Une Promenade à Korhogo

(This was actually written yesterday afternoon)

Just got back from an exploratory morning in Korhogo. We left Bouaké early Tuesday morning, and have been getting acquainted with the town since arriving about 3 hours later. We’re staying at a guest house on the IBB campus (Institute Biblique á Bethel, the same place we stayed at for our trip in late December). We’ve spent the last 2 days visiting the pastors of different churches, visiting our churches’ radio station, and wandering over different parts of town.

This morning there wasn’t a specific place we had to visit, so Naomi, Alyssa, and I decided to take a long walk to give ourselves an unofficial tour of another part of Korhogo. We walked past the grand mosquée and eventually got to a bustling market. Women were speaking Dioula and Senefou as they sold vegetables and other merchandise. We were quite a spectacle, 3 white girls wandering around is not a usual sight, but many people seemed pleasantly surprised when we’d greet them the Ivorian way: Bonjour! Ça va?... I need to work on my Dioula and Senefou so that I can greet in an even more Ivorian way.

We continued walking until we got to the Koko l’eglise, which is the church I’ll be attending. When visiting on Tuesday we’d gotten there by Land Rover, so we hadn’t realized that there was water right across the street. There is a barrage or dam that’s created quite a large body of water, but to be honest I don’t know what people here call it, whether a lake or something else. We walked for a ways over the barrage; it was a busy path, with motos, bikes, and people, but not big enough to have a car go across it. It was beautiful, the water was on our left side, with a breeze coming up off of it to cool us, and to the right there were small plots of lush, green, irrigated farmland. Such a contrast to the dusty roads and dead plants that are rampant in the rest of the town. On our way back into the main commercial area of town we stopped at Café Express La Grande Mosquée, a place to sit and escape the sun for a bit. We were hoping for some cokes, but we thankfully ended up with three omlette sandwiches and waters instead (only cost 675F, which is around $1.35 for all three of us!). We sat enjoying our food and talking about how crazy it is that very soon we will hopefully be able to take the same walk and everything will be familiar.

This Sunday the 6 of us here in Korhogo will break up into our pairs and head to our different churches to be formally introduced to the congregation. Thankfully Koko is having a joint service this Sunday (more often they have one service in French and another in Senefou, but this Sunday the entire church will be together). Then Monday through Wednesday we’ll have an orientation for the pastors of our churches, our families and us, so that they know why we’re here, figure out some of the expectations we all have and we’ll also get to know each other a little bit better. On Wednesday afternoon, we’ll head home with our families and will start moving in to our new homes, churches, neighborhoods, and ministries.

Things are a-changing!!

I can barely believe it but this is my last weekend living in Bouaké! Next week is the beginning of the next (and main) phase of the JourneyCorps program.

These last few months have been the training and learning phase, where the 10 of us Journeyers lived on the ICA campus together and taken classes on everything from conflict resolution to culture to traditional African religion to French and Dioula. We have served together, we’ve attended local churches and stayed with Ivorian families, we’ve studied the bible and prayed together. We’ve gotten sick together, gotten homesick together, celebrated birthdays and holidays, stumbled through translation together, resolved some conflicts, and laughed a lot together. These last few months have been God-saturated and so much of it has to do with the people He’s surrounded me with.

But next week starts a new stage: 6 of us will be moving to a town called Korhogo, about 3 hours north of Bouaké where the other 4 will be living. Pairs of us will be placed with different local churches, and through these churches we will be placed as either individuals or pairs into different Ivorian households. Through integration with the church, and relationships with its members and pastor, we will each find different ministries and projects to be a part of or maybe even lead. Hopefully we will be staying in these homes and churches for the rest of our time in Côte d’Ivoire, with the occasional trip back to campus for debriefing and learning.

I will be attending the Koko church in Korhogo, along with another journeyer Jason. Some journeyers have an idea of what ministries they’re interested in getting involved in, however there is no ministry that is beckoning my name. So I am excited to form relationships with the church, the pastor, and my family and together we will figure out where it is I fit the best.

I am very comfortable the way things are right now; and while this next step will involve so much growth, it will also involve a considerable amount of discomfort: trying to make relationships with both language and cultural barriers is not an easy task. It involves patience, love, and humility that I do not readily possess.

And yet this I know: God’s primary concern is not for my comfort. He desires for me to abide in Him, for me to know, love and worship Him and to love others for His glory.

One of the books I’m reading is ‘A Shepherd Looks at Psalm 23.’ The author, an actual shepherd, points out a lot of the context we miss in Psalm 23 because we don’t understand what shepherding entails. He tells of how a shepherd leads his sheep through valleys; while valleys are full of potential dangers, they are still the best route to get to the high grazing areas. It is through the valleys that the sheep’s dependence on the shepherd is most evident: he is the one who protects them from predators with his rod, pulls them out of thorn bushes with his staff, and leads them in the right path. The sheep can’t do any of these things on their own.

