Local woman lives and learns

Airdrie Echo Anyssa Shakeri
Special to the Echo
Wednesday August 09, 2006

Airdrie Echo — Airdrie’s Anyssa Shakeri recently returned from Benin, West Africa, where she spent three months immersed in the Beninese culture, as she volunteered her time working with teachers and children.

I arrived in Benin May 2, 2006. The second I stepped off the plane I was thrust into a completely new land. First of all, everyone was speaking French. For a French immersion student, this should not be daunting; however, one thing I hadn’t realized is that the accents and the speed at which the people of French African countries speak make the language virtually incomprehensible. Luckily it only took me a couple weeks to get used to Beninese French.
The second most obvious challenge was the temperature. It was hot and humid and although I was lucky enough to arrive in the evening, I was still absolutely boiling the moment I stepped outside Cotonou’s airport. I quickly learned that there are only three weather scenarios in Benin: very hot and very humid; hot and humid; and hot and dry, which only occurs in the north.
The heat was something I truly struggled with, especially after growing up in Alberta – we don’t even know what hot is! I’m proud to say, however, that only a couple of months later I actually felt cold when the temperature went down to 20 C.
Within my first week in Benin I absolutely fell in love with the country. The people are the friendliest in the world – it is amazing how people on the street greet each other as if they are lifelong friends. Even more different is that you must shake hands with every single person, whether they are a new acquaintance or a good friend. It is considered rude not to shake hands with every single person. I learned that the hard way ...
With my previous experience in social and economic development, I had come to Benin looking to assist in community development. I was fortunate enough to stay with a Baha’i family, which had moved to Benin from Canada. This made my transition into the West African culture much easier.
The culture is quite different from anything I have ever seen. It is primarily a society of hard labour. I would see women, children and men all carrying heavy things, the women and young girls doing so primarily on their heads. It is truly amazing to see how much these women can carry! One day I saw a person who had close to 50 loaves of bread and various bottled drinks on a tray on her head.
The Baha’i community of Benin was very welcoming and quickly found projects with which I could help. I started out teaching classes for children in the city of Cotonou and neighbouring village, Calavi. These classes incorporate the arts into moral education.
It was a real shock for me to see the total lack of arts, such as crafts and painting, in the education system in Benin. Most of the children with whom I worked didn’t even know how to use scissors or glue. So it was great to be able to help them find their creativity!
I went into the village only a couple of times a week to do the classes. This was probably one of the most challenging activities I did, mainly because the people in the village of Calavi are some of the poorest in the nation. The living conditions aren’t that great and almost all of the women/mothers are illiterate. Many of the older folks don’t even speak French (they speak the dialect of the village, which is Fon).
Fortunately most of the children speak French, due to the public school system, so I could communicate with them. But just to give you an idea of how bad even the public school education is: one of my classes in Calavi had children aged 10-13. The majority of these children are in Grades 2-3 in public school. In this way it is really difficult to talk and teach about certain subjects, because everything we do in class must be extremely simplified.
Along with the classes for children, I also started a devotional and discussion group on Friday nights. These were based around a different theme each week. I tried to choose subjects that were relevant to African culture, such as the equality of men and women, harmony of science and religion and so forth. These were very successful and I had a great turnout at each Friday night gathering.
I also got the opportunity to go to the north of Benin to the city of Parakou. I was invited there to do training with teachers in arts and crafts, games and activities that could be incorporated in their lessons. While in Parakou I got the chance to actually live with a Beninese family. It was a great experience, since I had to eat the African food and live the African way. Although it was a little challenging at times, I finally got to fully experience the Beninese culture.
Despite the great challenges and trials, I consider this trip to be the best experience of my life. I have learned so much, not only about another culture, but also about myself. International travel and volunteering is an experience I hope that everyone can have.
For more information, everyone is welcome to attend my presentation about the trip later this week. Please contact me at: Esta dirección electrónica esta protegida contra spambots. Es necesario activar Javascript para visualizarla

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