I'm back babydolls!

In case you haven't figured it out, I'm back in the good ol' US of A. Looks like it's all the chili cheese fries, and milkshakes and choices I want for now. I would like to say that my two years in Togo flew bye and looking back there are brief moments where I say, "wow it's already been two years". But in actuality, I felt every one of those 800-ish days. It is definitely good to be back, especially around my family and friends. Yet it's also weird. People say it's culture shock but I think it's more like a lack of culture shock. I mean I experienced real culture shock moving to Togo where EVERYTHING was new and different. Coming back to America, yes everything was different from Togo, but it was all familiar in a dream sort of way. I keep pinching myself thinking I'm going to wake up or that perhaps my time in Togo was some sort to not so bad nightmare. I don't know. Okay before I ramble too much more I'll say thanks for reading. Sorry for sucking as a writer but I do have to say you suck as a reader/follower of my blog so screw you :)

off to my next big adventure: graduate school. if i have the energy, maybe i'll blog about that too...

- Nikhil

hey!so as you can tell, i haven't updated in a while. can't really explain what happened and i don't really have the motivation to tell you what i've been up to since i last posted. my service is going great though and im working on projects i feel passionately about. i can't believe that COS conference is just around the corner. as much as im ready to finish my service and move on to the next chapter in my life (graduate school), i know a part of me will miss togo and all that he/she has given me. but its okay 'cause ill be back en afrique bien tot. btw, thanks to people who actually do read this blog. i meant for it to be a better source of information than what it ended up being but ive gotten random emails from cool people who want help with peace corps apps or want to congratualate me on my stories / service and i thank you for being "faithful" readers, especially even though i have not been a "faithful" blogger. anyways, i doubt ill be updating anytime soon but you never know. if you do have any questions or comments for me though, feel free to contact me via e-mail. take care and till we meet again...

As of this weekend, I have officially been in Togo for a year! woah...

The newbies arrive tonight and I'm super excited about having some new people in country. It's funny because last year, I remember meeting all the volunteers who were about one year into their service and thinking "wow, I hope I'll be as cool as they are one year from now..." and I think I accomplished my goal. But we'll have to wait and see what the new stagiers really think about me and my ridiculosity...

So...I apologize for the lack of postings over the last few months. I've actually been really busy with work and travel and I haven't really had a clear moment to sit and collect my thoughts to put into writing. I've been meaning to write about several things. There was tony and larissa's f-wedding at the beginning of April. There was also my amazing vacation in Ghana I want to tell you about. In May I finished the first phase of my pilot project girl's club with a fete. Finally, I have several reflections on my life in Togo that I would like to share with you. All of this and more shall be revealed over the next few weeks (or at least that's the plan).

This summer is going to be intense, but in a good way. As I mentioned before, I was selected as one of the editors of Et La Sante? and this summer we have two issues to put out, one in June and one in September. I also mentioned that I am one of the regional coordinators for Camp Espoir and I am super pumped to play counselor for a week. Finally, a few weeks ago I got selected as a volunteer trainer for the new stagiers that are arriving tonight. It's sort of like being a FASET leader, except I don't have to be a tool. With those three activities, plus work stuff back in Sotouboua, I basically have a completely booked next three months. I feel bad about being away from post for so much time but at the same time, it's summer so schools are out and it's also rainy season so everyone's working in the champ so it's nearly impossible to do anything anyways. My plan is to finish this summer, do a quick vacation in Benin on the beach for a few days and then head back to Sotouboua, not leave for three months, and get shit done.

Backtracking, I started off my week long trip by heading to Notse to volunteer at Ashley & Danielle's Moringa Fete in Notse. It's kinda funny because last year I celebrated yams in Bassar and now I'm celebrating moringa in Norse. Anyways, I think I've talked about how awesome moringa olifeira is and all the cool things you can do from this "miracle tree" so I won't go into any more details but for the past year and a half Ashely and Danielle, two CHAP volunteers in and around Notse, have been trying to sensibilize their communities about Moringa. So in order to talk about the many benefits and ways to use moringa, they raised money to have a fete complete with a parade, radio announcements and carnival with moringa demonstrations. Me and about 15 other volunteers showed up to help man the booths and educate people about topics ranging from how to make moringa oil to a cooking demonstration with moringa leaves. Overall the event was a huge success and it was great to not only hang out with my fellow volunteers but to also see my health work in action.

So as you can tell, I'm writing to you from the lounge in the PC Bureau in Lome. I've been here all week for work and personal reasons. Workwise, Tchao asked Nacho and me to update the CHAP Toolkit for the new trainees so we've been working all week to add information on family planning, sexual/reproductive health, and HIV/AIDS. Personally, two good friends of mine left Togo (Fabiola terminated her service early and Tig ended her service) and I wanted to be in Lome to say goodbye. It sucks to start having close friends leaving country; these are people we've connected with on a certain level and now they are gone. Helen and Tig are the first ones from their stage to leave and they were some of the first ones to welcome us to Togo; luckily I still have many more weeks with other 2nd years that I am close to but come this September, they'll all be gone and my stage and the september stage will be the only ones left. Sadness...

Hmm...so the new stage gets in tonight and maybe we'll get to take them out tonight but if not, I'm excited about all the good food I can eat now that I've FINALLY been paid (took you long enough PC Washington!). Tomorrow night is the GAD fundraiser at Triskall and then the Regeants party to properly welcome the new trainees to Togo. I'll prob stick around on Monday to get somemore work done and then hopefully Tuesday it's back to post!

I'm off to go and make posters for the new tech house...

ciao!

- riding my bike in the african bush

- watching goats scratch their bums against a wall

- hearing hindi music over the Togolese radio

- wearing pagne-anything

- cooling off with a vanilla fanmilk on a hot day

- hanging out with my fellow volunteers

- playing with babies during baby weighings

- receiving mail from friends and family

- having a complete conversation in kabiyé

- drinking a cold beer and reading a good book at the buvette across the street

- eating fufu with peanut sauce and pork

- playing with my dog swarley

- biting into the first mangoes of the season

- dancing in the rain

- falling asleep to the sound of my electric fan

- being a public health badass

Hey everyone,

It’s funny how my life right now in Peace Corps is almost completely 180° different from what it was about 6 months ago. Last fall I pretty much spent my days lounging around my house reading books, watching movies, cooking and biking. I felt completely lost in terms of what exactly I was supposed to be doing here in Sotouboua (and Togo in general) and I was seriously contemplating ETing. I was happy, but I was feeling unfulfilled.

Nowadays, I barely have time to relax outside of repos time (where I’m pretty much forced to do nothing due to everything being closed and it being way too hot outside) and I find myself with much more work opportunities than I am able to pursue. I still try to read when I can but my list of books that I have started and not finished is growing (I’m currently in the process of reading about 4 books at the same time, along with several magazines and not to mention all the research documents I need to read for work). I’ve had the opportunity to make some pretty amazing meals (for Togo) with Marcus and Korie (stuffed green peppers, chicken pot pie, wagash calzones, just to name a few…) but I’m not cooking as much as I used to. As for exercising, I do a little every morning and of course I bike around Sotouboua for work but unless I have to do quick trips to surrounding villages for random things, I don’t get to bike for leisure unless I happen to already be biking and have like an hour to kill between meetings.

I’m definitely not complaining but if you had asked me last fall if I thought my life in 2009 would be this busy, I would have laughed. I like being busy. Well okay sort off; I like being busy but there is a balance that needs to be achieved between work and play and I think I am still working on finding that middle ground of moderation. It’s funny because I was always “busy” back in Atlanta but I’m busy in a different way here in Togo. All the projects that I’m working on here are things that I WANT to be doing as opposed to HAVE to be doing.

So this is sort of my excuse for why I haven’t blogged in a while. Apart from work, the only blog worthy event that I wanted to mention was the Safety & Security Conference in Pagala I attended at the beginning of March. As the contact volunteer for my Sotouboua cluster, I am responsible for alerting my group of any news from PC regarding our safety and security. Our conference basically covered what to do in case of an emergency, for example a coup d’état or if there is political violence pre- and post- Election Day next spring (I am fortunate to be in Togo when the next president will be elected sometime between Feb and May 2010). Apart from hanging out with Stephen, the conference was worth it just to hang out with my fellow contact volunteers and eat the amazing food at the training center.

Bad transition but yea, since a lot of new projects have come up and started to take form, let me update you on my work life:

1) Vie Saine Togo: I can’t remember what exactly I have blogged about regarding VST but basically ever since the members, on their own initiative, had elections for the administrative bureau in December work has started to pick up. I was still a little lost at the beginning as to what exactly I should do with them and after a little contemplation, I decided on completing a needs evaluation. Joelle conducted one I believe two years ago but since a lot has changed since then and now, I think it’s important for the members to re-evaluate where they are and what their needs are. For the needs evaluation, I am basically conducting home visits to all registered members in the Sotouboua, Adjengre and Aouda area where I am gathering information regarding their baseline knowledge level, a behavior change analysis and a qualitative needs assessment (basically I want to know what they already know and what they want to do so we can plan for the future). Not only does this evaluation help me collect data but I also get to personally meet all the members. After I finish the needs evaluation, I want to hold a “retreat” for the admin bureau to help them prioritize their needs and reassess their strategic plan. I’m not really sure where I’ll go from there but since my first goal with Vie Saine is to get them sustainably stable, I may try and do some basic management workshops to teach the members good business practices. Oh and I’m gonna start holding “office hours” at the bureau not only to put myself out there to help the members but also to set a good example and demonstrate the importance of having scheduled business hours. I have a lot of other ideas I would like to implement soon (radio programs, a kids club, an internal village savings & loans group, etc.) but all in good time.

