Ountivou, TOGO.... Round 3

First visit, three days. Second visit, a week. Round three...nearly a
month! And what an amazing month it was! If my sole reason for coming to
Africa was for the privilege and opportunity of experiencing this past
month, that would suffice. Not only have I finally felt I had something to
give, something to contribute, I also received so much during my month in
Togo. One of the things I received was many unforgettable experiences:

*Experience 1: Coaching a basketball camp. Although I love shooting hoops,
I never dreamed I would lead a three week basketball camp
with about 25 kids. (A few days we had close to 40 kids; a few days there
were only 10. Since the rains finally came while we were there, much later
than normal, many kids had to go work in the fields their last few weeks of
summer vacation. Considering the field work, it's amazing that 25 kids
still were able to come consistently... and it was a much more manageable
number for us!) On a dirt and sand "court", with one hoop and a few balls,
these kids learned how to dribble, pass, shoot, rebound, defend, and a few
offensive plays. During each practice, Koudjo told the players, and the
many people spectating the practices (often numbering more than the
players), a Bible story with a short lesson. It was amazing how silent a
large crowd of kids can get when their listening to stories! It was fun to
see these young players, most of them ages 10 to 14, go from never having
seen a basketball to be able to handle a ball- well, some of them-, score a
few points, and work as a team. Three weeks is definitely not enough time
to make them into proficient ball players, but we at least made a start. If
any of you (and you know who you are!) play basketball, you should seriously
start preparing for a mission's trip to Ountivou for another basketball
camp. These kids are very eager to learn more... and maybe by then we'll
have found someone to finance the cementing of a court; the church already
has the land.

*Experience 2: Teaching an Aja literacy course. I feel very privileged to
have had the opportunity of helping 20 kids learn how to read their own
language!! These kids, who ranged from 1st grade to high school, plus one
sole adult, are now able to read the Bible story books we gave them as
prizes for attendance and winners of a reading competition we hosted at the
end. Expecting to work with illiterate women, I was surprised the first day
of class when it was 30 school-attending kids who showed up at the school.
It's a lot more realistic teaching Aja in three weeks to kids who already
read French...my hope is that maybe some of these students will teach their
illiterate mothers and fathers to read as well. As with basketball, our
numbers dropped from over 30 down to 20 when the rains came, but these 20
were fairly dedicated in coming consistently, even when it meant hurrying
back from field work a little early in order to attend class. How many
American kids would choose to come to school during summer vacation,
especially after many hours of hard field work??

*Experience 3: The giving of school supplies... and receiving of many gifts
in return. Koudjo had asked me many months ago about the possibility of
helping the kids in his church and his family with school supplies. It is a
big hardship on these poor subsistent farmers to be able to buy the
necessary supplies for their kids, so much so that it deters some from
sending their kids to school. So, we purchased a lot of notebooks,
miniature
chalkboards, chalk, pens, pencils, coloring pencils, and geometry kits
(rulers, compasses, etc) and distributed them to the kids at church and his
family. What an incredible experience!! The joy these 91 kids (more than
2/3 of them are from Koudjo's extended family!), and their parents,
exhibited from receiving a couple dollars worth of school supplies will
forever be imprinted in my mind. And the responses of the people will never
be forgotten as well. There were so many visits of people who came by to
thank us and speak God's blessings and rewards upon us, since they
themselves had nothing to give. But there were also many many visits of
people who came by to thank us, bearing gifts for us...and you wouldn't
believe the gifts I received in return!! Here's a list of all the gifts we
were given: basin after basin of dried corn kernels, the staple of life here
(I brought back one huge bag of corn to give to people in Benin and eat
myself and left another huge bag of corn with Koudjo's mom); 30 ears of
fresh corn; 12 large yams (not like the yams I knew before coming to the
Africa. These are huge, some the size of my calf, others the size of my
thigh, and are used to make fufu, probably my most favorite African dish.
Sadly, the people of Benin don't eat much fufu, but while in Togo I enjoyed
many many good meals of fufu); 10 cassava; 5 roosters; 2 bottles of
homebrewn moonshine; 1 bottle of peanut oil; bananas, oranges, and sweet
fried bread balls. People just kept coming and coming with gifts during our
entire time there. Just when I thought there couldn't possibly be any more,
another person would stop by with gifts for us, even up to the day before we
left Togo. One Sunday before church, Koudjo's uncles and their wives and
children came and had a little thank you ceremony for us. Koudjo's dad
thanked the ancestors with water and homebrewn moonshine, which was then
also consumed by all those still alive and walking the earth. Koudjo's
mother sang songs of praise to God and danced...and somehow got me to dance
as well! I am still completely amazed at the people's generosity,
hospitality, and kindness to me during our time in Ountivou. They have so
little and yet they gave so generously from the little they had. And now I
definitely know many more people in Togo than I do here in Benin!

