August, 2007 Tour of 5 Villages in Ivory Coast

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Mission:  sensitization to the poverty and exploitation of Ivoirian cocoa farmers while providing farmers with tools and hope.

Situation:  the Ivoirian cocoa farmer is squeezed from all sides—to the point of despair.  The government takes 320 CFA per Kg in taxes and provides virtually nothing in return.  Middlemen also squeeze money from the value chain.  In the end, like the Colorado River entering Mexico (which by treaty was supposed to be a torrent), only a trickle remains.

Brief Description:  a 7-day exploration of the Western cocoa belt of Côte d’Ivoire. We will take a truck or van full of supplies for the cocoa farmers.  Our trip includes the following…

• Visit to Abidjan:  interview the head of SACO and an official at Cargill
• Donate tools to village chiefs:  learn about how village governments functionStay overnight in a village:  spend the night in Depa.  Learn how to take a shower and to use the restroom facilities (road by night; forest by day.)  Take pictures of children:  much hilarity ensues.
• House-building:  learn how walls and roofs are constructed.Interview cocoa farmers;  find out how little they earn and why.
• Witness a mask dance put on by the village of Depa.Visit Two Cooperatives:  interview officials of Kavokiva and Coopaga.  Learn about cocoa grading.  
• Beverages: watch the village expert make palm wine or banggi.  Sit around and drink some.  For breakfast, sip distilled banggi, or koutoukou to start your day with “African power!”  Enjoy bissap, sweetened hibiscus tea.Cocoa:  taste fully ripe cocoa;  learn how to germinate and plant;  study evidence of various diseased states such as ants, mammals, termites, mirids, and black pod.
• Visit a Cocoa Buying Company:  tour plant that dries the beans and interview officials.Hike to waterfalls of Soubre:  hike through a vestige of rainforest and swim in the river
• Visit the residence of Houphouët-Boigny and the legendary hungry crocodiles to whom he is said to have fed his political opponents.
• Interview former residents of Gbeutitabia, who changed themselves into monkeys to avoid slavery but couldn’t change back.
• Tour San Pedro dock facilities:  see containers of cocoa being loaded or offloaded from ships. 
  

Foods You Will Eat:  you will be mainly consuming West African foods, although breakfasts will be facsimiles of Continental fare.  Examples of foods you will find in hotels, restaurants, and in villages...

• Chicken Kedjenou: :  a delicious stew made of totally free-range chickens.  Cooked with tomato and onion.
• Chawarma:  a crispy crepe enclosing various stews.  Served in Lebanese or Moroccan restaurants. 
• Braised Fish Abidjan Style:  grilled fish cooked with a rich mixture of chili sauce, onions, and tomatoes. 
• Lamb Stew with Footoo:  a delicious stew served with sweet bananas pounded into a paste. 
• Agouti with Rice: a rodent that is being raised for cash in back yards, it is often served with palm fruit sauce over foutou (pounded plantains.) 
• Pangolin:  a scaly anteater often sold along the side of the road.   Makes a delicious stew.Ignam:  dig up wild yams and eat them boiled

 
Budget: As a volunteer for Project Hope & Fairness, all of your reasonable travel expenses, and any other in-kind or cash contributions you may make during the trip, are tax-deductible.

	$2,000	Per diem $250 per	person per day	times 8.
	$500	Individual's contrib	ution to purchase	of tools
	$2,200	Airplane ticket
	$4,700

• Per diem: takes into account transportation, hotels, restaurants, police bribes,  special services.
• Tools:  each tourist contributes a gift such as machetes to the five villages.
• Airplane ticket:  this cost varies, depending on departure point and carrier.

Who Should Come?
Individuals who are looking to understand the situation of the cocoa farmer as an example of disparities between First and Third Worlds, who are looking to increase their understanding of issues of International Development, and who are endowed with superior levels of patience and understanding should come on this tour.  For best results, participants should have already traveled in the Third World and have interacted with people in the direst of circumstances without disintegrating into hysteria.  Such individuals should be able to transcend crushing poverty and focus on the sheer joy written on the faces of people who have so little material wealth.