Hi friends and family!
Togo is starting to be a big bummer and I’m really homesick, but I’m keeping my chin up and looking forward to a vacation in Switzerland in June!
A little talk about village life:
Projects overall are going well. The latrine project is a huge pain and I’m apply for over $5,000 to do the project. We are currently working on our 5th budget! I’ve been encouraged that this the hardest part of the project, so once we get the final budget and the money, I hope it will be smooth sailing.
I have 4 Village Savings and Loan Groups going strong and it’s one of my favorite things to do with women here. I have one closing in June and they’ve already told me they want to start again when it ends. (The groups run for one year; at the end of that year, the women get their money back with interest, like a mini-bank.)
I have a club with apprentices and we are currently in the middle of a four-part series on marketing. I’ve decided to make apprentices a priority in my service because they are often considered the “lesser” people of society, not having finished school. Their bosses also treat them terribly (not always, but often).
I’m planning a soccer tournament in July with another volunteer. It will include a team of volunteers and homologues, and team of Togolese students from Pagala, Waragni, and Tchare-baou (surrounding villages). The theme is going to be clean water and food sanitation.
Also planning “Take Your Daughters to Work” week with two other volunteers where we will bring middle school girls from all over our region to spend a week learning self-confidence, talking to powerful women of Togo, and being encouraged to continue to pursue their education.
On Saturday, I have the first meeting to start planning a regional women’s conference to teach women of Togo health and wellness practices, financial literacy, and general empowerment. I’m really excited about it.
I’ve started volunteering with a microfinance institution called URCLEC (Union Renovee des Caisses Locales d’Epargne et de Credit) two days a week working in their credit and tontine departments.
Easter is coming up, so no one’s doing much lately besides preparing for the fête. The 1st of May is also a huge party in village so that’s contributing to the general lack of work. Seamstresses are slammed, though, because everyone wants party clothes made for the 1st of May. It’s their labor day.
So that’s a general update on work, now some entertaining things about Togo:
If you haven’t spent time on a farm, you may not realize how much goats sound like kids. It’s a fun game to try to guess whether the sounds I’m hearing outside my compound are coming from goats or children.
When Kotokoli people greet eachother, they all squat all the way to the ground and say (in Kotokoli, obviously): welcome, ok, good morning, ok, and your activites?, going well, and the work?, going well, thank you, ok, yes, yes, ok, ok, yes, ok… this can continue for about a minute and I love to watch it. And I can participate now because I speak enough Kotokoli to greet and answer the question “where are you going?”
My neighbor came over the invite over for lunch of pate rouge and duck (one Togolese meal I actually love!). While I was there they asked me to serve the pate. I started serving with a spoon and the guy commented that I was using my left hand. I apologized and explained I’m left handed and I forgot that is a cultural taboo here. He said that it was ok, being left handed is pretty. When I started eating, he made a typical Togolese sound of exclamation (like a high-pitched oh?, or ah!) and said “she really is left handed!” Everyone thinks it’s so funny that I’m left-handed. They also proceeded to demand why I shave my legs and tell me that I must get pregnant before I leave Togo because I’m already 24 and soon I’ll be too old to have babies.
You definitely have to have a sense of humor to survive here and it’s nice that there are other Americans who understand the hilarity of our lives. I’m afraid you will all think I’m strange when I get back to the US because I’ll be going on about how beautiful grocery stores are and how I haven’t had broccoli in two years and how “awesome” a building is because it has electricity.
For Easter, I’m going to my boyfriend’s village to celebrate. (This is a little ironic because his entire village is Muslim and doesn’t celebrate Easter.) The women he works with most in village, though, isn’t Muslim and we’re going to make duck and whatever side we can create with the limited ingredients here.
I’m continuing to work with my seamstress and am currently working on a very Togolese complet for myself (a long skirt and matching skirt). It will be one of those things I leave here when I’m packing for home. You know, good for Togo, weird in America.
Thursday, April 21, 2011
8 April 2011
A good friend of mine in America brought to my attention that I haven't updated in a while. Sorry!
So, I'm sitting in the office in Lome filing my taxes. Don't you love filing your taxes? I just finished my VRF (volunteer reporting file). It's something congress makes us do a couple of times a year to make sure we're not just being bums over here. Rest assured though, I just received an email letting us know that if the federal government shuts down, it's still business as usual over here in Togo.