Like the sheep, it is through the valleys of life that I become aware of my complete dependence on Jesus. And so, while this next step may be an uncomfortable one, I know that there will be many opportunities to get close to my Good Shepherd.

Quelques Photos

I tried to get some pictures up when I put up my last blog, but the internet wasn't cooperating. So a few days late, here are some pictures of both Christmas and the trip up north!

Christmas!

Back row from right: Katrina, Naomi, Alyssa, Devin, Holly, Heidi, Steph, Rod, Angelika, and Jason

Front row from right: Peter, Chazz, Beckie, me, and Jamie

Korhogo: These leaves aren't actually brown, they're just showing the effects of the lovely Harmattan wind. The dry season means lots of dust, especially the farther north you are.

Alyssa checking out the view on top of Mount Korhogo

All seven of us ladies on top of Mount Korhogo:

Jamie, Holly, Steph, Alyssa, Naomi, Heidi, and me

Highlights from the Holiday Season

It's been a while since I've updated anything on here, so to catch you up on my life, here are some highlights of the last few weeks:

I had the wonderful opportunity to serve at L’Arche, an international organization that works with the mentally handicapped, especially focusing on community living between both handicapped and non-handicapped individuals. I helped out with housework type chores: sweeping, laundry, dishes, and cooking. Since I have had a lot of experience working with handicapped because of my mom, it was actually one of the most comfortable experiences I’ve had working with Ivoirians. It’s funny how some things don’t change no matter the culture.

The director of the bible school for our churches here, Kéo, came to teach us classes on Côte d’Ivoire, the history, government, politics, education. It was great to get a general overview to help understand the specific context we’re a part of. He's back this week to teach us about the history of Christianity in Côte d’Ivoire, which I’m really excited about.

Despite not being able to participate in all the festivities because I didn’t feel well, Christmas was wonderful. We had a lot of good food, great people, and ended the day with a secret santa gift exchange. That way everyone got at least one really special gift.

This past week we’ve had a break from our regular schedule and so all of the girls took a trip up north to visit Korhogo and Ferké. We visited missionaries and ministry opportunities, did a little exploring of the area, and had the chance to relax and enjoy a new area of Côte d’Ivoire. One of my absolute favorite parts was hiking up 'Mount' Korhogo, I always love enjoying God's creation and getting a bird's eye view of things.

We celebrated New Years on campus with a big meal (including a pig we roasted on campus), a bonfire, dancing and worship. 6 of us Journeyers celebrated last New Years in St. Louis at Urbana (an InterVarsity missions conference, attended by around 20,000 people, where most of us actually discovered JourneyCorps); so this was actually our second New Years together, even though we didn’t all know each other yet last year.

Another highlight of these last few weeks has been the book Do They Hear You When You Cry by Fauziya Kassindja. It’s the story of Fauziya’s fleeing from her native Togo to escape from female genital mutilation and a forced marriage. She eventually reaches the United States and is imprisoned as an illegal immigrant. It isn’t necessarily a feel good read, but it is an amazing story. It describes the West African/Muslim context with a personal perspective and although it’s not exactly what I’ll come into contact here, it is very similar. It also describes the hardships of being a refugee, the agony of prison life and the human rights violations that can occur anywhere, from a small town in West Africa to a prison in Newark. Definitely worth reading.

Some days it’s easy to ignore the political situation here, actually most days I almost forget it completely. Despite the relative peace we’re experiencing in the north, there is more than just a little turmoil around Abidjan (as many of you have been reading on the news). Côte d’Ivoire is a small enough country that it seems everyone has family in Abidjan and so is greatly affected by whatever happens there. So please join us here in praying for a peaceful and swift solution. If you want to keep up with what’s going on you can check out reuters.com.

I only have a few more weeks here on campus, then I'll be sent off to another town (most likely) to live with an Ivoirian family and get involved in a specific ministry!

Visits

There is something that is a key way of life here that I haven't really described yet: visiting. Weeks here haven't looked identical but one element that is always the same is visiting people in and around Bouaké. We visit old and new friends of Rod and Angelika, people from church, people who have a need, workers from campus, really anyone that any of us can claim any minute connection with. Visiting people here isn't wildly different than in the states but there are enough differences that it needs a small explication

Generally, visits will look something like this:

-D'abord, you shake hands, as usual you never use your left hand here. If a person's hand is dirty they might offer their wrist or elbow to you instead. As you shake hands you both say, "Bonjour, ça va?" (Hello/Good day, how are things going?). To be polite you always answer "Ça va" with "Bien" or "Oui, ça va" (Well or Yes, it's going); you don't want to burden the other person with your problems, at least not during the greeting.

