So, have I mentioned that little Tania's being a bit of a wuss lately? Extra clingy and whiney? Well, turns out it she has malaria. Pesky mosquitoes. She's had a fever which has been persisting and I was worried so I insisted that Mathieu tell his sister to bring her to a clinic. Call me North American, but malaria isn't something you self-medicate.
Let's all take a moment to thank Canada for Federal Health Care, despite its problems. We can whine about having to wait in Emergency for a long time, but at least, at the end of the day, you don't foot the bill (unless you have to get a prescription...).
By my standards, it wasn't very expensive - 7000F for the consultation and some blood tests, and some 7000F for the medication. $35 in total.
But when I got to the house after work yesterday, another little one, one of the twins (pictured at the amusement park eating popcorn) had a really high fever too. Wrap him up and ship him off to the clinic! They didn't give him the same treatment and I'm not sure if he had exactly the same thing as Tania, but they kept him at the clinic for a bit because his fever was too high. His visit and medication was a total of 7000F, a little under $20.
Tania's mouth was really pastey and full of sores. She looks thinner, poor thing. Mathieu tells me that that's how it is, when you have malaria... you can't eat and you just generally feel like crap. High fever, cough, aches and pains, and a useless mouth.
Hopefully they'll get better now. Sigh.
There are mosquitoes everywhere. It's the start of rainy season, so apparently it'll only get worse. Recently in the news, a Beninese doctor received a high award (can't seem to find a link) for developing a new and highly effective malaria medication. It's fairly cheap here, but it still affects way too many people.
Oh Africa.
Showing posts with label health. Show all posts
Showing posts with label health. Show all posts
Thursday, April 23, 2009
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
Weekend: Kids, Art, Bats and Salsa
Was a pretty good weekend, all in all. Was feeling extra tired on Friday, and my stomach was unhappy with something or other (part women’s troubles, part the-fish-I-ate), so I left work a little early (noon) and went home to sleep it off.
Mathieu was at his mom's house. On Thursday night, (keep track now) the daughter of Mathieu's brother's wife (from a first husband), had fallen really ill and was brought to the house, perhaps in the hopes that Mammy could help. The little girl died shortly after her arrival. Mammy wasn't home; she's got a client that's been keeping her very busy these days, to the point where she's even spending nights at the clients' house.
I've never met the little girl. Apparently she was around 10 years old. I don't know the circumstances of the death, whether or not she was sick, how she died... frankly, the less I know, the better. A kid dying is just sad.
Friday evening Mathieu and I stayed in since I wasn't feeling well... until we could stay in no more, and he took me to a restaurant he'd been meaning to check out. I figured I felt well enough to sit in an air conditioned restaurant. We went under the premise of ice cream (after the Casa del Papa lunch, we had ice-cream-on-a-stick and he's become a little addicted to ice cream!) but discovered that they had cheeseburgers and pizza at reasonable prices (small pizza was $8, cheeseburger $3.50). My appetite suddenly returned.
The cheeseburger was actually really good! The owner is Lebanese, and they put fries, coleslaw and lettuce on the burger. The pizza was cooked in a nice fire oven and quite tasty, but you could tell all the ingredients were canned: artichoke hearts, mushrooms, olives... bah. Oh, and the ice cream was good too (500F or $1.25 per scoop).
On TV, a West Life karaoke DVD. So we got the music and chorus of most of the West Life musical collection. I hope never to hear the full songs. :rolleyes: I prefer the old school ‘90s version of More Than Words, thank you very much!
On Saturday, Mathieu took me to Maman's and the whole place smelled of campfire. Outside I met little Aisha crying her eyes out. I would have asked her why except that she's not in school yet and doesn't speak French, so all I could do was tickle her a little, wipe her tears and ask her, "ça va?" before giving her a little kiss on the head and making my way into the house.
I mentioned that Maman's been working, which means some sacrificin! YUM! Lots of sheep and chickens getting butchered. Mathieu laughed that when he was at Maman’s on Friday a chicken laid an egg right in front of him.
There were a few shaved hens that the kids were carrying around and at one point one of the boys took a large knife to one of the hens as I was walking by. HOLY CRAP DON'T KILL A HEN RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME PLEASE!!!!
He was just cutting the rope that was holding both hens together. I almost had a heart attack. Part of me wants to watch them kill something (so I can become a vegetarian?) and part of me just doesn't want to know.
Spent the rest of the afternoon playing with Tania, Aisha's little sister who’s about 2 years old. We play "slap my hand and I'll try to grab it", a game I used to love playing with my dad. We play peek-a-boo. We play “make weird noises”. We play "honk my nose". And finally, we play, PUT THAT DOWN. Wooden matches (which she totally knows how to light), machetes, glass. Oh Tania. Maman tells me I can take her with me. She's a riot. (AND she fits in my suitcase!)
The kids like to hang out in Mathieu's room (not that they ever dared go in his room before I got there) because he plays the music really loud and watches TV. They come in and dance, which is the funniest and awesomest thing ever, as anyone who has ever watched babies dance can attest.
After a bit of dancing, I was sitting on Mathieu's bed and Tania leaned her head on my knee. I started giving her a little baby back massage. Poor kid has a bum leg so she has to limp all the time. I can imagine it must wreak havoc on her back. Of course she was out like a light and drooling on my knee in no time.
I put her on the bed and watched some more TV. The only thing cuter than a kid dancing or laughing is a kid sleeping.
Mathieu kept coming into the room and giving me random pieces of meat. Delicious. The kids were running around trying to avoid the big patches of smoke and it reminded me of sitting around a campfire with Aimée saying, "I don't like white rabbits!" trying to coax the smoke in another direction.
Eventually Tania's mother came and got her and I took my own nap until Mathieu was ready to leave. I took home some meat! mmm...
After a quick shower to wash off the smoke, I asked Mathieu, "what next?" Ice cream on a stick, of course! I better get to the gym soon. We tried a different kind than the one we'd tried before, but we both prefer the ones with the almonds in the chocolate. I'm happy they don't have Hagen Daaz here, otherwise it would be game over!
Then, WE WENT TO AN ART EXHIBIT! weeeee! ART! La Fondation Zinsou is an NGO here in Benin that promotes art. The founder of the foundation is the niece of ex-president Zinsou (1968-69) of Benin. The President's brother married a white lady. Their daughter is very cool and the exhibit was very awesome and made even more awesome by the fact that it's free to visit.
The exhibit displayed African art by 5 collectors (if my memory serves) including the Zinsou parents. Some art was very old (BC), some very contemporary, all very cool, very inspiring. Then again, going to museums and art galleries is always inspiring. There were a lot of “masks”, which I quote because they’re massive and ornate. There were quite a few talismans and fortune-telling devices. In the “contemporary” section were photographs and more abstract art.
I couldn't take any pictures, but the joy of the internet is that you can click the link above and check some of it out for yourself. You'll probably have less of a hard time loading the page then I do.
I'm hoping that next weekend I can borrow the company car and take a couple of the kids from Maman's house to the exhibit. They have kids' activities from 14h-16h on Saturdays and those kids probably never get the chance to do that sort of thing.
After the exhibit we were travelling down Jean-Paul II Avenue when I saw this flock of birds... they just kept coming and coming -- a never ending stream of black birds! So impressive!! Wait. THOSE AREN'T BIRDS!! eeeep! BATS! Hundreds if not thousands of them. I tried to snap a picture, but it was dusk. Mathieu said that this is their migrating period. Gross and cool, I wish them a happy migration, wherever they're going.
Then we’d planned to go to the Centre Culturel Français (CCF) for a concert. I didn’t know the artist playing and Mathieu hadn’t really done a good job on selling me the show. He was saying that the dude was playing his father’s music, and that his father was much better than he was… gee, sounds like fun.