2) I.E.A.G.R.M.S.: My girls’ club pilot project is coming along very well. Apart from the small management issue that happened at the beginning, I am actually impressed with how well the project is going. Not only have the girls attended all sessions, but they have been actively participating and doing their assignments like they are supposed. For our first real lesson, we talked about the basics of HIV, focusing on the ABCs of prevention, and then we covered an introduction to small businesses before I demonstrated the first IGAs (income-generating activity) of the pilot project: enriched flour and porridge. I wanted to incorporate a business skills section to the curriculum because I thought that it was important for the girls to learn the principles of good business and apply them to their IGA. For our next lesson, we talked about the importance of good communication and how to negotiate for abstinence and then I invited Golda and Korie (two NRM volunteers) to help me talk about Moringa before I showed them how to make a powder from the leaves that can be used as a nutritional supplement. This past weekend, in celebration of International Women’s Day, we discussed women’s rights and did some self-confidence building exercises. For the business session, I showed them how to make peanut butter and then we talked about how to determine the prices and costs involved in running a small business (I meant to cover this topic last time and talk about accounting this week but we always seem to run out of time).

We have one more class (to discuss how to plan for the future and how to do a feasibility study) to go before our evaluation and at the insistence of my counterparts, we will probably ask PLAN for funding over the next two months to help the girls secure a small loan so they can start the IGA of their choice over the summer to raise funds for school next year (as I mentioned before, schooling after the elementary level is not free). This is a little opposite from the vacation enterprise model but I think that teaching this information over the school year helps reduce tardiness (since the girls are already in a school mode) and this way they can just focus all their energy on running their small income generating activities over the summer without having to worry about “classes”. I am so thankful for my amazing homologues who pretty much run the show. I plan the activities based on the PC Life Skills book and of course from ideas that I come up with but since they pretty much repeat everything I say in a way the girls can understand, it’s pretty much like they don’t need me. I am so glad that the girls are motivated and hopefully after our course evaluation, I can determine what worked and what didn’t work to make improvements for next year. My plan is to come up with a year long curriculum (I am always rushed to cover information in the 4 hours I am allotted so it’ll be nice to be able to stretch some topics out over several sessions) for the next school year and if that model works, maybe do a training of trainers so, like my homologue originally planned, implement it at other schools in the area. Or at least that’s what I have in the works right now in my head. Again, baby steps…

3) Hospital / Dispensaire: In an effort to add more structure to my week I’ve been pretty religious about attending the weekly C.P.C. (baby weighing and vaccination day) at the hospital. They most definitely don’t need my help (well not really) but it’s fun to play with the infants and this way I get to know the mothers. My awesome counterpart Atisso has been making me do a causerie at least once a month so in January I did a causerie on the importance of breastfeeding; in February I talked about the advantages of family planning and this past week I did a causerie on malnutrition. Although I don’t really need to change anything, I am excited though because I think I did make a “tiny” impact by stressing the importance with the C.P.C. crew about giving the mothers an updated copy of their baby’s growth chart (something they had been neglecting to do since they only kept records for the hospital itself) so the mothers can take a more active role in monitoring their children’s health preventing malnutrition. Apart from the causeries, I would like to do some family planning work with the FP clinic but I’m having a hard time breaking the gender gap since it seems to be female-oriented work; however I am hoping to change that by possibly doing male-focused family planning sensibilisations and maybe holding clinic hours for men. We’ll see…

As for the dispensaire, I have tagged along on several of the campaigns such as impregnating bed nets and administering polio and vitamin A to children under 5 but they also seem to have their work well planned out. At the moment, I don’t plan to do a lot with the dispensaire (besides I do have a pretty full schedule of work) but I have been working with the program coordinator for the mothers clubs and he wants me to start working with the local mothers clubs to do small workshops. Although I definitely want to help and do some talks particularly on various health issues, enriched flour and moringa, we seem to be having conflicting schedule issues so I may have to wait till my calendar clears up a bit. I have two years though right?

4) Radio Projects: This is the project that I am currently most excited about and I hate to jinx it in case stuff doesn’t work out but oh well. Before coming to Togo, during my study abroad program in South America, I remembered learning about the effectiveness of using soap operas as a medium for social behavior change. Although I didn’t do a whole lot of research until I got to Sotouboua (since I didn’t know if I would even have a radio station to work with) after a little research online, I came across this awesome organization called Population Media Center. They came up with a training manual (in English and French) called “Soap Operas for Social Change to Prevent HIV/AIDS: A Training Guide for Journalists & Media Personnel” on how to use entertainment media as a vehicle for social messages such as family planning and gender equality. Since doing work over the television is not really feasible here (very few people in Togo have access to, much less own one) the next best medium is the radio. There has been a lot of success in incorporating behavior change messages into radio soap operas, particularly in Eastern Africa so my idea is to use the manual to create a local radio soap opera. I contacted the organization and they have been super helpful and extremely supportive; they even put me in contact with the current coordinators in Senegal who are working on a radio soap opera project through UNFPA & UNAIDS. I am very much in the initial stages of this project as I am still working on putting together a comprehensive committee of people from various sectors (the hospital, the radio, students, etc.). It also just so happens that one of my Togolese counterparts who is involved with the radio station peripherally has worked in the past on a radio project fighting child trafficking and he also has a background in Togolese theater! Could my post be any more perfect for me? I think not...He is super excited about the project and although he is a very busy man, he has pledged his full support. This is probably going to be one of my more time intensive projects since they process of creating the soap opera has many complicated facets and unfortunately it’s unlikely that we’ll get to any producing until next year; however like I said, it’s the project I’m the most excited about since a project like this has never been tried before in Togo.

I also really want to do some separate radio work since Sotouboua has not one but two private radio stations. However private means that getting free air time to do health sensibilisations or any other health work is pretty much impossible. But hopefully if this soap opera project kicks off and I get to make some strong relationships with the radio personnel, hopefully I can start doing some radio work in the fall.

5) Intelligentsia: Unlike working with CEG students, I seem to have the hardest time coordinating with the students at Intelligentsia, mainly because it’s a private school and has a different schedule than the public schools (Wednesday afternoon for public schools is designated as free time for the students to participate in clubs and other activities; due to Intelligentsia’s schedule, their free times are Tuesday and Friday afternoon). I’ve been trying to work with the health & environmental club and the theater club but apart from a couple random meetings, I really haven’t had the opportunity to do anything concrete with them which is a shame since I love working with schools. Hopefully things will change a bit because I would really like to introduce Moringa with the health club and maybe form some moringa peer educators to educate the community about the amazingness of the tree (I would really like to do the peer educator training before Earth Day so that the educators can plant some trees at the school). I also really want to involve some of the theater students in my radio project but since I don’t know any of them very well (since I’ve only met them two or three times), I don’t know who to approach. It’s a little frustrating but then again, c’est la vie togolaise non?

Oh but one “project” that is in the works is an American culture session during the annual “Semaine Culturelle” at Intelligentsia. All the schools around Togo do it to celebrate the ethnic diversity of the country but since we have the best relationship with Intelligentsia, Marcus, Korie and I agreed to have an open panel discussion with the students where they can ask questions about American culture and we will do our best to respond. Kpango also asked me to do a session on American music so I get to play various genres of music and talk about it in French. Semaine Culturelle is the last week of March / first week of April so luckily I have a bit to prepare.

6) Other Projects

- Tutoring: Not a whole lot to say but after a few very frustrating French lessons, I decided it was time for me to switch to Kabiye in my effort to better learn my local language (it’s not necessary to know a lot of local language to work in Togo but it certainly helps). So I am now taking Kabiye lessons and I have set a goal for myself that by December, I would like to be able to give a full 15 min causerie during C.P.C. in Kabiye (even if I have to translate it all beforehand). Wish me luck with that. A couple kids around my house also asked me to tutor them in English so I might start a small little English club but we’ll see how long it lasts since they already missed the first meeting and gave no excuse. I’m also helping some terminale (13th grade) students study for the English portion of their year end exams so they can get into university thanks to an awesome study guide two volunteers up north created for the BAC exam and I’ve come to realize that teaching English is really hard!

- Peace Corps Projects: Two Peace Corps projects that haven’t started yet but I’m super excited about are the CHAP newsletter and Camp ESPOIR. Due to a lack of interest, I’m pretty sure Heather and I are the new editors of the quarterly health newsletter for volunteers. I am really excited about this project because it’s a way to combine my passion for public health with my passion for collaboration; Heather and I are hoping to really transform the newsletter into more than just an update on what health projects are going on in Togo but more into a sort of a forum to share ideas and best practices while fostering collaboration among the volunteer community. Heather and I (and Nicole and Sam) have also been selected as the counselors for the Centrale / Savannes Camp ESPOIR, a week long camp in Pagala for children infected / affected by AIDS. The time commitment is very small (a one day planning retreat in April, a week long training of trainers in June and then the actual camp in July) but I’m still excited to basically be a camp counselor this summer :)

So as you can see I am certainly working with a full plate of activities and although I do get stressed out every now and then, it’s the good sort of stress. Behavior change certainly takes a long time and although I have yet to see results, I do feel like I am on my way to accomplishing what I hoped to do during my two years in Togo. However, only time will tell…

back to being a public health badass,

-Nikhil

P.S. Thank you to Christina M., my fraternity and everyone else who contributed to my AMAZING package I received at the end of February. I can’t tell you enough how much your letters, notes, and contributions meant to me. That package totally made my day :)

A trashcan of tchouk, which costs about 4.500 CFA (or about $9), is approximately 1.5 feet high with an approximate diameter of 1 foot meaning the trashcan contains approximate 11.78 cubic feet of alcohol. That’s a lot of alcohol.

