Yes, it is true…I am staying in Benin a bit longer than my
original end of service date. I’m
extending my service for a few months which means I’ll be back “home” in
December/January-ish instead of September. I haven’t set
a REAL date yet.
Why am I staying? Well, I will be continuing and expanding upon a project that
was begun by another volunteer.
The project is focused on the conservation and protection of a Sacred
Forest. This forest is also home
to a unique species of monkey. The
monkeys are said to have direct lineage with the villagers…thus it is a very
bad omen if one of the monkeys dies because that means that someone in the
village will also be meeting their end.
One of the biggest threats to the monkeys occurs during the dry season
when the monkeys leave the forest in search of water elsewhere. People who come across them when they
are not in their sacred forest often kill or capture them to sell. If they stay in the sacred forest they
cannot be touched but once they leave it becomes a problem.
The village I’ll be working in is called Kikèlè and is only
about 50km north of where I live now.
Some of the activities I’ll be doing with the villagers include: a
forest clean-up/waste management program; enforcing the use of the newly built
latrines instead of using the forest as a toilet; sensitizing people in
surrounding villages on the importance of the forest and the effects of
deforestation; planting trees (!); and trying to make this site more
tourist-friendly. We may even
start apiculture (bee-keeping) in the forest to generate some money from honey
for the village.
As sad as I am to be leaving Prèkètè, it is time for a new
volunteer to take my place and time for me to start anew. Benin in general has shown me so many
things I never knew, especially about myself, and I’m not quite ready to give
that all up just yet. Thinking
back 2 years ago when I was getting ready to leave the US I had no idea what to
expect from my future Peace Corps experience and was anxious to begin. Here I was moving to a French-speaking
country when I had just a few weeks of French under my belt, and was pretty
naïve about development in general…now, 2 years later I feel like I have come
full circle and the fear I once had is long gone; plus I went from the novice
low level of French to advanced high!
I always say that a person can get used to just about anything; you just
have to learn self-reliance.
I want to thank my friends and family for their continued
patience. It hasn’t been an easy 2
years for the ones closest to me but knowing you support me has helped me
endure more than you can imagine. I am coming home, a little later than
expected, but I’ll be there soon.
Also, Congrats Erin and Jesse on your beautiful, bouncing, burgeoning, bubbly, baby boy Colten :)