*Experience 4: Visiting a family a few evenings each week in order to tell
Bible stories. There is a non-Christian family that Koudjo wanted to visit
in order to tell them about God. So every couple evenings we would visit
them. After a little bit of small talk with my tiny bit of Aja (and Koujdo
translating whatever I didn't understand), Koudjo would read or tell them a
Bible story and talk about it. Many times, people passing by would stop as
well to listen and ask questions. These evening visits, although I didn't
understand most of what was said, definitely count among the unforgettable
experiences of my time in Africa. The father especially asked many
good questions and there is definitely an interest and a thirst. The father
thanked us for the interest we were showing in their lives and asked us to
pray that one day he and his family would go to church and know God.

*Experience 5: Almost dying... or at least thinking I was dying. Don't
worry, I'm still alive (obviously!) and in very good health. But from now
on, September 4th will be a day I commerate each year for the rest of my
life. For on that day I thought I was going to die, but God chose to give
me life instead. Unfortunately I became sick again while in Ountivou. At
first I thought it was another round of malaria, but the medicine didn't
seem to help. When, after a few days, I started throwing up and having
severe diarrhea as well, I though maybe I had typhoid fever again. At that
point I went to the nurse (there is one nurse and a dispensary in Ountivou, which
serves Ountivou and 42 surrounding villages!), who gave me more malaria
medicine and parasite medicine as well. I felt a bit better for two days,
until Sunday afternoon after church. We had gone by motorbike to the
nearest small town to make a phonecall. Even though it was a cloudy day, my
eyes felt like they were being blinded by the sun. I couldn't wait to get
back to my room and be in semi-darkness. But once we got back, my eyes still
felt strange, feeling worse when I closed them to block out what felt like
extremely bright light in a rather dark room. It kept getting worse and I
started feeling the
strangest sensations, like something was attacking my brain (but not pain
like a headache). At that point I starting thinking I was dying. I
completely lack words to describe how I felt, but I started crying and
feeling like my brain was dying. Koudjo was ready to take me either back to
Aplahoue (a two hour motorbike) or to the nearest hospital in Togo (a two
hour motorbike ride in the other direction). I didn't think I would make it
two hours, so he ran all over the village trying to find the nurse. When
the nurse came, he gave me an IV and put me to sleep. When I woke up an
hour later, I remember smiling and saying, "I'm still alive." I was so
surprised, so incredibly thankful and grateful to God, to still be alive. I
can't put into words the feelings and thoughts of that day...if you've ever
had a near-death experience you understand. To feel like you've been given
life when it was about to be taken away is incredible and humbling. The
fact that your life is not your own is imprinted in your mind. God must
have big plans for my life!!! After two days (and a total of 12 hours) of
being hooked-up to an IV, I walked around looking at everything through
slightly different lenses. Of course some of the gratitude and enjoyment
and amazement of life has already worn-off, but I believe that this
experience will never be forgotten.

*Experience 6: Eating, eating, eating. After the previous heavy experience
of dying, I feel the need for a lighter topic. I was so spoiled during my
month in Ountivou: Koudjo's mom prepared so much delicious food for us to
eat... and I didn't have to cook for a month!! I was afraid I would get
tired of
eating only African food for a whole month, but she fixed so many different
and yummy things, that I'm not looking forward to being back and having to
cook for myself again. She of course made lots of "Pate" (French,
pronounced pot) or Ame (Aja, pronounced with long a, short e sounds), which
is a thick hardened porridge made from ground corn flour. You break off a
piece and dip it into a sauce. It is the staple food both in Benin and
Togo. I've heard it said that if you haven't eaten "Pate" in a day, it's as
if you haven't eaten. Although I like it and I make it for myself, I
personally don't want to eat it every day. Fortuntately for me, Koudjo's
mom made lots of other things as well. I already mentioned my favorite
dish, Fufu
(pounded yams, that become like thick mashed potatoes. As with Pate, you
pinch some off and dip it into a delicious sauce. We also ate lots of
beans, rice, cassava, fried yams, fried sweet potatoes, egblen (another dish
from corn which is dipped into a sauce), and sometimes a sweet porridge and
fried bread balls for breakfast. Oh, and we also ate lots of rooster!!
With all the food I ate, I think it's only due to the fact that I was sick
for a week that I didn't gain weight.

*Experience 7: Village life for a month. I am happy to be able to say that
I survived a month in a villagewithout running water, electricity, or a
latrine (I already live
without a toilet) ...and really it wasn't all that hard. I
won't miss having to walk out to the bush, finding a spot hidden behind
trees and bushes, trying to avoid stepping in other people's excrement, in
order to "use the bathroom". But I really didn't mind having to draw water
out of the cystern for my bath or to do laundry. And I actually prefer the
ambiance of eating dinner by the light of a kerosene lantern rather than a
dull electric lightbulb. During my month in Ountivou, I got attached to my
little one-room mudhouse, still standing after 25 years. Although I gladly
accept my real matress here in Benin in exchange for the straw one I used in
Ountivou, I have to say that it didn't impede my sleep at all. I also really
enjoyed the community feel of village life. I love how after each visit,
and there's lots of visiting that's done, you walk the visitor back towards
their homes. Somedays we would visit someone and they accompanied us home,
and then later in the day they would return the visit and we would accompany
them home. The week we went to Ountivou for "vacation" (before doing the
camps), we spent the majority of our time going around paying visits or
being at home receiving visitors. This neat community feel is desperately
lost in towns and cities, both here and definitely in the States. (I've
never lived in a small town in the States, so I don't really know how that
compares.) Speaking of visitors, one morning we already had visitors at 6
am. There you get up at the crack of dawn, 5am. Catholic mass starts at
5:30 in the morning. One morning we were in the field planting peanuts
before it was 6.