This past Saturday, my cluster (the 5 volunteers who use Sotouboua as a central location) and the Pagala cluster (a neighboring cluster of 6 volunteers about 50km south) attempted to finish off a trashcan at our first annual Sotouboua/Pagala mixer. It’s fitting that I use the term mixer since my cluster is 4 guys and 1 girl and their cluster is 5 girls and 1 guy so it’s very much like a mixer between a fraternity and sorority (wow, I miss Greek life…).

Anyways, the mixer was fun. The Pagala cluster came up to Sotouboua this past Friday and we hung out, ate bean burgers and pasta salad and drank lots of tchouk. It was great to hang out with them because although we have friends in each others cluster, they use Atakpame as their regional capital and we used to use Sokode as our regional capital so we rarely see each other. This might change though since Atakpame still has a transit house and is not that far from Sotouboua so our cluster can easily get there to do work/bank/shop/hang with volunteers. Regardless, it was a great party and hopefully this tradition will continue for years to come.

Oh and as for the tchouk, although a trashcan seems like not much of a challenge at first glance, as we started drinking calabash after calabash, we realized what a herculean task we had in front of us (particularly since several of us were mixing beers into the equation). The next morning, we found out that we barely finished ¼ of the bin! (it was sort of reminiscent of the never ending bowl in the middle of the island Dumbledore had to drink in Harry Potter book 6…). Since we didn’t want to return an almost full trashcan, Marcus, Sam and I attempted to finish off the rest of the trashcan on Saturday. We made it to about the end before realizing that our throats were too burned from the acid levels in the tchouk to finish. We returned the bin with about a little less than a 1/5th remaining. Not bad for two days work…

How would you feel if you were to find out that you tested positive for HIV?

Don’t worry, I did NOT test positive; I am merely positing about what it must feel like to be sitting in a clinic and hear the words “You have HIV”. What would go through your head? Fear? Guilt? Freedom? If I was back in America I’m sure that my first reaction would be something along the lines of receiving a death sentence. But only initially. Then I’d realize that yes, I’m infected, but that doesn’t mean that I’m going to die the next day, or even the next month or next year. In fact, living in the US, it is relatively easy to receive ARV treatment and other life-saving drugs so as long as I keep myself as healthy as possible by eating properly, I can live a relatively “long” life. Also, stigma against the disease has been reduced significantly since the early 1990s so I could live a relatively “normal” life as well such as keeping my job, friends and even a dating life.

No try imagining hearing those words again, but instead of being in America (or some other western “developed” country) you are now in Togo. Unlike America which has access to some of the best medicine in the world, being in Togo is a very different scenario. Already, most Togolese are blindly unaware of proper hygiene and nutritional habits which already leads to slightly poorer health (although that might be negated in the US by our obscene obesity levels…); poor health means HIV can transition to AIDS much quicker and take it’s toll on their bodies. Now, policy has changed very recently and ARV drugs are at the moment being offered at a low price; however the process of acquiring the drugs is a long and complicated process requiring a considerable about of money to be paid upfront for various tests and doctor’s visits. So although it is possible to now live with the disease here in Togo, various external factors do play a significant role in exaggerating the effect of AIDS in Togo.

Yesterday Vie Saine and PSI hosted another free testing day (“dépistage”) at the local hospital and I sat in with Fortuné during the pre- and post- psychosocial counseling sessions. For the first time (ever) I was actually in the room when a young woman found out for the first time that she tested positive for the antibodies. I just sat there staring and my mind started to wonder what must be running through her mind at this moment. I didn’t know anything about this woman. She looked about 35 but it’s hard to determine someone’s age (apart from “young”, “old” and “very old”) here in Togo. Was she married? Is her husband infected? Does she have kids? Are they infected? How long has she been infected for? Does she have enough money to afford the tests to receive a carnet, making her eligible for ARVs? Does she have enough money to get drugs for her kids if they are infected? What if her husband leaves her? Does she have a job? Can she remain healthy enough to keep her job? If she loses her job how will she provide for her children? Etcetera…

So if you are positive back in the States (or even if you are negative but might test positive one day) just remember how lucky you are to be in a place where your fate, no matter how grim it may seem, is a lot more optimistic.

more ponderings to come,

-Nikhil

The past two weeks have been interesting so I apologize for the random jumping from topic to topic…

Seasons of change

I think that I talked about the weather in Togo a while ago but as the Harmattan season transitions into hot season, I would like to re-visit the topic. The weather in Togo varies as one travels from the south to the north. Since I only got to experience the height of rainy season in the southern part of Togo, I will focus my observations on the weather at my post. Typically, the Centrale region experiences two distinct seasons: wet season and dry season. Wet season, lasting from May until about November, is precisely as the name suggests: wet. Within wet season, you have “heavy” wet season which starts at the beginning of wet season and that transitions to “light” wet season which started a little after my arrival at post. Dry season starts around November and as you guessed it, lasts till around May and it’s characterized by very little rain. This is not to say that it doesn’t rain at all, which it can do for weeks at a time (there was zero rain from about mid December to the end of January!), but that rain is much much more infrequent. Dry season also can be divided into two separate sub-seasons: Harmattan and Hot season. Harmattan occurs basically from December to January/February and consists of a large quantities of sand and dust from the Sahara that make their way to Togo via clouds and wind and basically fill up the sky (and cover my patio along with everything else in my house) with dust. Due to the dust in the air, Harmattan can get downright chilly (okay so chilly here in anything less than 85 but I think it can get as low as 65 – 70 F) particularly in the morning. Hot season which runs from February to May is exactly as the name says: hot! Usually a rainstorm comes in at the end of January and washes all the dust from the air which allows the sun to wreck havoc in full force with nothing to stop it. Unlike the heat from rainy season, which tends to be more humid, hot season is the sun in all its heat and glory. Now the reason why I am talking about weather is because as Harmattan transitions to hot season, I would like to point out how strange Harmattan has been this past year…

Maybe it’s due to climate change? Maybe it’s due to “Le Garçon / La Fille”, the African version of El Niño / La Niña, the weather phenomenon we experience in the US? Maybe my presence causes subtle meteorological changes in Togo? Whatever it is, the weather has been definitely been strange since arriving in country. The most dramatic difference has been a lack of a proper Harmattan season like I said. Now of course I was not in Togo last Harmattan to compare what I am experiencing; however, based on the stories from several volunteers who did experience Harmattan last year, Harmattan (at least in Centrale this year) was for a lack of better word, “indecisive”. It would switch back and forth between vrai Harmattan weather (dust everywhere and cold mornings) to hot season weather (clear skies and an entire day of sweaty heat). And the only reason I know what real Harmattan weather is like is because when I travelled up to Kande after Christmas, I got the chance to drive on a road with a visibility of about ½ a kilometer due to the heavy amount of dust in the air. On the way back the dust cleared and I had no idea there were such beautiful mountains and valleys on either side of that road. Hmm, well if we have an indecisive Harmattan, maybe we’ll also have an indecisive Hot season and it’ll rain more which is good because hot season is getting HOTTT!!! Temperatures, according to my EagleCreek travel clock and thermostat, are hovering in the high eighties (remember, this is in a place with zero air conditioning) and I’ve heard rumors it gets as hot as 110 F! Eek…Rain, rain, please don’t go away, please don’t come again another day…please come now!

PDM/IST

From February 2nd through the 7th, I spent the week at the Peace Corps training center in Pagala for PDM/IST. Project Design Management (or PDM) and IST (In-Service Training) are two workshops volunteers are required to attend as part of year-round volunteer training. Typically PDM is supposed to take place three months after arriving at post and IST is supposed to take place a few months after; however, due to budget cuts (Peace Corps’ excuse for everything these days) the two workshops were combined into one long week of sessions.

PDM’s purpose is to train volunteers and their counterparts on how to do a funded project. I came into PDM with the idea that we would learn how to use the various sources of funding available to us to fund projects whether it be from PLAN, the Ambassador Self-Help Fund or even a Peace Corps Partnership (I would like to do a PCP project at some point in my service so when I do one, I’ll go into more detail then since I learned nothing about it during PDM). Unfortunately, perhaps because of the lack of external funding options due to the weakening economy, or because I badly misjudged the purpose of the workshop, we basically spent two days talking about the process of how to complete a project, starting with how to create an action plan to writing a budget and keeping an accounting book. I was a little disappointed since I already know how to do these things having done projects back in the US; however it wasn’t a complete waste of time as my homologue got a lot out of the sessions (the concept of good business skills seems to have evaded the Togolese education system and most Togolese have very little understanding of planning projects) and found the workshop very informative.

IST’s purpose is to further train volunteers in topics of interest related to their work at site. With a new push towards family planning for the incoming training group of health volunteers, we spent a good majority of IST talking about family planning and how we can incorporate the topic into our work. Family planning is a very sensitive topic here in Togo as people do not openly discuss sex and many people lack basic knowledge about their reproductive systems. Although family planning does exist at the prefectural level through clinics at most hospitals and through pharmacies that supply contraceptives such as condoms and birth control, most family planning is done informally with the help of midwives and nurses during one-on-one consultations. Unfortunately, we didn’t really cover anything new that we hadn’t already covered during stâge. The only real useful sessions we had was when we talked about other volunteer’s experiences regarding family planning projects, and other projects related to the CHAP program. Since it was very early in our service, most volunteers hadn’t done any large scale family planning activities apart from the informal discussions with neighbors and working with sage-femmes at the dispensaire or hospital, but it was good to know what to expect as I have yet to do anything on the subject (although I’m supposed to do a mini causerie on the matter in a few weeks at the hospital before baby weighings/vaccinations). Our last volunteer-only session was an informative session however as not only did we learn about the new worldwide volunteer reporting form but also we talked about improvements for the upcoming stage in June. We were supposed to select volunteer trainers but I guess Tchao is going to wait a bit; I really hope he selects me because I really want to be a trainer!