So for my boyfriend's birthday, we jumped off the side of a mountain! We paraglided down to a runway owned by an American hospital who never uses it. It was sweet and I'll try to get some pictures on facebook. We went with another couple, but the wind wasn't very strong so they didn't get to go. That was a bummer. It was also a bummer the day before when we got all the way up to the village and it started pouring down! We took motos to another village and stayed the night in a monastery! It was really quiet and very lovely. (We paraglided the next day.)
The day after paragliding, the four of us made the long trek to a beautiful big city in the middle of nowhere called Badou. We stayed the night there and took motos to a neighboring village to hike about 45 minutes to the waterfall. It was stunning. We swam and took lot of pictures and exhausted ourselves! Then we made burritos for dinner with flank steak and rice and beans and avocados and salsa. Mmmmm.
So, I'm sitting in the office in Lome filing my taxes. Don't you love filing your taxes? I just finished my VRF (volunteer reporting file). It's something congress makes us do a couple of times a year to make sure we're not just being bums over here. Rest assured though, I just received an email letting us know that if the federal government shuts down, it's still business as usual over here in Togo.
So for my boyfriend's birthday, we jumped off the side of a mountain! We paraglided down to a runway owned by an American hospital who never uses it. It was sweet and I'll try to get some pictures on facebook. We went with another couple, but the wind wasn't very strong so they didn't get to go. That was a bummer. It was also a bummer the day before when we got all the way up to the village and it started pouring down! We took motos to another village and stayed the night in a monastery! It was really quiet and very lovely. (We paraglided the next day.)
The day after paragliding, the four of us made the long trek to a beautiful big city in the middle of nowhere called Badou. We stayed the night there and took motos to a neighboring village to hike about 45 minutes to the waterfall. It was stunning. We swam and took lot of pictures and exhausted ourselves! Then we made burritos for dinner with flank steak and rice and beans and avocados and salsa. Mmmmm.
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
15 March 2011
I just spent half of a day travelling about 50 kilometers. To say it was terrible, doesn’t begin to describe the feelings I had toward Togo today. I decided to take a car from Pagala instead of a moto, to save money (300CFA or about $.60), and plus I was with another volunteer so it’s easier to take a car. A driver said he was leaving in 30 minutes; he promised. After the 30 minutes, I found the driver, smoking a cigarette, and ask him if we were leaving. He said we’re waiting on one guy at his house and he’s coming soon. An hour later, after a terrifying episode with a mouse running at me and the driver picking it up by the tail and throwing it down on concrete to kill it, we decided to just take motos. About this time the driver comes running out telling everyone to get in the car, we leaving. We pack in. Four people in each row made for three and five in my row, counting a little girl. Start driving, SLOWLY. The driver keeps stopping along the dirt road to ask people where they’re going before telling them no and continuing on. I don’t know why he’s doing this because the only way we’re fitting another person in this car is in the trunk. About 1 km outside of Blitta, the entire car breaks down. Everyone gets out looking for shade to sit under while we wait for them to fix the car. We’re right in the middle of hot season, so shade is crucial. It starts looking like this car isn’t going to be repaired anytime soon and people are starting to leave as motos drive by. Another car finally comes and says they’ll take us to Tchebebe, and we can take a car from there to Sotoboua (final destination!). We arrive in Tchebebe, but the guy doesn’t let us out on the road like he said he would. He drives us back into the market area where we sat for another 30 minutes because he’s changed his mind and decided to go all the way to Sotoboua. Of course he couldn’t leave without finding more people for the car. I was sitting on like an inch of seat with my leg in such a weird position, it fell asleep and wouldn’t wake up! We finally get to Sotoboua 5 hours after we left my house and the driver tries to overcharge. We gave him what he deserved and left with him yelling at us. Just another day in Togo.
Speaking of just another day, I realized all of the things I thought were so strange when I arrived seem so commonplace now. Example, a woman got onto a bush taxi carrying her baby in one arm and a chicken in the other. The chicken kept freaking out and flapping its wings trying to get out. She started getting flustered and a guy behind her said “bring the chicken,” so she gave it to him and he just stuffed it under the seat. We didn’t hear much out of the chicken after that.
