Oh Peonga

Welcome to Peonga!

The best village in Benin ;-) and my home for 2 years.

Peonga is a small village located deep in the Borgou department of Benin. Though there’s no running water, electricity, or solid phone service, it makes up for these things with culture, heart, and insanely beautiful people.

I live in a small concrete house with two rooms, an outdoor shower area, and a latrine over yonder ;-) I love it. Here’s a sort-of tour:

Room 1:Kitchen/sitting room.

Room 1:Kitchen/sitting room

Room 2: Bedroom. Where the magic happens ;) (...but actually not at all).

Still the bedroom :P

The shower. Also where I collect rain water, do dishes, and do laundry.

The concession... outdoor space shared with another local family.

My latrine is that little building up there... I almost always make it in time.

So there you have it! My little home.

...What else?
Oh! I also have a roommate:

His name is Twigston. He's pretty great. Loves helping me with laundry :D

Okay. Work. Peonga has a small health center with 5 full time employees: the head of the center, a pharmacist, and three aids… and now, me! There is also a small Fulfulde (the local language) primary school, French primary and secondary school. Since I've moved here, I’ve been working a lot with the health center and the secondary school, as well as taking Fulfulde lessons and trying to improve my French….  I’ll try to post a blog with more deets on all these things soon!

Peonga is small, but it does have one restaurant place that (oh heeeeeeyyy!) sells cold drinks on Sundays! Sundays are our market days, and my new favorite day of the week. There is a strong Fulani influence in this region, so our markets are especially colorful; full of beautiful scarves, fabrics, handmade jewelry, and SOJA. Soja is a tofu-ish food that is SO darn good, and always a welcome change from my “all carb diet” the rest of the week.

As far as transportation goes, most of us in Peonga just walk everywhere. In order to leave, I take my bicycle or a zemidjan (a motorcycle)((sorry Mom & Dad...)), and if I’m going to the city I take a bush taxi. It’s…. usually a tight fit :P

There are four seasons chez moi: Rainy season, Petit Chaleur (a short hot season), Harmattan (a super dry, dusty, and kind of chilly season), and Chaleur (the omgIthinkI’mgoingtodieit’ssohot season). We are currently finishing up Chaleur, and lemme tell ya, it was no joke. Arizonans: picture summer in Phoenix with no AC, fans, or refrigerator. Iyiyiyi!

Even though each day here has its own unique set of challenges, I feel really lucky to be where I’m at. I've made some great friends in Peonga, have an awesome support system within the Peace Corps, and a solid influx of letters and packages from family and friends back home. Who could ask for more? :-)