A phrase that we hear multiple times a day here is "bon travail," which means "good work." They say it to each other and to us throughout the day almost like a greeting.
I asked Paulin about it and he says it it is a common saying here in Benin that he doesn't hear used in other African countries in the same way. It is a form of encouragement, acknowledgment, or appreciation for work being done. It is always said cheerfully, with a smile. I have found it very encouraging to hear those words spoken throughout the day. Many people work here doing a variety of jobs to make La Casa Grande the special place it is. The work is often labour intensive - cooking is done over an open fire, dishes and clothes are all washed by hand, floors are swept and washed every day, classrooms are hot and have few resources, house parents in the children's home work 24/7, and fences are built with bricks that are first made on site. We have beven involved in small ways, as much to learn how things work as to really contribute, I'm sure. Chip and I have split up each day, working in different areas and each bringing a boy with us. We have helped in the library, the daycare, and the school so far. Chip and I have also been leading the morning devotions with the staff, and yesterday we led games with the children in the afternoon as it was a PA day and they were off school. It has been very inspiring to see all of the good work LCG is involved in. It started as a children's home with about 30 children, but has branched out in different ways. They started a school for local children that now has over 300 students. They started raising animals for food and growing pineapple for internal use and to sell and make juice and jam with. They have bought a piece of land this year to expand their agricultural project. They run a summer camp. They started a prenatal clinic with state-of-the-art ultrasound equipment from Canada to help improve maternal health and hopefully reduce the number of children ending up at places like LCG. And the most recent plan involves traveling to Spain in November together with the mayor of Allada to meet with the mayor of the Spanish city of Burgos to work on plans to start a garbage collection program here to help solve the problem of garbage in Allada. Bon travail!
1 Comment
Okay, folks. You have to bear with me here. The challenges of creating this blog on a phone are great, esp when I don't have room to download the mobile app. It seems that we have some photos up there in the header that are now permanent, and a few other weird things going on. (The one photo is of Levi and Kai with Nathan Reuben and Ephraim, Paulin and Esther's three sons.)
Anyways, we all had a great day here at La Casa Grande. I'll just add a few more photos and call it a night. Today was Sunday and we went to a local church in Allada. We were asked if one of us would preach, and Chip offered, not knowing the next question would be if he would do it in both services, the first of which was at 7:00 am!
He chose a sermon from his memory bank. It was about fear. I think it was the perfect message for me today. I generally don't like to admit my fears. But I do have a few, and some have been surfacing on this trip. Perhaps worries would be a more appropriate term, but they're really not that different. Crazy I've traveled quite a bit, so I had a pretty clear idea of what to expect. Doing this kind of travel with children is different, though. I worry about their safety while driving. I worry about mosquito bites. I worry about the salads we have eaten. It is also challenging to try to explain to them about need to be careful with what we eat and drink and why we have to sleep unde mosquito nets and take anti-malaria pills every day without causing them to be afraid. This morning Kai was given a bottle of water at church and he was afraid to drink it without quite a bit of reassurance that it was fine. I need to take the message of Chips sermon to heart and remember the words, "Do not be afraid, I am with you." Fear can either paralyze us or motivate us to overcome them. I chose not to live by fear, but by trust and hope. The photo at the top is of us and the pastor and his family. Here are a few more from today. This is not the first trip to Africa for Chip nor me. So I thought we should leave comments on first impressions to Levi and Kai.
- hot and humid - cacti and palm trees - lizards - yummy pineapple - air conditioning is great - pop and hot chocolate with breakfast! We could never have that at home - crazy traffic, but Paris was crazier - how do they carry so much on a motorcycle?! (or car) - people selling things while walking through stopped traffic: toilet paper, selfie sticks, desk phones, dog leashes, windshield wipers, kettles shoes, coat hangers, thermoses, phone chargers, towels... - didn't expect to see grass, but where we stayed the first night has green grass - you get really sweaty running around - good climbing trees - it reminds me of Cuba After a variety of tech challenges I won't bore you with, it looks like our only option is to try to write posts on my phone. Not ideal, but we'll see if it works. I will share just a few photos and highlights of our week on France and leave our first impressions of Benin to another post.