Sunday, I went to a savings and loan meeting at 6am and afterwards my homologue invited me to go to two baptisms with him. We just showed up to these people’s houses uninvited and not only were welcomed, but mentioned in the prayer, given spoons with our food (most people use hands), and allowed to sit with the important people in a chair (most people sit on the ground). At the 2nd baptism, they asked us to pray for the child right there on the spot. Talk about nerve wracking! In the middle of all these people speaking local language, going through the usual tradition, someone wants me to say something in terrible French. Naturally, I make the other volunteer I’m with say something, and everyone loves it and claps, and afterwards the father thanks us. Then he let us watch while he killed a mutton for the feast. Being an American in Togo is like being a celebrity. Everyone knows you, everyone reveres you, everyone goes out of their way to please you.
Another funny thing they do in Togo is what the volunteers affectionately called saluer-ing, or greeting. Since they speak French like they speak their local language, saluer-ing is a long process. While it differs by ethnic group (for example, the Kotokoli women squat all the way to the ground to saluer eachother), they all say pretty much the same thing. Good morning/afternoon, how’s it going? And your home? And the family? And the children? And your activities? And the work? And the fatigue? And your courage? Etc. People sometimes call just to saluer. It’s a really endearing thing about Togo.
So, I have this weird obsession with a nomadic tribe that “lives” in Pagala. I put lives in quotations because they really don’t live anywhere, they’re nomads. Anyway, they’re called Fulani and they are awesome. They dress so cool. The men look like they just stepped out of 1977 and the women look like exotic gypsies. They’re all wealthy because they herd cows for a living. One cow can sell for well over 150,000 CFA (over $300!). They also sell milk (obviously unpasteurized) and this cheese called wagash. They have their own language. I really want to do some kind of health formation with them, but don’t have a great person to work with as the Fulani are often discriminated against in a way similar to African Americans were in the US in the 1960s.
Work’s good, life’s good (besides to obvious travel issues today). Miss everyone back home and thanks for all that you do for me while I’m here. I appreciate every letter, call, email, facebook message, and care package that I get! You guys keep me going and I love hearing your thinking about me because I’m always thinking about you. Wishing you all safe, easy, chicken-free travels today!
Speaking of just another day, I realized all of the things I thought were so strange when I arrived seem so commonplace now. Example, a woman got onto a bush taxi carrying her baby in one arm and a chicken in the other. The chicken kept freaking out and flapping its wings trying to get out. She started getting flustered and a guy behind her said “bring the chicken,” so she gave it to him and he just stuffed it under the seat. We didn’t hear much out of the chicken after that.
Sunday, I went to a savings and loan meeting at 6am and afterwards my homologue invited me to go to two baptisms with him. We just showed up to these people’s houses uninvited and not only were welcomed, but mentioned in the prayer, given spoons with our food (most people use hands), and allowed to sit with the important people in a chair (most people sit on the ground). At the 2nd baptism, they asked us to pray for the child right there on the spot. Talk about nerve wracking! In the middle of all these people speaking local language, going through the usual tradition, someone wants me to say something in terrible French. Naturally, I make the other volunteer I’m with say something, and everyone loves it and claps, and afterwards the father thanks us. Then he let us watch while he killed a mutton for the feast. Being an American in Togo is like being a celebrity. Everyone knows you, everyone reveres you, everyone goes out of their way to please you.
Another funny thing they do in Togo is what the volunteers affectionately called saluer-ing, or greeting. Since they speak French like they speak their local language, saluer-ing is a long process. While it differs by ethnic group (for example, the Kotokoli women squat all the way to the ground to saluer eachother), they all say pretty much the same thing. Good morning/afternoon, how’s it going? And your home? And the family? And the children? And your activities? And the work? And the fatigue? And your courage? Etc. People sometimes call just to saluer. It’s a really endearing thing about Togo.
So, I have this weird obsession with a nomadic tribe that “lives” in Pagala. I put lives in quotations because they really don’t live anywhere, they’re nomads. Anyway, they’re called Fulani and they are awesome. They dress so cool. The men look like they just stepped out of 1977 and the women look like exotic gypsies. They’re all wealthy because they herd cows for a living. One cow can sell for well over 150,000 CFA (over $300!). They also sell milk (obviously unpasteurized) and this cheese called wagash. They have their own language. I really want to do some kind of health formation with them, but don’t have a great person to work with as the Fulani are often discriminated against in a way similar to African Americans were in the US in the 1960s.
Work’s good, life’s good (besides to obvious travel issues today). Miss everyone back home and thanks for all that you do for me while I’m here. I appreciate every letter, call, email, facebook message, and care package that I get! You guys keep me going and I love hearing your thinking about me because I’m always thinking about you. Wishing you all safe, easy, chicken-free travels today!
