busy, busy, busy

i have really kicked the research into high gear now and am constantly on the move. for example, this morning i visited the ministry of health and the largest national hospital in benin. this afternoon i went to the largest maternity hospital in benin, then the american embassy and would have continued on an internet cafe if the rain hadn't stopped me (rain is not to be underestimated here). basically from this point on i will be in a different city each week visiting hospitals, looking at records (or the lack thereof), and just generally hanging out at the hospital trying to see as many surgeries as possible. i'm loving it!

ever seen chickens and goats in church? i have! last sunday there was another baby dedication. there is a big dance line as women and the fathers bring offerings and the babies to the altar. usually it's just yams that they place at the altar, but last sunday i saw live chickens and even a goat! as with all baby dedications, there was much dancing and singing and general happiness. even the funerals here are regarded as a reason to celebrate. when an elderly person dies, the family holds a big dinner, hires a dj, and everyone hangs out, dances, and has a good time. there is no time to be sad.

next week i'm off to ouidah. it was one of the main ports through which slaves were shipped off. hopefully, i'll get to see more than just the hospital :o)

a la prochaine!

funerals and babies

last weekend i went to a funeral. a while ago, ida went to a funeral and come back home at noon drunk. noon! funerals here are not occasions to be sad but cause for celebration. they have big dinners and everyone is invited with certain branches of the family dressing in the same fabric (they buy the same fabric and everyone has it made however they want). you eat and talk and just have a good time with friends and family in remembrance of the person. there can be dancing and the party can go on all night. yes, party. i think it'd be great if we could adopt the same kind of mentality. however, i think it is only a celebration when an elderly person dies b/c they have lived a full life. as far as children go, i think their deaths are mourned.
in church sunday they had baby dedication. all the women (mothers) dance around the aisles of the church. they form a kind of congo line that goes around all the pews. church dancing here is not like church dancing even in black churches in the states. some of the dancing i have seen in church here i would expect to see in a night club, but it's all to God's glory, right? :o) they actually asked me why i dance so reservedly, but i just can't bring myself to go all out dancing in church no matter how good the music is. so the women dance around the church, the parents are each given a chance to speak and thank God for their new child, and each parent usually sings a song. the songs tend to be in Ibo (there are a lot of Nigerians) and some in English. after service, the parents host a reception for whomever wants to come. the parties just go on and on....

abomey/bohicon

abomey and bohicon were wonderful. wednesday we went to a village to see a women's collective. it was a group of women that have been meeting for the past 4 months and work together to produce soy cheese and cookies, etc to sell and they then share the profits. as we arrive the women are seated in a circle chanting and singing praises and welcome to us. they sang and greeted us. in the praises that they gave they said that we were of high quality. they said that if i were a motorcycle they would buy me b/c i am of such high-quality. they took turns dancing in the middle of the circle and invited me to join in. i danced with the women in the circle- african style i.e. lots of shoulder movements. as a sign of appreciation, they press money to ppl's foreheads. they did it to me! they said that i danced really well! it was wonderful. afterwards, i interviewed some of the women. to get to the hospital, it was a 20-30 minute walk and when in labor the women would sometimes go on bicycle (not them pedaling) or by motorcycle. however, if they had complications the closest reference hospital was 45 mins away by motorcycle. there was also a small health unit established by an ngo in the village. there were 3 beds and the delivery table was literally a wooden table. the facility was staffed by a nurse's aide with 2 apprentice nurse's aides to help her. a nurse visited 2-3 times a week. they had very few meds on hand, mostly just the most common meds to combat malaria, etc. when women have complications they are sent from that health facilty to the hopital de commune, but if the complications are serious and a cesarian is needed, the woman must then be referred again to the departmental hospital. all that transfer time is not good for either the mother or the unborn child...
the second village we went to was similar. before the meeting was called to order there was much singing and dancing. after interviewing the women, they actually gave me a present! it was so incredibly sweet! they gave me a glass globe with a revolving flower inside that makes music. the women here are so sincere and hopeful. they really make you want to help them. i wish that i were able to give them just some of the things that we take for granted in the US.

awesome morning!

