Spreading the Seed

Let's just say that the idea of volunteerism hasn't exactly spread like wildfire, at least not in the way we think of it. Which is why it's such a pleasure to work alongside the Beninese Volunteer Corps here in Parakou. Founded in 2006,the CVB (in French) has worked on various projects throughout Parakou, including microfinance groups, bike tours, health/environmental workshops, and volunteer promotional activities. To be sure, it's going to take a lot of work to institutionalize this venture, and I'm almost positive the entire operation would cease to exist if Ibrahim were to lose interest, but they've grown by leaps and bounds since their conception four years ago.
Ibrahim's done a lot of work to recruit motivated young individuals outside of this city, but I'm quite sure that nobody in any small village will say that they're familiar with the volunteer corps here. First, they lack funding of any kind. While they've become quite adept at writing grants, they still struggle to finance simple things like electric bills (for an extremely tiny office). That's why it helps to start up creative fund-raising techniques like selling tee-shirts at local festivals and offering local language training to volunteers. In this manner, they're able to finance small purchases like this printer, purchased with funds from selling tees we designed last week.
Below, the president of a Groupement des Femmes who work with Moringa sits beside a basin of freshly harvested Moringa leaves.


Here, some local poultry eat feed combined with fresh moringa leaves to make them healthier and more valuable.

Trudging Along

This is a doll used in some ceremony or another that you can find in the Music Museum in Parakou, where I've been working recently. I know it's a bit creepy, but so are most voodoo entities in this bastion of voodoo culture.


This is Hillary Clifford, dressed to kill during the filming of our Peace Corps documentary. Hillary is stationed in the northernmost post in Benin, in a city that straddles the Nigerian border. We can no longer go to Niger due to the recent closing of the Nigerian Peace Corps program. In this photo, she is surveying a hot pepper field.

This is Christoph and Patrick working with a local moringa farmer named David on a new documentary we're doing about the miracle tree. Moringa can offer a stunning amount of nutrients to a people whose dinner usually consists of carbs, carbs, more carbs, and some animal skin. We just started filming today, and I hope to put it on youtube sometime during the month of March.

Other than that, things are moving relatively smoothly. I'm off to work with the Beninese Volunteer Corps and the Institute of Fine Arts as a representative at the Fete de Ganni, a five day extravaganza during which all of the Bariba princes show off their dashing horses and dress to the nines. It's a big tourist draw, so hopefully this should offer some good exposure. I guess we'll see.

Happy Valentine's Day, all!

Big Time

Time is absolutely flying. I've been jet-setting for a couple months now, heading N and S for various work reasons. Every so often I need to a take a breath and remind myself of a couple irrefutable truths:

1.) This is not going to last forever. In fact, my time here is nearly at an end. While 7 months may seem like a lifetime to some, I'm realizing more and more that it feels like I'm writing monthly reports every 5 days. Toss into the mix the complexities of a West African presidential election (coming to Benin this month), and we could be dealing with a dramatically shortened timeline. I thus made it my resolution to be happy in every minute of 2011. Those of you who know me will laugh at the prospect, and I must admit that the success rate has been spotty, but even in my most stressed times I can't help but appreciate the opportunity I've been given.

2.) I have learned more than I can ever realize. Maneuvering in West Africa is anything but straight-forward, but obstacles that once seemed insurmountable have become non-issues during the last year and a half. During a recent filming for a documentary, my fellow volunteers and I were surprised to find that we felt less eloquent when responding to questions in English than in French. Of course, it's difficult to speak well when you're staring into the eyes of someone who doesn't speak English, but still, it was a little jolting.

I recently had the pleasure of working with a local film crew to coordinate the filming of a 50th anniversary documentary for the Peace Corps. I was pleasantly surprised at the caliber of their work. Below is a picture of Brigitte and I in front of a presentation made in honor of the Peace Corps by the Beninese Volunteer Corps.





Here is my friend Ibrahim and I, sporting matching outfits, talking to a group of local women to start a microfinance club. We collect a set amount every three weeks in order to create an account large enough to give cheap loans to women with investment plans.


This is me being interviewed at the newly-built Institute of Fine Arts here in Parakou. My hand is on a massive drum used in ceremonies in the Atakore (NW) region of Benin. It was here that it first became clear that I no longer can speak English.

Ibrahim and I.

Work covers a wide array of activities these days. From microfinance groups to catching mice, from volunteer support to English clubs, how could any other job ever be as interesting as this?