Somehow my latrine project has moved along very well this past month! It’s surprising because I was imagining so many different things that could go wrong during the construction process: the families wouldn’t dig the holes, we wouldn’t find the materials, or the workers would be busy or lazy; doesn’t it sometimes seem like anything [...]
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My house feels like a boat! It is so windy, the tin roof is constantly creaking and it sounds like the waves of the ocean. The rustling of the wind through the trees makes a nice current. The noise was loud enough to wake me up last night. When the rain comes, I have to [...]
There is plenty going on in Togo these last few weeks–I am really enjoying the balance of projects in my own village and multivolunteer projects. It provides a nice contrast between alone time in village and working on large-scale projects with PCV friends. It also means much less cooking for myself (somewhat of a relief!), [...]
I spent a couple days in Western Kara with my lovely friend Danielle after a planning session for the woman’s conference. On the journey, I noticed how different the northern part of the country looks from the south. Kara region seems downright fancy and developed compared to parts of the south. The roads were blissfully [...]
Eight months into Peace Corps service, I’m feeling good about where I’m at. Parts of life that seemed bizarre or even aggravating a few months ago now seem relatively normal. I rode in a jam-packed car—seven people in a five seat car, several chickens in baskets tied to the roof, and huge sacks of rice [...]
Just got back from technical training on family planning and behavior change in Pagala. We brought our Togolese counterparts and spent the week with volunteers from my stage. Ernest and I are excited about our “plan d’action:” working on building latrines, family planning counseling, working with middle school girls, and training health agents.
I’m definitely getting back into my groove in N’digbe after an amazing Christmas and New Years. There have been plenty of project opportunities both with partners in village, and with other Peace Corps volunteers. I had the opportunity to attend another volunteer’s “girl camp”–a weekend full of confidence-building activities, health talks and self-empowerment for [...]
It’s the beginning of a new year, and my eighth month in Togo. I’ve been up to a lot these past months—graduating college, moving to Togo, two-month training, and five months at post as a health volunteer. I really appreciated the chance to see my friends and family over the holidays. I saw my parents [...]
December 1st, the Journee Nationale de Lutte Contre SIDA, is an important opportunity to highlight the HIV/AIDS crisis in Togo. According to UNICEF, the HIV prevalence rate in Togo is 3.2%–and more than a hundred of these people live in my prefecture in Plateaux Region. Brandon Avery (GEE) and I organized a parade in his [...]
Check out photos from the World AIDS Day event, Thanksgiving, paragliding, etc. New folder From New folder From New folder
After in-service training, I’ve been excited to start working on projects in village. Life seem surprisingly busy now, compared to my first few months spent getting to know N’digbe. There was also Thanksgiving, which I spent with volunteers at a hotel. Each week, I’ve held English Club at the middle school. I wasn’t planning on [...]
All of the in-country traveling I’ve been doing these past few weeks has inspired me to write about the travel conditions in Togo. I first visited another volunteer in Badou, a larger village in the northern part of Plateau. I shadowed her to learn about what kinds of projects I can work on in my [...]
From Togo Togo Togo You may be wondering when am I going to get around to doing some work, instead of looking at waterfalls and eating yummy food with friends. Fair question, but I haven’t started any projects these first three months at post because this time is reserved for site study. I have questions [...]
It’s quite a change coming back to Ndigbe after traveling to the big city. Every time I hang out with Peace Corps volunteers in a big town like Adeta or Kpalime, I experience a tiny version of culture shock when I go back to village. I go from enjoying luxuries like running water, electricity, Internet, [...]
I’m really glad that my friend from stage and nearby volunteer Danielle had the chance to come visit Ndigbe this past weekend. I enjoyed the chance to show off what I’ve discovered about the village, and all of the friends that I’ve made. We made a pan pizza together, ate some mac and cheese, and [...]