But I hadn’t been to a concert since I got here, and I really wanted to check out the CCF because they have a poster outside announcing “Les semaines de la photographie” and I love photography! (awww! the website says I missed my chance! the exhibit was over on Saturday, the day we went too late! booo!)
The photography exhibit was closed after 19h, so I hope to go back soon to check it out. The CCF itself is a very cool place with a library (which also loans DVDs) and a membership card only costs 3000F ($7), so I may get one, we’ll see. Inside the CCF is a large courtyard with great trees and crazy birds that I’ve never seen or heard before. I really felt like I was in a jungle somewhere. In the courtyard there’s one small stage and a large one for concerts that sits about 100 people. We grabbed a small beer and waited for the show to start.
The concert ticket was 2000F ($6.75ish) and well worth the price. The man may be imitating his dad, but he’s got a great set of lungs and is a very good dancer. Gilles Gnonnas & les Dadjés (his father Gnonnas Pedro). He did both traditional and salsa music, which is also traditional African music, FYI.
I had to google the origins of Salsa and Son music… those slaves I tell ya…
I may as well have titled this blog entry: Everything Is African.
Mathieu was at his mom's house. On Thursday night, (keep track now) the daughter of Mathieu's brother's wife (from a first husband), had fallen really ill and was brought to the house, perhaps in the hopes that Mammy could help. The little girl died shortly after her arrival. Mammy wasn't home; she's got a client that's been keeping her very busy these days, to the point where she's even spending nights at the clients' house.
I've never met the little girl. Apparently she was around 10 years old. I don't know the circumstances of the death, whether or not she was sick, how she died... frankly, the less I know, the better. A kid dying is just sad.
Friday evening Mathieu and I stayed in since I wasn't feeling well... until we could stay in no more, and he took me to a restaurant he'd been meaning to check out. I figured I felt well enough to sit in an air conditioned restaurant. We went under the premise of ice cream (after the Casa del Papa lunch, we had ice-cream-on-a-stick and he's become a little addicted to ice cream!) but discovered that they had cheeseburgers and pizza at reasonable prices (small pizza was $8, cheeseburger $3.50). My appetite suddenly returned.
The cheeseburger was actually really good! The owner is Lebanese, and they put fries, coleslaw and lettuce on the burger. The pizza was cooked in a nice fire oven and quite tasty, but you could tell all the ingredients were canned: artichoke hearts, mushrooms, olives... bah. Oh, and the ice cream was good too (500F or $1.25 per scoop).
On TV, a West Life karaoke DVD. So we got the music and chorus of most of the West Life musical collection. I hope never to hear the full songs. :rolleyes: I prefer the old school ‘90s version of More Than Words, thank you very much!
On Saturday, Mathieu took me to Maman's and the whole place smelled of campfire. Outside I met little Aisha crying her eyes out. I would have asked her why except that she's not in school yet and doesn't speak French, so all I could do was tickle her a little, wipe her tears and ask her, "ça va?" before giving her a little kiss on the head and making my way into the house.
I mentioned that Maman's been working, which means some sacrificin! YUM! Lots of sheep and chickens getting butchered. Mathieu laughed that when he was at Maman’s on Friday a chicken laid an egg right in front of him.
There were a few shaved hens that the kids were carrying around and at one point one of the boys took a large knife to one of the hens as I was walking by. HOLY CRAP DON'T KILL A HEN RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME PLEASE!!!!
He was just cutting the rope that was holding both hens together. I almost had a heart attack. Part of me wants to watch them kill something (so I can become a vegetarian?) and part of me just doesn't want to know.
Spent the rest of the afternoon playing with Tania, Aisha's little sister who’s about 2 years old. We play "slap my hand and I'll try to grab it", a game I used to love playing with my dad. We play peek-a-boo. We play “make weird noises”. We play "honk my nose". And finally, we play, PUT THAT DOWN. Wooden matches (which she totally knows how to light), machetes, glass. Oh Tania. Maman tells me I can take her with me. She's a riot. (AND she fits in my suitcase!)
The kids like to hang out in Mathieu's room (not that they ever dared go in his room before I got there) because he plays the music really loud and watches TV. They come in and dance, which is the funniest and awesomest thing ever, as anyone who has ever watched babies dance can attest.
After a bit of dancing, I was sitting on Mathieu's bed and Tania leaned her head on my knee. I started giving her a little baby back massage. Poor kid has a bum leg so she has to limp all the time. I can imagine it must wreak havoc on her back. Of course she was out like a light and drooling on my knee in no time.
I put her on the bed and watched some more TV. The only thing cuter than a kid dancing or laughing is a kid sleeping.
Mathieu kept coming into the room and giving me random pieces of meat. Delicious. The kids were running around trying to avoid the big patches of smoke and it reminded me of sitting around a campfire with Aimée saying, "I don't like white rabbits!" trying to coax the smoke in another direction.
Eventually Tania's mother came and got her and I took my own nap until Mathieu was ready to leave. I took home some meat! mmm...
After a quick shower to wash off the smoke, I asked Mathieu, "what next?" Ice cream on a stick, of course! I better get to the gym soon. We tried a different kind than the one we'd tried before, but we both prefer the ones with the almonds in the chocolate. I'm happy they don't have Hagen Daaz here, otherwise it would be game over!
Then, WE WENT TO AN ART EXHIBIT! weeeee! ART! La Fondation Zinsou is an NGO here in Benin that promotes art. The founder of the foundation is the niece of ex-president Zinsou (1968-69) of Benin. The President's brother married a white lady. Their daughter is very cool and the exhibit was very awesome and made even more awesome by the fact that it's free to visit.
The exhibit displayed African art by 5 collectors (if my memory serves) including the Zinsou parents. Some art was very old (BC), some very contemporary, all very cool, very inspiring. Then again, going to museums and art galleries is always inspiring. There were a lot of “masks”, which I quote because they’re massive and ornate. There were quite a few talismans and fortune-telling devices. In the “contemporary” section were photographs and more abstract art.
I couldn't take any pictures, but the joy of the internet is that you can click the link above and check some of it out for yourself. You'll probably have less of a hard time loading the page then I do.
I'm hoping that next weekend I can borrow the company car and take a couple of the kids from Maman's house to the exhibit. They have kids' activities from 14h-16h on Saturdays and those kids probably never get the chance to do that sort of thing.
After the exhibit we were travelling down Jean-Paul II Avenue when I saw this flock of birds... they just kept coming and coming -- a never ending stream of black birds! So impressive!! Wait. THOSE AREN'T BIRDS!! eeeep! BATS! Hundreds if not thousands of them. I tried to snap a picture, but it was dusk. Mathieu said that this is their migrating period. Gross and cool, I wish them a happy migration, wherever they're going.
Then we’d planned to go to the Centre Culturel Français (CCF) for a concert. I didn’t know the artist playing and Mathieu hadn’t really done a good job on selling me the show. He was saying that the dude was playing his father’s music, and that his father was much better than he was… gee, sounds like fun.
But I hadn’t been to a concert since I got here, and I really wanted to check out the CCF because they have a poster outside announcing “Les semaines de la photographie” and I love photography! (awww! the website says I missed my chance! the exhibit was over on Saturday, the day we went too late! booo!)
The photography exhibit was closed after 19h, so I hope to go back soon to check it out. The CCF itself is a very cool place with a library (which also loans DVDs) and a membership card only costs 3000F ($7), so I may get one, we’ll see. Inside the CCF is a large courtyard with great trees and crazy birds that I’ve never seen or heard before. I really felt like I was in a jungle somewhere. In the courtyard there’s one small stage and a large one for concerts that sits about 100 people. We grabbed a small beer and waited for the show to start.
