I live in a small village off of a small highway in Benin, right next to the Oueme River. This river is the most fertile valley for cultivation in Benin! Everyone knows where I am as the valley. Now living next to a big river has its pros and cons.
Pros - when the electricity is cut, people still have access to the river water to bathe, drink, and cook. There is even a little waterfall area for women to wash in. I have visited before to see what it is all about and it is definitely a place I would play in as a kid. Sorry, no pictures as it was being used by many! Another pro is that there is a huge diversity of plants. I can buy a lot of veggies IF it's in season. I believe that since we have a good diverse amount of agriculture, foods, and veggies are cheaper here. I can buy a big pineapple for 75 cents! Also, the pineapples are DOUX. (sweet).
Cons - Many of my students live derriere l'eau (across the river) and it makes it hard for them to get to school fast. Also when it rains hard it is dangerous for them to cross the river so they miss school. There is also flooding. Many houses are in the danger zone for floods!
Speaking of this, I visited the three villages that are across the river. The way of life is much different there! First, there are seven villages in my coalition of villages. SO seven to one school, health centers, and so on. Three of them are across the river and these villages were actually first. The other villages like the one I live in were created because the people needed more access to farmland and a road. Dogbahe, Dogba, and Gboagumey are the three villages across the river. Since now it is dry season the river is shallow and a small canoe or walking can get you across easily. The houses are built on stilts or platforms as you can see in the photo. This is because, during the rainy season, the water from the river usually floods the area, not very high but enough that all things to live need to be above a certain height. This also means the village has no electricity and no latrines. Food is cooked on a large cement or even bamboo floor. There is a beautiful bamboo forest next to the village and most houses have bamboo and other wood with a light thatched roof. Thatched roofs also have to be changed every year or so to keep from deteriorating during storms.
The people in the village mainly work as fishermen, farmers, and palm oil makers. I visited a palm oil coop. Here the women gather palm nuts, grind them in a big machine, and squeeze that substance to get the blood-red oil. The discarded seed pods are used for fire starters in home cooking.
We walked around the three villages and the chief gave us a full tour and some good lunch. We sat under a mango tree that was apparently centuries old, im sure people could eat mangos their every day of their lives if they wanted it was so big. I watched people carving boats, weaving baskets and making fish traps. It was wonderful and so natural.
French words of the day
school - ecole
students - eleves
river - fleuve
Weme worlds of the day (hard version)
azon (azhon) work
azon (azon) health
azin (ah zeen) Peanuts
azin (ah zin) Eggs