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
FESPACO
2 March 2011
It’s been almost 9 months in Togo, and I’m 7 months into my service. I’m currently in transit from Burkina back to my village, so I’m sitting in the Peace Corps transit house in Dapaong. Now I’ve officially stayed at least one night in every regional capital of Togo. How exciting.
The film festival was really cool! There were so many foreigners there and it was awesome to just sit in a café and listen to all of the different languages. We saw 5 films while we were there, and they were really hit or miss. One of them was the worst movies I’d ever seen in my life and others I really enjoyed. There was one Haitian film I liked, set in Paris, about love but definitely not a love story. It followed the lives of thee women, a teacher who messes around with her student, a woman who is fed up with love and decides to invite the first guy she sees to move into her apartment, and a girl who is confused about life and religion when she starts seeing religious signs. Really well done – well filmed and well written. A few of the movies were hard to follow because they were in another language with French subtitles. Trying to follow fast, French subtitles is not so easy!
Ouagadougou is a little more developed than Lome and definitely has more culture. Several of the films were shown at the “Institut Francais,” a little art gallery, library, and French café. The first night, we walked around the art gallery to see the works of Patrick Singh. I thought he was incredibly talented and you should google some of his work – especially if you want to really understand the faces of West Africa. After the gallery, we drank expresso in the little French café and ate a ham and gruyere sandwich. It was like heaven.
Now it’s back to the grindstone in Pagala for a few weeks. We’re celebrating my boyfriend’s birthday in mid-March, so are going to visit another volunteer who lives near the famous waterfall of Togo. The greatest thing about being here so far has been all of the opportunities to travel. It’s an exotic life I live here in West Africa!
It’s been almost 9 months in Togo, and I’m 7 months into my service. I’m currently in transit from Burkina back to my village, so I’m sitting in the Peace Corps transit house in Dapaong. Now I’ve officially stayed at least one night in every regional capital of Togo. How exciting.
The film festival was really cool! There were so many foreigners there and it was awesome to just sit in a café and listen to all of the different languages. We saw 5 films while we were there, and they were really hit or miss. One of them was the worst movies I’d ever seen in my life and others I really enjoyed. There was one Haitian film I liked, set in Paris, about love but definitely not a love story. It followed the lives of thee women, a teacher who messes around with her student, a woman who is fed up with love and decides to invite the first guy she sees to move into her apartment, and a girl who is confused about life and religion when she starts seeing religious signs. Really well done – well filmed and well written. A few of the movies were hard to follow because they were in another language with French subtitles. Trying to follow fast, French subtitles is not so easy!
Ouagadougou is a little more developed than Lome and definitely has more culture. Several of the films were shown at the “Institut Francais,” a little art gallery, library, and French café. The first night, we walked around the art gallery to see the works of Patrick Singh. I thought he was incredibly talented and you should google some of his work – especially if you want to really understand the faces of West Africa. After the gallery, we drank expresso in the little French café and ate a ham and gruyere sandwich. It was like heaven.
Now it’s back to the grindstone in Pagala for a few weeks. We’re celebrating my boyfriend’s birthday in mid-March, so are going to visit another volunteer who lives near the famous waterfall of Togo. The greatest thing about being here so far has been all of the opportunities to travel. It’s an exotic life I live here in West Africa!
Sunday, February 20, 2011
20 February 2011
Well, I had electricity longer than any other Pagala volunteer has ever had electricity. It was only for a month; yesterday, the Chinese engineers packed up a giant truck for Sokode and left an empty house in Pagala. With them, they took the electricity that they’d so generously loaned to me. People say that Pagala is getting electricity, but I don’t actually believe it, and even if we do, I’ve been told it’s not coming to my neighborhood. Oh well, at least now I’ve earned back to right to brag about living 2 years without electricity or running water.
Also this week, I had 50.000CFA stolen out of my purse in the volunteer lounge in Lome (about $100USD) and I ran out of gas for my gas stove. Things were going all too well for all too long. Thanks, Togo!