The concert ticket was 2000F ($6.75ish) and well worth the price. The man may be imitating his dad, but he’s got a great set of lungs and is a very good dancer. Gilles Gnonnas & les Dadjés (his father Gnonnas Pedro). He did both traditional and salsa music, which is also traditional African music, FYI.
I had to google the origins of Salsa and Son music… those slaves I tell ya…
To find the roots of Cuban music we look to West Africa where the slave trade thrived. The Yoruba, Congo and other West African people created rhythms in ancient times to call forth various gods. Sadly, these wonderful rhythms were brought over to the New World under dire circumstances. One drummer named Ijibwa was taken captive and placed on a slave ship for America. He was forced to play on deck to keep up the spirits of the prisoners so that the "merchandise" would arrive alive.
I may as well have titled this blog entry: Everything Is African.
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Je suis sirène
Oh Africa. Africa Africa Africa.
This week has been good and crazy and well, normal Africa I suppose. Spent Sunday having lunch with my boss, her husband, my colleague Jean, his wife and their 3 year old son who has the coolest little fro!! He's a little king, and he's about to be de-throwned cuz mommy's pregnant. We ate Fou-tou which is basically yam pilé, just different. I can't quite make the difference between all the different kinds of pâte.
Next time I see them make it, I'll have to shoot a video cuz it's really cool. It's a pestol/mortar concept, except in huge format. A big wooden bowl/barrel and a big wooden malette, or two, and they pound the yams into a fine flour by throwing their whole body into it. Add water and voilà! Again, I'm not sure on the process or anything, but I'll report back when I know more. If you google Yam Pilé you could probably find a YouTube video.
They opened a couple bottles of wine, a bottle of champagne to celebrate my arrival, served couscous AFTER the mountain of fou-tou and veggies and an appetizer of cucumber and onion salad with a mayo dressing... these people EAT. She served me Nescafe instant when I agreed to a cup of coffee.
When I got home I called a new friend, Mathieu, to take me to the beach. Yes, Mathieu has already proposed marriage, but he drives a really nice motorbike and has a great smile so I think I'll keep him around for a bit.
La Plage des Cocotiers, as I mentioned before, is awesome. Obama beach can be rented to hold special events, which totally peaked my attention (peak peak!). I can't be in West Africa for a whole 5 months and not throw a huge party on the beach. What kind of raver would I be if I didn't??!
Anne called me while I was there. Talking to my girls back home is unbelievably hard... Slowly but surely I'm making friends here and everything is falling into place, but I think of everyone at home often!! (Dernièrement, beaucoup à mes collègues au Ministère. Jean-Guy m'a envoyé les nouvelles sur Dodine... mon coeur a brisé. Je vous envoie tous beaucoup d'amour!!!)
Tuesday after work I got the idea that I wanted to see where Mathieu lives. He's an interesting guy, into Kung Fu, weight lifting, Chinese philosophy, and Bob Marley (and R Kelly, which he sings along to HORRIBLY cuz he doesn't speak English, but I can forgive him that), and said he lived in the same area that I work in, so I thought, maybe I can check out his place and then we can go hang out at the beach for the evening.
I txt'd him my thoughts and he called to ask, "Do you want to see how poor I am? Are you looking for a reason not to marry me?"
Honey, you should see where my brother lives. (Montreal ghetto reprazent!)
He said that his mom has a gift for me, and speaks very highly of his mother. He worries about her getting older (she's 64 and he's her baby). He said she heals people. That people from around the world come to her for it.
His motorbike took a sharp and awkward turn off the main road just before the bridge in the Fidjrosse neighbourhood and we were suddenly driving past huge piles of garbage and had to honk a woman (with a baby on her back) out of the way so we could get by. Oh Africa.
Then, old cars, chickens and chicks, goats, sheep, people, more moms with babies on their back. He pulled up to a concrete house, like every other concrete house, and shut the motor. He's very proud of the fact that when his mother got a big chunk of money, she entrusted it all to him to arrange for the house to be built, trusting that he wouldn't take any of it for himself and would have everything done properly (unlike his older brothers).
Everyone lives together in Africa. The "house" is huge, a long hallway on the outside, like a hotel in the Carribean, with doors leading to individual apartments. There's a large platform on the end for a sitting area and cooking area. Each little apartment has its own sitting room, bathroom and bedroom. Only one or two have their own kitchen. There was a small coal-fire burning outside one of the doors too.
There were a couple toddlers walking around, one little boy (one of twins, I later discovered), one little girl with a bum leg limp, and one with one earring. All naked, wearing beads around their waist.
First I met Mathieu's older sister, whose name I forget (he has 6 brothers and sisters). She had a couple kids hanging around her too.
An older lady was sitting at the end of this long concrete outdoor corridor, dressed all in white with a beautiful blue and white beaded necklace on, and about 5-6 beaded bracelets on each wrist. She saw me and smiled and got up to greet me.
"C'est maman?" I asked.
She laughed and I told her I can see where her son got his smile. Mathieu laughed. She hugged me tightly and invited me into the parlour, which was piled with stuff like a lady who shops at Walmart too much. Pots of various sizes (unused), pans, plates, random stuff. She doesn't speak much French so I had to rely on Mathieu to translate from and into Fon. I told her I loved her bracelets (they're beautiful) and Mathieu said that this is the gift she wanted to give me. She told her son to hand her a silver purse and she pulled out tons of beaded necklaces, bracelets, and waist beads.
I can feel Giannina's jealousy from here!
WOW. Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful. I ask if she sells them (cuz I could make a fortune back home) and it takes a while for me to decifer what she does.
She said she gives them to the people she heals to help with their healing (gri gri? talismans of sort?). She said she's healed diabetes, anxiety problems, cancer even. People write to her or call from all over the world apparently. She sends them remedies, they send her money or gifts. She once got a car. She makes money how she can and orders these beads, herbs and who knows what else. She used to travel a lot to get her remedies all over Africa, but doesn't really anymore.
I've never been one to dismiss this sort of thing. I wonder to myself if she's got anything for this cold.
She asks me about health care in Canada, and if anyone there can help with her eyes. She's getting old. We talk about how hospitals kill people, and I say that it's the same everywhere in the world. Prevention is the best medecine.
She says that when I marry her son she will come visit us for a few months and we'll take her to get her eyes checked. I say "yes" because I've learned that when you say "yes" here, it means more "yes, I heard you, and God willing it will happen" and not so much, "yes and let's draw up those papers right now."
Kids of various ages keep coming into the parlour, bowing politely to me, to Mathieu and to maman, saying Bonsoir and repeating themselves when they don't get an answer, leaving the parlour and putting their flip flops back on, only to show up later in various states of undress (some in their undies, some in shorts and a tank top, but it didn't seem to matter much). It's Africa. Naked is normal.
Apparently maman takes in stray kids, kids with no parents, kids with parents but no money. She has remedies that help children get identification papers fast, remedies that will help you pass your exams. Remedies that will bring you money and success. All the children are fascinated by me. They come hang out in the parlour and whisper to each other. I ask some of them what they're learning in school.
I really begin to realize how important my work is.
The cell phone rings and it's Mathieu's sister in Paris. Aimée. He hands me the phone and she is happy to speak to me. I tell her my oldest brother lives in Paris too, and I hand the phone back to maman. Aimée married a "white African", from the North, which isn't white at all, but it's all good.
Maman takes out the photo albums now to show me Aimée. She is very proud of her daughter. She's beautiful.
The phone rings again and this time it's his brother Alphonse, one of a set of twins (who is the dad of the twin I saw earlier). Again the phone gets handed to me. He laughs easily and is very nice, very polite. Everyone in this family seems to have an easy smile.