Apart from the sessions, PDM/IST was a good week overall. It was a chance to hang out with volunteers (particularly from the south) who I haven’t seen in forever and catch up. Plus all the meals are prepared by PC cooks so we had great FREE food. And of course it’s not a PC event without some sort of mini-party so to end the week I helped organize a mini fête to thank our homologues for attending the conference with us. We drank; we danced and had a great time.

Goodbye Sokodé Maison

Once again, due to budget cuts and a shift in D.C. policy towards getting rid of transit houses, Peace Corps-Togo has decided to finally close the Sokodé transit house. As of Feb 15th, both the Sokodé and Kara transit houses will be officially gone forcing us volunteers in the Centrale and Kara region to find other places to stay when we come to the regional capitals to do work. Luckily, I don’t have any real need to travel to Sokodé as everything I need for work and living can be found in Sotouboua (my bank, my post office, my grocery shopping, etc.); the one exception being when I want specific hard to find vegetables like potatoes and green peppers year round. I am one of the select few volunteers though in such a lucky position. My friend Golda on the other hand has to travel to Sokodé for pretty much everything from using the internet to banking to buying supplies for work; in addition, she lives about 70km away en brousse so it’s impossible for her to travel to and from Sokodé in one day. So that sucks…

*I had originally written a short little rant against recent Peace Corps – Togo administration policy; however, this is most definitely NOT the place to vent so I’ll return my frustrations to my internal dialogue…*

Anyways, deal with our situation we did. If there was one good thing to come out of the maison closing it was that it brought everyone in our region into Sokodé for the first time ever since I arrived in country (all 11 of us!). With everyone around, this made for one spectacular blowout fête. After doing some clean-up work for Peace Corps (PC takes away our maison and we still clean it for them? Talk about an unhealthy relationship…) we made one final meal (tex-mex) and partied. Hanging out with the other volunteers made me remember that it’s the volunteers in your country that make your experience in country. We are each other’s support system: we turn to each other for advice and we turn to each other to rant and rave. Because I get along with the volunteers in my region, I am having a much more fulfilling service than if I was in a country where I did not like the other volunteers. They (along with the people of Sotouboua of course) are making my service what it is. After a great night with lots of scandalous photos and much ridiculosity (dancing on tables, line dancing and even a walk off…hmm, maybe a transit house IS the “safest” place for volunteers to be ridiculous in country), we packed up our stuff, said one last goodbye to the maison and then Marcus, Korie and I headed back to Sotouboua.

Hmm, hope this post wasn’t too monstrous to digest. In case you didn’t notice, I’m making a concerted effort to write shorter posts focusing on one or two topics but every now and then, I have to write a lot when I have a lot to say. So bear with me…

pilaba,

-Nikhil

P.S. Once again, many thanks Kim for the package(s)! For some reason, even if someone sends me two packages together, I tend to get them a week apart. So when I returned from PDM/IST I received the two other packages of magazines (The Economist, Newsweek & Entertainment) that you sent me and I have spent the past few days hungrily devouring them. It’s so great to know the details of what else is going on in the world from business and politics and even pop culture :)

P.P.S. Happy (belated) anniversary Mom & Dad! Congratulations on 26 years of marriage…Happy belated birthday Christina M.

So I don’t know how he does it but I swear if he escapes one more time I’m going to have to change his name to Houdini. Last week, after Marc helped me find a nice sturdy chain that Swarlz can’t bite through and a child’s belt that we fashioned into a dog collar, the stupid (or maybe really intelligent) dog somehow found a way to chew through his collar (it was made of leather so I guess that’s made it somewhat easy to tear through) and escape. However today was really a magic trick; since he tore through the dog collar, I have been forced to create a collar using the chain. I know it’s not very comfortable but so far metal seems to be the only substance that he can’t break through, or so I thought! This morning before leaving for Kaniamboua for the preliminary girl’s club meeting I fixed the chain around his neck (making sure he had enough room to breathe don’t worry!) and left. When I returned around noon, he had somehow managed to wrangle his way through the chain and now the chain was taut around his midsection. I’m really not sure how he did it but to make sure it didn’t happen again, I checked the chain and tied it around his neck once again. After returning from Sam’s peer educator training in Adjengre, I came home to find Swarley loose in the front yard with the chain all tangled up around the tree! I’m pretty sure he has not developed opposable thumbs in the past week so this leaves me with the only conclusion: my dog has magical powers, one of those powers apparently being the ability to apparate! I guess this means building a doggy fence is a futile idea…

Apart from my dog’s silly escapades, the girl’s club meeting went well this morning. I was really nervous about having to change the whole program around at the last second, without any warning to my homologues but there really wasn’t any other choice unless I wanted to change my name to “Yovo, the money-donating fool of Sotouboua”. After performing a brief opening ceremony with the girls, the village chief, the director of the school and some other “important” people in the Kaniamboua community, I pulled my counterparts aside to tell them what I had decided regarding my decision to withdraw some donations (per diem for the repos time, start-up money for the loan I had previously agreed to, etc.) for the club. Although I am sure they weren’t too happy to be told this at the last minute, there really wasn’t anyway around the situation. Aside from that, everything else went somewhat smoothly. We had a much greater turnout then expected and we ended up having to turn some girls away since we only had space to work with 20 girls. After going over some rules and expectations of the club and playing “train wreck” (an ice breaker), I got into the lesson part of the club, discussing the bridge model from the life skills book and how the model applied to the structure of the club (the bridge model is used to show how the various lessons in the life skills book such as decision-making skills and future planning skills can serve as the building blocks for a bridge towards positive behaviour change). Working with the girls was a very different experience than what I’m used to since the girls were really shy and it took a lot of energy to coax information out of them but thanks to the help of my counterparts who served as a translator from my “American” French to “Togolese” French, I was able to get through the lesson.

After a quick lunch, I headed up to Adjengre to watch Sam conduct the last part of his peer educator training and funny enough I arrived just in time to observe the part of the formation that was relevant to me. To finish off the training, Sam had invited Beatrice and Djeri, members of Espoir Vie Togo (E.V.T., an association of pris en charge located in Sokodé) to come and talk about HIV/AIDS associations. Beatrice is not only a psycho-social counselor for E.V.T. but she is also an openly infected member of EVT. Djeri, who lost his father to AIDS, was a member of the EVT OEV club (children infected with or affected by HIV). After talking to them briefly at the end of the training, they invited me up to Sokodé next weekend to check out the OEV club and the members meeting to see what I could bring back to help VST in Sotouboua. I’m excited to hopefully get some ideas on how to start an OEV club at Vie Saine with the potential help of the members of the health club at Intelligentsia.

Till next time,

-Nikhil

P.S. Props to Kim Rieck for sending me several copies of The Economist magazine. You are freaking amazing!

In case you haven’t noticed, I tend to wear my heart on my sleeve. A lot. It’s nothing serious. Well usually, and it’s just the way I am. I let things affect me that shouldn’t affect me and although I am learning to deal with it, I slip up every now and then. Take my latest work assignment: the C.E.G. Kaniamboua Girl’s Club Pilot Project. It was one of the first projects that came to me when I arrived at post last August and it has been one of the only projects to have lasted till now. When all my other work opportunities did not seem promising, such as work at the hospital and work with Vie Saine, the girls club project was the only project that kept me excited and made me feel like I do have actual work to do here in Sotouboua. By setting high expectations and pressure on the project, I think in the process I became too attached to it. In my mind, if this project failed, I would have no other work to keep me here in Togo. Even though my work situation has considerably improved over the past 2 months, my lingering attachment to the girl’s club has made me make some terribly stupid decisions based on emotional logic. Although it has taken me about 6 weeks to realize why I have acted the way that I have (in addition to talking about the project with some other volunteers: shout outs to Golda and Rebecca), I feel that it is time to rectify some of those decisions regarding the funding of the project. It started off small (“I don’t mind paying for the supplies such as photocopies for the sessions”) and slowly got bigger (“the girls need to eat something during the break so I will give them a small per diem to buy some water and some snacks for the repos”) to the ridiculously huge and stupid (“it’s ridiculous that there is no Peace Corps purse to help fund small projects like this so I don’t mind donating 60 mille (about $100) for the start-up loans for the girls income generating activities”). Every step of the way, I tried to rationalize my decision-making process but if there is one thing the heart is not and that is rational. Thankfully, after some deep contemplation I’ve realized that I need a new approach to this project and the first step to recovery is admitting that I have an emotional attachment problem. So here goes. Hi, my name is Nikhil and I have a problem…

What does this mean for the project? Well even though my preliminary meeting of the girl’s club is in less than 24 hours and my counterpart is unavailable, I am going to have to make some major last minute changes to the program. I know this is incredibly unfair but it’s either change the plan, or dish out close to 100 mille over the month of February. Hmm, I’m thinking I’ll just change the plan and deal with the consequences. Worse comes to worse, I drop the girl’s club project and focus on my other projects that are looking hopeful…

P.S. This has been a crazy busy week, probably one of the busiest weeks I’ve had here in Togo. Apart from running around to finish some last minute chores for the girls club, I helped out with the polio campaign at the dispensaire, gave my first official causerie on breastfeeding at the hospital vaccination day, had tutoring lessons with Kpango, did some major house cleaning, went to Sokodé to hang out with Golda and pick up some supplies and attended my first meeting to observe the drama and health club at Intelligentsia (a local private middle/high school).

