August 25, 2005

And you thought you'd get to hear from me at least once every month... and
now it's been two. But wait, wait, I have good excuses: sickness, travel,
etc. However, even after I tell you about my excuses, that's all they are,
excuses. And so I offer my apologies for not writing in quite awhile.
Formalities finished, let's get on with the greetings. (Now you're
confused, for don't the greetings normally come first? Well, here where I
am, you can discuss a little quick business such as why you haven't come
around to visit- or why you haven't updated blogs- and then you start the
official greetings, which are extremely important here). Since there are
some words there are no translations for, I've used equivalent English words
for my greeting to you (and have inserted your response to me):
Me (bending the knees and bowing): Hello (very loose translation!)
You (doing the same): Hello
M: Hi
Y: Hi
M: Did you wake up well?
Y: Yes, I woke up well.
M: And the children?
Y: They woke up very well.
M: And your husband?
Y: He is there.
M: Did you come well?
Y: Yes, I came well.
M: The people from where you came, are they well?
Y: They are well.
M: Did you come for nothing?
Y: Yes, for nothing.

Depending on the person and how frequently you see them, the greeting (all
of the above as a unit is comparable to our "Hi, how are you?") can continue
on to asking about fathers, mothers, the people on the road, the house, and
so forth. I'll stop at this, so I can get to my excuses for not having
"visited" you in awhile. Visiting people here is very important and it
would be simple not acceptable that I've waited two months to visit you.
So, I better be able to present a good "reason" (although we all know it's
an excuse). My main excuse for not writing this last month is that I was
quite sick: my first wrestles with malaria and then typhoid fever. You
think one would be enough to give me a more authentic experience here! Yes,
now I can say I'm even more Africanized, because
I've experienced malaria and typhoid fever, but they're really something I
would rather not experience again, especially since I was treated for
malaria three different times. I was sick a couple different times in a
month, with mild headaches, sore throats, flu-like symptoms, before I
finally caught on that maybe I had malaria. Of course by that time it had
become a little more elevated and I ended up being in bed for several days
with a fever, a debilitating headache, not wanting to eat a thing, and
feeling miserable all over. Once the medicine finally kicked in and kicked
malaria in the butt, the malaria gave me about a week or so off and then
came around for a second bought (or probably just never left). After
another analysis and a second round of medicine, I still felt sick and got a
third round. Well, that didn't help either so I went back for another
analysis and it turns out I had typhoid fever...which, in my humble opinion
(and considering malaria and typhoid fever are not all that common in your
part of the world, you'll just have to trust my humble opinion) is
definitely the bigger evil of the two. But, thanks be to God, after various
medicines, lots of sleeping days away, and good care by one of my friends
(who, by cooking for me and forcing me to eat at least something, made sure
I didn't waste away), my body was finally healed. And I am proud to say,
that I have thoroughly enjoyed my excellent health for more than two weeks
now. Personally, I feel like two tropical diseases are enough... no more
are welcome.

Last week I went on a week "vacation" to Togo (the tiny neighboring country
west of Benin), to a village in the bush. I'd love to take time to tell you
about my various experiences during my week in a village without running
water or electricity (and not even latrines...you walk out into the bush to
use the bathroom), but I'll save them for next time, because I'll probably
have many more to add...since I'm going back there tomorrow for three weeks!
Yes, I just couldn't get enough of it :) Seriously, I really enjoyed being
in a village setting for a week (and hopefully I can handle three weeks).
However, this time, my trip has a little more purpose than just visiting a
friend's village and family. My friend Koudjo and I are going back to
Ountivou to do a three week basketball camp and also a literacy course in
Aja! Two days ago, after being back in Aplahoue for only a few days, as I
was trying to spend some time with God, struggling to keep focused, an idea
"popped" into my mind... and I hope (and have prayed) that this was an idea
from God, for otherwise it won't succeed. While in Ountivou I thought about
how neat it would be to be able to teach some women to read Aja, but
considering I don't live there, I quickly dismissed the thought as
impossible and impractical. When back in Aplahoue, Koudjo mentioned
something about his desire to do sport's ministry with the kids and youth in
his village sometime. So, two days ago, the idea that came was to go and
stay in Ountivou for 3 weeks and do a basketball camp and teach the reading
of Aja. (If time, we could do some English course, too, but that might be a
bit much.) Koudjo was very excited about the idea and so after some
thought and prayer, we've decided to do it. The "bad" part is timing.
School in Togo starts Sept .19th, so it needs to happen before then... which
means starting next week. That doesn't allow much time to plan, but this is
Africa and you don't really need to do things in advance :). Those of you
who know me well, know that it's a struggle for me to let go of the need to
have everything planned out in detail (we have done a bit of planning, but
much of it is just going to have to come as God has it comes... which
probably is the way it should happen anyway, isn't it?) This is all a bit
crazy, because even though both Koudjo and I enjoy playing basketball, we
aren't all that good and don't have the slightest clue about coaching (and
Koudjo has never even been on a team). Also crazy is that even though I
still don't speak all that much Aja, I am going to attempt to teach people
to read in their own language. (Fortunately, Koudjo, who learned how to read
Aja from me, will help me with the Aja course). It has been a reoccurring
theme for my stay here, that if you at least know a little, you can teach
someone who knows less than you. (That's what God has been having me do
with teaching women to speak French and to read Aja at Gohomey...something
else I would like to tell you more about when I get a chance. Side note: I
think I've promised to write about various things and never have... and very
likely never will. Sorry :). If I ever write a book, which is even more
unlikely, you can buy a copy and read it then). I don't have too many other
details to tell you about this basketball camp/literacy course stuff,
because I just don't know much else yet. Instead, I'm going to ask you to
pray for the next three weeks, that God's will would be done (and not our
ideas of what should happen), that He would use us- and hopefully others who
we can coax into helping- even though we aren't extremely knowledgeable in
what we are hoping to do, that God would give us wisdom and ideas, that He
would work out all the practical details that we are attempting to work out,
that people would be drawn to God through these activities (we're planning
on having a short Bible story/lesson with each day's camp and reading
class), that people in the churches (especially Koudjo's church) would be
involved, and finally also for health (no more malaria or other exotic
diseases). I appreciate your prayers very much!

