Cotonou - Saturday November 7, 2009

Saturday, November 7th, 2009.



For all of you who have been following this blog, our apologies for not doing any new posts the last few days. We literally have not had a moment of free time since landing here on Wednesday afternoon. It is only now that I have had a chance to sit down and do an update, and unfortunately I am doing so without my camera. I opted out of one of the tours this morning, feeling a bit out of sorts, but after a short rest I am feeling much better. Judy went out with the group and I gave her the camera - upon her return I will post all of the photos that have been taken to date. So, for now, this is only going to be a written account of what we have been doing and seeing on our trip to date.



The last post was from the Paris airport, which seems like so long ago, yet it was only a few days. We arrived in Benin in the evening about 8:00. After going through customs, which really was quite easy, we had to collect our bags - now that was interesting. Everyone was trying to collect their bags at the same time, so our tour leader suggested that we all step aside and let everyone else on the plane get their luggage so that we could move more easily. The area was very crowded, and very hot - then it seemed like all of a sudden everyone was gone, leaving only our group. Interestingly enough, there was a security guard at the door that checked to make sure that every bag on our cart belonged to us.



We finally loaded on to a air conditioned bus, which was heavenly. The temperature when we arrived was in the low 80's, but it is the humidity that makes if feel so much hotter. Between the baggage area and walking to the bus, we must have been approached by a least 1/2 dozen people selling everything you can imagine.



The checkin process at the hotel was very easy. We were all pre registered, so all we had to do was get our room key. After a short orientation with the tour leader, we finally made it up to our room, which I would describe as very small. The hotel itself is quite nice, a beautiful lobby area, with some very interesting woodwork. I would describe it as a four star hotel by our standards, however not when it comes to the rooms, which as I mentioned are very small. They do have a television in the room, a desk, two chair and a small round table, and two twin beds, which are only about 6'' apart. There is barely room to walk around in, but it is clean, we have hot water, and the shower works!



Onto our travels...Thursday we took a bus tour of the city of Cotonou. It is so different than anything I have seen before. There are merchants selling everything you can imagine on the sidewalks, although they are not really sidewalks. Although the main roads are paved, everything else is more like a dirt road. In some ways it reminds me of Mexico, although we did not really see many beggars - mostly everyone was trying to sell something. I saw one lady walking down the street with a huge basket on her head, attached to which were hangers with clothes on them. I don't think I have yet seen what we would call a regular store, although I'm sure there are some. Traffic is unbelievable - and the amazing thing to me is that there are far more motorcyles than there are cars. Not many people on regular pedal bikes though. You can hire a motorcycle taxi, recognizable by their yellow shirts, to take you anywhere. Most of the men we saw we were wearing what might be described as colorful pajamas - matching pants and shirts. Women are dressed in very colorful long dresses for the most part. For what were able to observe from the bus, people appear to be healthy and happy. We saw very few people over the age of maybe 40, which makes sense considering we learned that the life expectancy for men is 55 and for women it is 60.



For lunch we joined a Rotary meeting, where all 13 Cotonou clubs were represented. Lunch was delicious, and consisted of a salad made with cucumbers, tomatoes, and some type of spicy dressing. The main course was a type of beef in gravy, served with rice and plantain, which is really quite good. Dessert here is usually fruit.



We have been divided into teams, and Judy and I are in the "A" Team, and by some fluke, I am the team leader. There are nine of us in the group, three from Hawaii and six from California and Oregon. One of the ladies in our group fell on cement the day before coming here, and her face is stitched up and black and blue. I think there are about seven teams, and we will be in our team for the duration of the stay. Each team has a Rotary Club assigned to them, and we are partnered with the Rotary Club of Cotonou, the oldest club in Benin.



After lunch we were invited to the residence of the US Ambassador to Benin, who only arrived here 10 days ago. We spent the afternoon there, listening to all of the things that the Embassy does. It was hot, humid, and I'm afraid to say a bit boring, since I am a Canadian Citizen.



Dinner was an event outside of the hotel, which was really just heavy appetizers. Judy and I chose not to attend, as by that time jet lag was doing a number on us. We retired early, in preparation for Friday, which was our immunization day.



Again I must apologize for the boring monologue - but I did say I would write about what we are doing. I assure you that the pictures will be much more effective that what I can write.



Yesterday was a day that I will never, in my entire lifetime, forget. It was one of those rare days that happen in your life, and if you are really lucky, perhaps one of a few.



The day started early - we had to be in the hotel lobby with breakfast in our stomachs, by 7:30. We once again boarded the bus, and headed north to the villages where we were going to be doing the polio vaccinations. What was supposed to be a one hour bus ride, ended up being two, and that bus went on roads that were definetly not designed for buses. There were times when we were driving through trees that were touching both sides of the bus.



We arrived at what they describe as a medical clinic - a combination of several buildings, each serving a purpose. There we picked up two doctors and some health care workers, before heading out to the villages. The next stop was a small village with a one building clinic, which was to be our starting point. We were divided into groups of two, three or four and paired with one or two health workers from the local villages. In most cases, they spoke little or no English.



Four of us had asked that we be put in a group where there would be limit walking. One of the ladies in our group is a polio survivor, who walks with a defined limp; one had recent surgery; one has some arthritis; and I am simply not in good enough shape to be hiking through the jungle for hours. There was a definite lack of communication - we ended up being the group that walked the most!



