Human rights

A young priest is looking after me in Cote D'Ivoire for this project. He is a very well educated and insightful person.

When I was asking many questions regarding the living conditions, social problems, health, or other issues in this country, he looked a bit puzzled by the unexpected questions. After giving his perceptions regarding my questions, he quietly smiled at me and said:

"Since you are from developed countries, you can discuss about the Human Rights. Honestly, developing countries like us are still struggling to just survive everyday. We do not have that kind of luxury at this moment. I am so glad that you are here and experiencing our life. Sometimes I wonder if we are considered as same human beings as ones in other parts of the world."

I could not find any word after hearing his comment, and just looked out such difficult life that local people were experiencing everyday.

I questioned to myself if I could keep smiling in this living condition as many Ivorian could manage.

Are people afraid of being old?

"I have heard that people in America are afraid of being old. Is it really true?"

When I had a dinner with educators in Cote d'Ivoire last night, this question was asked by a professor in the local university. He appeared very surprised when I said "Yes, most of the people are.... Moreover, this is not only the situation in the USA but also many other parts of the world."

Did the people in USA, Japan, European countries perceive aging as this African professor did in the past? If so, when did we loose the positive attitude toward aging process?

Welcome to Cote D' Ivoire

We are here to help develop an age friendly community for retired priest with the support of local villagers of all ages.

Chief of the Village of Assinie wanted to help elders who served their community during their life time to maintain their quality of life with peace and dignity. He donated a desirable parcel of land from the village to create housing for them with the goal to educate his community to maintain their cultural value of caring for elders. Moreover, elders have important roles to educate younger generations, and pass on the knowledge that they have acquired from previous generations.

Our project team consists of international volunteer members from diverse backgrounds and expertise. It is our hope to work with elders and local community to create an culturally appropriate age friendly community in Cote D' Ivoire. This will ultimately help teach industrialized countries the important lessons of how to obtain the sense of happiness as people age.

We are working on the preliminary phase of the project in Cote D' Ivoire on site for the next two weeks, and keep you posted about our progress as well as our personal adventures!