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Archive for the ‘Beninese culture’ CategoryRob, Lois and family leave Benin this week after four years working there… Yes, it’s hard to believe that much time has passed so quickly, or that we’re already leaving this country which we’ve come to know and love. We return to the UK for a few months then back to West Africa, but not to Benin. Guess we’ll have to change the name of the blog now (any suggestions?) We face going back to the UK with trepidation; having spent so long here, Britain feels like a foreign culture to us now. Furthermore, Britain has moved on and changed in the past 4 years like we have, so re-adapting will be an ‘interesting’ process. Furthermore, we are very sad to leave behind all the adventures and fun of Africa, not to mention the many friends we have made here.
This is a collage of just some (but by no means all) of the amazing, talented, interesting and just plain nice people we have got to know whilst living in Benin. We have worked with them, prayed with them, laughed with them, eaten with them, jammed with them, travelled with them, partied with them and become attached to them. Some left months ago, others very recently. Still others we leave behind in Benin. But we thank God for all of them and hope to stay in touch and meet again some day. Goodbye Benin friends Goodbye zemidjans Goodbye Fon speaking Goodbye home of amazing polyrhythms Goodbye Land Rover driving on dirt roads Goodbye dramatic thunderstorms Goodbye Fulani cheese and lush, juicy mangos Goodbye bustling, colourful markets Goodbye sunshine Goodbye Cotonou Goodbye Benin When the comedienne Victoria Wood visited Ghana a while back she commented that “God seems to be everywhere in Ghana.” The same could be said of Togo and Benin… Below are a few examples we’ve encountered here. TL: The “Christ Bar Café” in Ganhi, Cotonou TR: The “God’s Gift Phone Center” in Fidjrossè, Cotonou, BL: The “Good God Barberings Saloon” (and phone box?!) in Lomé, Togo and finally, BR: A Ghanaian lorry passing through reminding us to “Give thanks to God”.
One thing I love about being here is that people are open to talking about God and about spiritual matters in general. In fact, most Beninese believe in a creator God of some kind, be it a Muslim one (Allah), a voodoo one (Mawu-Lissa) or the Jewish/Christian one (God!) So you can say you’re a Christian (or any other religion) without anyone looking at you like you have two heads or are some kind of freak. That’s nice and is sadly not always the case any more in the West. When I met the King of Allada a while back (see post here) he talked of a cohabitation pacifique between the religions of Benin and that is generally the case here. I was, however, quite surprised to find that God is even involved in the manufacture of petrol pumps these days:
Nice one! Let’s hope it’s unleaded, eh? Recently, someone has been sticking Bible verses to all the traffic light posts in town. (Interesting to read while you’re stopped there trying to ward off all those salesmen and beggars!!) Again, due to the tolerance between religions here, nobody has defaced of ripped any of them down. Maybe we could learn a lesson from the Beninese in this domain…
…because they now have the whole Bible in their own language for the first time ever. Remember this bloke I recently posted.
This is what the t-shirts looked like at the Dedication Ceremony of the Lokpa Bible, on 17th May 2008 in Gahounga, central Benin. The words are taken from Joshua 1:8, the whole of which says:
I couldn’t be there for the ceremony, but my colleague, Marianne, was there and took plenty of great photos and also this video of the ladies singing: Great music for the occasion, which is almost bound to be the case in this part of the world. Here are some more musical photos. TL: some traditional floor-standing drums, TR: a lady playing metal castanets, BL: a gourd shaker (with shells, buttons or beads on a net around the outside) and BR:the pressure drum - ubiquitous in northern Benin and Togo - (also known as the talking drum or armpit drum), which changes pitch as you squeeze it:
I got hold of a copy of the Lokpa Bible the other day and had a look through.
Nice! Want to see what it looks like inside. Here you go, have a butchers:
Thanks for reading!
…looks like this:
Not all of the city is this bad, but this particular section - next to marshland near Fidjrossè - is frequently bad at this time of the year. As you’ll realize from the video, I was on the back of a zemidjan when I filmed it, and I certainly got my feet wet! Ideally, either concrete barriers need building at either side of the road (where the marsh is) or even better, the whole section of the road needs raising by a couple of feet. Yours a tad drenched! R The other day, I caught a lift with this zem driver:
Interesting headgear, don’t you think? As it’s rainy season, the weather is a tad cooler than normal (down to the plummeting depths of 25 Celcius!) so he’s probably wearing this to keep his head warm (rather than a fashion statement!) Fashion really does not exist here in the same way as it does back home; you can wear almost any colour or style of clothing and nobody will comment on how ‘uncool’ or ‘too loud’ it is. This is particularly consoling for an individual such as myself, who tends to gravitate towards the lurid and psychedelic when it comes to shirts! That’s all for now… The unusual thing about this man is that he’s SMILING for the photo.
It’s usual for West Africans to smile for photos; even at a wedding, it would be quite rare to see the bride and groom smiling for the camera. This is not because they are unhappy, it’s just not part of the culture to smile in photos. Here are a few examples of people I have photographed ‘not smiling’:
Anyone know why this is the case? I tried googling the question ‘Why don’t Africans smile in photos’ and nothing concrete came up! Of course, there are cases of Africans smiling in photos (like the guy at the start), but this is more the exception than the rule. Having a yovo point a camera at you and enthusiastically say ’smile!’ sometimes works, I’ve found! Finally, the reason blokey at the top there is smiling is because - for the first time ever - he’s holding a copy of the Bible in his own language (Lokpa) and was unable to contain his joy at this. The dedication of the Lokpa Bible took place a couple of months ago (blog post on this to follow shortly). Thanks for reading!
…but maybe not quite like this one:
This is Le Marché Dantɔkpa, which means beside the water … and it is! It can be a tad dangerous at Dantɔkpa (remember this post), so take as few valuables as possible and be aware of people around you. Even taking photos can be risky, and sometimes annoys folk. That said, I managed to sneak some with a small camera recently, so here are a few of them:
Oh, and the mystery meat I recently posted (here) was, in fact RAT! Yes, it’s quite a delicacy here, thought I’ve never tried it! So, that’s Dantɔkpa - not quite the same as a market back home, but nonetheless a very rich and vibrant place to visit. Now onto the world market thing…I was transcribing the words of a Fɔn song used in a local church the other day, and it began like this: Gleta we gbɛ fí nyi loooo Have a listen and follow along: fon-market-song-extract.mp3 Nice, eh? I love all her inflections and folky rubato. Here’s what it means: Life down here is like a field (looooo), the world is like a market which comes to life too. And so, we do not know at what moment the hour will chime. It’s basically a statement on human mortality and that, as life begins, so it ends and we must be ready for when we meet our maker. Here’s some tasty meat for sale at Dantokpa Market in Cotonou. Who can tell me which animal was it when it was alive?
(NB Not to be confused with the ear & snout I mentioned in this post) There’s not an awful lot to do in Cotonou at the weekend, so sometimes one has to improvise…
Actually, this photo was taken at the Fondation Zinsou, Cotonou’s best (and only?) art gallery. The gallery is in Ganhi, not far from Notre Dame Cathedral.
Entry is free and the whole place is air-conditioned. Also, there’s a nice (if slightly overpriced) tea room, which does tasty cakes and good tea (even Earl Grey). There were some interesting photos from Africa and other parts of the world on display when we went…and then there was the dressing up room! By the way, there is one extra person in our family in the photo above - anyone know who it is? Can you identify all five Bakers too?? Incidentally, if you’re looking for things to do in Benin, then I stumbled upon this site, which has some good ideas. That’s all for now. |
