Yon pelerinaj Asenisman mennen  yon nouvèl dekouvèt nan listwa / Travel brings new discoveries in history

This is one story from a multi-part series on SOIL’s adventures in Africa. English version below

Mwen te vwayaje pandan twa jou tout lannwit poum te rive nan peyi benin dafrik e mwen te pase plizyè peyi tankou panama, kiba, lespay, mawòk, togo jis mwen te rive nan bout tè peyi benin dafrik. Objektif pwensipal vizit sa nan benin dafrik se te pou yon pataj eksperyans nan domenn sanitasyon ekolojik ak yon oganizasyon beninwaz ki rele ADESCA ki chita nan komin kalale nan benen e rive travay ak oganizasyon fanm nan 2 vilaj anndan kalale se : Besasi ak Dounkasa ki se 2 kominote riral. Denpi lè mwen te rive nan ayewopò Mawomèd 5 nan Mawòk mwen te aprann nan bouch yon beninwa ke mwen te rankontre nan menm ayewopò sa ke papa Tousen Louvèti sòti nan benin. Lè mwen te pile bout tè benin pwemye kesyon mwen te poze se te sa : eske papa tousen se yon beninwa tout moun mwen te kesyone yo te reponn wi, nan demen nan maten mwen te ki  kotonou ki se kapital politik benen pou mwen te rann mwen nan kalale ki se kote mwen gen kòm denye bout poum rive nan benin dafrik , sou menm wout sa vwèman mwen ta pral dekouvri estati Tousen louvèti nan yon bèl ti plas nan yon vilaj ki rele Dallada  kote mwen aprann se menm Dallada sa ki te papa Tousen Louvèti  sa vle di se la papa tousen Louvèti te moun. Antanke Ayisyen natif natal ki gen san ansyen zansèt yo kap koule nan venn mwen lèm wè sa mwen santi kòm fè chè de poul, mwen fremipaske selon  listwa Tousen Louvèti se te yon pèsonaj enpòtan pou jan li te batay anpil pou te retire premye peyi nèg sa ki se ayiti anba bòt fere blan franse nan lane 1803. Answit mwen te kontinye wout mwen poum te rive nan kalale ki se apepre 150 kilomèt wout anwiwon. Benen preske gen menm reyalite ak  ayiti. Tankou moun ki kite milye riral pou al chache pen kotidyen nan vil oubyen moun ki kite Benin pou antre ilegalman nan peyi Nijerya pou chache lavi e lè yo retounen yo pimiyò pase jan yo te ye ava, tankou Ayiti gen moun ki antre ileganman nan repiblik dominken ak tchokekos san papye. Ebyen vwala men yon ti kout detay sou debi vizit mwen nan benen dafrik ginen

Si mwen te rete chita mwen pa tap apran tout leson sa yo, ki donk « chita pa bay »

Bobo surrounded by children.

Translation:

I traveled for three days and nights to arrive in Benin in Africa. My journey to get here brought me to many countries – Panama, Cuba, Spain, Morocco, Togo – and I feel that I have reached the end of the earth. The main goal of this visit to Benin is to share our knowledge of ecological sanitation with a group called ADESCA that works in the Kalale region of Benin. We will specifically be focusing our outreach efforts on the women from two villages in Kalale: Besasi and Dounkasa.

In the Mohammed V Airport in Casablanca, Morocco I met a man from Benin who told me that Toussaint Louverture’s father was Beninese. When I arrived at the end of my journey, in Benin, the first question I asked the Beninese was: “Is it true that Toussaint’s father was from Benin?” And everyone I questioned replied, “Yes”.

Yesterday morning when I reached the capital city, Cotonou, I was told that along our route to reach Kalale we would discover a statue of Toussaint Louverture in a beautiful little plaza in a village known as Dallada. This where I learned that this is the same Dallada where the father of Toussaint was born. As a Haitian native, with ancient blood flowing in my veins, I felt myself getting goose bumps (chè de poul). I am free because Toussaint Louverture battled to remove the first black republic from under the boot of the French in the year 1803.

After our visit to Allada, I continued on to Kalale which was about 150 kilometers further on. Benin has almost the same reality as Haiti. Just as in Haiti, people left the rural areas to search for their daily bread in the villages or they left Benin illegally to go to Nigeria in search of another life. This reminds me of Haiti where there are so many people who left illegally to the Dominican Republic to experience the hard life of a person without papers.

Well, that’s my short story on my arrival to Benin.

If I stayed sitting in Haiti, I would not have learned this lesson. Chita pa bay. Staying seated doesn’t yield anything.