Weekend November 19/22

Hey all, just wanted to share a bit about what I've been up to lately. Last weekend was a pretty event-filled couple of days.

Friday a few of us had the opportunity to visit the orphanage where our friend Katy (another resident of campus, from Germany) volunteers nearly everyday. When we arrived the older ones were still at school and it was bath time for the 1-3 year olds. So we got to help, and I had the job of getting them dressed. They were so unsure of all these white strangers, smiling at them and speaking to them in English.

One of the last children I dressed was named Dieudonné. He seemed very unsure of me at first, but when we walked outside to play he took my hand without hesitation. He sat on my lap for a bit, but I could not get him to look at me, let alone smile. We got out a mini parachute and some jump ropes and started to play with them, and with play most of their timidity evaporated. Despite not seeming to like me in the beginning, Dieudonné became my shadow for the rest of the time, either resting on my hip or pressing into my legs. Thankfully, I finally got him to smile; I tossed him into the air and his face did not look pleased at first, but when he was safely back in my arms he would giggle and wrap his little body around me in a bear hug. We only had a short visit to play with all of them, but it was definitely worthwhile.

The next day I had the chance to talk about the orphanage with Rod, the Journey

Corps director, who is essentially Ivoirian trapped in American skin. He isn't a huge fan of orphanages in Côte d'Ivoire. It goes against the very ideals of traditional ivoirian culture; no one is ever an true orphan because there is always a family member or neighbor to pitch in. In many of the ethnic languages here, there is no word for cousin because everyone is considered brother or sister, so not only do your parents raise you, but your aunts and uncles as well. If your parents are no longer alive or are not able to take care of you, there is someone else who steps up to take over. So these children should have had someone come forward to help care for them, but instead they've wound up in an orphanage.

Dieudonné and I

My visit to the orphanage has left me grateful, mostly that these children have a place to lay their heads at night and food to eat. But it has also left me feeling unsettled: What has happened that these childrens' families haven't taken the proper Ivoirian responsibility? And what could be done so that these children receive more love and mental stimulation so that they wouldn't be so developmentally behind?

The next day 2 of the other Journeyers (Holly and Alyssa) and I went alo

ng with Angelika (Rod's wife) to the Jour de Femmes, basically Women's Day for all of the churches from our association in the Bouaké area. It's a day of fellowship and worship for the ladies. There were some official greetings, a sermon given by one of the local pastors about worship, a potluck style lunch, a testimony given by one of the women, and throughout all of this there was worship by singing and dancing. The entire day was translated. First t

he person would speak in French and then another woman would translate into Dioula (the local trade language) because many of the women understand very little French, although most men in Bouaké understand French well. Then Angelika would translate for us. Some of the time, I could understand and translate for myself, which was pretty exciting.

Waiting for the Women's Day to start

The style of dancing is that of the Senefou people, one of the many ethnic groups in Côte d'Ivoire. A song is started by one or a couple women, the balafon players will join in (basically like a marimba with gourds attached to each note). The women will all join in the singing and most will go out to the middle and dance in a big circle. Often during these dances the women bend at their wastes and continue dancing hunched over. After watching it for one song I decided to join in. I just followed the woman in front of me, both her steps and the way she held her arms and body. It was so fun to worship God this way! And apparently I did ok, because when the song was over many of the women started grabbing my arms and holding them up in the air (their way of celebrating me, of saying Bravo!).

Giving Senefou dancing a try

Besides dancing, another part of the day that really impacted me was the amount of laughter. The ladies were constantly telling jokes, teasing one another and playfully bantering. Even though I didn't always understand the exact meaning of the jokes, it was impossible not to smile along, the ladies just had so much joy.

In all it was an eye opening weekend; this past week has had some notable moments as well, so should be posting something else soon!

Les petites différences

Salut et Bonjour (Hey and Good day!!)

Right now we have 6 weeks of training/learning/preparing and then we’ll be sent out in small groups to different villages to get involved in ministry. This involves a lot of learning about and trying to understand the culture and language, as well as the other members on our team.

