Benin Best

Benin Best

This trip to Benin, I made as a volunteer for PUM. PUM is a Dutch organization which provides entrepreneurs advice for development of their businesses. The volunteers share their knowledge for free.

As a former entrepreneur PUM sends me to projects in Africa or Asia. The missions vary, sometimes educating marketing & management skills, sometimes short-term consultancy, among other advice. This time, Benin.

The mission I’m about to execute is as follows. I’m going to teach marketing for a few weeks at a College which provides technical education and vocational training. This college is in northern Benin, in Parakou. There are at about 650 students – aged 18 to 20 – there.

The CPET (Collège Privé d’Enseignement Technique – Private College of Technical Education) DON BOSCO in Parakou, Benin is one of the professional training centers run and staffed by the Catholic order of the Salesians of Don Bosco. This order was founded in the late 19^th century by an Italian priest Saint John Bosco. Their goal is to help poor children. Education plays a large part in this.

All over the world the Salesians have a network of over 60 colleges and universities. Next to this they exploit numerous kind of orphanages where they take in left, stray and beg children. Goal is to help them getting their life back on track.

First I fly to Paris. From here there are several flight to former French colonies. After about 6 hours the plane touches down in a very hot Cotonou, Benin. I am welcomed by Frejus. He and driver Hamidou take me to my overnight stay.

Because I’m a guest of the Don Bosco organization I will sleep in their Cotonou headquarters. A big church, some small buildings behind the church. Here, in a modest monk cabin I spend the night. No airco. A dated blower moves the hot air around. Not much sleep that night…

After breakfast in the family room I wander around. Have a look at the big church. There is a mass about to start. Many believers dressed in colorful clothes. Frejus and Hamidou show up to take me to the north, to Parakou. From now on the talking is in French. Do I mind if a teacher of the college joins us for the ride? Immediately I respond; ‘Pas de problèm!’

A seven hour drive. We stop for a lunch. The people from the restaurant seem to know my accompanies. Probably this is their favorite lunch stop. Always everywhere in Africa people seem to know each other. They deal with each other in a family-like way.

No toilet. You have to pee somewhere in the bush behind the place. Where? N’importe quoi!

In Parakou they take me to the Don Bosco conference center. The official name of the center is ‘Centre Pastoral Guy Riobe’. There are class rooms, a library, a big hall and cabins to stay. My cabin is a little more spacious than the one in Cotonou. Airco included this time. The complex is guarded by a young guy named Elie. Elie is married, two children. He earns at about 36 dollar per month.

Next day (Sunday) Father Marco Diaz picks me up to get acquainted. We go to the modest talking room next to the place the Salesians live. Father Diaz runs the College CPET together with other Salesian brothers. But he is the first among equals. I tell him that I’m not really a teacher and hope to contribute a little. He puts me at ease. ‘Just the fact you came all the way to visit us is already enough.’

Brother Christoffe shows me around in Parakou. A little culture museum about local history. Not much visitors here. The museum is especially opened for us. Dust is visible here and there. Next to the museum there’s a cage with a crocodile inside… We visit the lively market. A lot of people buying and selling stuff.

Back in the conference center I sit outside. Guard Elie comes to talk. I give him a pen, saying ‘small gift’. He reacts ‘Small gifts don’t exist. When your friend catches a rat he gives you a leg. But when he catches an elephant he will give you a leg too.’ Benin wisdom.

Monday morning 8 o’clock. All 650 students lined up in several groups. The hoisting of the flag. The national anthem is sung. Father Marco Diaz introduces me. Speaking French I introduce myself. Then we pray and ask the blessing for the week. Work starts. I walk around to get an impression. The technical classes are practical. Learning by doing. I sense a very high motivation among the students.

There’s also an indoor job office manned by some job counselors. We talk about employment opportunities. It highly helps when your education took place here. ‘At last every one of our students is employed. Half of them finds a job. The other half we advise to start their own business.’

Hamidou the driver and staff member Mathieu show me some companies where the students practice their knowledge. Car and other technical businesses. Interesting to visit. This is a poor country. Most equipment is second hand. A few times a day electricity stops. Still people are optimistic. No one is complaining.

Time for the first marketing lesson. During my stay I give a total of 14 lessons to this class. The students note everything down. They are very interested. My French is not always perfect. One of the students speaks a little English. Now and then he translates a word. However the message gets across.

