My welcoming party in Bogo was not all I had hoped it would be. The fact that most of those present had eight legs and inhabited my bathroom was not very comforting. Needless to say I didn’t sleep much the first night and my first act as a resident of Bogo was to empty the can of insecticide I had brought with me in my house then to sit out on my front porch and wait for the air to clear. Upon re-entering the house, I improvised some protective equipment and went to work attacking cobwebs and killing spiders. I procrastinated going into the bathroom though and peed outside a few times before eventually gathering the courage to go in there broom-a-swinging! Then in the morning I found a cockroach in my stuff! Luckily I haven’t seen any more live ones, though I have come across a few dead ones while cleaning. The insecticide seems to work. I’ll have to stock up when I go to Maroua. A dose of that once a week or so should keep my house creepy-crawly free!
I am finding that I have to be a tidier person here than I ever was in Canada. There is so much dust everywhere! And I have minimal storage space, so I try to keep my stuff neatly put away. Though I am still unpacking and moving in to my new home. Without the cobwebs, it’s actually a really nice place; A little worn, but big for one person. My house, including the courtyard, is at least ten times bigger than most of the other huts around me. My neighbour is the owner of my house and most of the properties in my area. His house and courtyard are even bigger than mine, but then again, he has three wives and a lot of children and some grandchildren, so it makes sense that he would need more space. He doesn’t speak any French, but his daughters speak a little bit. They will help me with my Fulfulde and hopefully, will also teach me somewhat how to cook. I pretty much starved my first day here. Then the next day, I asked Biena, my national volunteer, to take me the market and I bought some bread and beans to at least see me through the day. I’ll eventually figure out how to feed myself, either that or I’ll become a regular at one of the two restaurants I’ve seen so far in town.
Luckily, I have Djawe; my guide, chauffeur, friend and general helper for everything I need. Djawe was sort of unofficially assigned to help me out since he had worked closely with past volunteers and seemed to know “white people” or at least he knows how to speak French. If I need anything I just have to ask. He fetches things for me at the market, drives me places (including other villages nearby), helps fix things in my house, and even cooks for me! Officially, he was supposed to be showing me how to cook fulleri, but in turned into a bit of a free meal for me. I have to be careful not to spend too much time with him and not to have him at my house late, so that it doesn’t raise any questions or start rumours, but it feels nice to have at least one friend in this very foreign place.
Although, I have mostly been well received here, I often feel like I am an alien (which I guess I am..). People will stare at me, but most are too afraid to approach me, let alone talk to me. So it gets a bit lonely. Not to mention, that most people only speak very basic French or none at all, so I am going to have to work hard on learning Fulfulde and fast. The other day, I was walking around the village and two girls came up close to me with mischievous little smiles. They greeted me (probably the only thing they knew how to say in French) then they quickly reached out to touch my arm and ran away laughing. I think their friends’ maybe dared them to do it; like being dared to pet a sleeping lion. Maybe because I have a different skin colour they thought I would also have a different skin texture like sandpaper or JELL-O. Maybe they were expecting to feel scales under my shiny white skin? Yesterday though, after a visit from the landlord’s daughters’ some of the younger girls came back with their friends, who then brought their friends...Pretty soon my courtyard was filled with kids jabbering away at me in a language I don’t understand, playing around with my guitar and my camera (my old one, not my fancy new one!). It was nice to be distracted for a bit by the antics of children. But after awhile, I had to get Djawe to come over and teach me the word for “go home!” in Fulfulde. The kids were back today, and I pulled out some chalk I found in my bag and traced a hopscotch board in my driveway. I don’t even know what the point of hopscotch is, and I definitely don’t remember playing it much as a kid, but the girls were pretty entertained by it and hopped around my yard for a good hour before I used yesterday’s Fulfulde lesson to send them home. They didn’t go very far though, I can still hear them knocking on my gate asking to be let back in. Djawe warned me that they would never leave me alone now that I have let them in once. It doesn’t bother me. I like kids and they go to one of the schools that I will be working with so it is good for me to establish a relationship with them.
I am slowly building a picture of the state of education in Bogo and it is incredibly complex. On the one hand, I shouldn’t have to face too much resistance. So far, everyone I have spoken to has been strongly in favour of education (granted most of the people I talk to are educated, because how else would they learn French?). The real problems seem to be in the infrastructure and management of schools, and for the most part these problems seem to be systemic. Needless to say, I have my work cut out for me. On the bright side, I have the full support of the sous-prefect, mayor (who is also a traditional leader) and various other officials. On my first day, I did the rounds to meet all the important people in Bogo and to visit the schools that I will be working with. I found the dynamics at play fascinating in what is a very hierarchal system; for example, the way that those without authority will lower their heads and say “oui, monsieur” to those of authority and the order of who gets to go through the door first. Luckily, since I am a foreigner I am exempted from most of these formalities and forgiven if I step out of the order. I was well received by everyone I met and in particular by the mayor who is a very jovial and friendly man who I immediately liked and felt at ease with. From the sounds of it, one of the volunteers that was here before me was very well liked by the authorities and the community in general, and she became good friends with the mayor (facebook friends even!). Hopefully, I will be able to do as much good work as she did and leave a positive impression on Bogo like she did. Luckily, I have the full cooperation and support of the officials. To the point that the mayor even gave me his number and instructed me to call him anytime I wanted to talk about the project or had some ideas to share. So although, I might still encounter some resistance at the local level, at least I have the full political weight and influence of the hierarchal order backing me! I haven’t yet met the highest ranking traditional leader, the lamido, who is also the first mayor (there are several mayors...it’s complicated!), but I may get the chance to later on and hopefully at that point my Fulfulde will have improved.
I have been in Bogo for four days now and although the days are long and uneventful, it feels as though so much has happened already. I guess it’s in the details of everyday living. It’s all the little changes like waking up at 6am and showering outside with a bucket of water (at least until I finish cleaning my bathroom); taking naps in the afternoon because it is too hot outside to do anything (and the hot season doesn’t even start for another month!); finding a boy to bring me water in the morning; learning how and what to buy in the market (it’s not like going to the grocery store); filtering my water so that it is safe to drink. It’s strange when not everything in your life is automatic and at your fingertips every second of every day. Suddenly, I have to slow down and take the time to do all those things that I never took the time to do back home (like cooking for example!). I’ve been making a list of all the things to do when I go to Maroua where I’ll be able to have internet access (and post this blog) and make international phone calls, and even eat yogurt! Ha! The things we take for granted, it really makes you think doesn’t it? But I kinda like my life here and I think once I buy more cleaning supplies and fix up my house a bit more, that I will settle in just fine to life in Bogo.
Pour les cafards, il y a un remède chinois qu'ils vendent parfois dans les bus (j'en ai souvent vu à l'ouest), tu mets sans dans un coin de ta pièce ou un ligne devant chaque porte et tu es bien tranquille ! C'est ce que j'avais pris pour tuer les 4 cafards qui vivait dans mon bol de toilette ha ha ha.
ReplyDeleteLa prochaine fois que tu iras à Maroua, tu dois trouver du kilishi (je ne sais pas trop comment on l'écrit...) ! C'est délicieux.
Est-ce que tu as un numéro de portable ? Comme ça je pourrais t'appeler quand j'aurais mon itinéraire de voyage !