I just took a rather long break from writing you this blog... to kill my
first (and very likely only) chicken! She was given to me as a gift from a
pastor's wife when I was in Ountivou last week. She rode back with us to
Benin, comfortably resting in a plastic bag on my thigh, while I sat
squished between two people in front of me and our baggage behind me. Since
we're leaving tomorrow, we're having chicken with our fufu (pounded yams
that become the consistency of very very thick mashed potatoes...something
they eat a lot in Togo and which I really like). I can't say I'm really
looking forward to our chicken dinner tonight... after you've slit a throat,
plucked feathers, disassembled a carcass, it just isn't that appetizing...
plus, I'm not a big meat fan anyway. :) While in Ountivou, Koudjo's mother
almost always had some pieces of meat with the sauce for us. It turns out
that was only because of me, because she (and probably most people here)
think white people eat a lot of meat (which is very true in many cases!).
So, I finally convinced her that meat was not necessary and that I rarely
eat meat. The majority of people here just can't afford to eat a lot of
meat. They will kill a chicken or goat for special ceremonies or feasts,
but, unless you are rich, it is not something you eat every day...

...especially not this year. This year it has not rained as it should. My
rain jacket I brought for the two rainy seasons has remained virtually
unused. Yes, there has been rain at times, but not as much as plants
require to grow and produce. The price for corn, the main staple, this year
was the highest it's been since the year I was born!!! People's cheekbones
are more prominent now than a few months ago. (I first noticed this in one
of the students who lives by me. After that initial observation, I began to
see how many people's faces have thinned out). This past month in Benin
many people finally harvested their tiny ears of corn. In Togo, they are
still waiting. Because the crop yield is so small this year, people know
that next year will be even more difficult to have food to eat. Many people
will go hungry. (FYI: Right now in Niger, which borders Benin to the
north, is experiencing a major famine). People here frequently talk about
how difficult life is here... and they are telling the truth!! I could tell
you many many sad stories about people living in poverty. I could also tell
you stories of the hope that the poor live with, that they haven't become
destitute. I wish I had time right now to write all of my thoughts floating
around my head about poverty, how it concerns me, how we need to stand in
solidarity with the poor, how God is among the poor, how I am so definitely
not poor and how I have so many safety systems that would never allow me be
truly poor. Henri Nouwen, in a journal he wrote about his sabbatical
experience in Latin America and which has helped me process some of my
experiences here, wrote "At this moment I feel a certain realism is
necessary: I am not poor as my neighbors are. I will never be... I have to
accept my own history and live out my vocation, without denying that
history. On the other hand, I realize that the way of Christ is a
self-emptying way. What that precisely means in my own concrete life will
probably remain a lifelong question." I could not have expressed my own
thoughts any better. The issue of poverty will always be a difficult one to
deal with. My mom sent me a very interesting article from Time magazine
entitled "How to End Poverty". The author has a plan for saving the eight
million people who die each year because they are too poor to stay alive.
Whether or not it is possible, is debatable, but I do know that so much
could be done if everyone who has would just give a little more (or for
some, to start giving at least something!!). Sometime I really do hope to
write more thoughts, stories, observations concerning poverty, but for lack
of time, I have to call it quits for now. Part of me thinks that if I could
give you all my thoughts and stories now, I'd be able to better convince you
to give more money to the poor. But it's very late (and I leave tomorrow
morning) and still I want to give you a couple very specific ways how you
can be involved in the lives of the poor, right around me. So, here they
are:

