sunsets

by the Basilica...

from the porch at the office (usually a bad sign if you are still there for the sunset...)

not so much a sunset, but still pretty... a dam-made lake

fat African babies do exist

Here is the African child I'll be adopting...

(He obviously wants to come to the US... or Disneyland)

There are generally 2 reactions young kids have to me here. A good portion start crying and running away when they see a white person coming their way. The rest are like this kid, cautiously curious. He is the grandson of the owner of an restaurant I often go too; the family was close to my former roommate and adopted me as well. We started out with a hand wave but every time I visit he comes closer and closer. Now he'll sit on my lap and I think by the time leave he might actually smile or talk.

so cute

what do you call these things...

rebels with minnie mouse hats

This past week I visited our office in Man, in the western part of the country. It is a beautiful area: hilly and lush. I had all intentions of hiking and seeing the mountains a little closer (there are supposedly tons of wild orchids), but I was derailed by too many late nights of drinking whiskey with the staff ... I did see a family of monkeys on my runs though. Here's the view from the office steps:
This area is known for its production of cocoa and coffee. Côte d'Ivoire is one of the world's largest producers of cocoa but since all of it is exported and processed elsewhere, most of the chocolate here is imported. This is where chocolate comes from:

Coffee...

Anyway... western Côte d'Ivoire has seen a lot of strife. It is close to the border with Liberia, which experienced years of civil war. Liberians fleeing that conflict often came to CI (where they were generally not welcomed by suspicious locals) and the Ivorian government even sponsored and trained rebel fighters here to fight against Charles Taylor. So when CI had its crisis in 2002 rebel fighters, doing what they do best, poured into the area. One of the managers explained it best to me, rebels here are generally not tied to a cause or an idealogy. They are often young, uneducated, they just fight. Apparently, there are still a lot of rebels in Man. One night we visited a local rebel hang out, a really popular maquis where the DJ gave us shout outs every 5 minutes. This is where I saw a guy with the minnie mouse skull cap.

So the influx of rebel fighters brought the government forces and there was a lot of fighting. In the city of Man, the destruction is evident: bullet holes in the walls, skeletons of looted buildings waiting to be rehabbed. Staff here tell me there were villages completely emptied. One thing my organization has done is to create comités de paix, peace committees representing different factions of the villages. At a community meeting I attended, villagers took turns speaking their minds, give their préoccupations et doléances. Almost everyone mentioned how much they lost during the fighting here.
It baffles my mind a little too, because I know in terms of African civil conflicts, Côte d'Ivoire is one of the lucky countries. The fighting here was relatively short lived here, compared to places like DRC or Sierra Leone or Liberia. And yet the devastation is so blatant and the rebuilding so prolonged...

So while I was in Man, I was out in the field everyday (yeah!) and I learned a little about some of our other programs. A lot are youth focused, for example we train and support youth in micro-enterprises like opening their own coiffure:

or chicken house:

or café named the Far West Gang:

These are actually really cool, inspiring projects. Although they don't affect huge numbers of people, it is a big deal for the youth that are involved. For example, the young men who started the salon have, in less that year, already opened a women's salon next door and are doing petit commerce in their store front. Projects like this, that invest in the youth and help villages rebuild themselves, are always good. Multiple people, both staff and beneficiaries, commented to me how even just the presence of NGOs has helped this area: people feel more confident to return, there is help rebuilding institutions like schools and health centers. Petit à petit, l'oiseau fait son nid.

week in Man..

Just got back from a week in Man, a city in western Côte d'Ivoire where our biggest office is and most programs are based. Will write more and add pics soon, but I had a good time. So much so that the admin ass't here in Yamoussoukro commented that I gained weight over the trip... ouch.

my weekend...

I was really excited this weekend to be offered a chance to visit Bouaké, which is the second largest city in Côte d'Ivoire and was the seat of the rebel forces during the crisis. It's about an hour or so north of Yamoussoukro and they have a huge market (my real reason for going...) On the way I noticed this: If you look closely there is a nerdy guy with glasses, that must be Bill Gates. This is actually a school for teachers and I wonder if it has any connection to the real Bill Gates, but I doubt it. Anyway these were my finds in Bouaké: (I'm going to have to leave all my clothes here so I can bring back all the fabric I'm buying...)

Then Sunday, day of rest by the pool at the Hotel President... aka avoiding writing my practicum paper...

pagne Baoulé

Baoulé is one of the largest ethnic groups in Côte d'Ivoire, mainly concentrated in the center of the country, which is where I also live. Historically, they are part of the Akan tribe that settled here from Ghana a few hundred years ago. They're a well established ethnic group, in fact many of the ruling politicians were/are Baoulé. They are also well known for their woven cloth, pagne Baoulé.

Leaving Yamoussoukro and heading north into the districts were we work, there are tons of weavers (always boys and men, I've never seen a girl do it) on the side of the road:
They sit in these loom/contraptions and weave ~5 inch wide swaths of fabric.
The swaths are then sewn together to make the pagnes. Here are the ones I've bought (so far...)
They are pretty heavy (when I was sick I used one as a blanket) but a lot of people here use them to make clothes (which I can't imagine because it seems like it be really hot).
This is my favorite because it is made from a bunch of different swaths. It's like a leftover piece but I think it's the coolest.

more pagne

This one has kinda dragon looking like things: Cool colors:

This one reminds me of fruit:

MJ

These are the minibuses that people use to travel between here, Burkina Faso, Mali and all over. I think I've mentioned before, a lot of the commercial cars and trucks are decorated with pictures and sayings. These passenger cars often have pictures of famous soccer players on them, I've seen a lot with Obama, and then today: Michael Jackson! From the looks of it, this could have been an Obama bus, redone w/ Michael Jackson...

out and about in Yamoussoukro

Much love to our US President