-Puis, they ask you to sit, sometimes in a living room inside but often in their courtyard which operates as their living room. You might sit in a chair, on a small wooden bench, or on a mat on the floor. They go to fetch you water as you sit down. As you drink your water, you ask them how they're family is, their husband/wife, their work, etc and they ask you the same. You still generally say everything is going well, this can depend on how well you know the person though.

-Then they ask you for 'les nouvelles' the news. Essentially they're asking why you came to visit. Since I'm still building relationships here, my visits have mostly been simply 'to greet'/to say hello, which is a perfectly good reason to visit a person here.

-Then you go on with your visit, perhaps chit chat or catch up. If you're going to bring up a problem you might be having this is the time to do it.

-Enfin, when you need to leave you don't simply say goodbye, you must first ask for the road, "Je veux demander la route." They will say yes, or they might just give you part of the road (indicating that they'd like you to return). Usually you continue talking for a few more minutes about this or that. When you leave the host gets up as well and walks you to the road, or your car. The closer the relationship, the farther they will walk you.

There is a rhythm and a sort of unofficial protocol to the way you share information during a visit. In our first week here we visited a church as a group and met the pastor as well as some elders of the church. Rod would tell them information about us to one man and then they would pass the information one by one until each of the men had heard. The first time seeing it, it's vaguely reminiscent of the school game called Telephone except they don't whisper; they simply state the information at a normal volume. So the whole group ends up hearing the same thing a few times. This not only helps everyone understand and naturally allows for translation (not only for us, but some Ivoirians don't understand French as well as their ethnic language) but it also helps diffuse tension in a conflict situation. The 'rules' about this seem to be very fluid, they change depending on the group and the relationship.

When you visit a person you bring them honor with your visit, which is basically the opposite of what I've experienced in the US. At home if you want to show someone that you value them and your relationship, you invite them over to your house for a meal. Add this to the relationship based culture and suddenly there are a lot more reasons for visiting people here.

When you're in an area where you friend lives or works, it's rude not to visit them. They'll probably assume that their is some sort of conflict between the two of you.

Sitting together is better than being alone, so it's not strange to visit and not say much of anything. The host is still honored.

When a person is sick, you go to visit them. You don't necessarily say anything, in fact it's better if you just sit with them.

If you visit someone and they're eating when you arrive, it's rude to not sit down and eat with them when they offer. If they're not eating yet, they will most likely ask you to stay for the next meal, even if it's a few hours away. In this case it's ok to say, "Non, pardon, prochaînement" (No, sorry, next time).

I tried to post this earlier but had some internet difficulties. Since originally writing this blog I've had my biggest 'visiting' adventure yet: living alone with an Ivoirian family for two days!! It was an amazing experience. Hopefully I'll get a blog about that soon (as soon as the internet allows!).

Et la vie continue...

If you've taken a gander at the news lately you saw that Côte d'Ivoire is in a political pickle, to say it lightly. Two men have claimed the presidency after the run-off elections last Sunday, in fact both had themselves sworn in yesterday. If you want to know more check out the BBC news page here.

In past week I have had some interesting experiences: I've visited with a mourning young widow and family of a man who died from malaria, a family who had a small fire in their house, a woman whose father is in Abidjan trying to get chemotherapy and I attended my first Ivoirian burial of a man about my age who died in a moto (motorbike) accident. I think it's interesting that the week that the country is in political turmoil, I have had many experiences with the pain and heartache of 'normal' life. While the world has finally turned it's attention to Côte d'Ivoire, I've seen the tears of a woman who's husband died too soon, prayed with a woman who is scared for her fathers health, and heard a father's cries as he buried his son. Life goes on, even in the midst of this political mess. Not to say that life hasn't been affected by the state of the nation, it certainly has.

My perspective of it all has changed. In the last few years, I have studied, prayed for, and read the news stories about these types of situations. And when I did, I defined people's lives by whatever national issue was affecting them. It was easy for me to think that a country is made up of some uniform group instead of individuals who are simply living. Individuals who mourn, love, get scared, celebrate, laugh, visit, sit, sleep, rest, play, cry. They live.

God sees the nation and its problems while simultaneously seeing, knowing, and loving each individual. He knows all the issues in their complexity and HE is the answer to the problems. He doesn't forget each person as we pray for peace, for the elections, for reconciliation.

And so I am asking for you to pray for this country, for peace. I am also asking you to pray for Ivoirians, whose lives in many ways are strangely the same as they wait and watch and pray for peace here. Pray also for those whose lives may never be the same after this past week.

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!