An Electrifying Experience
One thing you come to discover in village is that extremely important
events happen with (seemingly) no notice whatsoever. Let me clarify; everyone in village will know
of said event well in advance, but for whatever reason they tend to not tell
the local Peace Corps Volunteer till (at earliest) the day before said event. I
have found that these can include, but are not limited to: weddings, funerals, community
meetings, religious ceremonies, concerts, and most recently a visit from Benin’s
President, and former leader of the African Union, Dr. Yayi Boni.
For this particular event I was given a total of three hours
notice, although, as he was already delayed and originally supposed to show up earlier
that morning, you could say I found out after the fact.
Anyway, after searching for a pair of clean clothes that
would be acceptable attire to meet the president of my host country in (no easy
task for a grungy EA volunteer, trust me), I made my way down to the local elementary
school with a few other volunteers to greet him with the rest of my village.
The reason for his visit was to turn on the village’s
electricity, which was originally supposed to happen in December, but hey, c’est
la vie.
Over the next fifteen minutes of his arrival by helicopter,
he made speeches in two languages, turned on power to the school (and therefore
my village!) and was close enough to me to touch (not gonna lie, I got a little
bit star struck). Then, just as fast as he came, he left in a whir of cheers,
music, and a dust storm kicked up by his helo’s blades.
So finally, after over a year of living in Benin, my village
has electricity.
The fun part? The power went out for the next four days strait
. . . and I still won’t have power for at least two months while I wait for a
counter to be installed.
ALRIGHT MAGGOT!!!
I just spent the last hour picking beetle larva out of my
uncooked jasmine rice. When I finished, I thought ‘I should have just eaten
them for the protein; It’s not like I don’t know what they’ve been eating’.
In retrospect from an American point of view, I should have
just thrown it out/given it to the livestock in my front yard, but hey . . .
Peace Corps changes people.
Camp ‘les Filles de l’Avenir’
(translated to The Girls of the Future)
For those of you who donated; thank you so very much! It meant
the world to these girls and you will be receiving written thanks with some photos
in the mail soon.
The camp came through without a hitch, and I hear we’ll be
featured in an article written by PC Washington. If so, I’ll post it here once
it comes out.
In any case, I don’t have any comical comments or witty
remarks for this. It was quite simply a great program that will remain one of
the highlights of my service.
One week where girls from all over my region were given the
opportunity to travel (many of them for the first time) outside of their
villages to learn about their world, their rights, their health, and their self
worth.
Has it really been
that long?!?
I’ve been in here for over a year now . . . I don’t really
have words for this.
