Up on the Plateaux

August 22, 2010


This past weekend I took a quick trip to the Plateaux Region to visit Kat, another Peace Corps health volunteer in Amou-Oblo. I set out early in the morning and caught a bush taxi for the first 2 hour leg of the trip. The taxi driver was a plump, jolly looking man and quickly kicked a passenger out of the front seat to offer me the coveted spot up front. I took a look over my left shoulder to survey the situation behind me. About 15 people with an equivalent amount of baggage and chickens bound by their feat on the floorboard were all squeezed into the 14 seat passenger van….yup…. everything looked normal. I gave the drive a slight nod and we were on our way.

About an hour into the ride we reached the outskirts of the Plateaux region. Ominous clouds covered the horizon and before I got a chance to roll up the window, buckets of water were pouring into the van. I turned around to see that streams of water were coming in from all directions; the rotting floorboard, door jams, and broken windows held together with ducktape were no match for this rainstorm. Trying not to panic, I glanced over to observe the car’s sturdiness and plan my exit strategy should this thing roll over. To my dismay, the steering column was held together with electrical tape, the speedometer was out of commission, the graveyard of a dashboard was overcome by electrical wires that looked like growing ivy vine, and a dirty dishrag served as a defroster. By the time I arrived in Amou-Oblo my jaw was sore from being clenched for 3 hours.

I arrived to Amou-Oblo in one piece and was amazed by the beauty around me. The village rests at the bottom of the plateau and when I woke up the next morning a beautiful layer of fog crept over the plateau, reminding me of back home in the bay area.

Kat has formed a women’s group who meet on a regular basis to exercise, discuss health, nutrition, women’s rights, and maternal health. I was in Amou-Oblo to do my first health sensibilisation on yoga with the group and when I arrived I was impressed that all of the women had a makeshift yoga mat and were decked out in workout gear. These women were serious! Even though my language skills did not allow me to teach the class to the level I would do back in the states, the women seemed interested in continuing to learn more and invited me back for another session in the future.

For the rest of the weekend Kat and I along with two other volunteers discussed the possibility of coordinating a Women’s Health and Economic Conference for the women in the region. More to come on this initiative.