this week i'm working in the maternity of the big reference hospital in cotonou. this morning i saw an endoscopy. they went in through the woman's belly button and made only 2 other holes in her abdomen. they filled the abdominal cavity with gas and inserted a camera. i saw her uterus, ovaries, fallopian tubes, intestines, everything! in full color! it was so awesome! tuesday, i saw the birth of twins! 2 little tiny baby boys. they were premature but otherwise in good health. (sigh) life is wonderful. next week i'm going back to bohicon to work with an ngo there and visit women in the surrounding villages. in april i start really traveling and will only be in cotonou for a couple weekends after the end of april. i'll be traveling all around the north working in hospitals, clinics, and visiting villages. i am on cloud 9 right now. i love Benin!

cultural differences

today while sitting in a hospital maternity waiting area the tv was playing american music videos. tupac's 'california love' came on. it was strange to look at the video then look at the mothers in the waiting area with their babies and small children. not only can they probably not understand a word of what he is saying but neither can they relate to the lifestyle portrayed in a such a video. this week i'm working in a catholic hospital that provides low-cost services. these women in most cases can barely afford to pay the minimum to keep their families healthy.
other strange things on tv:
a commercial for bathroom furnishings set to the song "here i am to worship" (?!)
a scooter commercial w/ Usher's "Yeah!" playing in the background. (you're too busy dancing to the song to look at the scooters)

spiders

so in general i am extremely proud of myself and how i've been adjusting to the continual prescence of spiders everywhere here. i even went so far as to kind of have a pet spider for a couple weeks. by that i mean that he was in my room and i did not immediately kill him at the first opportunity. as far as the little ones go, i've gotten to the point where i can kill them (mostly) without squealing and needing to call for help. the bigger ones (the size of a silver dollar and up) i still have trouble with but i'm managing. they are really flat and really really fast! i am now armed with insecticide though so i'm a serious force to be reckoned with. last night though i met my match. in fact, he bested me by far. i couldn't even put up a fight. i went to take a shower. looked up and on one of the wooden beams was the biggest spider i have ever seen in my entire life. it spanned from the base of my palm to the middle of my fingers. oh my goodness, i about passed out when i saw it. it wasn't even a question of killing him b/c he was entirely too big. i was torn between taking my shower as fast as i possibly could and keeping an eye on him to make sure he didn't move or try to get any closer to me. i tried to do both. then...he moved. and i squealed! i couldn't help it. all those legs and they were so long and oh it was horrible! i fled to my room as fast as i could but of course i was still on edge. i checked all over my room: lifting up my sheets to check between them and all over. still i kept feeling things all throughout the night. i know that it was just me and that there was not actually anything there but still. i woke up early this morning and when i went to take a shower my new friend was still in there, but in a new spot. i'm hoping he decides to move on soon or someone decides he has been there long enough b/c i honestly don't think i can do it myself. up until this past week, we had another guest in our shower. it was a female lizard that would sleep in one of the top corners each night. it was almost comforting to see her. i really appreciate the lizards and their contribution to keeping down the fly and spider populations. however, for some reason last week she stopped coming. i hope she's ok. i took some really great pics the other day of a lizard laying her eggs in the sand. i was maybe a foot away from her. she looked directly into the camera as i took the picture probably trying to figure out what in the world i was doing. gotta love the wildlife in benin!

my research

so my research is finally really and truly underway. in the mornings, i go to different clinics (one a week) and i observe appts, talk with the midwives and doctors, and interview women about their childbirth experiences. i'm really enjoying assisting with the exams and i even get to examine the women myself and listen to the fetal heartbeat. the problem is that there simply are not a lot of women that go to the private clinics b/c they are more expensive than the public hospitals. so now i'm trying to find a way to get into the hospitals. however, in benin everything is about who you know. so i have to find a way to get a connection. i'm still working on it but in the meantime things are progressing. last week i was invited back to a clinic at 11pm to see a birth. it didn't happen though. the woman had to have a c-section. so maybe next time. i have found a church here that i really really enjoy. the service is in English, French, and another language, maybe Fon maybe not. we dance and sing and the sermons are really good too. i have also started learning Fon! yay! it is easy in some ways and harder in others. for instance, there are no conjugations which is great, but they also use the same word with different pronunciation to mean different things. for example: jivi = knife or to give birth; ta = to turn on or head; yi = to go or "take this". there are about a million others. needless to say, i am a little overwhelmed. it's a great challenge though and really funny for my host family when i try to say something. :o)