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Becky: We walked up to the main large mosque in Djougou - the towers were quite tall and the building itself was on the top of the hill, which gave it a very lovely setting over the city.
Damian: This was the big mosque in Djougou. The mothership of all mosques in the area. It was always a work in progress while I was there, and it appeared that they had made a lot of progress since my time in Djougou. It was neat to walk around up in the area or quartier. Djougou is 95% muslim. The two big mulsim festivals Ramadan and Tabaski. Ramadan is the month of fasting followed by a feast. It wasn't all that difficult to foot during the day light hours of Ramadan, but sometimes it was sometimes an inconvenience for the non-muslim folk. At the end of the month of fasting most families will slaughter a goat, lamb or bull. I believe Tabaski is the festival to honor Abraham thus more goats, lambs and bulls are slaughtered. The day of these slaughters is something to see.
Multi-Purpose----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Becky: The patio in front of the mosque was a color mix of goats hanging out in the shade of the ledge and laundry drying. The photo below that is the view down the road from the mosque. It gives a nice panoramic view of a side street in Djougou.
Damian: This is something that I could never get over. If you've ever seen someone in Benin do their laundry by hand then you understand why. Washing one's clothes in Benin involves being hunched over a bassine [bucket?] for a large amount of timing churning the dirt out of the clothes. It's almost like kneading bread. You knead...knead...knead. Scrub with soap. Knead....knead....knead. Empty dirty water and add clean water. Then knead...knead...knead. The last step requires that you wring the water out of the clothes. [For jeans they would use two people. One person twisting in one direction and the other twisting in the other direction. Amazing how much water can be twisted out of the jeans.] After all that work it's time to drape the clothes on the ground to dry in the sun. [if there's a bush or tree that is normally used...but the ground works just as well.]
Right Time Right Place
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Becky: Some kind elders hanging out in front of the mosque brought us up a narrow winding staircase and into the roof of the mosque. From there we had spectacular views of the city, rooftops of urban buildings and the forests containing hidden villages beyond.
Damian: I had never been up here before which is a shame because the view is amazing. The two 'guardians' of the mosque who brought us up there were very nice. The height of the roof of the mosque led us into a nice discussion of how tall buildings are in New York City. The mosque we were on top of amounted to three maybe four stories at the most. They had of course seen skyscrapers in pictures and/or on TV, but it's still something hard for them to grasp. They couldn't understand why anyone would want to sleep on the 40th floor. They asked me a interesting question about whether or not we built these huge buildings out of necessity or choice. I suppose it's out of necessity because many of us want to live in the same spot. They were even more confused when I told them that the most expensive apartments were on the top floors.
Building Permits
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Becky: Many buildings in Benin, including mosques, were at various stages of constructions. I couldn't believe it when Damian told me these branches protruding from the tower of this mosque are the scaffolding. Once the builders are finished using them, they will dislodge them from the cement and fill in the holes. This was just another example of something that could never legally fly in the US.
Damian: Yep...Beninois construction at it's finest. We crossed paths with the building inspector on the way in. He seemed very confident that everything was moving along according to schedule.
Birds-Eye
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Becky: Here is a nice example of what is behind the walls of a house front. This yard has a well, although I'm not sure its functional since there is a tree growing out of it. Many of the roofs are made of sheet metal, but some are thatch. The buildings themselves are made of the clay soil and/or cement. The piles of logs are used for cooking and cleaning. In the lower photo you can see a shower attached to the side of the house.
Damian: Below is what amounts to a normal size family concession. The roofs are either thatch or tin. And the walls are composed of mud bricks covered with concrete.
Islam
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Becky: The African continent is an interesting and tolerant mixture of Muslim practitioners and Catholics, with sprinkles of other religions in between. Basically, the Arabic influence bled down from the north, and the Catholic influence came from colonies in the south. The majority of Benin is Muslim, especially in the north. Taffa estimated only 5% were Catholic in Djougou. However, one of our waitresses in Cotonou, the southern capital, was Catholic and there was a very large cathedral called Notre Dame near our hotel. Regardless, religion of all forms inspires beautiful architecture. I loved the colorful mosques, their stoic towers, the colorful tunics and praying mats of the Muslim men. The crescent moon and star are internationally recognized symbols of Islam, although some things I read about that symbolism says it has its roots in pre-Christian Greek gods. Regardless of where it comes from, it is well known that it has represented different things in early antiquity. Back to the present, I saw a few women in head scarfs and had a very rare sighting of a woman with her entire face covered. I saw quite a few men and boys bowing towards Mecca five times a day in prayer, but I got the impression that there wasn't a very strict adherence to the rules of that faith.
Damian: Standing in front of the mosque and then again on the roof the older guardian explained to me that in the distance, on the other side of Djougou, there was a small plot of land that belonged to the Americans. He told the story of a group of episcopalian missionaries settling there many many years ago, and they're still they're today. [the church is there but I'm not sure if there are still American missionaries there.] The gentleman telling the story seemed very proud that he was able to say that there was a little plot of land for the Americans there. Not much 'clash of civilizations' in this mindset...I wonder if Samuel Huntington has ever been to Djougou?
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