Apart from marketing they want to know all about life in Europe. And they complain about the corruption on all government’s levels in their country. What to do to stop that? They are fully aware the better your government position the more benefits for your family. We exchange addresses and they all befriend me on Facebook. Picture time after that.

Christoffe takes me to the only bar annex restaurant here. Outside off course, life is lived outside in this hot country. We are served a beer by the lovely Delfine. Christoffe is a regular at this bar. He knows the servants very well, greets the other regulars.

Christoffe is not the most talkative man. When he hears most people in my country don’t visit church that much, except for highlight days like Christmas he starts laughing ‘and they call themselves believers?!’.

Breakfast for me at the conference center is prepared by Eugène. Lunch and dinner I take at the Salesian complex. This is quite a place. Besides a big church there all kind of buildings here. Small cottages to live in, a central family/dinner room, a garage and a partly hidden small usine or something like that. Is this perhaps the place where the Brothers brew beer or a nice liqueur?

So every evening Father Marco, the other Salesian Brothers and I dine together at their place. A cook takes care of the dinner. One time I leave a copy of ‘Jeune Afrique’ – kind of ‘Time magazine’ for Africa – on the table. The Brothers are very interested. I don’t know who took it but it disappeared in no-time.

One evening a guest joins us. It’s Brother Gérard, originally from the Netherlands. He is in transit to his parish in the very north of Benin, close to the border with Niger and Burkina Fasso. For almost 55 years now, he’s been living in Africa. He is happy to talk to a fellow Dutchman again. When he speaks his native language however it sounds a little rusty.

After dinner we drink a glass of wine together to celebrate he succeeded in buying the right second-hand four wheel drive car. He waited long for this opportunity. But waiting, he adds, is a part of African life. That’s why the African people are the most patient people on earth.

A small excursion. We visit a library. It’s more like a living room. A lot of books but a little gone glory. No government funding at all. We are shown around in the Institut Français de Parakou. Among other activities you can study French here. Also French expats visit the place.

Another library. Surprise! A very big, three floor modern library. A lot of young people reading magazines, searching books and use the library as a get together. Crowded. The enthusiastic staff is very proud of the Caeb (Conseil des Activités Educatives du Bénin – Council of Educational Activities of Benin) Parakou Bibliothèque. The library is funded by a French foundation called Fondation Vallet.

The terrace café again. Drinking a beer together with Christoffe. Two beggars approach. A little annoyed Christoffe gives them some coins muttering ‘Caritas caritas’.

Next day I leave the conference center. From now on I stay in hotel ‘Le Presidio’. Father Marco Diaz negotiated the hotel costs. The price of everything you buy or use here is subject to negotiations. Why this transfer from the conference center to this hotel? That remains a mystery. This is Africa!

Nice room, airco also. The tap is dripping but that’s fixed. Next to the hotel is a night club. From the hotel it’s only a short walk to the Salesian complex. When I sit a moment before the hotel two students recognize me and come to shake my hand.

Mathieu picks me up. I sit behind him on his moped – the most used transportation here. It must have been years and years that I sat on a moped. We drive all around Parakou. He shows me his old school, the center, the markets. We meet his mother and have a drink with his wife in his house. He gives me a few copies of a book he wrote. This book (in French) is about the Benin presidential elections of 2016. Title: ‘Whom do we entrust the power?’ by Mathieu Akpo Adjanou.

There is no breakfast room in the hotel – let alone a breakfast buffet. The very nice lady of the hotel suggests scrambled eggs. She then returns with a small tin of sardines. Would I like it with the eggs? Later I enjoy it in the lobby.

Father Marco takes me to an eye hospital. This hospital also serves patients from neighboring countries. Although most equipment here is not new at all, the place looks clean and efficient. Sometimes people walk days to get here. Because of the bright light of the African sun people suffer from trachoma (eye disease) more than in less sunny parts of the world. A nice doctor from Ivory Coast shows us around. Upon hearing I’m from the Netherlands he grabs my arm and says: ‘If you ever have an eye problem, make sure to go to the Rotterdam eye hospital, because it’s the best in the world.’

We visit the General Hospital of Parakou. Outside on the green people are preparing food for family members who are patient in the hospital. Young surgeon in training Simplice shows us the place. Most equipment is dated. The same goes for the beds and the sheets. There is shortage of some medicines. The hospital is big and crowded. Next to the main building there are several other departments.

Simplice is very sympathetic and very talkative. He is in his second year. Most of the study he as to pay by himself, he does some other work to earn money and his parents support him. He is a firm believer in the Catholic faith.