We spent four days in the Dordogne region, five hours south of Paris and loved it! We hiked, canoed, swam and biked, and took in medieval villages and castles as well as prehistoric cave paintings. In Paris, we spent two days seeing some of the major sights. The Eiffel Tower was a highlight, but I think the boys enjoyed playing in the playground in the nearby park almost as much. Only two more sleeps until we leave.
The suitcases are out, and though there are no clothes in them yet, we have started distributing the various "extras" we are bringing along like gifts, first aid supplies, silk sleeping bag liners, snacks... We are trying to determine if we will be able to travel with only two full-sized suitcases and two carry-on sized suitcases. The verdict is still out... There are all sorts of websites out there that extol the virtues of packing lightly. Just this week I got an email from Mountain Equipment Co-op on the topic of travel tips. The very first one was to pack only what you think you'll need, and then remove half of that from your suitcase! Considering what to bring and what to leave behind has helped me focus on what is essential. This, of course, can be a metaphor for life. What am I carrying with me that is an unnecessary burden? What could I let go of and leave behind? As I look at the trees outside, I am reminded of how important it is to go through cycles of letting go. One thing I hope to let go of before our trip is overly high expectations. We have been looking forward to this trip for a long time. There has been a lot of anticipation building up, and that can often lead to disappointment or frustration. I hope and pray that we can enjoy each moment, enjoy each other's presence, accept the rough times as part of the journey, and feel gratitude for this opportunity. Journeying God, pitch your tent with mine so that I may not become deterred by hardship, strangeness, doubt. Show me the movement I must make toward a wealth not dependent on possessions, toward a wisdom not based on books, toward a strength not bolstered by might, toward a God not confined to heaven. Help me to find myself as I walk in others' shoes. - Prayer song from Ghana, traditional This trip (after our initial week of vacation in France) is an official partnership visit between St Jacobs Mennonite Church (SJMC) and the Benin Bible Institute (BBI).
St Jacobs' relationship with BBI dates back to 1994 when Nancy Frey, a member of SJMC, traveled to Benin to do an internship. In 2003, Augustin Ahoga, a board member from BBI visited Canada and planted the idea of considering a formalized partnership between our church (SJMC) and BBI. We worked together to identify what is important to each party in the relationship, and drafted a formal partnership agreement that was signed in Cotonou, Benin in February 2017. To keep this from getting too long and tedious, I'll simply list three highlights of our partnership agreement:
A major feature of our partnership are the exchange visits. Over the years probably close to twenty people from SJMC have traveled to Benin. These visits happen every 2 - 3 years. In between these trips, SJMC has hosted guests from Benin to visit us here in Waterloo Region. It is worth noting that Waterford Mennonite Church in Goshen, Indiana, also has a formal partnership relationship with BBI and so when our guests from BBI come to visit us, they also are hosted in Indiana for part of the trip. During the final segment of our family's trip to Benin while we are hosted by BBI, we will be joined by three members of the Waterford congregation. While in Benin, we will also be spending a week at La Casa Grande (LCG), which is a children's home in Allada. SJMC's connection with LCG also goes back many years. Our family met the director and his family while they were studying in Canada a few years ago, and our boys are especially looking forward to reconnecting with their children and seeing what school and life is like for children in Benin. So, our family is headed to Benin. If you want to know a bit more about the country of Benin, check out the "About" section of this blog.
This is a big adventure for our family! With only two weeks until our departure date, we're busy checking things off our list:
There are many more things to do to get ready! For Wendy this will be a work trip. For all of us, this will be a chance to immerse ourselves in a new language and culture. We are looking forward to some time in France before we fly south to Benin. Once in Benin, we will be spending a week with La Casa Grande, a children's home and school in the community of Allada. That will be followed by a week in Cotonou with the Benin Bible Institute (BBI). We are going as part of a partnership between St Jacobs Mennonite Church (SJMC) and BBI. This partnership began almost 20 years ago. A major piece of the partnership is building relationships with each other through exchange visits. Every few years SJMC sends a small delegation of folks to go visit, and in the intervening time, we sponsor a visit of representatives from BBI to visit Canada and the USA. Waterford Mennonite Church in Goshen, IN, also has a partnership with BBI and will be sending three people on this trip. It is our hope to offer some reflections, stories, and photos from our travels here on this blog. |
AuthorWe are a family of four from Kitchener, ON, headed on a short adventure to France and Benin (West Africa). We'd like to share some of our stories and reflections with you. ArchivesCategories |