Excitement

This blog marks an exciting new milestone! I am actually sending this blog post from my laptop, sitting at my post, somewhere on that map of Benin in one of the general areas that nobody really cares about. I was finally able to purchase a USB internet key, with unlimited monthly access (a necessity, I found out, when I was sampling a fellow volunteer's pay-as-you-go internet key, and wasted all my credit reloading pages that hadn't loaded properly time and time again. The connection, as I'm sure you could guess, leaves a lot to be desired). Nevertheless, the glass is definitely half full, and as a re-teaser into what my blog is all about:

Although Benin is featured in travel guides for the entirety of West Africa, or of the continent of Africa, travel books for Benin alone are mostly just rumored among ex-pats and volunteers, and very rarely seen. Which is why, when I saw I copy of Benin: the Bradt Travel Guide written by Stuart Butler lying on the table in the library section of the work station, I decided to commandeer it for a look. While thumbing through, I couldn't help but notice a striking dichotomy between Mr. Brandt and Mr. Butler, specifically the passages written below:

"AFRICA IS HELL

     As you'll know if you've already visited the continent, there's nothing that's good or comfortable about Africa. There is nothing at all nice, nothing gentle, nothing friendly, nothing pleasant and nothing easy. In every possible way, Africa is the worst place in the world. Whatever way you look at it, Africa is Hell. Don't think of it as anything but your worst nightmare. Don't imagine that you might like to exchange your supermarket chaos, your credit-card bills, your mortgage or even your stroppy boss for the life of an African villager. You wouldn't. And if for some reason you did, the chances are you would now be dead. 

     Harsh words from a guidebook writer trying to encourage you to buy his book and visit Africa, you might think, but just look at the facts.

- Africa is the only continent to have grown poorer in the past 25 years.

- 70% of sub-Saharan Africans live on less than two dollars a day and 49% live on a dollar a day or less

- One in three Africans is undernourished

- 17 million Africans have already died of HIV/AIDS, whilst a further 28 million currently have the disease and there are already 11 million AIDS orphans. This year alone two million Africans die of AIDS.

- One million Africans will die of malaria this year. This is 90% of the worlds malaria deaths and 70% of them involve children under five years of age.

- A woman in Africa is one hundred times more likely to die in pregnancy or childbirth than a Western woman.

- 200 million Africans go hungry every day - while the amount spent annually on ice cream in Europe would be enough to provide every single person on the planet with clean, fresh drinking water.

- More than 14,000 people a day die from problems related to extreme poverty"

-- Stuart Butler, page 78

Indeed, interesting words from a travel book writer. In the publisher's foreword, however, we find a different message:

"First, a confession: I was keen to publish a guide to Benin because I was an admirer of the beautiful 15th-century Benin brasses (or bronzes) that grace many British museums. It was only after the book was commissioned that I learned the truth: Benin City, capital of the Kingdom of Benin, is in modern Nigeria. I had the wrong Benin. Stuart's emails during the course of his research suggested that although African art may not be central to Benin's culture, African arts - magic arts - certainly were. 'In fact I don't think there was a single day that something weird and memorable didn't happen. We met kings and princesses, sorcerers and witches, as well as more than a few dead people. The average day could see us being pissed on by a python, whipped by a god or having a party with some dead twins.'

The manuscript lived up to expectations, and when I'd finished reading it I told anyone who would listen that this was the most extraordinary book we've ever published. Truly! What other guide could justify a heading: 'The Bradt field guide to gods, ghosts and dead people'? Where else can you get advice about dealing with sorcerers, and tackling bicycle chickens? In how many other countries can you meet the local monarchy, mostly in human form but including a tree that was once a king? Magic and folklore abound, people change into lizards, or ants, or just about anything they fancy - and through it all run practical instructions for enjoying this amazing country. It's super!"

- Brandt, Publisher's Foreword

Two very different viewpoints for one book. As for me, having lived here for half a year, I can't say for certain which side I'm leaning more towards. That answer, I guess, will come. Stay tuned and find out with me.