So it’s time for the new stage to arrive in Togo. These newbies will be girl’s education and empowerment volunteers and natural resource management volunteers, after they complete the two-month training that I already finished. It’s funny to think that I already have a little of bit of Togo experience to offer, since it doesn’t [...]
Breaking news item from Togo—I made a pizza! Even though I do not have an oven, I made a pizza pretty easily on my gas stove. I added some homemade tomato sauce, onions, garlic, Vache Qui Rit (cheese, sort of), and last but not least pepperoni. Yes, pepperoni. Because yesterday I also had the chance [...]
Sorry I forgot my flickr papssword, so here’s a link to my photos on picasa: https://picasaweb.google.com/kl9100a/TogoTimes?authuser=0&feat=directlink
My time at post has been going really well. I was lucky to arrive in Ndigbe in time for the annual festival, which lasted nearly a week. It was the perfect opportunity to get outside and meets lots of people in the community. The party was huge. Each night, there were fireworks, drumming, and dancing. [...]
kate litvin / corps de la paix / BP 20 / Danyi Apeyeme / Togo / West Africa the old one works too!
Big news—I am now officially a volunteer! I filled out the paperwork to swear in yesterday afternoon, and today I will do the ceremony on national Togolese television. I will also introduce myself in Ewe, the local language in my village but also the largest ethnic group in Togo. My host family is coming to [...]
This week I visited my post–where I will work for the next two years! It’s a beautiful village of only 1,500 people. It’s perched on the top of a mountain, so my moto ride up to post journeyed through misty hills, and green forests. It rained every day this week and was very cool–I needed [...]
As you might have guessed, it is hard to update a blog from a village with no internet ports or reliable electricity! However, I can write one quick post before vanishing from the online world again. I’m with my host family now in a small village. My family is very fun and welcoming, we all [...]
Our time in Lome has been pretty disorienting over the past few days. We spend most of our time in the Peace Corps offices in training and air conditioning, enjoying delicious food and hearing stories from PCVs. The rest of our time we see the city of Lome–mostly through the windows of the Peace Corps [...]
Well I have landed in Togo, and been here for over a full day! It took a full day of travel to get here–leaving Philadelphia by bus to New York City, flying to Paris ( a few hours earlier than expected) and after a layover flying to Lome from Paris. We had a great greeting [...]
Lots of people have been asking me what I will do during Peace Corps training. My most frequent answer is: I’m not sure! But now I do know, because Peace Corps describes what goes on during “pre-service training.” During this intensive 3-month process, I’ll work on language skills (French), cultural awareness training, health and safety [...]
In a few short weeks, I will leave on an incredible adventure to West Africa. Before then, I still have to graduate college, move my stuff across the country, and prepare for Peace Corps service. Although there’s not much I can do to prepare, I’ve been reading as much as possible about Togo, the Peace [...]
The archaeology museum was huge and had an enormous number of important artifacts. In fact, the museum had so many pieces in the collection that some status and sarcophagi were stored outside in the rain! There were artifacts from ancient Mesopotamia and Anatolia, as well as Trojan and Byzantine pieces. The diverse collection of artifacts [...]
During one of our academic stops on the trip, we visited Bilgi University–an English-speaking university offering degrees in everything from communications, history, sciences, to political sciences. We sat in on a class on American Imperialism (humorously enough). The first thing we noticed was how “Turkish time” works. Everyone showed up at least five minutes late! [...]
We spent the week in Sultanahmet, just steps away from the Hagia Sophia. We stayed in an old Ottoman Mansion, furnished with period pieces! Look at how elaborately the living room and bedrooms were set up: This was the view from my bedroom window: How does call to prayer sound as an alarm clock? Pretty [...]
Check out these delicious waffles! You order a regular waffle and pick any toppings you want…. or you pick all of them! I got chocolate, nutella, chocolate chips, fruit, dates, nuts, coconut, white chocolate, marshmallows. Then the waffle man rolls up your dessert into a paper cone, and voila! You have the perfect snack food! [...]
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