Meet my family: Larissa

I didn’t really see my sister Larissa for the first two weeks I was here. She spent most of the days in the side salon studying French, English, math and science for her baccalaureate exam. The two-day exam marks the end of her years in high school. When she receives her grades, her papa will decide where and what she will study.

For now, she is concerned mainly with making sure her little brothers do their share of the chores around the house. She has no qualms about reporting to Maman when Leo has not swept the house yet today. With a mere glance in my direction, I remove from feet from the coffee table in the sitting room.

At a Peace Corps workshop in which she participated, she put some high school boys in their place when they tried to argue that fetching charcoal for the fire means they help make dinner at their house.

She stood tall with one hand on her hip and one hand gesticulating wildly. Her body language said more than the words she spoke.

Larissa is able to carry such an attitude as a benefit of the family in which and the place in which she was raised.

In a southern, less conservative city like Porto Novo the women have learned to speak their minds. They argue over giving change and hold tight to inflated prices at the market. They aren’t afraid to say exactly what they think of your dress. They fight hard to give their families whatever they can manage.

If this empowerment is accompanied by a little sass, I’ll take it.