Here in Togo, the 13th of January is Liberation Day, or Journée de la Liberation. Unlike what you think though, the “liberation” celebrated by Togolese has nothing to do with proper liberation but rather to celebrate the attempted assassination on who I recall as either the current President, or his father. Ironically, most Togolese don’t really understand the history behind the day and look at the holiday the same way an elementary school child views Labour Day: an excuse to take the day off. Regardless of the history surrounding the day, Liberation Day has become a celebration in honour of the Army and the local gendarmerie (a mix between military and police officials) since apparently it is the day that the President gives everyone in the military their annual bonus. The marking feature of this holiday is centered around a march, in honour of the military and President Faure, which occurs in most large towns and cities. Starting around 8 or 9 in the morning, a pathway is roped off on both sides and several groups from the gendarmerie to school children to the union of fish sellers march in formation along the path as they are cheered on by spectators. Marcus and I walked down to the Route to observe the demonstration where we were selected by a Togolese woman who dragged us to sit under the tent reserved for the Chief of the Prefecture and other “notables” of Sotouboua. It was a little reminiscent of Pre-World War II Germany to see “educated” children, from kindergarten to high school marching in formation in honour of the president, but the use of the U.S. Marine Corps song on a repeating loop as the marching music just added to the ridiculousness of the event. In true Togolese fashion, there was a lot of singing and dancing which added to the festiveness of the parade and I took several videos that I hope to post on this blog soon. One of the cool parts of the march however were exhibitions by some of the local school clubs and groupements (associations) during the parade such as the martial arts club (yes, kung fu has made it all the way to central Togo), the gymnastics club, the groupement for tchouk mamas and the motorcycle-taxi syndicate (where several drivers attempted pop-a-wheelies).

There are two inherent problems with keeping a blog: writing and posting

1) writing: when I want to write, I don’t have my computer in front of me; when I have my computer in front of me, I don’t want to write. Most of my observations happen when I am actually outside, experiencing Africa and all that “being-in-the-moment” crap. It’s hard to do that when you are stuck in front of a computer. An existential dilemma. How can you experience life and write about it at the same time? Sometimes I feel like it would be easier for me to write if I could attach electrodes to my brain that would send signals to my blog so it would record what I’m thinking and seeing and feeling and I can compose on-the-go without having to be tied down to a table, chair, computer and outlet. For example, most of what I am writing here was actually composed in my head earlier today as I was walking down a back road to the Sokodé marché; it just took me some time to actually finish my shopping and get to a computer on time to compile this.

I am a chaotic writer. I write how I think, which is disjointed and all-over-the-place. I write one sentence, write another sentence, go back and write something in between, write the final sentence before going back and re-writing the second sentence. I can’t help it because it’s the way I’ve always written. If I were to try and write the way my 8th grade English teacher wanted me to (intro, body 1, body 2, body 3, conclusion) I would have the writing style of a 5th grader. And trust me, I’ve tried to write consecutively but all it does is put me in a box and that’s not the way my mind works thereby reducing my ability to write well by several factors. I know it’s stupid but I really am an “organic” writer, whatever that really means. Witty and sophisticated “perfect” sentences occur spontaneously in my head and if I don’t write them down immediately, I am forever haunted by what I could have said. As I desperately try to remember how the perfect sentence sounded, I end up with something sub-standard but what will have to do since that perfect sentence is gone and never to return again. The product you are reading right now has undergone many changes (over the course of several days to several weeks) and sounds nowhere near as perfect as it should have sounded had I been able to write this posting at the moment of it’s conception.

2) posting: when I want to post, I don’t have access to the internet; when I have access to the internet, I don’t have my USB drive with all my blogs on it to post. It’s impossible to sit in a cyber café and write my blogs for 2 main reasons. First of all, it’s not economical to write up a blog at a cyber café as you have to pay to use the computers and the internet. Secondly, I only really get good access to the internet about once a week (until recently, but I’m getting ahead of myself…) so that means that if I wrote my blogs at the CIB, I would have to wait to write blogs affecting the quality of writing due to a distortion of memory that occurs. That’s just not practical; thus I am restricted to writing at home on my laptop and transferring my postings via USB keys which leads to the aforementioned problem of not having access to the internet at the precise moment that I want to use it.

This is no where close to saying that this is the end of my blog though. I plan to keep this blog my entire two years, and even some time afterwards (I mean it’s good to reflect back on what I experienced after I’m back in America). I’m just trying to explain/justify why my blog is the way it is and why it has taken me several months to post blogs from September and onwards. Why I feel the need to explain myself to you, my readers? I have no idea. Is there anything you can do to help me maintain my blogging momentum? Unfortunately, no. I will say though since now that I have free access to internet (albeit slow and sporadic access) at PLAN, who opened up a new informatique center, about 1km away from my house 5 days a week, I have less of an excuse to not blog in a timely manner. Hmm, I smell another New Year’s resolution…

Till the next time I write (and post and have access to the internet and happen to have my USB key with me), ciao!

-Nikhil

P.S. Thanks Jess for the amazing letter, article and CD of music. You rock! Shout outs also go to Christina, Katie (sorry your letter got lost, silly Togo postal service!), Anu, and Patrick who have responded to my e-mails over the past few weeks. Oh and thanks Megan for the picture of us in Philly!

My life is sometimes like a soap opera, or at least a badly French-dubbed telenovela from Brasil. On today’s segment we find the main character, moi, in a dilemma. I woke up this morning with the intent of packing up a few things in preparation for a quick overnight trip to Sokodé to see Korie off and to welcome Heather back in country. The morning started off pretty normal with the call to prayer waking me up around 5:30am. I lay in bed trying to go back to sleep but to no avail so I went about on my morning business. After getting ready, I started gathering things together, clothes, my computer, etc. I walk into the kitchen, reheat leftovers from the previous night for a quick breakfast before opening my front door where I am greeted by feathers.

Lots of grey and white chicken feathers.

Lying on my front lawn is Swarley with his I-know-I-did-something-bad puppy face next to a dead hen. One of Marc’s fully grown chicken hens. I’ve told you about how Swarley has developed a taste for chicken, evident by the fact that he tore apart and ate all 12 of the baby chicks that Marc’s two hens had worked very hard to produce. It seems that now that he was done with the baby chicks he wanted to move onto bigger and better chickens so-to-speak. Now I don’t know if Marc noticed this or not which is funny because the hen was lying in the grass in front of our houses and he would have had to pass over the dead carcass on the way out the compound door and that in turns means that if he did indeed see the dead hen, he would have woken me up to discuss the issue. Now I have told him time and time again, particularly when the first of the baby chicks started showing up dead that he needed to build a chicken coop. I reasoned that Swarley is a dog and he needs his space to run around and be a dog and we have already tried the whole “let’s tie him up” but it doesn’t work since he just chews through the leash or breaks the chain (yes, for a puppy he is incredibly strong!). So taking the approach that Marc has yet to see the dead hen since he did not wake me up this morning to “talk”, I did the only logical thing: hide the evidence! Using a black sachet as a glove, I grabbed the body by the head and proceeded to throw it outside the compound wall. My plan was to make it look like the hen got out of the compound because someone left the door open (this has happened a few times and I have had to chase the chickens back into the compound) and that one of the neighborhood stray dogs killed the hen for food. And since I don’t have a chain to keep Swarley from attacking the final hen, I locked him in my bathroom with some food and water to give him an alibi. I hope this doesn’t make me an accomplice…

I don’t know if my plan will work but in any case I won’t have to deal with the situation for at least a day until I return. So here’s till tomorrow. *duh duh duh*…

…and such is the days of [my] lives…

-Nikhil

Social norms are a funny thing. They vary so much, not just between different people in different countries but even between different populations within the same country, so does it make sense to call it a norm if they can be so different? As part of our pre-service training, we were instructed on Togolese social norms such as the importance of protocol when making decisions (if you are going to plan an event that involves a reasonable amount of people such as a sensibilization on AIDS, you are required to invite everyone from the directors of the local schools to the chief of the prefecture in some cases), acceptable vs. unacceptable forms of public behaviour (it’s common to find two men or two women holding hands in public but it’s unacceptable for two people of the opposite sex who are unmarried to hold hands) and how it is perfectly normal to refer to someone as “the fat one” or “the cripple”. As Americans trying to integrate into our new communities, we are advised on how to act and behave so as to better “fit in”, gain acceptance, and survive.

Going back to something I mentioned in my new year’s post about “integration”, I’ve come to the conclusion that it might be pretty much physically (or any other kind of “-ally”) impossible to fully integrate into a culture. You can learn their language, you can wear their clothing, you can date their women, you can eat their food, but can someone from outside Togo ever be Togolese (case in point: PCV Chris Thompson)? The fact that we are yovos will never go away; the children of Sotouboua may stop calling me yovo (or ansai or anasara…you pick the local language) but the moment I step out of Sotouboua, I will once again be perceived as just another yovo in Togo. Psychologically speaking, humans are conditioned to make their first judgments about people based on appearance and all people in Togo are conditioned to always view non-Togolese as yovos (yovo meaning “white skin” and applies to all foreigners, regardless of race). So what do we do as volunteers? We are supposed to integrate into our communities in order to better do our work but if integration is pretty much impossible, where do we go from here? Do we fully integrate or just integrate enough to survive?

And then what do we do when we return to America? Most volunteers don’t plan on spending the rest of their lives in their country of service so that means holding onto a part of our “American-ness”, in this case our social norms, till we return. But if doing so hinders our ability to integrate, what do we do? Do we try to give up all pre-learned American social etiquette in order to have a more fulfilling and integrated experience in Togo only to have to re-learn the forgotten American norms in 2 years when we return? Or do you forever live in your country of assignment constantly surrounded by a wall (of whatever thickness depending on how many norms you are willing to let go off and how many you need to hold on to) that separates you from your community? Do we integrate or do we just try to “fit-in”?

Perhaps that’s where “fitting-in” comes into play. Perhaps this means co-existence, enough integration to do work but not enough integration to become a part of the culture and society, being more than a tourist but less than a habitant.

