My Story

My name is Sarah Erdman. If you've heard of me it's probably because you've read my account of a journey I went on recently with the Peace Corps. I went to Africa for two years from 1998-2000 and had myself quite an adventure. In 2003 I published a book called Nine Hills to Nambonkaha: Two Years in the Heart of an African Village. The book recounts my trip to Côte d'Ivoire, and gives a detailed description of all that I experienced there. This is a post trip blog that I've set up to give you an interactive view of me, the author and learn more about the life I lived for two amazing years.

All about Me!

So I figured one way to understand the book experience is to get to know the author more so I figured it would be a good idea to let you into my life a little. I grew up travelling. My father was a Foreign Service Officer so as a child I lived in seven differant countries including Portugal, Israel, Yugoslavia, and Cyprus. I studied in both Paris and Egypt during college as well. I attended Middlebury College in Vermont and then soon thereafter joined the Peace Corps and was "shipped off" to Côte d'Ivoire. I came back to the states periodically during my youth and because I was never in the U.S. long enough to make a lot of friends I wrote a lot in my spare time, it became a santuary for me and my journal was my best friend. After my journey I came back to the states and have basically been living here since. I am currently working as a placement officer for the Corps in Central Asia, Eastern Europe and Jordan. I also spend time speaking about the african culture that I lived in, and about the Peace Corps in general. OH and free lancing as I have time. I guess that's about all I have to say about me, or at least am willing to say about me. Read on to find out more about my trip!

What, When, Where, Why

If you haven't read the book, this post is for you. I decided to give a brief summary of the book. So, I went to Côte d'Ivoire in 1998 with the Peace Corps to live for two years in a very undevelloped African Village. It was my first stint with the Peace Corps, and since I love to write, I wrote a book about it, as you probably know if you've been reading this blog. I lived in a small house by their standards, hut by ours with no electricity. It was a challenge at first, but I enjoyed the simplicity. I was the only white person in the village and one of the first white people to visit since the 1800s. As I was there I worked mainly with women but worked as a health care worker promoting AIDS awareness, and birth control as well as treating malnutrition, acting as a midwife, monitoring the growth of infants and diagnosing every thing from the flu to malaria. I wouldn't have been called a specialist by any means.
My biggest success came with an AIDS awareness seminar day for the entire village. I had been giving classes to women on market day about simple health care issues that were completely foreign in the village, such as not drinking standing water or washing dishes. Anyway on this seminar day the entire village gathered and volunteers from the health clinic in Ferké joined us to pass out condoms and birth control pills, and the coolest part was these women who had been participating in my little market day classes presented! Now the main reason this is so cool is that, like in many western african communities, women looked on as far inferior to men, so for the men to be taught by women was a huge breakthrough! Plus the village was incredibly receptive of all the information being given to them.
Another wonderful thing that came about during my presence there was the first electricity ever in Nambonkaha was introduced. It was amazing, around 7:30 one evening during one of my last weeks there, the clear bulbs that had been hung on black wire suddenly burst on with and orange yellow glow and a slight buzz. It was quite a scene, the women standing in their doorways, the men gathering the bulbs to inspect them with wonder and the children dancing ing the pools of light. It's always a cool eye opening expereince to see something we take for granted in America, become such a big deal in a place that doesn't have nearly as much.
So ya that's a little bit more about my trip and the amazing experience I had, hopefully if you read the book you have a clearer image of my journey and if you haven't read the book, you understand this blog better and even more importantly that maybe you'll want to read the book.
Click Here for more information on Côte d'Ivoire

The Big Picture

Beyond any trips itinerary is what the traveler gets out of his journey. If I went everywhere in the world but learned nothing I know I wouldn't be satisfied and don't think many travelers would be. So, you may be wondering what I got out of my trip. How it changed my life.
Well if you've read previous posts here you know that I worked with people and helped them to the best of my abilities every day in Africa. That in itself changed my life. When you get to know people who are as differant from you as my Ivorian friends, it moves you. Seeing the triumphs in technology and medicine that these people had while I was here was amazing, and seeing theirs struggles, defeats, loss was just as moving and sad. Some of the stories I heard and hopefully translated into this book were simple astonishing. For instance in the very beginning of the book when Mariam had her child was beyond words. I was called upon as midwife in one of my first nights in the village and had never done anything like that before. And then to have the baby come out feet first was a twist that I wasn't sure I could handle. The tension in that room with all the vielles mopping up pools of blood, and Mariams screams resounding through the village were crazy. And then the relief and near euphoria when the baby just popped out crying, red and wet all over, but healthy. The whole experience was almost out of body.
Another amazing oppurtunity to learn abroad is the traditions and holidays celebrated by the people. It was almost a year into my stay, and for you readers halfway through the book that I attende my first funeral in Nambonkaha and boy what a funeral it was. I had never seen anything like it, even with all of my previous travelling. I would never have imagined that a funeral could be so festive, what with all of the lights and music and dancing and laughter and feasting. But again, afterward when I sat down and reflected on it, it makes perfect since that we celebrate a persons life whether than mourn their death. You could say it was just an excuse to party, and don't get me wrong, Ivorians love to party, but when I really thought about it, a funeral party was a beautiful idea. So those are a couple of examples and reactions from specific reactions from the book, but understand how much these experiences change you as a person and allow you to become much more open, and less judgemental about other cultures traditions and ways of life.

How Can You?

There are a lot of people in this world who need help and could use your time or money much more meaningfully than you may have otherwise used it. So if after reading my book, or even this blog and are interested in doing what I did there are a few ways to do so. As I'm sure you know there are hundreds or organizations like the Peace Corps that do aid trips all over the world. I chose the Corps but there are tons of other options out there. If you're interested in joining one of these organizations to go abroad and serve, anything you do will be much appreciated, and I can almost guarrannty that you'll be glad you went. However, if you are comfortable in the states and would rather not, or can't leave, giving any amount of money is incredibly helpful as well. I encourage you to do this, either of these options will not only change your life for the better, but will affect someone who needs your time or money more than you do, in unimmaginable ways. As for me, I was born to travel and can't imagine myself in the states for long. As you can probably guess I dying to return to Nambonkaha and visit my people. The boys who are now men the girls who are now mothers. I fully expect to return there soon, even though the recent conflict has made it difficult. Plus you know that wherever I go I'll be writing and I hope that you'll continue, as the reader to follow my adventures, whether from your comfortable living rooms or from some hut in vietnam it matters not.