All Together

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I attended my third All-Volunteer conference with Peace Corps in Benin. We were in the big city for two and a half days of meetings. Peace Corps houses us for these wonderful three nights in a nice hotel on the ocean. We slept and met in air-conditioning, bathed in hot water, swam in the full length swimming pool and dived from its platforms, stayed up all night talking and dancing, and drank a lot of coffee to stay awake and warm in the air-conditioning.
The first day we brainstormed and criticized the functioning of the Peace Corps office and the demands and expectations of and from the Volunteers. A Peace Corps Volunteer is in a unique position because we must take our work seriously and represent the Peace Corps Mission, all the while not always having work we recognize as work and finding it just as tempting to play. The expectations and understanding of the Peace Corps office by a Volunteer change as the Volunteer matures as a Peace Corps Volunteer. I believe this particular level of maturity can only come after the arduous and seemingly unguided Peace Corps Volunteer experience. (And it’s well worth it.)
The next day we discussed successful projects. Volunteers always impress me with their creativity and energy, and I am not speaking of myself because I was not a volunteer with highlighted projects. One volunteer re-built dykes in an improved design which was a nearly cost-less project. Another volunteer is building latrines in her village. One volunteer found a local Lion’s Club who then conducted eye exams in her school. She found prescription eyeglasses for the students with poor eyesight and the Lion’s Club was willing to medicate the students with eye problems. There are other volunteers with similar stories, and all of these people are brilliant.
We also discussed the Peace Corps party that will celebrate 40 years in Benin in September. The first agreement, signed in the late ‘60s, still says ‘Republic of Dahomey,’ and not the updated ‘Republic of Benin.’ There will be a new agreement signed, and a fabric designed especially for the Peace Corps Benin 40 years, and cake, lots of cake. I will be State-side by then, but it will be a good party.
Those were the topics of our meetings; but like I said, Peace Corps Volunteers are tempted to play at least a little bit, and especially when all together. I was a judge in a talent show whose participants had true talent and others whose talent was to be courageous and sing and dance in front of a crowd. We swam a lot and took advantage of the pizzeria on the hotel grounds. The hotel is owned by a Lebanese man, and the manager is Lebanese, and all the brothers and sisters and cousins of the owner and manager benefit from the pool. The Lebanese seem to be constantly smoking ‘hookahs’ as named in the States, ‘chichas’ in Egypt, and ‘aguillis’ in Lebanon. With such strong representations of the American and Lebanese diasporas, we all partied together. The Lebanese are great to dance with. The Lebanese work for a living in Benin, while this certain group of Americans is given a bundle of money and told to work voluntarily; a difference which produces interesting conversation on what we think of the Beninese society.
On the last night of our conference, another impressive volunteer organized a ‘soirée’ of the highest standards. A silent auction and ticket sales raised money for the Gender and Development small projects fund. The Lebanese attended, all at the same table with the scented smoke of the ‘aguillis’ in the air. At one point in the dance a Lebanese song was played, and the Americans joined hands with the Lebanese and somewhat followed the Lebanese-style kick line. I might not have the best projects, but by golly I just love those cultural exchanges.
The Peace Corps’ All-Volunteer conference was a success: we relaxed, cleaned ourselves up, worked, and danced to any drum that was playing, just as Peace Corps Volunteers should.

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