Post Office Traumatic Stress

A couple of months ago I loaned a friend my PO Box key. She was going to share my box since she just got into town. Well she lost it. No big deal, you just go to the post and pay for a new key right? Hmmmm, no.

I should preface this by saying my post office (PTT here) is a great guy. He is always in a good mood when we talk and has done me a couple favors over my time here. He is relatively young and completely on top of things, two qualities I rarely encounter.

So one morning I was running errands and decided it was time to get my PO Box key replaced. I went in to the office and was surrounded by maybe 30 other patrons. The PTT also serves as a money transfer center (i.e. Western Union). It was a the holiday season so this was a pretty busy time.

I elbowed and hip-checked my way to the counter (like may other things "lines" haven't developed). So I give my best sympathetic smile, go through the list of 10 or so mandatory greeting questions, and launch into my situation. I explain the deal, and he's pretty cool. "You just need to write a note explaining that you need your clock changed." he tells me. This is radical! I, being a genius, have already written a letter. I had researched the price of the change and everything. My letter goes something like this:

To Whom it may Concern,
I would like to replace the lock on PO Box 217. I have included 10,000f CFA to pay the necessary fee.

Thank you,
Matthew Banbury

I'm the next Hemingway, right? My friend the post master takes one look at this scribble and then looks slightly let down. I ask if that will do and he explains that it will not. Taking pity upon this confused grinning foreigner, he explains what I must do. I am really confused. So in exasperation, he writes the letter, to himself. Then tells me I need to copy it and sign it. It reads as follows:

To: Mister the Receiver of the PTT Glazoue,

Object: Request of Change of Lock

Mister the Receiver,
I have the honor of soliciting from your high benevolence a request of changing of lock of my PO Box.

In waiting of a favorable continuation, I pray you to agree, Mister the receiver, the expression of my distinguished sentiments.

Matthew Banbury

Amazing is it not? Could the tone and language be anymore colonial? Keep in mind this a down to earth guy. If he were a stuck up jerk, there would be no surprise. He was clearly busy, but protocol is protocol, no matter what. I laughed when I read it and then copied it precisely, even the half page heading that he wrote.

Two days later my lock was changed. He had indeed won my distinguished sentiments.

Black Death Blackout Bingo

I'm doing my best to collect every stereotypical "African" illness. There has been amoebas, giardia, some mystery illnesses that may or may not have been Malaria, and a few others whose names I didn't catch as I ran to the latrine. The latest has been a fungus-bacteria tag team that has my face looking like I'm testing 12 gauge buckshot from point blank range face-first.

Luckily here in Peace Corps Benin we have a great medical staff that takes excellent care of us and with combined experience of over 40 years, there is little they haven't seen. Sometimes they can be a little over zealous if anything. So last Thursday I found myself pleading with one of our medical staff to allow me to spend the weekend in post so that I might hold my AIDS training session. Eventually I got my way (and the session was great!). This week he took one look at my chewed up mug and quickly prescribed a second cream and an anti-biotic.

Hopefully the chemical cocktail will prevent me from looking like Robert Davi.

The Bush Rat Race

I've been a busy villagois these past few months, hopefully that will excuse the lack of updates.

The holiday season took me north 200 miles to a town called Kandi (kahn-dee). I came for a safari in one of the national parks and a New Years Celebration. It was a great get away. I was really feeling worn down by school work and the respite allowed me to regain my strength.

After the trip I was ready to burry myself in a mountain of work. Which was exactly what I did when I got home. Deciding that my Moringa project, art club, Brush Brigade (tooth brushing club), library expansion, and teaching weren't quite enough; I found myself looking for more to do. I struck gold, twice, I am now also designing and organizing an AIDS-centered talent competition and helping a local business group get a coop built so that they have the infrastructure necessary to grow their fowl-raising business.

So I've been running around my commune (county) opening new markets for Moringa powder with SA.D.E.C. (pics). Its been a challenge but a lot of fun. Every week we visit a new health center and meet with about 40 new mothers and the babies strapped to their backs. SADEC runs ah hour to and hour and a half presentation on malnutrition, anemia, then launches into Moringa as a dietary supplement to prevent/treat such cases. So far the reaction has been very positive. Everybody loves us and the product is moving that is all I can really ask for at this point. We meet at least once a week to workaround out glitches and jump hurdles.

The Coop project has been running in overdrive for a week or so now since my work partner told me that the US Embassy called him and said they would be there in two weeks for a visit. We wrote the request for aid a bit over a year ago so just about nothing was ready. We have been scrambling to pull things together and get the group prepped. The project coordinator from the embassy comes this Tuesday and we should hear more soon after that. I'm sure there will be fried guinea fowl for lunch and stories to tell.

