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Join me as I share my experiences as a Fulbright Scholar in Benin, West Africa. Discover the rich culture, educational challenges, and vibrant community life in this diverse country.
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My Fulbright experience Benin, West Africa Netiva Caftori NEIU
Being a Fulbright scholar means I am one of approximately 800 U.S. faculty and professionals who travel abroad to some 140 countries for the an academic year through the Fulbright Scholar Program (or one of approximately 105 Americans who have been selected to teach or conduct research in 27 African countries). • Established in 1946 under legislation introduced by the late Senator J. William Fulbright of Arkansas, the program's purpose is to build mutual understanding between the people of the United States and other countries.
The Fulbright Program, America's flagship international educational exchange activity, is sponsored by the U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. Over its 63 years of existence, thousands of U.S. faculty and professionals have studied, taught or done research abroad, and thousands of their counterparts from other countries have engaged in similar activities in the U.S. They are among more than 250,000 American and foreign university students, K-12 teachers, and university faculty and professionals who have participated in one of the several Fulbright exchange programs.
Recipients of Fulbright Scholar awards are selected on the basis of academic or professional achievement and because they have demonstrated extraordinary leadership potential in their fields. • Among thousands of prominent Fulbright Scholar alumni are Milton Friedman, Nobel Prize-winning economist; Alan Leshner, CEO of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS); Rita Dove, Pulitzer Prize-winning poet; and Craig Barrett, CEO of Intel Corporation.
Benin The Republic of Benin is a small, culturally rich nation in West Africa with an ethnically diverse population and a varied landscape stretching from the coast of the Gulf of Guinea in the south, to the Niger River in the north. Danhomé (in the entrails of the Snake) is at the origin of all Voodoo cults, known not only as the cradle of the traditional Voodoo but also to have played a great part in the fight against colonial establishment
Education • 50% of the population is not educated (analphabets), or illiterate. • Most “educated” ones do not finish high school. • Many dialects. In school one learns French. • Some study abroad through grants. • Grant money is hard to come by. • Visas to leave the country are hard to get. • The rich, usually are educated.
My women students • Few female students in science and math • Well respected by peer. Mostly single. • DESS: Nike, Marlene • Doctorate: Laure, Uguette • Engineering: Pelagie • Computer science: Nellie • Math instructor: Atinuke
Wives of colleagues • Not equal partners • Some are from polygamist families • Many are business women on their own • Usually they are not academicians • Girls are there to help mothers • Girl slaves under disguise
Children • Often held and carried on backs as babies and young children by mothers or siblings • Very happy and content • Big families. Many orphans • Children are often raised by other family members, elsewhere • Many mothers don’t talk to their children • Work at a young age to learn a trade despite compulsory education
Modern slavery in Benin • Benin is a source, transit, and destination country for children (seven to 18) trafficked for the purposes of forced domestic and commercial labor, including child prostitution. Estimates on the numbers of trafficking victims range between a few hundred and several thousand each year. Beninese children are trafficked to oil-rich Nigeria, Ghana, Gabon, Cote d’Ivoire, and Cameroon into forced labor situations, including agricultural labor, quarries, domestic service, and prostitution .
Red earth stone or cement brick houses Life happens mostly in interior court yards No running toilets most times No paved roads: Hens, goats, and pigs run free Cooking on a small charcoal stove Mostly no refrigeration, no electricity Zem, taxi or foot transportation Family life
Politics • Kerekou was the same president in the last three regimes • Old French colony • French are still there committed • Some but very few women in politics • People close to the government get the money • Corrupted regime, but peaceful and safe country
Meals • Everyone is invited to join if dinner time • Women prepare all day with the help of neighbors • Fresh fish, chicken or meat • Staple food: manioc, corn, rice, potatoes, platens, served with sauce made of hot peppers, pimento, special red dates and tomatoes • No desert most times • Beer or wine (vine, palm, corn) • Eat with hands or silverware • Dishes washed by hand. Sometimes share dishes (guests eat first).
Health My own story: • Torn ligament • Broken crown • Broken glasses • Unsafe water Life expectancy = 50 Preemie story Malaria Typhoid fever Bend back to do laundry or clean No garbage cans Pollution Beautiful teeth