In other (better) news, projects are starting and I have lot of ideas for other projects to start. Biggest project right now is building 20 latrines in Pagala, but we’re working on getting the price down from the original 15.000.000 CFA estimate to about 3.000.000 CFA. We’ve had to revise the plan a little bit, but we’re sticking with it, people are excited and motivated, and people are doing their parts to get the project up and running. I also have a group of apprentices that Djobo and I are teaching each week about gender equality, HIV/AIDS, drugs and alcohol, French, and business skills. Pretty broad range. So far, it’s not going very well. Having trouble motivating the kids to get excited and/or speak up about anything. One problem for sure is language. Most of the time, when kids become apprentices, they’ve dropped out of school early having only finished elementary/middle school. This means they haven’t had a lot of time to study French and most speak only in local language to each other. Djobo is there, luckily, and he speaks 5 languages which helps. But we’re still having trouble with them. We’re doing to do ice breakers and more interactive activities, so I hope that helps. Keep you posted!
I ended up getting a new seamstress to work with. My old one was just not working out. She wasn’t a good teacher, she always wanted money, and I felt she constantly took advantage of me. My new one is great! She understands that I’m just doing it for fun. I got a sewing machine at my house so she lets me take work home, and I go to her place one day per week. She also talks me through how to measure people and how their measurements line up to cutting the fabric and sewing it together. I can’t do anything complicated yet, but hopefully one day!
Next week, I’m heading up to Burkina Faso with my boyfriend and several other volunteers. Fespaco, the biggest West African film festival, is going on from February 25 to March 5. We’re really excited because it only happens in Burkina Faso every 2 years! The visa we got is a 60 day visa good for 5 different countries in West Africa – Cote d’Ivoire, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Togo, and Benin. We’re going to try to make a trip at the beginning of April to Benin, so we will have seen all of the countries surrounding Togo. I think I’ll be ready for a real vacation (OUTSIDE of Africa) after that.
As always, thanks to everyone for following my blog, keeping in touch, sending goodies, etc. It’s almost been 9 months in Togo! Only 17 months left on March 5.
Also this week, I had 50.000CFA stolen out of my purse in the volunteer lounge in Lome (about $100USD) and I ran out of gas for my gas stove. Things were going all too well for all too long. Thanks, Togo!
In other (better) news, projects are starting and I have lot of ideas for other projects to start. Biggest project right now is building 20 latrines in Pagala, but we’re working on getting the price down from the original 15.000.000 CFA estimate to about 3.000.000 CFA. We’ve had to revise the plan a little bit, but we’re sticking with it, people are excited and motivated, and people are doing their parts to get the project up and running. I also have a group of apprentices that Djobo and I are teaching each week about gender equality, HIV/AIDS, drugs and alcohol, French, and business skills. Pretty broad range. So far, it’s not going very well. Having trouble motivating the kids to get excited and/or speak up about anything. One problem for sure is language. Most of the time, when kids become apprentices, they’ve dropped out of school early having only finished elementary/middle school. This means they haven’t had a lot of time to study French and most speak only in local language to each other. Djobo is there, luckily, and he speaks 5 languages which helps. But we’re still having trouble with them. We’re doing to do ice breakers and more interactive activities, so I hope that helps. Keep you posted!
I ended up getting a new seamstress to work with. My old one was just not working out. She wasn’t a good teacher, she always wanted money, and I felt she constantly took advantage of me. My new one is great! She understands that I’m just doing it for fun. I got a sewing machine at my house so she lets me take work home, and I go to her place one day per week. She also talks me through how to measure people and how their measurements line up to cutting the fabric and sewing it together. I can’t do anything complicated yet, but hopefully one day!
Next week, I’m heading up to Burkina Faso with my boyfriend and several other volunteers. Fespaco, the biggest West African film festival, is going on from February 25 to March 5. We’re really excited because it only happens in Burkina Faso every 2 years! The visa we got is a 60 day visa good for 5 different countries in West Africa – Cote d’Ivoire, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Togo, and Benin. We’re going to try to make a trip at the beginning of April to Benin, so we will have seen all of the countries surrounding Togo. I think I’ll be ready for a real vacation (OUTSIDE of Africa) after that.
As always, thanks to everyone for following my blog, keeping in touch, sending goodies, etc. It’s almost been 9 months in Togo! Only 17 months left on March 5.
Thursday, February 3, 2011
28 Jan 2011
I’ve been meaning to post for a while now. So much is happening! First, the Chinese engineers that live next door to me couldn’t understand how I lived with no electricity so they sent a wire from their house to mine! Now I have a light bulb in my bedroom and a place to charge my phone and computer. Big time game changer.