Later, home again I keep in touch with Simplice. We chat. He tells me he likes this young nurse. He hopes God will provide to meet her. I suggest he invites her for a cup of coffee, saying ‘God needs a little help sometimes’. He follows my advice. They meet and love grows. They marry in November 2020 and invite my wife and me; regrettably we couldn’t go due to the worldwide corona crisis.

Back in the hotel I walk the streets of Parakou. There’s much to see. On every corner people sell all kind of things. Young guys overhearing the trade language. That’s the way to learn how to negotiate!

These trade people spend long days waiting for customers. Mostly they are surrounded by family and friends. Chatting a little makes the waiting easier. And patience is a virtue they all dispose of to a large extent.

No gas stations here. Fuel you buy in a plastic bottle.

Porto Novo (Portuguese; ‘New Port’) is the official capital. It is Benin’s second-largest city. We check in in the local Don Bosco headquarters. There is a big shelter home for children of the street. They are educated, fed and taken care of.

Dinner then. After a local aperitif – orange apple liqueur – we are served a nice fish dish. Early in the evening I am introduced to the street kids, mostly teenagers and a few younger ones. At about 120 in all. They sing a religious song for us. To thank them I shake each and every one the hand.

Next morning no water from the tap. There are plastic water bottles , obviously mend for cases like this. Using this water I shave. It’s a new experience. Hamidou brings a water can but I’m already finished shaving. Thanks though!

Today we look around in the educational department. Located close to the headquarters. The children learn all kind of stuff. Among them off course language and calculation. But a lot is learning by doing. Fixing things that are broke, painting, cleaning – things to make money with. I am deeply impressed by the motivation of the Salesians teachers. They do a terrific job.

A visit to an agricultural project, 20 miles from town. Teenagers learning all about farming. I suggest the pupils show us around. The boss is not amused but they may. We see the farm. The pupils are enthusiastic. They learn to be independent. Do the cooking, make the beds, learn to live together. A farm cat walks by. I ask for his name. He has no name. I say ‘Why not call him Monty’. Monty, Monty, the pupils yell. After some coconut juice we leave.

For a start we visit the ethnographic museum. Nice displays of tribes of Benin in the past and now-a-days. The Voodoo Temple is impressive. I use the English word ‘Voodoo’; here it’s called ‘Vodùn’. Most Benin people believe in more than one religion. So you can be a Catholic and still believe in the Voodoo rituals.

A big temple on a square surrounded by smaller temples. A holy tree. In the middle of the square sometimes sacrifices are made, like food and flowers. In the corners several old television screens are piled up. Why? To remind us: the Voodoo Gods see everything.

Other highlights include the Royal Palace, the monument for slaves who returned from Brazil and some large markets. In the middle of town there’s a statue of Toffa the First, a King of times gone by.

A must see is the old Brazilian Church. It was built by the freed slaves who returned to their ancestral home in the 18^th century. The elaborately decorated buildings demonstrate a unique blend of Brazil and West-African architectural legacy.

Today we visit Cotonou. After some searching we reach the DON BOSCO children’s shelter home. We are shown around. More or less the same as in Porto Novo. Lot of education. The children’s dormitory; a hall, in the center a closet with sleeping mats, otherwise empty.

In the Catholic faith there are a lot of days they honor Saints or celebrate a memory. Today happens to be may 24^th. On this day Catholics dedicate the mass to Our Lady Help of Christians. It’s a tradition all children get a small gift on this day. It is a pleasure to join this mass.

While Porto Novo is a city with a lot of history and historical buildings, Cotonou is the seat of the government. So the presidential palace is here, a lot of ministries and embassies.

Some more sightseeing. Outside the center, towards the beach we visit a very poor part of the city. People here live their lives day by day. You don’t always know whether you will have something to eat the other day.

On the beach some hotels are located. We stroll along the sea. Strange view, a big crashed – but not that damaged – airplane on the beach. For some souvenirs we visit the Artisenat. A lot of the same shops on the same spot. I buy a few beautiful carved sandal wood figurines.

A last drink with Father Marco and driver Hamidou before they take me to the airport. It’s a small airport with only few flights a day. All passengers for Air France have to wait outside. We all stand in line till our plane arrives. Only then we may enter.

Everyone is chatting nicely to each other. No one complains about waiting outside. After all, waiting is an integral part of life in Africa…

This trip was made in 2017.

If you have any thoughts or questions feel free to leave a comment!

 africa culture