Something to Be Thankful For

We have been living in Benin for less than six months, and it is interesting to reflect back and see how we have already changed—and what we have to be thankful for.
It was not until we arrived here that we realized just how well we live back in the States. It’s easy to take for granted the little things, like free public education and a civil service and law enforcement that isn’t rife with endemic corruption. Kids in Benin regularly wake up at 5:00am on a school day to do homework then housework before going off to school, then come home and cook and clean before going to bed at 11:00 at night. School costs money, and if Moms does not make enough money selling rice and beans outside the front door and Pops is a degenerate drunken Zem driver with a second family somewhere else, kids sometimes have to pick up a job cleaning houses or working at the marché to pay their school fees, which are something like $20 a year; or even worse, having to work as an apprentice for free because you cannot afford school fees, like the 10-year old apprentice to the 14-year old man-boy barber who cuts my hair for sixty cents (ages are approximate). Corrupt police set up checkpoints along the only major road in the country to force taxi drivers into supplementing their income, usually right in front of a roadside stand that peddles pilfered Nigerian gasoline at a discounted rate.
There are great things here, though. It’s great to wake up early before it gets really hot and walk down the dirt road and salue the Mama’s setting up their makeshift food stands (or walking around with various assorted goods on their heads), to see the joy and surprise on their faces when the Yovo greets them with a cheerful “A fon gonji a!” or greeting our neighbors with a quick “bonjour” and “bonne journée” as they walk their motos out the gate to leave for work. Little things are fulfilling, like when my work partner treats me to a satisfactory “Voila!” as I begin to slowly figure out what is going on around me. Making those personal connections is one of the most important parts of this experience.
Thanksgiving is about being appreciative of the little things, but also of the big things, like family and friends. We left behind family and friends in Arizona, California, and Texas to come on this little journey and we couldn’t be more thankful for their love, wisdom, and support, and we are thankful for our new extended family here, from our host family in Porto-Novo, Embassy staff, our Beninese neighbors, and, of course, our fellow PCVs.
To our family, here’s to you on this Thanksgiving. We have much to be thankful for.