PCV Mary Christensen
BP 687 - be sure to cross your seven in the European style or it might be mistaken for a one
Guiglo
Cote d'Ivoire
AFRICA
scarymary_100@yahoo.com
This is Mary's latest letter home. To view the previous letters, there is a link at the bottom of this page.
Aug 1-Time is flying!! Hello one & all. I just came back last night from saying good bye to Mini& also the missionaries’ daughter whom I’ve gotten to know quite well. I am officially “on my own”. Don’t worry. I’m hanging in there! I opened my door upon my arrival & smelled something terribly foul. I did a quick search as I opened all the windows to trey to air out the house but couldn’t find the source. My scented candles & a strong wind & rain couldn’t block out the stench. I decided that something had obviously died but where?! Today the smell got worse & worse & I searched all over & then called in Beatrice to help me take apart my bed frame to see what was under the mattress (the frame is made of wood & touches the floor on 3 sides & the 4th side has a 2” space between the floor & backboard). Well, we found the source lying in a corner-surrounded by photos & papers that he had “stolen” from around the house. Yes, it was a rat. It was so gross. I have no idea how he died but I’m glad it’s one less creature in the house & I’m hoping the foul smell will soon disappear! I created a makeshift barrier for the 4th side of the bed so hopefully I won’t have this problem again! I can’t wait to live somewhere where I won’t have to deal with rats!!
The village court has certainly been busy & the latest news has to do with sorcery. Apparently a woman wanted to sacrifice her grown daughter & started to tell people that she had already eaten part of her & she will die before January. Then the whole group involved with this sect of sorcery will eat the rest of the daughter. Kind of complicated, I know! But the oldest sorcerer of the group has been accused of participating & initiating this woman’s sacrifice. So guess how they tell if he’s guilty? They take the bark from a certain tree & make it into a drink. He will drink it & if he vomits & lives, he is not guilty. If he dies, he is guilty! I could hardly believe that they really do this. But Beatrice gave me plenty of examples of both people who have survived from drinking it & others who have died. Obviously it is some kind of poison but what a horrible way to determine one’s guilt. He’ll be drinking the potion next week so we’ll see if he’s guilty or not. I think it’s odd that no one’s concerned about the daughter’s life but everyone said it’s too late-she’ll die in January & if she is “lucky”, they won’t eat her. What?!?! I’m always learning something new!
Aug 4-Yesterday morning I was pretty crabby & it just seems like there is no reason to be here. I had decided to go look for a wheelbarrow & I was going to get the rocks & gravel to finish the soak-away pit (yes, the one that was started in APRIL!) Well, the chief wouldn’t give me his (& it’s for the ENTIRE village! So, I retreated to my house! Forced myself to go out in the afternoon & I soon found a group of kids that I really like (they’re only 3-5 yrs old!) So we started to play games & I was instantly happy to be here! Kids don’t pass any judgments, they don’t care if we don’t speak the same language (they only speak Guere but they’re learning French from hanging out with me). I brought them to my house & brought out the beachball-oh my…you should’ve seen how 4 children became 15! They were having so much fun-it’s the first time they’ve ever seen such a thing!
I’m getting ready to go to the one & only football (soccer) final for this year. Roland cut out his financial support for the village so there is no money to play this year. I don’t even remember how many people have come by to make sure that I know about the game! I can hardly wait. Can’t stop looking at my watch to see if it’s almost time to go-it never is-I have 2 hours to go at this point!)
Oh, I don’t want to forget to write this-please send no more packages (I can’t believe I’m writing that!) –first of all, I was in a huge fight with the post office man & so we’re not on very good terms! The fight was ridiculous but I had to argue because I was so right & he was being completely illogical. (ok, I lost the fight but I’m taking it to the CI Post Office Director in Abidjan because I’m still certain that I’m right!) He’s charging me fees for the packages & weekends are included even though the post office is closed so it’s not even possible to pick up the package. It’s hard enough to get to Guiglo but to have to worry if my packages are accumulating daily fees. It’s just not worth it. Secondly, I am preparing myself to leave in April. I don’t want you to send anything that I won’t receive (some packages have taken 9 months to get here! Just one more time-thank you for all the “mail love” you’ve shown me!
Just got back from the football final…those guys are so good-looking. We won so it’s pretty crazy in the village tonight! I just wish I could see them play again! Last year was so wonderful, I didn’t ever think that my football team would be taken away from me!