I tell maman that my dad's name is Alphonse. She asks me if I have both my parents, I say I do and she says that's good. Her husband died a few years ago. She lost her oldest daughter, too. I learn that Mathieu's oldest sister was my friend Diana's mother. So Mathieu is Diana's uncle, even though she can't be much younger than he is (he's 26).
Mathieu tells me that he told his mother how much I love the ocean and the beach, and how I could spend all day and all night there. He says that she's like that too, that she loves it as well. "Moi, je suis sirène" she said, pointing to herself, "moi sirène. Toi, sirène?"
Who ARE these people?? This is all so awesome I think I might burst.
But do I want to see her altar?
It's not voodoo, he says. It's medecine, she has a gift. I ask but no one else in the family has this gift. An old seer who lived to 150 saw her gift and helped her cultivate it.
The altar is in a room designed for that purpose, except there's an empty wooden bedframe in it, taking up most of the room. The walls are painted with tribal designs and on the floor there's a low table with various statues on it... I can't remember what the statues look like (except that they were all white) because I was distracted by the ceramic unicorn head on the end.
Oh Africa.
Mathieu asks if I want to take a picture but maman says that I can take pictures during a ceremony, it will be better. I can't quite tell if the ceremony will be for me or to bless the union of her son with me (just go with it) or if it's for someone else all together, but I'm easy - so I just agree. I don't want to be inappropriate.
Then she tells Mathieu to give me a tour of the rest of the house. There's a second floor and a rooftop that aren't finished yet. Concrete randomness with piping that is ready to go whenever more money comes in to finish it all.
We come upon a room when suddenly I hear bêêêêêêê! OH! The cutest little agneau! A baby sheep with wobbly knees, tied to a concrete block with a bowl of milk and stuff to eat beside it. It's excited to have company, and even though Dr. Wise in Toronto would not have agreed, I just had to give it a little pat on the head. It was white with black spots... eep!! Too cute!
I asked why it was tied there; apparently it's mother is dead or eaten or something, and the little one is too small. Something or one of the children might kill it, by accident or on purpose, so they segregate it for a while. Poor thing.
We go back downstairs and maman has put aside some of the necklaces and bracelets I thought were beautiful, and a couple more she thinks I should have. I tell Mathieu to tell her this is WAY too generous, but, um... I wouldn't want to be rude, right?
Update: My boss lady came into my office just now to give me some files, and asked me where I got my beautiful necklace. I told her my friend Mathieu's maman gave it to me, that she's a healer.
"C'est mammy Wata? Elle était habillée tout en blanc? (It was mammy Wata? She was dressed all in white?)"
Can I freak out now? I txt Mathieu quickly and ask him. "Yes," he says.
Boss Lady says that her sister was desperate for some funding for an NGO she wanted to start in Benin and nothing was working. She had consulted with tons of politicans, financers, and then went to the healers and seers and nothing had worked. Someone told my boss lady that her sister should go see Mammy Wata, that only she could help her.
Mammy did a purification ceremony, made her dress all in white. Apparently it worked, her sister got financing from an organization whose name I didn't recognize.
Then when I told my other colleagues that I had met this "mammy Wata" one said, "Quoi?! Tu as rencontré la déesse des eaux?? Tu es allée chez elle??! (What?! You met the goddess of the waters? You went to her house??!)"
Everyone's mouth hit the floor. We laughed when I said maybe it could help with the work we have to do with the government. Certainly couldn't hurt.
There you go. Maria, Queen of Benin, is making her way up in the world. And is bequeathed to the High Priestess' son.
I asked about all the kids, and Boss Lady says that when you have money in Africa, people send you their kids so that you can feed, house and clothe them while they're in school. In return the kids help you cook and clean. Fair trade, I suppose. Boss Lady says she has 7 kids at her house right now!! I noticed a bunch of kids around her house on Sunday, but wasn't introduced to any of them and didn't think to ask, figuring they were hers, or neighbourhood kids.
It takes a village, or so they say.
AFRICA!!!!!!
PS - maman, le boulot va bien. Je ne peux pas en parler sur ce site à cause que je vais en parler sur le site de l'organisme pour lequel je travaille. Comme partout, travailler avec le gouvernement, c'est frustrant. On avance, mais par la grace de Dieu et le travail acharné de mes collègues ici.
Ma boss est extraordinaire, tu l'aimerais beaucoup! J'ai beaucoup de chance de travailler avec elle. Elle est vraiment le modèle accessible et la mentor que je cherchais!
PPS - You'll notice I updated a link to Wikipedia's Mami Wata entry. Mammy Wata is a goddess that one might incarnate for a specific purpose, so she's not an actual person... I'll have to ask Mathieu for further explanation!
This week has been good and crazy and well, normal Africa I suppose. Spent Sunday having lunch with my boss, her husband, my colleague Jean, his wife and their 3 year old son who has the coolest little fro!! He's a little king, and he's about to be de-throwned cuz mommy's pregnant. We ate Fou-tou which is basically yam pilé, just different. I can't quite make the difference between all the different kinds of pâte.
Next time I see them make it, I'll have to shoot a video cuz it's really cool. It's a pestol/mortar concept, except in huge format. A big wooden bowl/barrel and a big wooden malette, or two, and they pound the yams into a fine flour by throwing their whole body into it. Add water and voilà! Again, I'm not sure on the process or anything, but I'll report back when I know more. If you google Yam Pilé you could probably find a YouTube video.
They opened a couple bottles of wine, a bottle of champagne to celebrate my arrival, served couscous AFTER the mountain of fou-tou and veggies and an appetizer of cucumber and onion salad with a mayo dressing... these people EAT. She served me Nescafe instant when I agreed to a cup of coffee.
When I got home I called a new friend, Mathieu, to take me to the beach. Yes, Mathieu has already proposed marriage, but he drives a really nice motorbike and has a great smile so I think I'll keep him around for a bit.
La Plage des Cocotiers, as I mentioned before, is awesome. Obama beach can be rented to hold special events, which totally peaked my attention (peak peak!). I can't be in West Africa for a whole 5 months and not throw a huge party on the beach. What kind of raver would I be if I didn't??!
Anne called me while I was there. Talking to my girls back home is unbelievably hard... Slowly but surely I'm making friends here and everything is falling into place, but I think of everyone at home often!! (Dernièrement, beaucoup à mes collègues au Ministère. Jean-Guy m'a envoyé les nouvelles sur Dodine... mon coeur a brisé. Je vous envoie tous beaucoup d'amour!!!)
Tuesday after work I got the idea that I wanted to see where Mathieu lives. He's an interesting guy, into Kung Fu, weight lifting, Chinese philosophy, and Bob Marley (and R Kelly, which he sings along to HORRIBLY cuz he doesn't speak English, but I can forgive him that), and said he lived in the same area that I work in, so I thought, maybe I can check out his place and then we can go hang out at the beach for the evening.
I txt'd him my thoughts and he called to ask, "Do you want to see how poor I am? Are you looking for a reason not to marry me?"
Honey, you should see where my brother lives. (Montreal ghetto reprazent!)
He said that his mom has a gift for me, and speaks very highly of his mother. He worries about her getting older (she's 64 and he's her baby). He said she heals people. That people from around the world come to her for it.
His motorbike took a sharp and awkward turn off the main road just before the bridge in the Fidjrosse neighbourhood and we were suddenly driving past huge piles of garbage and had to honk a woman (with a baby on her back) out of the way so we could get by. Oh Africa.
Then, old cars, chickens and chicks, goats, sheep, people, more moms with babies on their back. He pulled up to a concrete house, like every other concrete house, and shut the motor. He's very proud of the fact that when his mother got a big chunk of money, she entrusted it all to him to arrange for the house to be built, trusting that he wouldn't take any of it for himself and would have everything done properly (unlike his older brothers).
