Well, hot season has arrived – and oh boy is it hot – and humid! But from what I hear, the real heat hasn’t even begun yet! I’ve been pretty busy over the last couple of months, and I will unashamedly blame my lack of writing on that (well, that and not being able to charge my computer regularly). In this post, I’ll do my best to sum up some of my bigger activities.
Girls Soccer Tournament
Since the beginning of the year, I’ve been working to plan a soccer tournament for elementary-aged girls. The intention of the tournament was to build confidence in the girls and to encourage continued attendance at school. Additionally, there was an emphasis on educating parents and community members on the importance of sending their daughters to school. The tournament took place on the morning of March 10th, and I must say it was a fantastic success! Four elementary schools in the commune created teams of 11 students each. All of the players came from the equivalent of 5th-7th grades. I was very impressed with all of the teams. They provided some great competition, and all in all, probably about 150 people turned out to watch the games. My favorite part was how everyone would rush the field whenever a goal was made – so much energy, it was great!
Unfortunately, it was not all smooth running, there were some disagreement over the prizes (some people wanted every participant to get a prize, while the co-organizers and I decided it would be more appropriate to give a larger prize (a dictionary) to the winning school). Also, there was some heated discussion about providing food. It seems that no matter how hard I try to dispel the myth, local villagers believe that as a white person I have an endless supply of money (I wrote a grant to fund this project). It increases my frustration when I learn that past volunteers have funded projects out of their own pockets – or at least that’s how the community perceives it. If I had advice to give to a future volunteer, it would be – DO NOT SELF FUND PROJECTS!! It hurts the integrity of the program and makes life difficult for future volunteers.
International Women’s Day
Every year on March 8th, my village (along with most other villages) celebrated International Women’s Day. In theory, this should be a day to celebrate the contributions and the lives of women – and in many ways it is, but I was still surprised at the inequalities I observed throughout the day. The first event of the day was a bike race. It’s a short race, but unfortunately there were not a lot of participants due to the heat. After the race, groups of women started dancing and singing in the streets. Once they reached the center of the village, all the women created a more formal parade. They made me walk in front as we made a short jaunt through the village singing. The parade came to close as we reached the market area. Once there, we listened to speeches by the mayor and other community members. What I found interesting about this, was that they had arranged people sitting in a “U” shape, with the village leaders on one side (including only one woman) and the women on the other side. With this set-up, the speakers spoke the entire time with their backs to all the women. A very curious way to honor them if you ask me.
The next event was lunch. There was a special lunch prepared for people in the community who donated to the event. Again, all the women sat on one side of the seating area, while all of the men sat on the other side, and the important people sat at a separate table. What happened next surprised me (although I don’t know why). The women served all the food, while the men did nothing. Plus, they served all the men first – and even ran out of food to feed all of the women. I questioned this, but they always say that men don’t know how to cook or serve food. Hello – teach them!!!! I’d been hearing for weeks about how men clean and cook for their wives on March 8th – I want to see some proof of that!
During the afternoon there was an archery and soccer game for the women. All in all it was a good day, but still frustrating that it was completely directed by men but, with women doing all the work. Aside from questioning the men and women about these activities, I’m not sure how to instigate change, when the roles of men and women are so strongly ingrained in the people and culture here.
Well, I think that’s all for now, I need to go plan out some tutoring lessons. I’ve posted some pictures of the Soccer tournament and International Women’s Day on Facebook, so if you’re interested, check those out.
I hope you’re having a fantastic spring!
March 26, 2012
Just a couple quick notes before my computer dies. First of all, I wanted to brag about the fact that I bought 4 perfectly ripe mangoes, straight from the tree for 50 CFA – that would be about .10 cents for FOUR MANGOES!!! And that’s when I don’t get them for free!!!! I love mango season (but I could do without the heat and humidity).
Secondly I wanted to take a minute to comment on an edition of “Witness” I heard on the BBC the other day. It was the story of one of the very first Peace Corps Volunteers in Ghana in the early 1960s. What I found so interesting was that he was talking about his living conditions – electricity, running water, decent phone service, etc. He was quite surprised to arrive in his village and find all of these conveniences in what he expected to be very rural and “backward” country. Yet here I am, just a few miles from the Ghanaian border, in 2012, living in a village with none of these amenities. What hit me most was that he said that listening to the BBC was essential to him – just as it as to me, 50 years later.