A couple of weeks ago, I had a meeting with the village chief and the chiefs of each quartier (kind of like neighborhoods within a village) to discuss the latrine project and cultural center. They were really excited. I was so nervous; not only was I giving a presentation to the most important people in my village, but I had to give it in French! It all was translated into Kotikoli, one of the local languages, by my homologue, Djobo. Pagala has 10 quartiers, and I’ve decided to build 20 latrines, so that makes 2 per quartier. The chiefs of each quartier are going to choose 5 possible places for the latrines. From there, we will teach the families how to use the latrine, sanitation rules, etc. We are requiring the families to come to 100% of the formations we do in order to be eligible for a latrine. If they can’t be motivated enough to do that, they probably won’t be motivated enough to use and maintain their new latrine. We are in the process of choosing someone to build the latrines, so once we choose and finalize the budget, we can apply for funding. It going to be a pretty big project and we still have so much work to do!
When we discussed the cultural center, I started getting a little frustrated. Djobo and I showed them the plan we’d made, and all they wanted was more. Someone said it needed to be bigger, another said it needed a library (the volunteer in Pagala before me already started a library), and another still said if I didn’t do everything they wanted, they could always find an NGO to come finish it. It made me mad! Here I am giving them all of this for almost nothing (I say almost because the community has to contribute 25%) and they just want more. It made me wonder if the presence of aid in Africa has done more harm than good. Maybe if NGO and volunteers weren’t here, they would be motivated to do things on their own rather than waiting around for some other country to give it to them. Maybe they would be more progressive and innovative. It made me wonder why I’m doing all these projects. Is it for the community or is it so that I can leave feeling good about myself?
So right now, I’m sitting in an air conditioned room in the Peace Corps Medical Unit. I had to come back yesterday because I woke up with an itchy rash on my neck, face, arms, stomach, and back. They wanted me to come to Lome so they could look at it. I was supposed to see the doctor yesterday afternoon, but transportation is so unreliable here, I didn’t get here until 6:30pm! I had to wait an hour for my first car out of Pagala to fill up (when I say fill up, I mean two people in the passenger’s seat, five in the back seat), then I got to Langabou to catch a bush taxi to Lome. I was pretty excited because I found one immediately and it was really full meaning they driver wouldn’t stop every 5 seconds to pick someone up. My hopes of getting to the med unit on time were dashed almost immediately, though, because we drove about 10 feet before stopping again and everyone got out of the car. I saw why soon enough, one of the back tires flat and hissing air. Awesome. So we waiting there for a while and stopped about 600 more times on the way down. Overall, the trip took about 8 hours to go less than 200km. I’m supposed to see the doctor this morning. I’m sure it isn’t bad, so I’m hoping I’ll get to go back up to Pagala today or tomorrow.
Life in Africa is, well, life in Africa. Slow-paced, worry-free attitudes, and lot of problems. Sometimes incredibly rewarding, other times frustrating, other times depressing, but it always is. Eight months down, eighteen to go!
A couple of weeks ago, I had a meeting with the village chief and the chiefs of each quartier (kind of like neighborhoods within a village) to discuss the latrine project and cultural center. They were really excited. I was so nervous; not only was I giving a presentation to the most important people in my village, but I had to give it in French! It all was translated into Kotikoli, one of the local languages, by my homologue, Djobo. Pagala has 10 quartiers, and I’ve decided to build 20 latrines, so that makes 2 per quartier. The chiefs of each quartier are going to choose 5 possible places for the latrines. From there, we will teach the families how to use the latrine, sanitation rules, etc. We are requiring the families to come to 100% of the formations we do in order to be eligible for a latrine. If they can’t be motivated enough to do that, they probably won’t be motivated enough to use and maintain their new latrine. We are in the process of choosing someone to build the latrines, so once we choose and finalize the budget, we can apply for funding. It going to be a pretty big project and we still have so much work to do!
When we discussed the cultural center, I started getting a little frustrated. Djobo and I showed them the plan we’d made, and all they wanted was more. Someone said it needed to be bigger, another said it needed a library (the volunteer in Pagala before me already started a library), and another still said if I didn’t do everything they wanted, they could always find an NGO to come finish it. It made me mad! Here I am giving them all of this for almost nothing (I say almost because the community has to contribute 25%) and they just want more. It made me wonder if the presence of aid in Africa has done more harm than good. Maybe if NGO and volunteers weren’t here, they would be motivated to do things on their own rather than waiting around for some other country to give it to them. Maybe they would be more progressive and innovative. It made me wonder why I’m doing all these projects. Is it for the community or is it so that I can leave feeling good about myself?