Everyone lives together in Africa. The "house" is huge, a long hallway on the outside, like a hotel in the Carribean, with doors leading to individual apartments. There's a large platform on the end for a sitting area and cooking area. Each little apartment has its own sitting room, bathroom and bedroom. Only one or two have their own kitchen. There was a small coal-fire burning outside one of the doors too.
There were a couple toddlers walking around, one little boy (one of twins, I later discovered), one little girl with a bum leg limp, and one with one earring. All naked, wearing beads around their waist.
First I met Mathieu's older sister, whose name I forget (he has 6 brothers and sisters). She had a couple kids hanging around her too.
An older lady was sitting at the end of this long concrete outdoor corridor, dressed all in white with a beautiful blue and white beaded necklace on, and about 5-6 beaded bracelets on each wrist. She saw me and smiled and got up to greet me.
"C'est maman?" I asked.
She laughed and I told her I can see where her son got his smile. Mathieu laughed. She hugged me tightly and invited me into the parlour, which was piled with stuff like a lady who shops at Walmart too much. Pots of various sizes (unused), pans, plates, random stuff. She doesn't speak much French so I had to rely on Mathieu to translate from and into Fon. I told her I loved her bracelets (they're beautiful) and Mathieu said that this is the gift she wanted to give me. She told her son to hand her a silver purse and she pulled out tons of beaded necklaces, bracelets, and waist beads.
I can feel Giannina's jealousy from here!
WOW. Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful. I ask if she sells them (cuz I could make a fortune back home) and it takes a while for me to decifer what she does.
She said she gives them to the people she heals to help with their healing (gri gri? talismans of sort?). She said she's healed diabetes, anxiety problems, cancer even. People write to her or call from all over the world apparently. She sends them remedies, they send her money or gifts. She once got a car. She makes money how she can and orders these beads, herbs and who knows what else. She used to travel a lot to get her remedies all over Africa, but doesn't really anymore.
I've never been one to dismiss this sort of thing. I wonder to myself if she's got anything for this cold.
She asks me about health care in Canada, and if anyone there can help with her eyes. She's getting old. We talk about how hospitals kill people, and I say that it's the same everywhere in the world. Prevention is the best medecine.
She says that when I marry her son she will come visit us for a few months and we'll take her to get her eyes checked. I say "yes" because I've learned that when you say "yes" here, it means more "yes, I heard you, and God willing it will happen" and not so much, "yes and let's draw up those papers right now."
Kids of various ages keep coming into the parlour, bowing politely to me, to Mathieu and to maman, saying Bonsoir and repeating themselves when they don't get an answer, leaving the parlour and putting their flip flops back on, only to show up later in various states of undress (some in their undies, some in shorts and a tank top, but it didn't seem to matter much). It's Africa. Naked is normal.
Apparently maman takes in stray kids, kids with no parents, kids with parents but no money. She has remedies that help children get identification papers fast, remedies that will help you pass your exams. Remedies that will bring you money and success. All the children are fascinated by me. They come hang out in the parlour and whisper to each other. I ask some of them what they're learning in school.
I really begin to realize how important my work is.
The cell phone rings and it's Mathieu's sister in Paris. Aimée. He hands me the phone and she is happy to speak to me. I tell her my oldest brother lives in Paris too, and I hand the phone back to maman. Aimée married a "white African", from the North, which isn't white at all, but it's all good.
Maman takes out the photo albums now to show me Aimée. She is very proud of her daughter. She's beautiful.
The phone rings again and this time it's his brother Alphonse, one of a set of twins (who is the dad of the twin I saw earlier). Again the phone gets handed to me. He laughs easily and is very nice, very polite. Everyone in this family seems to have an easy smile.
I tell maman that my dad's name is Alphonse. She asks me if I have both my parents, I say I do and she says that's good. Her husband died a few years ago. She lost her oldest daughter, too. I learn that Mathieu's oldest sister was my friend Diana's mother. So Mathieu is Diana's uncle, even though she can't be much younger than he is (he's 26).
Mathieu tells me that he told his mother how much I love the ocean and the beach, and how I could spend all day and all night there. He says that she's like that too, that she loves it as well. "Moi, je suis sirène" she said, pointing to herself, "moi sirène. Toi, sirène?"
Who ARE these people?? This is all so awesome I think I might burst.
But do I want to see her altar?
It's not voodoo, he says. It's medecine, she has a gift. I ask but no one else in the family has this gift. An old seer who lived to 150 saw her gift and helped her cultivate it.
The altar is in a room designed for that purpose, except there's an empty wooden bedframe in it, taking up most of the room. The walls are painted with tribal designs and on the floor there's a low table with various statues on it... I can't remember what the statues look like (except that they were all white) because I was distracted by the ceramic unicorn head on the end.
Oh Africa.
Mathieu asks if I want to take a picture but maman says that I can take pictures during a ceremony, it will be better. I can't quite tell if the ceremony will be for me or to bless the union of her son with me (just go with it) or if it's for someone else all together, but I'm easy - so I just agree. I don't want to be inappropriate.
Then she tells Mathieu to give me a tour of the rest of the house. There's a second floor and a rooftop that aren't finished yet. Concrete randomness with piping that is ready to go whenever more money comes in to finish it all.
We come upon a room when suddenly I hear bêêêêêêê! OH! The cutest little agneau! A baby sheep with wobbly knees, tied to a concrete block with a bowl of milk and stuff to eat beside it. It's excited to have company, and even though Dr. Wise in Toronto would not have agreed, I just had to give it a little pat on the head. It was white with black spots... eep!! Too cute!
I asked why it was tied there; apparently it's mother is dead or eaten or something, and the little one is too small. Something or one of the children might kill it, by accident or on purpose, so they segregate it for a while. Poor thing.
We go back downstairs and maman has put aside some of the necklaces and bracelets I thought were beautiful, and a couple more she thinks I should have. I tell Mathieu to tell her this is WAY too generous, but, um... I wouldn't want to be rude, right?
Update: My boss lady came into my office just now to give me some files, and asked me where I got my beautiful necklace. I told her my friend Mathieu's maman gave it to me, that she's a healer.
"C'est mammy Wata? Elle était habillée tout en blanc? (It was mammy Wata? She was dressed all in white?)"
Can I freak out now? I txt Mathieu quickly and ask him. "Yes," he says.
Boss Lady says that her sister was desperate for some funding for an NGO she wanted to start in Benin and nothing was working. She had consulted with tons of politicans, financers, and then went to the healers and seers and nothing had worked. Someone told my boss lady that her sister should go see Mammy Wata, that only she could help her.
Mammy did a purification ceremony, made her dress all in white. Apparently it worked, her sister got financing from an organization whose name I didn't recognize.
Then when I told my other colleagues that I had met this "mammy Wata" one said, "Quoi?! Tu as rencontré la déesse des eaux?? Tu es allée chez elle??! (What?! You met the goddess of the waters? You went to her house??!)"
Everyone's mouth hit the floor. We laughed when I said maybe it could help with the work we have to do with the government. Certainly couldn't hurt.
There you go. Maria, Queen of Benin, is making her way up in the world. And is bequeathed to the High Priestess' son.
I asked about all the kids, and Boss Lady says that when you have money in Africa, people send you their kids so that you can feed, house and clothe them while they're in school. In return the kids help you cook and clean. Fair trade, I suppose. Boss Lady says she has 7 kids at her house right now!! I noticed a bunch of kids around her house on Sunday, but wasn't introduced to any of them and didn't think to ask, figuring they were hers, or neighbourhood kids.
It takes a village, or so they say.
AFRICA!!!!!!
PS - maman, le boulot va bien. Je ne peux pas en parler sur ce site à cause que je vais en parler sur le site de l'organisme pour lequel je travaille. Comme partout, travailler avec le gouvernement, c'est frustrant. On avance, mais par la grace de Dieu et le travail acharné de mes collègues ici.
