Hand washing bike tour
In early March, I went on a bike tour with 11 other Peace Corps volunteers in Northwestern Benin (the “Atacora triangle”) to raise awareness of hand washing and water sterilization techniques. We gave our talk in French which was translated into Baatonum (Bariba in French) by a community translator. During the 4 days of the bike tour, we stopped at 14 villages and saw some really isolated parts of the country. This was one of the physically hardest, most rewarding, and most interesting things I did during my service.
Why do I think it is important to give awareness raising sessions on water sterilization? At one village, everyone was drinking untreated well water that was especially bad (middle bucket below). Even if a handful of families start drinking only treated water it can make a big difference in the health of lives of a few people:
We were not the only ones getting around on bikes in the area.
us on the same road.
In village, most community meetings and education happen outdoors under a big tree.
This village has an especially nice baobab tree:
At one stop, the chef de village gave us two pentades (guinea fowl) to take along to our next stop. They were delicious!
This village was especially responsive and interested.
We pretended to leave town as evening was falling so we could have a bit of privacy having dinner and getting ready for bed. The kids ran after us for several kilometers before giving up the chase.
At this village we had a mixture of Baatonum and Fulani people.
demonstrating proper hand washing techniques. Just using water doesn’t kill the germs.
It is customary in Benin to look very serious when your photo is taken:
The bike tour was organized (very well) by Karina and Kristin. Bon travaille!
all done. on the way to the waterfalls outside Kuande now!