I'm in Cotonou of for the weekend and doing my best to get as much done as possible. I've picked up the toothpaste for my brigade which should be kicking off Feb 2nd; Pictures and stories to follow. I've also received my books from the nice people at Darien Book Aid Plan, so library expansion should take place this week, if there is shelf space.

So my days have been sunrise to can't-speak-French-anymore o'clock, but I'm loving it.

What's going on:

A few more weeks have passed by and work has been moving along. I had the great opportunity to share a traditional Thanksgiving with several Beninese at a friend's post. It was really great to celebrate perhaps the second most fundamental American holiday with Host Country Nationals (HCNs). We had to stuff a few chickens because turkey was cost prohibitive, but they were delicious. After dinner we played music and danced.

At school things have been moving along. We had our first series of exams this last week and so far my kids seem to be getting the lessons (the students that can read of course). I am anxiously waiting the funds for tooth paste. When I receive them I will make a trip to the capital. I have made a flier and will go around to all of the 6e level classrooms and make the announcement just before winter break.

I am also looking forward to getting my hands on some art supplies a family friend collected from the school where she teaches. People at home have been so helpful in realizing my visions for my time here. My service wouldn't be the same without their support.

Moringa is slowly coming along. This month we are taking to the dirt roads and building a network of health centers and sales women in 5 villages who we will train about the product and its benefits. We are also hoping to connect with walking pharmacies, women who roam around towns and villages with baskets of pills and medications. These women tend to be really well informed about their product and arrive at ill people's house extremely poignantly. If we can build a good sales team capable of helping us to create a informed client base, it will greatly improve our chances of success. Next month we are looking to start our marketing campaign at local health centers during their baby weighing and vaccination days.

The only sad news is the death of my iBook. I mourned for a solid 48 hours, but I have a friend taking it home to get it fixed or rescue the hard drive. Hopefully it should arrive in 5 weeks or so along with the art supplies mentioned above. Having a laptop has been so great for my work (and sanity), but I will make due if the iBook is beyond repair.

Minty Victory is Mine!

I want to take a chance to thank my Mother Colleen, her husband Larry, and my Uncle John! They are helping me to realize one of my PC visions. They have come together to fund my Toothbrushing Club! Soon I will have an army of little toothbrushing maniacs all foamy-mouthed and cavity-free every morning. I'm sure there will be many photos and even videos! I will post updates you can be sure.

Support your Volunteers

Several months ago there was a lot of talk about cuts in Peace Corps funding in American news media. You may have seen something in your local paper or on the television. These budget cut backs are currently being implemented all over the world. The African Region has decided to cut volunteer numbers rather than the support staff. While it in unfortunate that ten less communities in Benin will receive a volunteer, I am glad that this approach was taken. Unfortunately, we are still experiencing some financial difficulties here and they could become worse over the next few years.

I remain hopeful that this could change in the coming years. Both McCain and Obama both mentioned increasing the Peace Corps budget while on the campaign trail, so it would seem bipartisan support for PC is a no-brainer. I would also support stategic and structural changes, but I'm not going to lay out my 7 point plan here. I will say that I would increase the readjustment allowance for RPCVs (now it is at 6k USD, not enough to "start over" in a major American city).

I am posting to take the opportunity to pass along this link I came across that guide people through the process of contacting your representative to ask them to support the PC program. Please pass the word along, we are doing our best out here, and it would be a shame if cutbacks became too extensive and whole programs were lost.

Moringa Madness

We've hit a couple more hurdles, but are still moving forward. We ran into a snag when we were asked for a copy of the title for the land my NGO partner, SADEC is donating to the project. This is a problem when, like most of the developing world, rural property titles don't exist. There is no way to prove legally who owns what; this can be a problem even in urban areas. We managed to negotiate a solution whereby the king of my village and the Chef d'Arrondissment will sign a typed up document verifying the ownership of the property.

Due to setbacks we have reworked our schedule and modified our plan quite a bit. Though I think that our new solutions will actually put us in a stronger position at the end of the day. Asside from that we have worked together to solve the problems which has improved the problem solving abilities of our team. This is something that will make it easier when it is time to walk away next September.

Come January we should be ready to roll out our marketing campaign/ informative workshops at the local health centers and open our product into the marketplace. Before this can happen there is still much to do: we have to contact our local sales reps (Marché Mamas) and train them. We also need to collect preliminary data from the health centers we will be working with so we can acurately analyze the impact of our work.