Ma boss est extraordinaire, tu l'aimerais beaucoup! J'ai beaucoup de chance de travailler avec elle. Elle est vraiment le modèle accessible et la mentor que je cherchais!
PPS - You'll notice I updated a link to Wikipedia's Mami Wata entry. Mammy Wata is a goddess that one might incarnate for a specific purpose, so she's not an actual person... I'll have to ask Mathieu for further explanation!
Monday, February 2, 2009
Random Entry, Things I Forgot to Pack (aka the Golden Floss)
I forgot to pack dental floss. I have a tooth ache and figured out I'd gotten food stuck between my teeth. I think it's pork... it must be. Anyway, they serve this dish with a small piece of pork, and it's really tough and you kinda have to rip it apart with your fingers and then chew like crazy and you get tons of stuff stuck in your teeth... I'm really not used to it!
I'm hoping that when I ask them if they know what "de la soie dentaire" is, they won't stare at me blankly. I used the string from a tea bag... lol - necessity, right? As I was walking to the bathroom with my little tea bag string, I thought to myself, "this might be the best or the worst idea you've ever had."
Well, it worked, and I dislodged the chunk of whatever-it-was from under my tooth, then rinsed my mouth out properly with salt water, to disinfect, and I'll keep disinfecting every hour, and see how it feels in the morning. Hopefully I can find floss on my way home from work tonight so I can clean my teeth properly every day. This is not a place I want to have a dental emergency...
update: yup, I got the blank stare. My colleague suggested we hit a pharmacy, and the first pharmacy suggested we hit the mother-pharmacy. So we went... :( I had to pay $10 for freaking dental floss. But I got pizza for dinner so I feel happy again. :)
I'm hoping that when I ask them if they know what "de la soie dentaire" is, they won't stare at me blankly. I used the string from a tea bag... lol - necessity, right? As I was walking to the bathroom with my little tea bag string, I thought to myself, "this might be the best or the worst idea you've ever had."
Well, it worked, and I dislodged the chunk of whatever-it-was from under my tooth, then rinsed my mouth out properly with salt water, to disinfect, and I'll keep disinfecting every hour, and see how it feels in the morning. Hopefully I can find floss on my way home from work tonight so I can clean my teeth properly every day. This is not a place I want to have a dental emergency...
update: yup, I got the blank stare. My colleague suggested we hit a pharmacy, and the first pharmacy suggested we hit the mother-pharmacy. So we went... :( I had to pay $10 for freaking dental floss. But I got pizza for dinner so I feel happy again. :)
Thursday, January 29, 2009
There's a first time for everything
A lot of firsts this week. Last night Jean took me to try to get money at a bank machine. The thing is, they have bank machines for Visa cards, and I don't have a pin number for mine. Shit. I'll have to call or email the bank to see what they can do. A lady Jean knows who works for a bank says that the bank in Canada can transfer funds to an account in Cotonou. Either that or my dad will have to send me money through Western Union - there's a ton of those here. (update: found a bank machine at the Novotel Hotel.)
So, last night, on the way back from banking, Jean stopped the car on the side of the road because there was a coconut stand and I had mentioned that I'd never had a fresh coconut. They chop the top with a machete and stick a straw in it.
It wasn't as sweet as I'd expected, but apparently there are different varieties, which makes sense. When you're done drinking, they chop it open and give you a hard part of the shell to use as a kind of spoon to eat the mushy inside part. It was gooey and kinda gross, but not un-delicious.
I'd have it again, unlike the pinapple I had to eat this afternoon... I feel bad because it was fresh picked and I should think that it was delicious, but it just wasn't. I'm sorry!! I'll save the 2 that Jean gave me to have on pizza... although I may give one to a neighbour... I'll never eat 2!
My god this week was so action packed I don't know where to begin. On Tuesday they took me to Porto Novo to meet with some Gov officials. A combination of boring and nerve-wracking, cuz, well, they're government officials. You get what I'm sayin? Porto Novo is a cool town, I'll spend more time there and hopefully get to know the town a bit more.
Everything here is littered. I keep catching Jean throwing shit out the car window, even though he agrees that it's gross and unnecessary. "Did you just throw your can of Coke out the window??" :head slap:
I guess it's just not a big deal to them. I put a little plastic bag in his car to avoid him throwing stuff out the window... he looked at me the next time he finished using a napkin and rolled the window down to throw it out. He smiled, rolled the window back and used the bag. We had a good laugh. There's hope for him yet.
Benin is one giant Capacity Building seminar. They need classes on how to do everything. They're uber-eager and very very capable, and their mistakes are totally ignorance-based. I REALLY want to try and find a rake so that the next time I go to the beach I can rake up some crap.
They have the hugest beach I've ever seen and it's covered in litter - including broken glass (won't anyone think of the children??). Of course, the area where the waves roll in is completely fine... The problem is that there are no garbage cans, no infrastructure in place to take care of these things. So garbage lines the streets, the beach...
Today Jean (he's an awesome guy, I'm glad there are people like him in the world) took me to a "manifestation", which in my French means "protest" but in his French means "ceremony"!!
Anyway, it was a graduation ceremony for a career college. They asked me to participate in the ceremony and give one of the students their new sewing machine as they were graduating from the tailoring class and some students who qualified under specific criteria got equipment to use. They asked me to make a little speech, introduce myself, etc. and shake hands with the dude and give him his new kit. Another colleague said he saw me on TV that night! I was sitting in the front row and shiz was going down right in front of me - I'm almost famous! It was cool.
Actually, it was not cool at all, it was boiling hot and in an area of the country that was very open and dusty. I came home very very dirty only to find that... I HAD NO WATER. I would've had to go to the well around the corner to get water, but I don't have a rope for my bucket. I'll have to get one this weekend. I had to open the tap every 5 minutes and let whatever water was there fall into the bucket, and then I gave myself a sponge bath. Aye aye aye... what a life.
GAH I could go on and on there's so much stuff to talk about.
I've been having problems with my power. My landlord happily installed an air conditioner for me, but didn't think to check if the electric box could handle it. So now when I turn the air con on for more than 10 minutes, the power goes out and I have to go around the corner, (right where the well is, actually), and go into the shed where everyone's electricity counters are to click the black button for my apartment.
The lady at the corner store says she knows someone at the city's electricity department who can help me up my amps from 5 to 10 or 15 really quickly, so I'll bring her my bill tomorrow so she can ask her friend. Cuz if I wait for the landlord to do it, it'll take weeks. I love how things work here. People are way too nice. (update: power issues are taken care of! no thanks to the landlord, and thanks to a little under the table cash...)
Spent most of my night on the phone with my parents and I also called my friend Jenny. I wanted to hear about a meeting that was held for the Brenda Foundation, a charity Brenda Healey's family is starting to help pay for counseling fees for the families of victims of violent crimes.
It went really well, apparently. I thought a lot about Brenda today, since I heard that the wife of someone I work with is very sick and may die. Jean was the one who told me about how sick she was. (update: my colleague's wife died this morning at 6am, leaving behind 3 small children under the age of 9. Please send your comforting thought to my colleague and his family...)
We had a really long chat about death. Jean is 37 or so, and has had quite a few friends die over the years.
We are all in between life and death my friends.
(oh! a chicken just started making freaky noises outside!!) ... where was I? Oh death. Ug. I should probably get to bed. Tomorrow's Friday... I think I'll bring what I need to hit the beach in the afternoon.
... death makes angels of us all and gives us wings where we had shoulders, smooth as ravens claws ... Jim Morrison
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Baby it's cold outside
The last week has just flown by. Today's Wednesday and I leave Saturday afternoon... all my time between now and then is packed with seeing people and buying last minute things...