To give you a better idea of what I'm seeing everyday, here’s a some things that characterize living here:

-Côte d’Ivoire runs on a different schedule. The latest you should get up is 6am. a ‘siest’ (like the Spanish siesta) occurs everyday from after lunch until 2:30 or 3. Doesn't necessarily have to be a nap, but at least something that keeps you out of the sun until until the worst of the afternoon heat passes. Dinner is at 7 most nights and people are in bed by 10.

-We live on a compound that was an International Christian school until the war. So there are days where we can almost forget we’re living in Africa. The reminders of Africa in the compound are more subtle: the many fruit trees around campus, the Ivorian employees and residents on campus, the food we eat, the heat. You need no reminders in town, Ivorian culture and language surrounds you.

-I see 8inch lizards outside about the same amount you’d see squirrels or pigeons and small lizards inside about same amount you’d see a pesky mouse.

-It takes less than one hand to count number of times I’ve eaten dairy here.

-The other morning it was in the low 80s and Nema, our Ivorian culture guide, says to me, “It’s cold today, no?”

-People are the most important thing here. Therefore, you always greet people, whether workers on campus or cashiers in stores and visitors are always welcome.

-The small back corner of our compound is inhabited by 15ish French military members. We don’t see them constantly, but about once a day they take off/land their helicopter on the soccer field.

-There are absolutely no street signs in town, so hopefully the landmarks you remember don’t change too often.

-The bank only gives money our in 10,000 CFA bills (the exchange rate is around $1=500CFA), so change is a rare commodity. In the market you’d better have exact change because they won’t give you back anything. In actual stores some people will still refuse to give change.

-Côte d’Ivoire is the top producer of cocoa and also produces a lot of coffee beans, yet finding chocolates or (non-instant) coffee is difficult.

-We are encouraged to be extremely introspective. We should have personal quiet time, a journal, a French/culture notebook. We have many opportunities to reflect, pray and read God’s word together.

So that was just a brief glimpse. More to come!

Á bientôt!! (‘See’ you soon!!)

En Afrique, a Bouaké

After saying a lot of goodbyes to friends and family, I left on October 24th for Denver and training. Training was an absolute whirlwind, jam-packed with a tons of information as well as meeting the other 9 journeyers. On Thursday (the 28th) morning, we left for Côte d'Ivoire. We arrived in Abidjan after 36 long hours of travel at 9:30pm. We spent the first night in Abidjan and left early the next morning for Bouaké. We got to Bouaké in time for a late lunch and then got a tour of our new home: Village Baptiste!! Village Baptiste is actually an former boarding school campus, known as International Christian Academy before la guerre (the civl war).

I'm sorry that I'm only giving you a basic overview of the last week. I am truly tongue tied when I try to think of what to say here (hard to believe I know). To tell you what these days have been like, what Côte d'Ivoire has been like, what JourneyCorps has been like so far, it feels almost impossible. Right now I feel like a sponge, soaking up all I can and I haven't started to process it yet. I guess that will have to come later.

So let me try to answer the rest of the basics:

There are 10 journeyers, 3 guys: Chazz, Jason, and Devin and 7 ladies: Heidi (my roommate), Steph, Naomi, Jamie, Holly, Alyssa, and I.

Our directors are Rod and Angelica Ragsdale. Rod is American and Angelica is German, both are veteran missionaries in West Africa. People describe Rod as an 'Ivorian with white skin' and he and Angelica were some of the only missionaries who stayed during the war. They are amazing, so willing to teach and disciple us. There are also 3 leaders who were here preparing for us and 3 leaders who came over with us and will only be staying a week.

There are Ivoirians who work and live on campus. Nema is here to teach us about culture. She is 28 and speaks English, French, and Dioula (the local language).

The weather here is hot and humid. It's rained nearly every day, not a light sprinkle but big boisterous thunderstorms.

I've been remembering more french than I thought I would, which is exciting. We all practice on each other as much as we can. Ivoirians speak quickly and with a very different accent so it might take a while for me to get used to.

The internet is limited and slow. I will try to get on as often as possible, hopefully a couple times a week, at least for now. I would love any contact though, and will write back when I can!!

I hope I can get on again soon to give more details!!!