Travelling with Chickens

Finally, we trainees have seen a little bit of Benin. Yes, perhaps our lives as volunteers might consist of something more than marathon language classes and awkward homestay family encounters: We just returned from visiting our posts. For five days, the trainees were set loose upon the country to see their villages, meet their counterparts, and get a taste of what their lives might be like as volunteers. This was certainly a refreshing break and a wonderful opportunity to see a very different part of the country for me, as the north, I found, is a totally different world than the south.

My post is one of the most remote volunteer sites, which means, unfortunately, that it takes almost two days to get there from PC headquarters in Cotonou. This is particularly impressive when you remember that Benin is only about the size of Pennsylvania. Additionally, transportation is not always (read: never) comfortable in Benin. I had to take three different taxis during the second day of my journey and there were never any fewer than seven additional people carefully arranged in the cab with me. Imagine riding for five hours in a seven-seater station wagon with twelve (twelve!!) other people and a chicken, and you might have an inkling of what traveling in Benin might entail. This doesn’t even include the man who had to ride on top of the station wagon.

Luckily, the north is absolutely beautiful during this part of the year. The rolling green hills of cotton and corn, dotted with huge trees such as the baobab, are certainly enough to draw your attention away from the discomforts of an overcrowded bush taxi. As an Environmental Action volunteer in my village, I am lucky enough to be working (often outside!) in this beautiful area with local gardening groups, promoting sustainable gardening techniques and trying to help them increase their profits. Cashews and shea in particular have a lot of potential to be an excellent source of income, while the moringa tree and environmental education classes may improve food security in the area. Indeed, the differences in income levels and education between my village and Porto-Novo are breathtaking: only a few people in my village have electricity and no one has running water. Additionally, the poverty level means that finding people who are educated enough to understand or speak French will be quite a challenge. 

Anyways, this does give me an excellent activity for my first three months of post: learn Bariba! Until then though, we still have two weeks left to pack in as much French as possible and prepare for our departures. In my case, I have also been poring through my Beninese cookbook and dreaming of conquering the kitchen at post. How many ways can one use rice and beans.

Also, I should add that I am currently distracted by the lizards which always seem to lurk in this gazebo. Half of the time when writing these posts, I am cowering over my computer, ready at any point to fend off any lizards which may leap upon me. This is a real possibility. And these are no small lizards.

I'll leave you with that :)