Last week I got to do a few things. I visited a Kindergarten class in North Bay, just to get a feeling for being in a school... the teacher's globe said Dahomey instead of Benin, even though the name changed in 1975. The globe's older than I am. The kids were very sweet and very cute and very chatty - I'm eager to see how different the classroom situation is in Benin. I took the teacher's email address so that I can send the class pictures while I'm away. "Send pics of the animals," she said, "that's pretty much all they'll care to see."
I also had a few days of training with the organization I'll be working with. I feel a lot better about the trip - the org has great insurance and offers quite a few services. They're also just plain nice and I know they'll support me in my work, no matter what I need.
I was especially happy to have a nice long chat with Dr. Mark Wise (visit his website... tons of great information and he's really funny). I liked the way he asked me a lot of questions to challenge what I thought I knew about where I was going. "What do you know about malaria? What are the symptoms? What would you do if you were feeling really sick? What would you do if you were to get sexually assaulted? What would you do if you were feeling depressed?"
It was great because it's one thing to be afraid of disease or worry about being assaulted, it's another to have a plan to deal with it.
I got to talk to people in the organization who'd lived in that part of the world before about cultural differences, food, nightlife... but the one thing they did say is that they didn't want to tell me what kind of experience I should have - I'll figure it out on my own.
I had a little goodbye party and a friend was saying how "zen" I seemed. I think my brain is just shutting itself down so as not to get too excited or too nervous.
3 more sleeps til my plane takes off.
It's cold in Canada. Did you notice the BBC weather watcher for Cotonou, Benin in the right hand column of this blog? Toasty!
Last week I got to do a few things. I visited a Kindergarten class in North Bay, just to get a feeling for being in a school... the teacher's globe said Dahomey instead of Benin, even though the name changed in 1975. The globe's older than I am. The kids were very sweet and very cute and very chatty - I'm eager to see how different the classroom situation is in Benin. I took the teacher's email address so that I can send the class pictures while I'm away. "Send pics of the animals," she said, "that's pretty much all they'll care to see."
I also had a few days of training with the organization I'll be working with. I feel a lot better about the trip - the org has great insurance and offers quite a few services. They're also just plain nice and I know they'll support me in my work, no matter what I need.
I was especially happy to have a nice long chat with Dr. Mark Wise (visit his website... tons of great information and he's really funny). I liked the way he asked me a lot of questions to challenge what I thought I knew about where I was going. "What do you know about malaria? What are the symptoms? What would you do if you were feeling really sick? What would you do if you were to get sexually assaulted? What would you do if you were feeling depressed?"
It was great because it's one thing to be afraid of disease or worry about being assaulted, it's another to have a plan to deal with it.
I got to talk to people in the organization who'd lived in that part of the world before about cultural differences, food, nightlife... but the one thing they did say is that they didn't want to tell me what kind of experience I should have - I'll figure it out on my own.
I had a little goodbye party and a friend was saying how "zen" I seemed. I think my brain is just shutting itself down so as not to get too excited or too nervous.
3 more sleeps til my plane takes off.
It's cold in Canada. Did you notice the BBC weather watcher for Cotonou, Benin in the right hand column of this blog? Toasty!
Sunday, January 11, 2009
I'M INVINCIBLE! (... and more Fun Facts!)
I must say, upon leaving the Travel Medicine Centre, I kind of felt invincible. Bring on the bugs, bring on the medical crisis... I CAN TAKE IT! (or don't - no, really, please don't.)
Vaccinations:
Yellow Fever, 27 November 2008, Dr. F. Philip Scappatura, valid 10 days after vaccination, 07 December 2008, valid for 10 years, 07 December 2018.
Meningococcal ACYW135
Vivaxim (HepA-Typhoid)
Tetanus-diphtheria (had it already, good for 10 years)
Hepatitis B (had it already)
Malaria... oh Malaria. The Malaria meds cost me over $900. I have to take a pill every day for 5 months, and for 2 weeks when I get back. I'm taking the most expensive kind, Malarone, because I'll be gone so long... and well, the cheaper kind... the kind you take once a week... side effects include suicidal ideation. yyyyya. No thanks.
To find out more about Africa's diseases, check out the World Health Organization's (WHO) website on Africa.
You can also check out the Country Profile specific to Benin. The data is all from 2000-2004 though. Actually, I much prefer the CIA's World Factbook.
Let's do some World Factbook comparing!! MORE FUN FACTS!
Canada vs. Benin
Canada - Area:
total: 9,984,670 sq km
land: 9,093,507 sq km
water: 891,163 sq km
Benin - Area:
total: 112,620 sq km (fits into Ontario 9.5 times)
land: 110,620 sq km
water: 2,000 sq km
Canada - Population: 33,212,696 (July 2008 est.)
Benin - Population: 8,532,547 (July 2008 est.)
est. stands for estimate, btw.
Canada - Age structure:
0-14 years: 16.3% (male 2,780,491/female 2,644,276)
15-64 years: 68.8% (male 11,547,354/female 11,300,639)
65 years and over: 14.9% (male 2,150,991/female 2,788,945) (2008 est.)
Benin - Age structure:
0-14 years: 45.5% (male 1,978,897/female 1,901,005)
15-64 years: 51.9% (male 2,195,667/female 2,236,458)
65 years and over: 2.6% (male 91,213/female 129,307) (2008 est.)
HOLY MOLY HALF THE POPULATION IS UNDER THE AGE OF 15.
Canada - Median age:
total: 40.1 years
male: 39 years
female: 41.2 years (2008 est.)
Benin - Median age:
total: 17.1 years
male: 16.7 years
female: 17.6 years (2008 est.)
Total fertility rate:
Canada: 1.57 children born/woman (2008 est.) vs 5.08 deaths/1,000 live births
Benin: 5.58 children born/woman (2008 est.) vs 66.2 deaths/1,000 live births
HIV/AIDS - adult (15-49) prevalence rate:
Canada: 0.3% (2003 est.)
Benin: 1.9% (2003 est.)
HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS:
Canada: 56,000 (2003 est.)
Benin: 68,000 (2003 est.)
(take into consideration that Benin has a quarter of Canada's population)
HIV/AIDS - deaths (in a calendar year):
Canada: 1,500 (2003 est.)
Benin: 5,800 (2003 est.)
Canada - Ethnic groups:
British Isles origin 28%, French origin 23%, other European 15%, Amerindian 2%, other, mostly Asian, African, Arab 6%, mixed background 26%
Benin - Ethnic groups:
Fon and related 39.2%, Adja and related 15.2%, Yoruba and related 12.3%, Bariba and related 9.2%, Peulh and related 7%, Ottamari and related 6.1%, Yoa-Lokpa and related 4%, Dendi and related 2.5%, other 1.6% (includes Europeans), unspecified 2.9% (2002 census)
Canada - Religions:
Roman Catholic 42.6%, Protestant 23.3% (including United Church 9.5%, Anglican 6.8%, Baptist 2.4%, Lutheran 2%), other Christian 4.4%, Muslim 1.9%, other and unspecified 11.8%, none 16% (2001 census)
Benin - Religions:
Christian 42.8% (Catholic 27.1%, Celestial 5%, Methodist 3.2%, other Protestant 2.2%, other 5.3%), Muslim 24.4%, Vodoun 17.3%, other 15.5% (2002 census)
Canada - Languages:
English (official) 59.3%, French (official) 23.2%, other 17.5%
Benin - Languages:
French (official), Fon and Yoruba (most common vernaculars in south), tribal languages (at least six major ones in north)
Canada - Literacy:
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 99%
male: 99%
female: 99% (2003 est.) GO TEAM CANADA!
