The fourth day of serivce learning started off with a bit of a bump as we arrived to our site an hour and a half late due to a miscommunication with our bus driver. First we were driven to another site, then back to the Songhai center, then to a site around 20 minutes away, and then finally after much debating to the microenterprise. Traveling and communication in developing nations often faces these problems and goes to show that patience is a requirement for traveling in such places, expect the unexpected always.
In terms of our service learning today showed me the way that patronage in this society works. For example, our organization wouldnt exist if it were not started by Toussaints wife, who isnt even a member of the group. Without this link and the approval from the top down of such a group there would be none. Today was a very low activity day as some of the women left to transport peanuts and soy, using the only bowls the compound had, prohibiting work. In this time we walked across the street to examine a machine that we potentially wanted to buy for the women for our capacity building project. The machine is literally across the street, and can process the peanuts and soy that the other women take around 2 hours total to transport to another machine. The man who owns the machine will simply not use the machine for their purposed regardless of their insistence of him to do so, and he only uses it for corn. This tragic circumstance made clear the patronage system and why it is hard for a group of women to make deals for their betterment.
Thursday, May 27, 2010
Service Learning 3
The third day of service learning most closely related to the planners and searchers reading and discussion. Through our interaction with the women we have learned that they are incredible in supporting and sustaining their own business methods and habits. On this day we walked with a few of the women to the corn processing machine that de shells the corn so they can turn it into flour. The machine is naturally owned and operated by a man who chared 2000 CFA for the first batch done and 1500 for the second. The womens ability to price out the cost of using the machine while still making a profit proves their adaptability in searching for ways of making a successful compound. Their adaptability has also been shown in their history as they have changed products based on the market. Their attititude fits well with the capitalist mentality that the author of the planners versus searchers article stated and is why they are doing so well. Everyone is held accountable and everyone has a say in what production methods and strategies are best for the betterment of the whole.
On a side note, while we were waiting for the corn to be processed me and Mike walked over to a store next door and tried to converse with the owners in our terrible, broken French. As we we struggled Delia, a fluent French speaker joined our adventure and became our middle man and translator. The men speaking to her were very confused as to why she, the woman, could speak French and that the men could not. This just reinforces the idea of male dominance in Beninois culture and im sure Delia left the man with a strong impression of the capabilities of women in America.
On a side note, while we were waiting for the corn to be processed me and Mike walked over to a store next door and tried to converse with the owners in our terrible, broken French. As we we struggled Delia, a fluent French speaker joined our adventure and became our middle man and translator. The men speaking to her were very confused as to why she, the woman, could speak French and that the men could not. This just reinforces the idea of male dominance in Beninois culture and im sure Delia left the man with a strong impression of the capabilities of women in America.
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
Service Learning 2
Our second day of service learning was a drastically different experience than the first day. Around forty children, some belonging to the women of the enterprise and other simply neighborhood children filled the compound because there is no school on saturdays. Instead of doing any real work for the women, who spent the entire day starting the slow process of turning soy into tofu, our group entertained the children. This idea follows the to hell with good intentions lecture as our intentions for service learning in the organization were marginalized by us becoming the center of attention. We did, however, fill the responsibility of the women by playing with the children who certainly enjoyed the donation of two soccer balls.
There was another example of service learning gone wrong. Mike, who is by the far the biggest member of our group observed the women carrying large bucketsof water on their heads to pour into a pot for cheese production. Instead of putting the bucket on his head he assumed he could carry it with his two large arms, unfortunately it was too much for him to handle and in the process of requesting my help spilled some of the water on his shirt. This upset a couple of the women who knew they could have done the job with no loss of water from their well.
There was another example of service learning gone wrong. Mike, who is by the far the biggest member of our group observed the women carrying large bucketsof water on their heads to pour into a pot for cheese production. Instead of putting the bucket on his head he assumed he could carry it with his two large arms, unfortunately it was too much for him to handle and in the process of requesting my help spilled some of the water on his shirt. This upset a couple of the women who knew they could have done the job with no loss of water from their well.
Sunday, May 23, 2010
Service Learning 1
Day 1
The first day of service learning at the womens microenterprise certainly served as an introduction. They showed us the variety of raw materials, soy beans, corn, and peanuts that they use to makea variety of products such as peanut sticks and tofu. My inability to speak French immediatlely set my service learning apart from a couple of the other students who have at least a decent grasp on the language. Regardless our first interaction felt very divided as we sat apart from the women when we did our tasks of sorting bad nuts from the good ones. These interactions fit well with why service learning is bad as the division along with my inability to speak French preventned me from gathering information from the women on what they needed and expected from us. It made me feel as if i was participating in voluntourism, simply there to observe something different with the false pretense of making a difference in the community involved.
The best of example of this was when they showed us their method of exracting peanut oil. A blob of paste was put in a bowl as one of the strongest and biggest women used her strength to extract as much oil from the paste as possible. The sweat covering her head after several minutes proved this was not easy work. While everyone was watching a different group of women were attempting to move a table unsuccessfully. I turned to a French speaker and told them to ask the women if they needed help with moving the table, but the question was misinterpreted and they assumed I wanted to help with the peanut extracting process. Not wanting to decline I allowed them to wash my hands and I awkwardly tried my hardest to do the work of the women, and of course was nearly useless. I believe I wasted more oil on my hands than in the bowl of oil, hurting the group, and further proving the point that my presence was a hindrance to the productivity of the group. Language skill and communication would have helped in this problem.
The first day of service learning at the womens microenterprise certainly served as an introduction. They showed us the variety of raw materials, soy beans, corn, and peanuts that they use to makea variety of products such as peanut sticks and tofu. My inability to speak French immediatlely set my service learning apart from a couple of the other students who have at least a decent grasp on the language. Regardless our first interaction felt very divided as we sat apart from the women when we did our tasks of sorting bad nuts from the good ones. These interactions fit well with why service learning is bad as the division along with my inability to speak French preventned me from gathering information from the women on what they needed and expected from us. It made me feel as if i was participating in voluntourism, simply there to observe something different with the false pretense of making a difference in the community involved.
The best of example of this was when they showed us their method of exracting peanut oil. A blob of paste was put in a bowl as one of the strongest and biggest women used her strength to extract as much oil from the paste as possible. The sweat covering her head after several minutes proved this was not easy work. While everyone was watching a different group of women were attempting to move a table unsuccessfully. I turned to a French speaker and told them to ask the women if they needed help with moving the table, but the question was misinterpreted and they assumed I wanted to help with the peanut extracting process. Not wanting to decline I allowed them to wash my hands and I awkwardly tried my hardest to do the work of the women, and of course was nearly useless. I believe I wasted more oil on my hands than in the bowl of oil, hurting the group, and further proving the point that my presence was a hindrance to the productivity of the group. Language skill and communication would have helped in this problem.
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