Our days in Parakou are coming to a close. At this time next week we
will be in Cotonou with Rosanne and Carole at the Godomey bach just
west of Cotonou. Kaarina and I have been invited to Lagos, Nigeria for
the December 27 special meeting before continuing with the Togo and
Benin specials. We will spend next week working on visas for Nigeria
and Togo, and I will also renew my Benin visa.
Our missions here are ending for now with two steady listeners among a
number of others that come. These two haven't yet been mentioned.
Kaarina took a fan to be repaired at a roadside shack and found the
young man diligently reading his Bible. She invited him to the Friday
meetings and he has come regularly to more than half our mission.
On Sundays Viviane, who is engaged to one of our young friends, has
come regularly. We all had lunch together today, sour corn porridge,
fried river carp (head and all) and a hot tomato and onion sauce to
help it down. She found out a while back that I haven't driven a
motorbike yet and offered a lesson while we were waiting for the food.
I considered the chance of her not coming to another meeting if I
crashed her bike but she was keen, so off we went buzzing over bumps
and through sandpits. The things you do when you're in Africa!
On Wednesday we had our last meeting under the mango tree. As we
waited for a taxi the children sang to us and taught me a jumping game
to the amusement of the walkers. We clapped and jumped to a silent
beat, randomly sticking a leg out. I must have stuck out the right leg
at the right time as I apparently won.
We happened upon the same taxi as last time and again had the luxery
of our own seats until two young Peuhl men waved us down pointing at
their cow. We watched as the cow was hoisted into the empty trunk then
manipulated and tied like a pretzel so it couldn't do dammage. No
wonder the meat here is so tough! Some school girls walking home held
the trunk open and in return they got a ride to the next town.
As we sped along they started asking questions. Why don't you wear
jewelry? Often if there is a question of a childs gender we look for
the earrings that have peirced the girls ears from infancy. Clothes
here are not gender specific. Boys wear pink pants because pants are
for boys and they have no concept of pink being a girls colour. Why
don't you put braids in your hair? To their delight I let them touch
my hair as we discussed the difference between their hair and ours.
These girls were exceptionally different in appearance and manner
from the girls that the young Peuhl shepherd would be used to. Peuhl
women love bright clothes. Their unearthly jewelery and makeup is
something out of the National Geographic. Thick metal braids hang at
their temples from under a neon head scarf, pink paint dots the tips
of their noses and their high cheekbones, and bracelets climb to their
elbows. But their vibrant display of body art betrays their
personality. One day I wanted to ask one where she got her bright
material. As I approached she ran from me and hid behind the young man
she was with. The schoolgirls' unabashed curiosity stood out against
the often silent presence of a Peuhl woman.
Just as the hundreds of tribal languages in Benin rarely resemble
each other, each tribe has it's own character and it's own facial
scarring. Near Djougou the people are marked with three long slashes
on each cheek as if they've all survived fights with a wildcat. Other
tribes mark the forehead or temples. A tribe from the Atacora region
bears some 50 razor thin lines across the forehead and cheeks down to
the chin.
A seamstress with such markings asked me to take her to Canada but
was concerned that the people might not like her face. She told me
that she was the age of her hip height son (who bears no markings)
when it was done and remembers the pain. I cringed as I ran my fingers
over the barely there marks. She laughed when I let her touch the hair
on my arms, admittedly a poor exchange.
Although the call of a bustling city to the south is getting
stronger each day I find there is more and more that I enjoy about
this dried out north. Before we head south we will take our last trip
to Djougou, stopping in Natitingou with Medard and Serge to help them
install some furniture in their new bach.
Until next time... Alize