Benin - Literacy:
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 34.7%
male: 47.9%
female: 23.3% (2002 census) :sad face:
Canada - School life expectancy (primary to tertiary education):
total: 17 years
male: 17 years
female: 17 years (2004)
Benin - School life expectancy (primary to tertiary education):
total: 7 years
male: 9 years
female: 6 years (2001)
Education expenditures (or how much we spend on education):
Canada: 5.2% of GDP (2002)
Benin: 4.4% of GDP (2004)
but wait! let's compare GDPs:
Canada's GDP: $1.271 trillion (2007 est.)
Benin's GDP: $12 billion (2007 est.)
So, Canada spends about $66 092 000 000
And Benin spends about $528 000 000
Let's also compare by saying that the Ontario Government increased Grants for Student Needs (GSN) funding to school boards by more than $400 million in 2006-07 to $17.3 billion. (source)
Canada - Administrative divisions:
10 provinces and 3 territories*; Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, Northwest Territories*, Nova Scotia, Nunavut*, Ontario, Prince Edward Island, Quebec, Saskatchewan, Yukon Territory*
Benin - Administrative divisions:
12 departments; Alibori, Atakora, Atlantique, Borgou, Collines, Kouffo, Donga, Littoral, Mono, Oueme, Plateau, Zou
Telephones - main lines in use:
Canada: 21 million (2006)
Benin: 110,300 (2007)
Telephones - mobile cellular:
Canada: 18.749 million (2006)
Benin: 1.895 million (2007)
Telephone system:
Canada - general assessment: excellent service provided by modern technology.
Benin - general assessment: inadequate; fixed-line network characterized by aging, deteriorating equipment with fixed-line teledensity stuck at 1 per 100 persons; mobile-cellular telephone subscribership is increasing.
-----------------
Alright, enough comparing. We all know Canada's awesome... and still - it's never enough.
Vaccinations:
Yellow Fever, 27 November 2008, Dr. F. Philip Scappatura, valid 10 days after vaccination, 07 December 2008, valid for 10 years, 07 December 2018.
Meningococcal ACYW135
Vivaxim (HepA-Typhoid)
Tetanus-diphtheria (had it already, good for 10 years)
Hepatitis B (had it already)
Malaria... oh Malaria. The Malaria meds cost me over $900. I have to take a pill every day for 5 months, and for 2 weeks when I get back. I'm taking the most expensive kind, Malarone, because I'll be gone so long... and well, the cheaper kind... the kind you take once a week... side effects include suicidal ideation. yyyyya. No thanks.
To find out more about Africa's diseases, check out the World Health Organization's (WHO) website on Africa.
You can also check out the Country Profile specific to Benin. The data is all from 2000-2004 though. Actually, I much prefer the CIA's World Factbook.
Let's do some World Factbook comparing!! MORE FUN FACTS!
Canada vs. Benin
Canada - Area:
total: 9,984,670 sq km
land: 9,093,507 sq km
water: 891,163 sq km
Benin - Area:
total: 112,620 sq km (fits into Ontario 9.5 times)
land: 110,620 sq km
water: 2,000 sq km
Canada - Population: 33,212,696 (July 2008 est.)
Benin - Population: 8,532,547 (July 2008 est.)
est. stands for estimate, btw.
Canada - Age structure:
0-14 years: 16.3% (male 2,780,491/female 2,644,276)
15-64 years: 68.8% (male 11,547,354/female 11,300,639)
65 years and over: 14.9% (male 2,150,991/female 2,788,945) (2008 est.)
Benin - Age structure:
0-14 years: 45.5% (male 1,978,897/female 1,901,005)
15-64 years: 51.9% (male 2,195,667/female 2,236,458)
65 years and over: 2.6% (male 91,213/female 129,307) (2008 est.)
HOLY MOLY HALF THE POPULATION IS UNDER THE AGE OF 15.
Canada - Median age:
total: 40.1 years
male: 39 years
female: 41.2 years (2008 est.)
Benin - Median age:
total: 17.1 years
male: 16.7 years
female: 17.6 years (2008 est.)
Total fertility rate:
Canada: 1.57 children born/woman (2008 est.) vs 5.08 deaths/1,000 live births
Benin: 5.58 children born/woman (2008 est.) vs 66.2 deaths/1,000 live births
HIV/AIDS - adult (15-49) prevalence rate:
Canada: 0.3% (2003 est.)
Benin: 1.9% (2003 est.)
HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS:
Canada: 56,000 (2003 est.)
Benin: 68,000 (2003 est.)
(take into consideration that Benin has a quarter of Canada's population)
HIV/AIDS - deaths (in a calendar year):
Canada: 1,500 (2003 est.)
Benin: 5,800 (2003 est.)
Canada - Ethnic groups:
British Isles origin 28%, French origin 23%, other European 15%, Amerindian 2%, other, mostly Asian, African, Arab 6%, mixed background 26%
Benin - Ethnic groups:
Fon and related 39.2%, Adja and related 15.2%, Yoruba and related 12.3%, Bariba and related 9.2%, Peulh and related 7%, Ottamari and related 6.1%, Yoa-Lokpa and related 4%, Dendi and related 2.5%, other 1.6% (includes Europeans), unspecified 2.9% (2002 census)
Canada - Religions:
Roman Catholic 42.6%, Protestant 23.3% (including United Church 9.5%, Anglican 6.8%, Baptist 2.4%, Lutheran 2%), other Christian 4.4%, Muslim 1.9%, other and unspecified 11.8%, none 16% (2001 census)
Benin - Religions:
Christian 42.8% (Catholic 27.1%, Celestial 5%, Methodist 3.2%, other Protestant 2.2%, other 5.3%), Muslim 24.4%, Vodoun 17.3%, other 15.5% (2002 census)
Canada - Languages:
English (official) 59.3%, French (official) 23.2%, other 17.5%
Benin - Languages:
French (official), Fon and Yoruba (most common vernaculars in south), tribal languages (at least six major ones in north)
Canada - Literacy:
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 99%
male: 99%
female: 99% (2003 est.) GO TEAM CANADA!
Benin - Literacy:
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 34.7%
male: 47.9%
female: 23.3% (2002 census) :sad face:
Canada - School life expectancy (primary to tertiary education):
total: 17 years
male: 17 years
female: 17 years (2004)
Benin - School life expectancy (primary to tertiary education):
total: 7 years
male: 9 years
female: 6 years (2001)
Education expenditures (or how much we spend on education):
Canada: 5.2% of GDP (2002)
Benin: 4.4% of GDP (2004)
but wait! let's compare GDPs:
Canada's GDP: $1.271 trillion (2007 est.)
Benin's GDP: $12 billion (2007 est.)
So, Canada spends about $66 092 000 000
And Benin spends about $528 000 000
Let's also compare by saying that the Ontario Government increased Grants for Student Needs (GSN) funding to school boards by more than $400 million in 2006-07 to $17.3 billion. (source)
Canada - Administrative divisions:
10 provinces and 3 territories*; Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, Northwest Territories*, Nova Scotia, Nunavut*, Ontario, Prince Edward Island, Quebec, Saskatchewan, Yukon Territory*
Benin - Administrative divisions:
12 departments; Alibori, Atakora, Atlantique, Borgou, Collines, Kouffo, Donga, Littoral, Mono, Oueme, Plateau, Zou
Telephones - main lines in use:
Canada: 21 million (2006)
Benin: 110,300 (2007)
Telephones - mobile cellular:
Canada: 18.749 million (2006)
Benin: 1.895 million (2007)
Telephone system:
Canada - general assessment: excellent service provided by modern technology.
Benin - general assessment: inadequate; fixed-line network characterized by aging, deteriorating equipment with fixed-line teledensity stuck at 1 per 100 persons; mobile-cellular telephone subscribership is increasing.
-----------------
Alright, enough comparing. We all know Canada's awesome... and still - it's never enough.
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