So right now, I’m sitting in an air conditioned room in the Peace Corps Medical Unit. I had to come back yesterday because I woke up with an itchy rash on my neck, face, arms, stomach, and back. They wanted me to come to Lome so they could look at it. I was supposed to see the doctor yesterday afternoon, but transportation is so unreliable here, I didn’t get here until 6:30pm! I had to wait an hour for my first car out of Pagala to fill up (when I say fill up, I mean two people in the passenger’s seat, five in the back seat), then I got to Langabou to catch a bush taxi to Lome. I was pretty excited because I found one immediately and it was really full meaning they driver wouldn’t stop every 5 seconds to pick someone up. My hopes of getting to the med unit on time were dashed almost immediately, though, because we drove about 10 feet before stopping again and everyone got out of the car. I saw why soon enough, one of the back tires flat and hissing air. Awesome. So we waiting there for a while and stopped about 600 more times on the way down. Overall, the trip took about 8 hours to go less than 200km. I’m supposed to see the doctor this morning. I’m sure it isn’t bad, so I’m hoping I’ll get to go back up to Pagala today or tomorrow.
Life in Africa is, well, life in Africa. Slow-paced, worry-free attitudes, and lot of problems. Sometimes incredibly rewarding, other times frustrating, other times depressing, but it always is. Eight months down, eighteen to go!
Monday, January 10, 2011
5 January 2011
6 Jan 2010
I think I’m falling in love with Africa. As much as I complain, and as much as I say I hate it, I’m starting to really like it here. Don’t get me wrong, I still miss my blackberry and Target and refrigerators, but there is something simple and endearing about life in Africa. I came back to my village after vacation and actually felt like I was home. Home with some interesting changes …
Change #1: They’ve been building a new compound right next to me. I was excited for two reasons: to have new neighbors and the houses were wired for electricity! I thought electricity must be coming soon to Pagala. Well it did. But only to that compound. I walk outside one morning and what do I see but 7 Chinese men and their monkey. It’s absurd but true. They have a giant generator that powers their compound night and day. They let me charge my computer for free, gave me a Coke, and drove me home once in their air conditioned CAR! So what are they doing here? 5 of them are recently graduated engineers who couldn’t find jobs (I guess Togo seemed like a better alternative than unemployment), 1 is their translator who speaks French with a Chinese accent, and 1 is their cook. Oh yes, they brought along a cook to make them real Chinese food. I’d say I hit the jackpot. They’re here for 5 months and one told me he’s already ready to go home. They’ve got a long way to go.
Change #2: I was startled awake around 3am to an unfamiliar sound. It sounded like a freight train rushing past my window. I jumped out of ned to see what was going on but it was dark and I didn’t have my contacts in. Putting it out of my mind, I eventually fell back asleep. The next night, I heard the sound again and opened my compound door to see an actual train flying by on the track that run next to my house. It’s pretty well known that Togo has railroad tracks, but it’s also well known that they let them get rundown and overgrown to the point that they were impossible to use. Apparently, they’re now doing test-runs to start freight trains again. Pretty exciting! I just hope they don’t do all the train runs at 3 o’clock in the morning.
Change #3: Jacques, my puppy, is having a lot of problems. I got him when he was just under a month old and took care of him and loved him. He loves me, but he has a seriously problem with males. I think maybe a male beat him when he was a little puppy and now he just freaks out when a man comes near him. To combat this problem, I let a male volunteer take him for a few weeks to take care of him and hopefully show him that there’s no reason to be afraid. It isn’t going well. Jacques tried to escape from the compound and got stuck in the fence. He ended up with a gash in his head and a really bad twisted leg. He can’t put any weight on it. And he still freaks out when males are near! It makes me so mad the way Togolese people treat dogs. They hit them, throw rocks at them, yell at them; it’s no wonder my dog is terrified. I might have to give him away, but stay posted.
Change #4: I have internet at my house!
Christmas and New Years were pretty good! I spent Christmas in Kara and the other volunteers and I did a white elephant exchange and the presents were so funny! One person got a live chicken! We named him Samuel and he was delicious. Spent Christmas day laying by a hotel pool and then going out for a very nice dinner; I got filet mignon! Ghana for the New Year was AMAZING. They have a mall that reminded me of America and our hotel had air conditioner and hot water! To ring in the actual New Year, we went to a nearby hotel on the beach where they were having live music. Unfortunately, with all the traffic, it took nearly 4 hours to get back to our hotel on New Year’s Eve and we didn’t make it to the party until 11:45! I was pretty sick, so ended up staying out for about 30 minutes before coming home and falling asleep. Overall, though, fantastic vacation! Ate Chinese food, Indian food, American food, etc. I felt like I gained back all the weight I’ve lost since being here!
