Voodoo Queen

This is the tomb of the most famous voodoo queen, Marie Laveau. Who is buried in New Orleans. She "reigned" from 1830 for about 40 years and people attributed incredible powers to her. I can't help but like her. She was a smart, if completely unethical, business woman. Voodoo was highly frowned upon and parts actually illegal--so she used as much Christian symbolism as she could to make it acceptable with surprising success. I'm surprised anyway--she was famous for dancing in Congo square with a giant snake. Then she found out the secrets of wealthy white people through their servants and then pretended to read minds or reveal "truths" which turned out to really be true. White people often came to her for potions and advice--she charged them a fortune and then she blackmailed them too. Serves the slave owners right!

Even now she has a mystique about her. This tomb is a major tourist stop in New Orleans. People will draw 3 x's on the tomb so her spirit will grant them a wish.

Voodoo

Yikes! It seems as though Voodoo is probably even scarier and more sensasional than Hollywood makes it out to be.  Based on my extensive "research" of reading part of one children's non-fiction book about Voodoo, I am officially creeped out.

There are spirits everywhere--spirits of nature and of the dead. The voodoo priest or priestess opens herself up to be possessed by these spirits (the snake is an especially powerful one) and speaks with the voice of the spirit. Scary---the main person thrashes around like the picture here--and then often everyone dances and spins around until they are in hypnotic trances themselves. Animals are sacrificed and the blood painted on or tasted by the people in the ritual.

Historically there's good reason for voodoo--the slaves brought it with them and clung to the practices--and small wonder, it was the only thing the white people couldn't take away from them and the only thing that gave them some sense of power over their own lives. Interestingly, voodoo has no problem incorporating some Christian beliefs--after all, what are saints other than their familiar ancestral spirits?

Dance!

This is Debra Bono.  I have one of her other African Dance workout videos at home now. They are GREAT fun! I have no idea how authentic her dances are---my guess is that a lot of the movements really are what one would see if they went to Africa. I suspect though, that nobody in Africa would recognize what I do when I try to dance, as anything resembling real African dancing. Doesn't matter. I'm willing to be the stereotypical white woman dancer with no rythmn tourist. I have no choice. It's what I am.

Malaria

Malaria is the leading cause of death in Benin. And a big part of the problem are drug vendors like the lady in the picture. The following paragraph came from a blog on how the Benin government are dealing with the crisis.

In the markets of west Africa, malaria drugs are on sale as openly as oranges and bananas. Trader Simone Adechinan claims to know her stuff. "With these," she says, producing a beige box marked Chloroquine Phosphate, "you want to take six tablets a day for a week, then pause for a week and take paracetamol, then start again." She issues the dubious advice without seeing the patient or referring to a doctor's prescription. And she sells the box of 100 tablets – which has no manufacturer's name – for 1,000 CFA francs ($2).

Kudos to the Benin for trying to find solutions. They have opened free malaria clinics all over with real treatments. Also, they are training regular people in first aid and allowing them to distribute real drugs for simple problems. These people aren't paid much, but it's a job worthy of respect and they can still do their other jobs. What struck me is that sometimes this lay person is the ONLY medical contact a pregnant woman might have. It makes me feel incredibly grateful for the priviledges I have.

Pizza oven

Catherine found a book on African cooking. One of the receipes calls for pizza made in a termite mound oven.  Talk about using resources!!  I found this pic on the internet from someone who actually made one. It looks fine--once you sort of get over the idea of what built the oven--it's just a great idea. After all, the bugs aren't there anymore.  Why not?

Fetish Markets

I read a little of a non-fiction children's book yesterday which successfully avoided mentioning the word "voodoo" but nevertheless seemed to give a pretty good idea of what's behind it. The concept seems fairly simple--there are good and evil forces all around us and in people, animals and objects. The idea is to strengthen the good and weaken the evil. How all the specifics evolved is something else. But I imagine the weirdest and wildest thing to western eyes has got to be the fetish markets.

Here is all the creepy stuff straight from Hollywood. The local priest would know how to use it. The thing that's important to remember is that none of the stuff for sale has any power because it hasn't been blessed yet.  As soon as it IS blessed. Watch out!

Most wretched History?

Ahhhhhh.  It feels good to be traveling again--especially to a warm place in the dead of winter. This country, Benin, will be a real adventure. I'd never heard of it, and expected to have trouble finding information about it (it's in south western Africa by the way) No problem! Benin is the birthplace of Voodoo and it's coast became known as the slave coast--shipping 10,000 to 20,000 slaves out DAILY at its peak.  It's impossible for me to objectively compare the histories of every country in the world, but if I could, I bet Benin would be a strong contender for "Most Miserable Country."  Even now, it has one of the world's bottom literacy rates.