Neighboring Niger

At the end of May we finally got a chance to take our first vacation OUTSIDE of Benin- to the neighboring country of Niger. It was fantastic!

We first traveled to the Northern part of Benin, where we met up with our friends Ryan and Kimberly (the other married couple that arrived when we did). They live near a larger town called Kandi, but their town is called Gogounou. After spending a night at their house we then went to the Northern most town in Benin and on the border of Niger, Malanville. Here we spent the night with another volunteer so that we could cross the border as early as possible and catch the bus to Niamey, the capital of Niger.

Even though we crossed the border (which involves a trek across the mighty river Niger) as early as possible, we somehow still managed to miss the bus to Niamey (though we aren't convinced that there really was one on that day). So, we got to cozy up with 25 of our best friends in a 19- passenger van for a 7+ hour ride. Did we mention that none of us speak the local language in Niger, nor do many Nigerians speak French! It made for quite an adventurous day, but we were relieved to finally arrive in Niamey.

Miranna and Ryan loading up for a cozy 7 hour "bus ride" from the border of Niger to Niamey.

As soon as we crossed the border into Niger, it was amazing how much the landscape changed. It was much drier, browner, and it was also evident that the people there are much poorer. The Muslim influence was also much more pronounced. However, Niamey is the complete opposite of Cotonou: the streets were quite and organized, there were taxis everywhere, instead of motos, and there weren't people always calling us "yovo." It was a very pleasant capital city to visit! However, it was HOT!!! Riding in a taxi with the windows down felt as if you had a hot hairdryer blowing on your face. Yes, it was hotter than Benin and we promised ourselves to never complain about the heat where we live again!

Our first night in Niamey was actually our 2nd Anniversary so we treated ourselves to a nice Italian restaurant. Niamey has some fantastic and diverse selections of restaurants so we had good eats all week- plus real ice cream! We did also try the local fare: pounded couscous and guinea-fowl meat mixed with bean, greens and sauce. It was yummy! A cold "Biere Niger" also couldn't be beat on those hot days!

Trying the local brew while overlooking the Niger River.

Our main purpose of going to Niger was to visit the last remaining herd of wild giraffes in West Africa. They are located in a village about an hour outside of Niamey, so we took a day trip to see them. Once your guide spots a heard, you follow them around for a couple of hours and can take as many pictures as you want. It was really amazing to be as close as we were to them and see the giraffes in their natural habitat. You can read more about them here: http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/giraffe.html




The other highlight of the trip was riding, though ever so briefly, a camel. We never see camels in Benin, but they are abundant in Niger, so it was a must-do (especially for Charlie- he wouldn't leave Niger until he had ridden one).

Other than that we visited the Grand Mosque and the National Museum/Zoo, shopped at the central market, went swimming at the American Rec Center, and saw a concert at the French Cultural Center.

So that's about it for our travel log today. Stay tuned to hear about our recent trip to the North of Benin to see the 'Tata Sambas' and the waterfalls. We're planning on a trip to Ghana in the next few weeks before Miranna starts school again. Of course, you too can enjoy the sites with us if you plan your trip soon. Look forward to seeing you here!

Girls Just Want to Have Fun

The last week of June we participated in a girl’s camp called Girls Leading Our World, or “Camp GLOW.” This is a week-long camp which is planned and led by Peace Corps Volunteers at the end of every school year. Volunteers select 50 leading girls in their communities and bring them to Porto-Novo. We were able to bring 7 girls from Lalo, as well as 1 “toutrice” (mentor) for the girls. Even though we were allowed to bring 7 from Lalo, which is a lot from one village, it was a pretty tough decision! In the end Miranna ended up selecting the top girl student from each of the 6eme classes (equivalent to 6th grade) at her school.

This camp is a great opportunity for the girls that are selected- not only because they have the opportunity to learn many new things, but they get to have a week full of fun- not work! In Benin women, but mostly the girls, do all the work- cooking, cleaning, laundry, getting water, working in the fields, etc. This is one of the reasons that girls aren’t able to stay in school. After primary school (which is free), there is a huge drop out in the number of girls that stay in school. Every year in secondary school (which is not free) there are less and less girls in each class. For example, in a 6eme class (6th grade) the students will be about half girls and half boys, but in a 2nd class (10th grade) in a class of about 40 students there will be less than 5 girls. There are many reasons for this attrition rate, but the main one is that families don’t have the money to keep all of their children in school, so they pay for the boys to stay in school since the girls are the ones that are responsible for most ALL of the work at home and in the fields. If girls are allowed to stay in school, it is very difficult for them to succeed because their work leaves them with very little time to study. Thus, it is a huge achievement for the girls that manage to be at the top of their class! Therefore, we choose the top girl from each class to participate not only to reward them for their hard work during the school year, but also to encourage them to continue working hard and stay in school.

It was a lot of fun travelling from Lalo to Porto Novo with all the girls- some of them had never left Lalo before so it was quite an experience for them! Every day was different at camp, but there was a good mix of fun activities as well as educational ones. The favorite session of most all of the girls was our visit to a cyber café where they were able to learn how to use a computer (most of them had never seen, much less typed on a computer before)- and the internet! They also visited local museums and the Benin National Assembly where they got to sit in the representative’s chairs and use their microphones. A panel of professional Beninese women came to speak about their careers, how they got to where they are today, and how they balance their family and professional life. Their stories were really inspiring for the girls to hear. We also invited guest speakers to talk about personal hygiene and sexual health, women’s rights, and study skills to help them stay in school. All the activities were not educational- there were also lots of fun things too: arts and crafts sessions (the girls loved making collages out of American magazines), soccer games, singing, dancing, and relay races. And the best part of the week for the girls: they didn’t have to do any work- the volunteers did it all! We really just wanted them to relax and have fun because this would be one of the only times in their lives that they would be free to do so.

All the volunteers involved agreed that his camp was one of the most rewarding experiences of their Peace Corps experience thus far and we are really looking forward to next year’s camp!

A few pics from the week….

The Lalo gals (and Charlie!)

The week ended with a dance party- Beninese style! This was really, really fun!