Well, I’m going to Morocco to see my mom so I’ll write when I get back at the end of August. Take care! Love you all, Mary
12 July
Hello! First of all, thank you very much to Peace United Methodist ChurchVBS (vacation bible school) your gifts were much appreciated! I rushed back from Blolequin this morning because the students were being told their grades and they would find out if they passed. I had already talked to the teachers and explained that our church had sent gifts for the children so I wanted to use them as prizes. So the top students in each class received a coloring book and crayons and then all of the students received a pen or pencil. (Next roll of film will show some of the recipients.) After the grades were given out, I was overwhelmed at how many students and parents came up and thanked me (and you donors) for the presents. I was happy that for the few students who didn’t pass, at least they were getting a little cheer me up gift. Thank you for the presents! I still cannot imagine how humiliating it would’ve been if we were told our grades in front of everyone - classmates, parents, everyone else’s parents, etc. as it happens here. Everyone would know your class ranking and it’s obvious if you didn’t pass (and many don’t). I feel sorry for them...I probably felt more embarrassed than they did!
I had an interesting ride into Blolequin the other day. I bought a fat village chicken as a thank you to Philmen, (Noel’s sister) for always taking care of me when I go to town. I don’t particularly care to touch animals (as you all know) so I asked one of the neighbor kids to “help me” strap it on to my backpack on my bike rack. The chicken didn’t put up much of a fight. I was satisfied that that I wasn’t going to lose it on the bumpy ride ahead. Well not even two minutes from the village and I nearly crash – the chicken has gone crazy and is trying to fly away – and nearly takes me and my bike with it!! I finally get control of myself and the bike and look back to see that the chicken is hanging off the back of the bike – but the string is well attached so it won’t be going anywhere. I pull it back into the bag and off we go again until it tries to take off again. This time I decide to just let it hang off the back. We continue along awhile it screams and I try to ignore it. Then I hear a funny noise – the chicken is hitting the tire (or rather the tire is hitting the chicken) so I stoop again and try to reattach the chicken without touching him too much. He falls off within seconds. Suddenly all is quite and I am sure I knocked him unconscious! But then he goes WILD. I am absolutely sure that he’s going to peck me and so I’m just doing everything I can to get to town as soon as possible! We did finally make it to Blolequin – both of us alive but I think he’s lost quite a few feathers along the road! I have to say that is the LAST time I’m going to put a live animal on my bike and I think I will just stick to presents like soap or oil – something which can’t kill me!
14 July 2002
Why do people have to discriminate? Why do people believe they’re better than others? We’re all the same. I made the mistake of going to village court this afternoon. I knew it would be in French. I was curious to see what would happen. This morning, a tree was being cut down by the Burkinabe (they come from Burkina Faso) and it fell on the village dispensary (very little damage and it's not in use any more). As it is the Guere really dislike the Burkinabe (we feel that is because they work hard and earn money and the Guere are jealous and when I was talking to the Burkinabe this morning, we were all expecting the worst for the meeting. But it was HORRIBLE. Usually, I put together the arguments in my head but I keep quiet. This time I couldn’t. I was trying to get them to the point the tree fell, it was an accident, let them fix and that is all there is to it. OK, fine. A ½ hour later, they’re still discussing things and they decide it has to be fixed in three days! I flew off the handle. I jumped up and went into the center of the group and actually demanded, “pardon” and said that they (the Guere) always tell me nothing can be done because there’s no money and they are always demanding pardon and putting things off. I was so angry, but I felt good because at last I was saying what was on my mind! I sat back down and things went on and on and the Guere decided against me and the Burkenabe and basically said that they’d be kicked out of the village and their land would be taken away if they didn’t accept the “offer” (get it done in less than a week and give the wood (it’s a huge tree) to the chief). What is this?? They would never be able to get the money together to fix the building in one week – let alone one year. I’m just so discouraged. Is there anywhere in this world where everyone is equal? Where they do onto others as they would have done unto them? It’s just so clearly unfair. I ran off from the meeting and cried about the injustice of it all (Dad’s voice telling me “Life’s not fair, Mary”. I don’t know why I am here. I really don’t.
I’ve just decided to go into Blolequin to see the missionaries. Maybe a movie and some American food will make me feel better! Just to let you know, my school desk proposal went through so we’ll be looking for the $510.00 pretty soon! Well, hopefully this will get off to you soon since I’m going into town sooner than expected and someone should be able to get it to Guiglo from there!! Miss you all!
Love,
Mary
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