At the start, we were told it was one kilometer to the village, which we thought would be fine. After walking in the 80 degree heat for about an hour - obviously further than one kilometer, we came upon a small hut on the side of the road, which provided us with some shade. Fortunately there was a small bench to sit on, and when we did realized that it was some type of community sewing center. One woman was sitting a table with a treddle sewing machine, and others had various pieces of material, either waiting for their turn, or for the seamstress to fix.



At that point we should have realized things were not what they said. By God's Grace, a pick up truck came by, and the health workers convinved him to drive the four of us to the next village which took about 10 minutes by car. I for one was very grateful, as I believe was the rest of the group.



At the village, we came across the first child to be vaccinated, only to have his father refuse. The African people, at least those that we have come across so far, have an interesting way of conversing. It is always loud, and seem argumentative. In any event, after about 10 minutes, the health care worker asked Sara (the woman who had polio as a child) to show the man her leg, which she did. That seemed to do the trick, as after another 5 minutes or so, the dad agreed to allow the drops. The boy however did not agree, and it was very difficult to get those two drops in his mouth in between the screams. After the two drops we marked the left hand pinky finger with a black marker to indicate the vaccination.



After that first vaccination, I lost count of the number of children. Judy counted the number of villages we went to, and there were 9, each of which were a fair distance apart. As we approached each village, one of the younger boys would appear with a bench and put it in the center hut for us to sit on. They really were quite respectful - and I'm sure they thought we all were really old. Each village has what appeared to be a common area, which was basically just a thatched roof held up by four posts. The huts themselves are basically mud huts with thatched roofs, and little else. I did not see any mattresses for children or adults to sleep on, or pillows, or any other comforts. There was no running water, no electricity, and most of the children wore little or no clothing. It was difficult to tell boys from girls, until someone said that the girls have pierced ears. It really is hard to describe - the pictures will do a much better job. However, they all appeared to be in reasonably good health - their diet seems to consist of corn, fruit and vegetables.



Despite our best efforts to tell the health workers we wanted to stop, they kept us going and going. Each village they would tell us was the last, then we would go to another. Finally Judy said STOP! I was very concerned for both her and Sara. I thought Judy was going to pass out, or worse, from heat stroke. It was quite scary at the time. She really was not well, and I feared that she was in danger. When they finally realized we were not going to go any further, all of a sudden motorcycles appeared out of nowhere to take us back to the meeting area. It was a bit ironic, since it was our refusal to go on the motorcycles in the first place that we ended up walking so far. One of the ladies had bad experiences on a motorcycle, and was rather fearful. However at that point we really had no choice. We had no idea where we were, and were completly at the mercy of the health care workers, and the men on the motorcycles.



In any other place, the last thing in the world I would ever do, would be to get on the back of a motorcycle, with no helmet, holding onto a black man whose name I did not know, in the middle of the African Jungle. As we were going down the dirt road, it hit me how surreal it was. And how trusting we all were that we would make it back to the meeting area safely. But we did. After sitting in the shade for a while, Judy started to feel better, but was still not well. We waited about two hours before the bus came back for us, and I cannot tell you how happy we were to get on that air conditioned bus.



While we were waiting, many of the local school children stopped by to see who we were. People were taking pictures, then showing them to the children, and it was just hilarious watching their reaction. I wonder if any of them had seen a camera before. I know we have lots of good photos and footage on video.



Needless to say, the day was probably one of the most exhausting I have had for a long time. The bus ride back to the hotel was even longer than the ride out, due to the Friday night traffic. We were supposed to be back at the hotel about 3, but we did not get back until 7:30. THEN, we had to go out with our host Rotarians for dinner. Out of our group of nine, I was impressed that eight of us were able to find the energy to go - including Judy. We were taken in two cars to a restaurant where there was a private room for us to dine in. It was a lovely meal, however the African people, similar to the French, take a long time to eat. And they like to eat late at night, as opposed to Americans. The meal went on and on, until finally I had to let our host know that we were all extremely tired. We didn't get back to the hotel until midnight! Some of the other groups were even later than we were - and each group had a different venue, and different experience. It is interesting to talk to others in the groups as to what they did.



Today is a bit of a down day for some of us. Our particular group left here at 9:00 to go and see some of the projects that the Rotary Club of Cotonou has done, and will be back around noon. However given that they seem to operate on their own time, it could be either earlier or later. Some of the groups have another full day, but we have been blessed with what is supposed to be a shorter day. It's a good thing, because it has allowed me to update this blog.



As I mentioned earlier, I did not go on the day trip because I was feeling a bit "off".One of our team members is out with something that she picked up yesterday. Fortunately, both Judy and I are still healthy and doing ok.



Tonight we are going to the Charter Night for two new Rotary Clubs. We do not leave here until 8:00, so it is going to be another late night. Tomorrow the West Africa Project Fair, the other reason for this trip, starts. It may be another couple of days before I get the opportunity to do another posting. However I do plan on posting the photos, as soon as Judy and the group return.



I'm sure I have bored some of you with my ramblings and for that I apologize. This is such an interesting and amazing place, with so much to see that putting it in words can take some time. Benin is a very safe place for Americans, as there is very little Anti American sentiment here. This certainly is a trip that did not at all disappoint, and it's not over yet!



From Benin,



Bev