Haves and have-nots

Thanksgiving (if you can remember that long ago) in Parakou went very well. Green beans, mashed potatoes, turkey, lots of other things and plenty of everything for everyone, just like home. Everyone was about 30 volunteers including all but one of SED. (SED, and its red-headed stepchild ICT is the group I am in, it is Small Enterprise Development. ICT is Information Communication Technology. There are a lot of acronyms in the Peace Corps, like any good governmental organization. I’ll try to explain them as I use them.) It really was great to have all (most) of us together again for the first time since stage (training). It was almost like we had never left each others company. After being at post for about 2 months we all had a lot more to talk about with each other though.
The second night we all went tchouking. Tchouk is a beer (sort of) that is home brewed by some of the ethnic groups in the North of Benin. It is sold by women (and only women) in stalls in the marche alongside the vendors of all other products. Each vendor has an area surrounded by a low stone wall that serves as seats for the clients. The client is initially given a sample and can then leave or buy more. The night is spent going from stall to stall tasting the different batches, sort of like a Beninese pub crawl.
The whole weekend coupled with the situation surrounding me got me to thinking (there’s plenty of time for that around here). Some of us have more than others. Is that fair? Is it right? What problems does that cause? These and other questions can be asked globally or locally. Take me for instance. Running water I don’t have. I do have enough money to pay a child to bring me water every week. This costs me from 100 to 150 francs cfa, about 20 to 30 cents. I am lucky to afford this and the child, and his family, is lucky to get it. Electricity I don’t have (yet, I hope). I have a lantern , flashlights and candles. The lantern was free (PC issued), the flashlights I brought fom home and the candles I can afford. Some here have none of these luxuries. The night (7pm year round) is spent by the fire of the days trash or with a neighbor fortunate enough to afford a small home made kerosene lantern made from an empty can of tomato paste. Although officially a volunteer, a job (although no salary) I have. I have many neighbors without anything to guarantee the funds for their next meal. There is an official unemployment figure listed for Benin but it doesn’t really mean anything. Because of the lack of funds available to the government (and other problems with the money that is available) it is not possible to accurately gather a lot of data that is easily available elsewhere. Another example is the AIDS rate here. It is officially listed at just over 6 percent but it is assumed by most researchers to be about twice that.
With everything I have, and have-not, here I am about an average Beninoise. Most don’t have running water but there is water available nearby either from a well or a public (but not free) or private tap. Most actually have electricity (as I hope to soon) and can afford at least a few lamps. Almost everybody has a radio and some even have a TV (Although with only 2 stations in the country I don’t know why). Most on’t have jobs but do have income from selling farm products, hand-made household goods or illegally imported products (plastics, radios and the like) or make themselves available for whatever farm, temporary government or other work becomes available.
One good thing here is that because of the sense of community and family, the availability of building materials, both man-made (cinder blocks, cement) and natural (wood, palm fronds), and the amount of open space there are no homeless people. Some people are living in thatch huts or even just lean-tos by the side of the road but at least everybody has a roof and some walls for protection from sun and rain.
Two big events coming up. Christmas, of course, but also here in Ketou we have the coronation ceremony for a new king. The ceremony is this weekend, Saturday the 17th, and promises to be a gala event with a 23 million franc budget (about 50,000 dollars). For Christmas, speaking of haves and have-nots, I am going to Bohicon with several other volunteers to give Christmas parties to about 700 orphans in the area. Local companies have donated enough money for food and gifts we have to just organize and distribute everything. Thanksgiving was just like home but I doubt that Christmas will be. I suppose that’s why I came here.