This is my attempt at being philosophical. Open to comments…

- Nikhil

P.S. this is what happens when you lie on your bed and stare at your ceiling for about 2 hours every day for a week. You ponder about everything from our own existence to the history of the necktie (no joke, Marcus and I had an hour long discussion regarding the uses and possible history of the tie the other day over a dinner of pâte and peanut sauce. Our musings were later confirmed by Wikipedia. Thanks wiki!).

Happy 2009 everyone!

Another year has come and gone and once again I find myself in a new adventure. My last New Year’s day had me celebrating in Manhattan with my family and friends as I transitioned between graduating from Georgia Tech and entering the real world. This year I find myself in Togo in transition between surviving and actually living in a foreign country. I make this distinction between surviving and living because it has taken me about 6 months to feel like I am finally living here in Togo. This is not to say that I feel completely integrated (although I think it’s hard for most volunteers to feel completely integrated…there is always some American barrier that prevents this), but I am farther along on the path than I was about 2 months ago. Since I did my reflections on my time so far here in Togo a while ago, I won’t bother to do so again here owing to the fact that not much has changed (apart from a few good developments at work that I’ll talk about in a bit). Sooo, let me tell you about my New Year’s experience…

Here in Togo, the actual midnight striking of the clock is irrelevant to all but a few “westernized” Togolese people. The proper bonne année celebration of the new year is instead focused on the actual first day of the new year: January 1st. Now I originally wanted to stay up until midnight on the 31st to ring in the New Year (by myself unfortunately) but since I spent the whole day sick with food poisoning, I ended up punching out around 10:30pm. Bummer. After waking up the next day and not really feeling that different (I think the fact that I wasn’t around my family and friends like I normally am had something to do with the dampened and lackluster mood I was in) I went about my day as usual. I finished some chores and then decided to go out for a little walk to greet all my friends and neighbours. After visiting M. Kpango, my French teacher, and Bello to wish them a happy New Year I came back to my house to find several kids from the neighbourhood in my front yard that had come to accompany me to the Camus dance like I had asked them to.

The Camus dance is kind of like the Togolese version of Mardi Gras, (in appearance only; none of the religious connotations) where open debauchery and revelry are solicited to break social norms. The traditional dancer wears foot long ankle bracelets that jingle when shaken allowing for a moving instrument of sorts along with mini hand cymbals. The clothing consists of shorts with a skirt that resembles a hula skirt made from pagne and shells. The face and the upper body are also covered with pomade, a white powder used to cool the body. The dancer may also wear any number of fetishes (voodoo sacred objects or talismans) from animal bones to hides. However everyone, young or old, Togolese or foreigner, is invited to dance and clothing ranges from the pagne complet to military uniforms. Fashion rules don’t apply as men dress as women as freely as women dress like men, and it’s not uncommon to see someone bare “almost-all-of-it”. For the actual dance, there is no fixed choreography but instead everyone just dances to the music, moving in a circle around the musicians. Booze, either shots of sodabé or calabashes of tchouk, is free flowing and instead of beaded necklaces, dancers are rewarded with small candies or kola nuts which are placed in the mouth by spectators.

After dancing for a few hours with Genevieve and some of her friends, I headed back to rest for a bit and regain my energy before going out to the nightclub. Yes, it’s very ridiculous, but there is an actual nightclub in Sotouboua. It’s called Club Pharos and it’s located on the Route; it consists of an open bar area outside and a small indoor room with a DJ booth, a dance floor, several couches and ceiling high mirrors. Apparently there was a big party on the 31st but since I was too sick to attend, I thought I would check it out with Genevieve and it ended up being an interesting night. It was fun but at the same time surreal to be in a club on par with most clubs in Lomé (as for back in Atlanta, think the dance floor of Peachtree Tavern lol). I only ended up staying about an hour before going to bed. The next day I headed to Dereboua to hang out with Korie and celebrate the new year in her village and check out the Camus dance there. Although it was very similar, one different tradition involved the men drinking special “strength potions” (booze) and running around during the dance with dull machetes where they attempted to cut themselves and each other as a way of showing how invincible they are. They even attempted to “cut” me but luckily I stepped out of the dance circle in time. Whew! Then we went back to Korie’s house, drank tchouk and ate some amazing food. And there you have it, my very interesting New Year’s experience in Togo.

As for the work stuff I mentioned earlier, two nice developments have taken place. First of all, at the monthly Vie Saine meeting, the members actually held a somewhat proper election to fill in the vacant positions. Although no real speeches were to be had as all but one position went uncontested, it was nice to see the members motivated enough to participate and keep the association stable for now. The only “situation” that occurred happened over the position of Executive Director (previously held by Bello). I believe the members tried to vote in Melanie as the new directrice but some sort of heated discussion took place in a mixture of French and Kabiyé that prevented me from understanding what was going on. Hmm, I’ll have to figure it out later on. In addition to Vie Saine, stuff, I made some major headway on my girl’s club project right before Christmas. After talking to some of the other SBD and GEE volunteers who have done vacation enterprise projects, I used some of their ideas as models for my girl’s club. Basically, I’m following the model but in addition to teaching income-generating activities and business skills, I am also trying to include a heavy focus on life skills training. I convinced my counterpart at A.V.D.D. to try a pilot project and see how the girls react to the information; if they seem motivated and do well then perhaps we can seek funding from PLAN or some other external funding source. He suggested a middle school in Kaniamboua, about 8km north of Sotouboua meme so we met with the director who was very happy to work with a PCV again and made an announcement during the morning assembly where we gathered a list of 20 girls (a mixed group from 6eme, 5eme and 4eme students) for the pilot project. I’ve been working on a lesson schedule and I have a meeting tomorrow to go over potential dates for the meetings. So work stuff is picking up and keeping me busy which is good :)

Now it wouldn’t be a New Year’s post if I didn’t have some sort of resolutions for the New Year. However I never seem to do a good job keeping those resolutions so maybe I’ll just skip the resolutions this year and just try and make a more concerted effort to get to know my community better, speak French more often, and save some lives.

bonne heureuse année,

-Nikhil

bonjour mes amis!

I saw the tatas of Togo and no, I am not talking about the drooping breasts of mothers on vaccination day at the hospital. The tatas are the typical compound used by the people of the Tamberma valley in northeastern Togo. I had the opportunity to see one of the more famous historical sites of Togo this past weekend when I went to Kande to visit Taylor after the Christmas festivities. Since I was going up to see AED-Kande and see what I could learn up there to bring back to Sotouboua, I thought it prudent to do a little sightseeing. As for the tatas, this is what Lonely Planet has to say about them, since I didn’t really learn that much more about them at the actual site:

“A typical Tamberma compound, called a tata, consists of a series of towers connected by a thick wall with a single entrance chamber, used to trap an enemy so he can be showered with arrows or hot water. The castle-like nature of these extraordinary structures helped ward off invasions by neighbouring tribes and, in the late 19th century, the Germans…life in a tata revolves around an elevated terrace of clay-covered logs where the inhabitants cook, dry their millet and corn, and spend most of their leisure time.”

“Skilled builders, the Tamberma only use clay, wood and straw – and no tools. The walls are banco, a mixture of unfired clay and straw, which is used as a binder. The towers, capped by picturesque conical roofs, are used for storing corn and millet. The other rooms are used for sleeping, bathing and, during rainy season, cooking. The animals are kept under the terrace, protected from the rain.”

“There may be a fetish shrine in front of the compound, as well as animal skulls on the walls inside. You may see a man and his son going off to hunt with bows and arrows. Traditionally, when a man is old enough to start his own family, he shoots an arrow and, where it lands, builds his own tata.”

It was cool to visit the tatas, a very “African” experience. An interesting note to add: the Tamberma valley stretches from northeastern Togo into northwestern Benin. Although only about 10% of the Tamberma people live in Togo, the official UNESCO World Heritage Site for the tatas are in Togo; however, one can still see tatas in Benin.

Okay backtracking a bit, as I mentioned in an earlier blog, I headed to Niamtougou to celebrate Christmas with my stâge-mates. It was good to see people that I hadn’t seen in a really long time, particularly my friends in the southern most part of the country. Nothing too exciting happened apart from catching up with friends, playing dirty Santa, eating fondue (courtesy of Reid’s family) and watching Christmas movies all morning; however, I FINALLY watched the original “Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer” (I’m convinced the directors had to be on acid when making the clay-mation movie) and “A Christmas Story” (I was thoroughly unimpressed by this movie. I guess it’s just one of those movies you have to grow up on in order to appreciate). After the festivities like I said, I headed up to Kande. Brittany and her mom joined me up there for our sightseeing trip and it was good to hang out with them outside the large group setting of Christmas. We even headed out to Nadoba after seeing the tatas to visit Karen, the new NRM volunteer there working on eco-tourism. After several wonderful days in the north (with great food courtesy of Taylor), I headed back to Sotouboua to celebrate the arrival of the New Year.

reporting live from Togo,

- Nikhil

Do you ever just have one of those days where you realize that you are having a good day? Nothing spectacular needs to happen, like no one big defining event, but when you reflect back on the things that happened to you, they are all good. Well today was one of those days. Reid stopped by Sotouboua on her way up north so we could travel up to Niamtougou together for our stâge Christmas fête. After waking up and making a delicious breakfast of scrambled eggs and pancakes, Reid and I spent the whole day relaxing and preparing for our trip up north. We walked out to the Route to pick up some supplies and I ran into several friends. First at the bank we ran into Mr. Kaditche, the owner of the buvette across the street from me and also the guy who works for the Ministry of Health and introduced me to everyone in the hospital. Next we stopped by the post office and I had a brief conversation with the guy who works there and he invited me to fête with him for the New Year. Next we headed to Genevieve’s, my couturiere, to get Reid’s dress fixed. On the way to the petit march we ran into Mr. Claude who works at CEFRET and he told me about the HIV/AIDS film screenings he was working on and invited me to the next film viewing. At the petit marché we picked up some vegetables and “shot-the-breeze” with my marché mama who sells me tomatoes and onions.