Work wise, I’m trying to get started on several things. Pagala really needs latrines, so I’ll probably build some of those. I’m also going to start English tutoring, a business club for apprentices, and maybe some other stuff like that. The project I’m most excited about, and I want it to be my biggest project, is a cultural center! We’ll see how all of there things play out over the next few months, and, as always, I’ll keep you informed. Happy 2011!
I think I’m falling in love with Africa. As much as I complain, and as much as I say I hate it, I’m starting to really like it here. Don’t get me wrong, I still miss my blackberry and Target and refrigerators, but there is something simple and endearing about life in Africa. I came back to my village after vacation and actually felt like I was home. Home with some interesting changes …
Change #1: They’ve been building a new compound right next to me. I was excited for two reasons: to have new neighbors and the houses were wired for electricity! I thought electricity must be coming soon to Pagala. Well it did. But only to that compound. I walk outside one morning and what do I see but 7 Chinese men and their monkey. It’s absurd but true. They have a giant generator that powers their compound night and day. They let me charge my computer for free, gave me a Coke, and drove me home once in their air conditioned CAR! So what are they doing here? 5 of them are recently graduated engineers who couldn’t find jobs (I guess Togo seemed like a better alternative than unemployment), 1 is their translator who speaks French with a Chinese accent, and 1 is their cook. Oh yes, they brought along a cook to make them real Chinese food. I’d say I hit the jackpot. They’re here for 5 months and one told me he’s already ready to go home. They’ve got a long way to go.
Change #2: I was startled awake around 3am to an unfamiliar sound. It sounded like a freight train rushing past my window. I jumped out of ned to see what was going on but it was dark and I didn’t have my contacts in. Putting it out of my mind, I eventually fell back asleep. The next night, I heard the sound again and opened my compound door to see an actual train flying by on the track that run next to my house. It’s pretty well known that Togo has railroad tracks, but it’s also well known that they let them get rundown and overgrown to the point that they were impossible to use. Apparently, they’re now doing test-runs to start freight trains again. Pretty exciting! I just hope they don’t do all the train runs at 3 o’clock in the morning.
Change #3: Jacques, my puppy, is having a lot of problems. I got him when he was just under a month old and took care of him and loved him. He loves me, but he has a seriously problem with males. I think maybe a male beat him when he was a little puppy and now he just freaks out when a man comes near him. To combat this problem, I let a male volunteer take him for a few weeks to take care of him and hopefully show him that there’s no reason to be afraid. It isn’t going well. Jacques tried to escape from the compound and got stuck in the fence. He ended up with a gash in his head and a really bad twisted leg. He can’t put any weight on it. And he still freaks out when males are near! It makes me so mad the way Togolese people treat dogs. They hit them, throw rocks at them, yell at them; it’s no wonder my dog is terrified. I might have to give him away, but stay posted.
Change #4: I have internet at my house!
Christmas and New Years were pretty good! I spent Christmas in Kara and the other volunteers and I did a white elephant exchange and the presents were so funny! One person got a live chicken! We named him Samuel and he was delicious. Spent Christmas day laying by a hotel pool and then going out for a very nice dinner; I got filet mignon! Ghana for the New Year was AMAZING. They have a mall that reminded me of America and our hotel had air conditioner and hot water! To ring in the actual New Year, we went to a nearby hotel on the beach where they were having live music. Unfortunately, with all the traffic, it took nearly 4 hours to get back to our hotel on New Year’s Eve and we didn’t make it to the party until 11:45! I was pretty sick, so ended up staying out for about 30 minutes before coming home and falling asleep. Overall, though, fantastic vacation! Ate Chinese food, Indian food, American food, etc. I felt like I gained back all the weight I’ve lost since being here!
Work wise, I’m trying to get started on several things. Pagala really needs latrines, so I’ll probably build some of those. I’m also going to start English tutoring, a business club for apprentices, and maybe some other stuff like that. The project I’m most excited about, and I want it to be my biggest project, is a cultural center! We’ll see how all of there things play out over the next few months, and, as always, I’ll keep you informed. Happy 2011!
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