yourself. Give them a name to call you. Soon enough you will hear your name called back to you repeatedly when ever you go near that same group of children.
2. I saved my favorite for last: Respond in kind. Replace Yovo (White) with Méwi (Black). And sing it back

Méwi;

Méwi;

Bonsoir!

Ça va bien;

Merci!

The response will be a stupendous uproar of laughter from anyone within earshot, including the children. You will score loads of points with locals too for incorporating their language into your response. If you plan on staying here for a while, there will be plenty of time to explain the potential divisiveness of this behavior. In the mean time, integration is a stepping-stone to that conversation and this little song will definitely help in that regard.

 

 

 

 

 

Pâte et Sauces

The Beninese diet is built around two things: pâte and sauces.

Pâte is a simple staple consisting of a large quantity of corn flour mixed into hot water. The final product is a molten hot, gelatinous substance that is poured into a bowl. As it cools, it takes on the shape of the container and the outside becomes firm. This bowl shaped blob is turned over onto a plate and served with a sauce.

Sauces are extremely important to the Beninese diet and offer a variety of flavors and nutritional value to the otherwise unchanging pâte. So far I have had several sauces.

Sauce de legume seems to be a tomato and palm oil-based sauces with the leaves of an indigenous plant’s leaves mixed in. There is also dried fish mixed in sometimes. This sauce is good

Crincrin is a sauce made out of a plant of the same name. This sauce is notorious among Peace Corps Volunteers. Before trying it, I had only heard that it had the consistency of snot and to avoid it if at all possible. When my host family made if for me two nights ago I found that it was actually delicious. I would say the sauce has more in common with melted mozzarella cheese; that is, if melted mozzarella was green and plant-based with some stems in it.

Sauce de moringa is so far my favorite. Moringa is made from another local plant that is actually a super food. It contains a tremendous amount of protein and various B vitamins. The sauce also has spicy peppers and peanut oil in it to add more complexity.

How to eat . . .

You eat pâte and an accompanying sauce with the right hand only. You take a ball of pâte (being careful not to sear the skin off of your fingers on the lava interior) and put the ball in the sauce. Then you pick up the glob of sauce-dipped pâte and put it in your mouth. Then repeat. Proper technique involves using your four fingers held together like a shovel and rotating the wrist in oder to dump the delicious glob onto your tongue. You should not have to tip your head back.

For the record, hand washing is mandatory before and after eating.

Note:

Be aware that you will most likely be fed more than you can possibly eat. “Hoto gohoun” is how you say I am full in Fon, the local language. Bon appetit!

One Month To Go – Time well spent (Part I)

In one month, I will be officially in Benin participating in PST (Pre-Service Training – the Peace Corps apparently loves acronyms). Emails have started flooding in from different PC offices with information about the staging and training processes and the realness of my situation is starting to finally hit me. Here are some of the things going through my head at the moment.

Summer Expectations vs. Reality

I thought that I was going to spend the summer traveling to visit friends, maybe try and learn to sail or scuba dive or something crazy. Basically, I wanted to enjoy what would probably be my last relaxing summer until retirement.

Although I visited some friends and will visit some more, I didn’t do anything as wild as I’d wanted. I spent the bulk of the summer with the three youngest of my siblings. They are all in high school now and this has been the first opportunity for me to spend quality time with them since I, myself was in high school and they were noogie-height.

Frisbee,

barbeques,

swimming,

hiking,

board games,

card games,

made-up games,

softball,

weird insightful conversations, the list goes on. Basically, we played all summer long.

I was also able to spend a couple days on the Appalachian Trail, go fishing with my Uncle up in the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont (right around the corner from Bubble F*ck Nowhere, USA. Honestly, it might be in Canada, who knows . . . ).

 

Fresh Brook Trout

 

All in all, I did not get as much alone time as I had anticipated, nor did I learn any new skills as I had hoped. However, I don’t think I could have dreamed of a better way to spend my summer than with my family. Distance can make you forget how wonderful having a close family is. This time with them was more important than any of the things that I thought I wanted or needed to do this summer.

My uncle and I at camp in the Northeast Kingdom