*Experience 8: Planting the pastor's field with the entire church. Since
the members of the church don't have much money to pay the pastor (most
people seem to give between 2 and 10 cents tithe a week), they instead
organize a day here and there to work in his fields. Fortunately for me, it
was one of the days I was in town (during our week visit), for it was quite
a memorable experience. After walking the 3 km out to the pastor's field
the men and boys starting hoeing inbetween the corn stalks. The women and
girls then followed by sowing three or so peanuts into each hole and
covering them with soil using their feet. The feel of freshly hoed soil is
almost velvety to the feet... cleaning toenails afterwards it another
matter. For much of the time I worked in an area with a couple of the
younger girls. Even young children, ages 3 and 4, help in the fields-
no one is left out. When people started finishing the different sections
they were working on, everyone ended up working together in one area: a big
swarm of 30 some people descending on the land at once, some sowing peanuts,
the rest closing the holes with their feet. It was amazing how quickly the
work was finished... plus with all the talking, laughter, and competition,
it was a ton of fun. The pastor's entire field was finished shortly after
noon (we left the house around 6)! After eating a big meal of Pate and
Sauce in the field, the men and boys took theirs off to another part of the
field to eat, leaving the women and children to eat together. After another
3km brisk walk home, we had finished a good day's work, all before 2:30 pm.
Another day we went to plant peanuts in Koudjo's father's field. Leaving
before it was even 5:30, we took off on one bike with a hoe and a big bag of
peanuts, to sow, not to eat! Soon the reinforcement of others in his family
arrived: his mom, his brother, his brother's very pregnant wife, and 4 or 5
kids. I think we finished the small field in a little over an hour. Then
Koudjo took me for a grand tour of his father's fields... and his father has
A LOT of fields, with A TON of palm trees. What surprises me is that he
doesn't cut some down to make money (i.e. to make into palm wine or
moonshine) to help his children and grandchildren. But, as is typically the
case here, the men don't see it as their responsibility. His one son needs
money to go to technical school, but it is Koudjo who is supporting him.
Another son has health problems with his hip. He himself has problems with
his foot, but says he doesn't have money to go to the clinic. All of his
children struggle to pay for school fees and supplies for their children.
And yet he has these numerous fields (people don't sell land in the
villages) and hundreds of palm trees (which although the majority aren't
full grown, he has plenty that he could sell). However, if he does cut some
down,
he is going to use the money to finish a new house he has starting building.
It's hard for me to understand...

*Miscellaneous random experiences: Popping popcorn over an open fire one
night for the kids in Koudjo's family and telling Bible stories and folk
legends, learning to make botokue (tasty fried bread balls), going to school
the first day of school, playing in one of the many torrential downpours,
having a slide show one night for his family of the pictures we had taking
(we had borrowed a missionary's laptop) and their amazement at seeing
themselves on a screen!

What a month! I am so extremely grateful for having had this time in
Ountivou. Thank you for your prayers! God is definitely at work in that
village, and I feel privileged to have been used by Him. Please continue
praying for the people who heard the Bible stories: the kids from the camps,
Koudjo's family, and the family we went to visit in the evenings. (One
Sunday there were 10 new kids at church, both from the literacy and
basketball camps, as well as kids from Koudjo's family.) Speaking of God
being at work, here are a couple other random things He did for us: We lost
an important key
and looked all over for it. We were finally reminded to pray...and no more
than 30 seconds later we found the key, in a spot that we thought we had
already looked!!! Another day I was having major diarrhea problems and was
worried about going to Aja class and basketball camp. Knowing that God had
answered other prayers, such as not letting me die, Koudjo prayed for me and
that was the end of my intestinal problems... for the rest of our time in
Ountivou. If only I can remember to bring things to God in the future! I
have promised to
come back to Ountivou at least one more time before I quit Africa
completely. I think I'm more attached to Ountivou than to Benin!!
Ok, this very very long blog has got to come to an end. If you made it all
the way through in one sitting, congratulations.
Love you all,
Me

P.S. Some of you have asked how to send money for some of the things I
listed in the last blog. You can make out a check to me and send to my
friend
Laura who will deposit it in my bank account. I can draw the money out
using an ATM when I go to Cotonou, which I do about once a month or so.
Here's the address:
Laura Michel
2235 S. Avers
Chicago, IL 60623

P.P.S. Since I finally received the long-awaited camera cable and since
I've taken hundreds of pictures, you will soon have a much better picture of
things I've tried to describe in words. I'm hoping this Sunday or next to
be able to get them online. When I do so, I'll send out en e-mail with the
address where you can view them at your leisure :).