I know it’s silly but for the first time in Sotouboua, I feel a semblance of integration. It’s great to be stopped in the street because people know who you are and I can small talk with co-workers. I definitely have a long way before I feel “integrated” into my community but life is about baby steps right? One step at a time…

When Dante wrote his book Inferno describing the 7 circles of hell I think sometimes he was describing life here in Togo. Okay so not really and I think that previous statement came out offensive so strike that from the record. Anyways, here are my 7 circles of hell starting with circle #1 (or circle #7…what ever is the outer-least “hellish”-circle)

#1 – the yovo song

“yovo, yovo bon soir

Yovo yovo bon soir

Ça va? Tres bien

Il faut donner moi bon bon”*

*or something like that

This song has become the bane of my existence. Normally I don’t mind the song; you learn to tune it out, ignore it, or maybe even sing along to it. But after the 100th time it’s like geez you silly kids, I have a name and you know exactly what it is because I tell you every time. The first words that come out of your mouth do not need to be yovo (“white person” in Ewe) or anasara (Kotokoli) or ansai (Kabiyé). I know exactly what I am; I don’t need you to tell me that I’m a “white” person. Thank you for stating the obvious. Shall I state the obvious…noir(e)? It’s funny because the song really didn’t affect me at all during stâge, but since arriving at post, it has slowly come to annoy me more and more.

#2 – chickens

Chickens, roosters, “noisy, feathery and tasty” pieces of meat, etc. Whatever you call them, I think they are finally getting to me. My compound mate’s rooster never used to bug me this way but then a month ago he decided that the best place to “cock-a-doodle doo” would be right outside my bedroom window, exactly 5 minutes before my alarm is about to go off. Thankfully Marc sold the rooster after it did its job and knocked up two hens. Their several cute black, white and yellow baby chicks were cute for the first three days. Then they decide that it would be fun to replace the “cock-a-doodle-doo”-ing by my window with incessant chirping outside my window just like daddy. Not to mention coming onto my porch with mom and pooping all over my patio, stealing food from my dog and taking a bird bath in my dish-washing basin. I mean seriously, will there ever be peace and quiet in my compound? At least the baby goats give it a rest but there is something about the high-pitched squawking of chickens, reminiscent of fingernails on a chalkboard that is slowly driving me insane.

If I find 5 more circles, I’ll update the list…

Bonjour from Lomé!

Before I jump into a reflection on my first three months at post, I just wanted to start off by talking a bit about my amazing Thanksgiving dinner. In case you don’t know, Thanksgiving happens to be my holidays back in the States. What I mean by that is I’m usually the person responsible for putting the dinner together. It has become a sort of tradition between my family and two other families to celebrate thanksgiving together in Atlanta. Since me and my brother are the only ones in our group who care about the traditional American Thanksgiving dinner, and since I’m the more responsible one (sorry Nish but you know it’s true), it rests on me to gather all the supplies for our big family dinner. We’ve had some successful dinners (like the one last year I catered from Boston Market) and some unsuccessful ones (like the one three years ago where I accidentally bought non-vegetarian versions off everything from Kroger when half my family is vegetarian) but regardless, we have a lot of fun. This Thanksgiving was the first time ever that I was not there to celebrate with my family making it hard for me emotionally. Thanks to my amazing mom though, who sent me two care packages filled with some items I requested, I was able to have probably the most American Thanksgiving dinner I’ve had in a while. My mom sent me mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, gravy, cream of mushroom soup and stuffing (you can’t really make these things in Togo feasibly). I improvised the rest of the meal from scratch: a green bean casserole, macaroni & cheese, a “pumpkin” pie (it was actually made from green papaya but tasted just like pumpkin), a coffee crumb cake, sweet corn, southern iced tea and honey butter with bread. Since I didn’t feel comfortable cooking meat in Togo, I asked my neighbour to help me purchase, kill and cook a turkey in return for an invitation to join our meal. A few other volunteers from my stâge (plus Sam) came down to Sotouboua, along with three of my homologues (Kpango, Bello and Marcus’s homologue Goslow) and we had an AMAZING meal together. Even though it wasn’t the same since I couldn’t share it with my real family, I was glad that I was able to share my holiday with my Togolese “family”.

Okay, reflection time…

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I survived my first three months at post! Woohoo! Everyone says that the first three months are the hardest and if you can get through them, you are in great shape. It’s funny because although people said the first three months were hard, they weren’t hard in the way that I thought they would be hard.

For starters, I love my house. There wasn’t a lot of adjusting going on there since I had electricity, running water and a fridge to store food. Okay, so I did have to get used to taking cold showers, which I never will, but in terms of everything else I am dealing with, it was no big deal. Second, I really like Sotouboua. The people are nice and I feel safe. True, I still don’t feel like I know a lot of people but when you live in a large town with a big population, I think it’s going to take a bit more than 3 months to feel any sort of community. I have an awesome cluster although I am still on the fence about whether or not having a site mate is good for me. Third, in general I like Togolese people and I like their culture. The “yovo song” and their constant pleas for me to help them financially certainly makes life a bit annoying but it’s nothing I can’t manage. Language issues have probably been the single biggest cultural factor that has pushed me to my limits. Dealing with a double language barrier (not knowing French and not knowing the local language) has left me sometimes regretting my decision to come to a French-speaking country but I know that even if I went to a Spanish-speaking country, I would still have to deal with a local language barrier that might prove just as exasperating. And in the long run, my French is coming, even if it is at a snail’s pace. All in all, I think that I have dealt with moving to a foreign country by myself very well, especially since I don’t have a pre-existing social support system.

Work on the other hand is another story. Out of all the factors that are supposed to make your life hard, work was the only part of my life that affected me in any way and made me want to ET several times. I had joined the Peace Corps to work. To gain public health experience, whatever that really means (although it’s hard to quantitatively measure whether I have gained enough “public health experience”, I have certainly observed and learned a lot more about health issues than I did before coming to Africa), so that when I apply to graduate schools in a few years, I can put my education in context. I did have other reasons, but like I said, I came to work. So when I found myself without any homologues, with an AIDS association on the verge of collapse, and a lack of viable work opportunities, I began to fear that I would not accomplish anything in two years and thus be unsuccessful at fulfilling my main motivation for joining the Peace Corps. Sure I had done a few events and participated in a few activities, and it was nice to have days where I could laze around and read books / watch movies / cook / etc.; however, there’s only so much free time one can have before starting to feel restless. And I felt restless a lot. Grad school requirements and a collapsing US economy had some effect on preventing me from ETing. Participating in AIDS Ride also had some effect on preventing me from ETing as I was able to put my health work in context. However my visit by Tchao, my APCD, probably had the biggest impact on my staying in country. It wasn’t as much as what he said but what he did. He was able to put me in contact with several people that Bello didn’t introduce me to that set off a chain reaction of positive outcomes. Tchao introduced me to M. Kaditche who in turn in turn introduced me to the hospital C.P.C. program and also the community health workers at the dispensaire. By finding even some work to occupy my time, not only was I finally able to get exposed to some of the public health issues I was hoping to better understand but, more importantly, I finally felt busy; something I hadn’t really felt since stâge. And busy was good. I like being busy. Busy also means that I’m getting the “experience” I need and that’s good too.

.

Aside from work issues, I have spent some time self-reflecting and better understanding myself. One thing I realized is that I need to stop comparing myself to other volunteers, particularly those in my stâge, as it has been negatively affecting the way I perceive my service. I have a very bad habit of looking at what other people have or do and judge my situation against theirs. And I need to remember that every volunteer’s experience is different because each community is different and everyone comes into their service with different skill sets. It has taken me a while to realize that I wasn’t doing less work than some of the other volunteers during my first three months; instead, I was merely at a different starting point. Some volunteers like Mitch and Kristina and Rayan came into Togo and had enough French to start working pretty much immediately; since I came in with not a lot of French, I needed to start with French and as my French picks up, my work should pick up too. Some volunteers did not have issues with homologues the way I did so they were able to jump into projects while I had to spend time making new contacts and finding new work. Additionally, since it’s much easier to feel part of a community when you are in a small village, some volunteers appeared to have integrated into their posts more rapidly than I did; however, being in a fairly large town, it’s unlikely I’ll ever feel the sense of community and family those volunteers feel, at least for a while. Finally, I have to remember that I have a lot of things going for me because unlike other volunteers, I have a site mate so I don’t have to deal with the loneliness that some volunteers feel, and unlike other volunteers, I have access to electricity and running water so I don’t have to deal with the hassle that some volunteers feel by not having access to those utilities. In the end, by comparing myself to other volunteers and feeling like a failure, I am not going to improve my own situation. All I can do is deal with the situation I am in and use the resources around me to move forward.