*$30 a year per kid to pay for school supplies, uniform, school fee (even
public schools have a school fee, even the $4 fee keeps many kids from going
to school), and breakfast (5 cents a day!). I'd like to do this for the
four kids in "my husband's family" (I mentioned them in my last blog)
*$90 a year to pay for school supplies, uniform, school fee (public high
school fee is $32), and breakfast (10 cents a day) for Marcelin, the 2nd
oldest son in "my husband's family" (when the mother died, the oldest son
quit school to work in order to support his siblings). Marcelin is in his
last year of high school, although many people fail the final exam and
retake the year several times.
*$60 a year to pay for a pastor's oldest son to go to a private school. He
currently is in the village school, in a class with some 60 others, two
grades combined, and a poor quality of teaching.
*$30 for materials for the basketball camp (basketballs, pump, whistles)
*$20-40 for materials for the literacy course (notebooks, pencils, 'how to
read' book in Aja, Bible story books in Aja); depends on how many people
participate
*$300 (or any part of it) for school supplies for 62 kids in Ountivou from
Koudjo's family and church
*Sponsor a child here in Benin ($20/month)
1. One of the five kids in my "husband's family. This would not be
through an official organization (I tried to be able to get that to happen
through Plan Benin, but it's not possible), but I would set up an account
and the details. Since these kids live right by me (one being "my husband",
who I will sponsor), I know them quite well and they are great kids. The
girls often come and help me do dishes, laundry, or clean. Marcelin, with
whom I work with on English, would translate any correspondence.
2. Through Plan Benin, the organization with which I've been working every
Tuesday. Plan works in almost 30 countries and is a well-run and official
organization, with sponsors from over 40 countries. If you don't already
sponsor a child, I strongly strongly strongly encourage you to sponsor one,
even if it's not here in Benin. I have seen the value and necessity of
child sponsorship. It helps children's very basic needs to be met, which
parents often cannot completely do, plus it gives them a chance to go to sch
ool... and don't get me started on the importance of education! If you're
interested, let me know, and I'll make sure you get all the official info
and forms. I would love to meet your sponsored child before I leave here!!!
*$20 for an orphan (16 or 17 year old) who is supporting his 4 (or maybe it
was 5) brothers and sisters, for peanuts and beans to sow in his fields
*Any other money wished to be given could VERY easily and quickly be put to
good use. There are many more situations like the above mentioned to which
your money could go... many more families struggling with basic survival,
many more school expenses, medical bills, seeds needed for planting, tools,
repairs, church uses, etc. And if you have any vague thought in your head of
something specific that interests you, I could probably find something to
meet your criteria.

It's never easy or fun to ask for money (even when it's not for you),
because you don't want to make people feel uncomfortable. I don't want you
to give out of obligation because you're my friend, or out of guilt because
you are rich (and yes, everyone of you and myself included, is rich in
comparison to almost everyone around me), but because we have been given so
much and because the need here is great. A few dollars go a very long way
here. If you feel like you want to help with any of the above causes (or a
part of one would fine as well), PLEASE let me know and will be extremely
happy to give you more details.

Well, it's gotten late and I still need to pack for the next few weeks
(although somehow that seems to be a much easier job here than when I pack
for a trip in the States) and you are tired of reading this blog (it
probably took you several sittings :)). One more thing: I finally received
the cable for my digital camera in the mail (African postal service is not
known for speedy service). I'm thrilled not only to be able to take more
pictures, but also to finally be able to send them on to you and give you
some visuals of my life here. I don't have time before I leave for Togo, so
it will be at least another month, but I think you'll at least get to view
them before I step foot on American soil again. For those of you still
confused when that might be (due to my confusion of when that might be), I
think I'm planning on leaving here in December. Whether I make it back to
American soil then or touch down on some other continent (Europe, to see my
parents) first, is still to be determined. Now that seven months have
passed (crazy, huh?), I can't imagine having left after 6 and I'm still not
ready to leave yet. Yes, I do miss you, my dear friends and family, and
look forward to seeing you soon, but I am very happy being in Africa right
now. If only I could go back and forth between the two easily, for I'll
definitely miss it here when I leave. But I'll leave those thoughts for
December, or at least until the end of November :).

I love you all!
me (crisis of name identity... I have too many going on to keep straight!!)