Finally, I know it’s silly that I bring up the issue of Krissy leaving in my reflection of the past three months but I feel that it was a very significant event that had a profound effect on my first few months at post. When we come to Togo, we leave everyone behind, family and friends. We are thrust together very suddenly in a foreign environment so emotional bonds between people typically form rapidly and with great strength. What we create is our own close knit circle of friends who become our “family” in Togo. When Krissy ET’d, it broke a strong emotional bond and left the sort of gap in our family the way it would be if you were to lose a cousin you were close to. I have created several strong friendships with many people, inside and outside my stâge and Krissy just happened to be the person I felt closest too. No rhyme or reason and I don’t even know if she felt as close to me as I did to her. And there was nothing romantic there; she was just someone who I felt understood who I was and where I was coming from. We had several things in common but most importantly of all, I trusted her, which is a big deal because it usually takes me a while to trust anyone having had my trust broken several times in the past. So Krissy, it sucks that you are gone but know that you are very much missed…

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So that’s my reflection on my time in Togo so far. I am in Lomé right now for the new stâge swear-in and to do a little bit of grocery shopping for post. Tomorrow I head back to Sotouboua and it’s off-to-work-I-go getting Vie Saine back in shape and jumping into my new projects with the mother’s club and the national malaria campaign. I’m glad things have picked up and I look forward to seeing where my service takes me in the next few months…

Till next time,

- Nikhil

P.S. Thanks to Megan Kelly for the awesome postcard! Hope you get mine soon and look forward to planning your mid-service vacation in West Africa :) Also thanks to everyone who responded to my personal e-mails (Kasey Kask, Benji White, etc.) and messaged me on Facebook (Anu, Matt Ward, etc.). It’s good to know what’s going on in your lives even though I can’t be there…

P.P.S. Seriously Georgia Tech? Seriously! Why did you have to wait till I left not only Atlanta but the continent before FINALLY kicking U(sic)GA in the ass? Seriously?!? The worst part is that I can’t even gloat to anyone in country. Do you not realize how unsatisfying this makes the win? Funny enough, I sort of knew this would happen…

As part of the whole Peace Corps goal #3 (something to the effect of sharing Togolese life and culture with the American people), here is my attempt at explaining the Togolese school system. Since Togo was once a French colony, many French systems were adopted by Togo after independence; therefore the Togolese school system is apparently the same as the French school system. For those of you unaware of the French system, here is a brief summary:

The Togolese school system consists of 13 levels. Children begin their education at the age of 6. There are many public & private jardin d’enfants (kindergarten) schools for children under 6 but those are mainly for the upper economic classes that can afford to start their education early. Most children start their schooling at the E.P.P. level (école primaire publique) or basically elementary school; the second “p” could also be private, catholic, muslim, etc. The elementary school level consists of 6 levels: CP1 (cours préparatoire), CP2, CE1 (cours élementaire), CE2, CM1 (cours moyen), and CM2. After finishing CM2, students take the CEPD exam and have to pass in order to move onto the “middle school”.

Middle school or the C.E.G. consists of 4 years of schooling: 6eme, 5eme, 4eme and 3eme. I’m not sure why but starting in middle school, the grades move backwards (6eme à 5eme à etc.). During elementary school, your classes are pretty much fixed; however during middle school you get a little leeway and are allowed to pick and choose certain classes based on what direction you want your education to take. After finishing 3eme, all students must pass the BEPC exam to move onto “high school”. If you don’t pass the BEPC, you can take it again (but you have to pay for it again) and many students take it several times explaining why there can be an age gap greater than 1 between the youngest and oldest student in the 3eme level.

High school, or lycée, consists of 3 years of school: 2eme, 1er and Terminale. If a student is likely to stop their education, it usually takes place either after C.E.G. or during one of the years at lycée. By this point in their education, the student has typically selected the career path of their (or their parent’s) choice and narrows down his or her education to a few select topics related to that field. The two most popular routes are science (for something in the medical field perhaps) and language (for something in the education field, particularly to become an English teacher). Unlike elementary and middle school, lycée students take 2 exams, the BAC1 after the 1er level and the BAC2 after Terminale level.

As for after high school, university options are limited to the University of Lomé and the University of Kara. We did not learn too much regarding the university system so I can’t tell you much more. However, it’s much cheaper than college in the US (then again, most colleges outside the US are lol). Lycée students seem to be obsessed with going to school abroad (which probably speaks to the quality of education one can receive at the university level in Togo). A few try to study in Europe and many try to study in the US; however due to the difficulty in getting a US visa in Togo, very few but the very wealthy can afford that. Interesting fact though is that President Faure actually received his undergraduate degree from George Washington University (hmm Shilpa, I wonder if your Togolese roommate knew him then? lol…).

Unlike the US, schooling is not mandatory and is not free. Well let me rephrase that: just recently the Togolese Ministry of Education decreed that schooling at the elementary school level (E.P.P, etc.) should be free in an attempt to abide by the UN Millennium Development Goals. Therefore schooling from the C.E.G. level and upwards is not free and definitely not mandatory. Yet, the whole situation of paying for one’s education and not making it mandatory brings up a plethora of questions.

First of all, is free elementary schooling going to do anything to help Togo? By making elementary schools free, but not making them mandatory, children who aren’t going to school will not attend, even if they had the money. From another angle, since 1 in 3 children are unregistered by the government (yes, that is a fairly accurate fact which makes it all the more shocking!) even if elementary school was free and mandatory, the government can’t make someone go to school if they don’t exist to the government. From yet another angle, how does making sure children complete an elementary education, or 6 years of education, do anything for Togo? Is 6 years of education worth anything? Finally, even if elementary schooling is free and mandatory, doesn’t it make sense that more students would not continue at the middle school level when schooling gets harder thereby making the ministry of education decree pretty much inconsequential?

Second of all by charging for schooling above the elementary level, it would seem that economic selection would take place and only those who can afford to school would continue. First of all boys would be more likely to continue over girls (being in a patriarchal society, girls are more likely to drop out of school to take care of her family, work to earn money, etc…hence Togo’s need for the GEE program!). Second of all, even if boys continue their education, that’s no sign that they will complete their studies due to failing the super hard exams (trust me they are hard, I’ve seen a copy and even I don’t understand all the questions and part of the exam is in English). Then again, even if the boys finish high school, that’s no guarantee that they will go to college. And since college is definitely not free and can take anywhere from four (for a general degree) to eleven (for a medical degree), that’s a lot of money to invest in one’s education. If only the upper economic groups can afford that much education, an economic wormhole will appear that would tend to favour the rich continuing their education and continuing to hold the most specialized jobs while the poorer economic groups continue to hold the more general positions such as those working for the government. And there is definitely no such thing as financial aid from the government, especially not for college (however college is considerably cheaper here in Togo than the US).

Education is valued in the US because it is only through education that people have an opportunity to move upwards through the socioeconomic classes. A classic rags-to-riches story, you can be poor, get a good education, find a good job and then enter the middle class. However if being poor in Togo, keeps you poor in Togo due to financial restrictions on your education, then there is no hope for upward mobility. No hope for economic mobility leads to economic stagnation. Hmm, did I just equate all of Togo’s economic problems to its system of education? Umm a speculative maybe?...I’m not saying that the ministry shouldn’t be applauded for the positive steps it is taking to follow the MDGs; it’s more a question of what is the REAL effect the new policy has on improving life in Togo?

(BTW another interesting note, the school calendar was pushed back two weeks due to the flooding issues in the southern part of the country; last year when major flooding occurred in the Savannes region, schools all over the country started 1 month late. Unlike the US, when weather-related issues affect one large area in Togo, all the schools throughout the country are shut down.)

If you have any questions about anything specific to life in Togo, please don’t hesitate to send me a message and I’ll gladly do my best to educate.

- Nikhil

hey everyone!

So who knew I would ever be so excited about yams in my entire life but I just spent this past weekend celebrating yams up in Bassar for the annual Yam Festival. Here in Togo, yam season is upon us and to celebrate the first harvest of yams, the Kara region plays host to an annual festival filled with lots of good food and the traditional fire-dance. This year the official festival (as in the official party that the President was planning on attending; due to the rain however he cancelled at the last minute) was in Bassar so I headed up this past Friday to partake in the celebrations and also to spend some time with my fellow volunteers.

I arrived in Sokodé on Friday morning where I met up with Heather, Golda, Conner, Barrett, Russ and Rachel at the transit house so we could all carpool up together. Since it was the official day of the festival, we had no problem getting a bush-taxi up there. Although it was a much longer ride up there then I thought it was going to be due to our driver who appeared to be in no hurry at all to get up to Bassar, it was nice to spend time with Golda since I didn’t really know her that well and she was one of the few volunteers in my region. We got up to Bassar, dropped Heather off at Taressa’s (since she was staying there with a bunch of people from my stâge and the rest of us were staying with Amy) and headed to Amy’s place. Since Amy’s last few weeks in country overlapped with Taressa’s arrival, Amy ended up moving into another house so Taressa could settle in to her new house; although this would have been a frustrating situation for any volunteer, Amy ended up moving into a spare suite of this HUGE MANSION-type house that belonged to an officer in the Togolese army. The officer was apparently a friend of Tchao, our CHAP APCD, so that’s how Amy found the place. And it was a BEAUTIFUL house. It sat on top of a hill overlooking the entire city and although it was painted in pink, it had marble-tiled floors and this huge open patio that presented a gorgeous view of the surrounding countryside. Although the suite was slightly small for our huge group that was staying there (about 9 people in a one-bedroom suite) we made it work and Amy was an awesome host.

After settling into Amy’s place, Conner, Russ, Amy and I headed out to the “tourist” spot of Bassar: the Bassar Iron Smelters. One of the lesser known tourist spots in Togo, the Smelters are basically a cluster of tall mud furnaces that were used decades ago to melt iron in the region. Even though the smelters weren’t that interesting, the highlight was the trip out to the smelters. The route to the smelters takes you around a hill that overlooks the city of Bassar and it leads to some beautiful panoramic views of the Togolese countryside.

One of the main reasons for coming to Bassar specifically for the yam festival this year was to see the Bassar Fire Dance, a traditional Togolese dance native to the people of the Bassar region. Now I must warn you, although it was an interesting dance, the name inspires much more awe than the actual performance. The dance consisted of a group of dancers wearing foot-long ankle bracelets and skirts made from straw and strips of pagne who danced in a circle around a small bonfire. The “fire” part of the dance basically involved each of the dancers stepping over the bonfire to show their “invincibility” at defeating death by fire. Although the dance was a bit disappointing, it was cool to see my first traditional Togolese dance, and I got some good pictures out of the experience.

Food

Since I’m talking about yams I might as well describe the culinary situation here in Togo. Togolese food is awesome, or at least it’s awesome now that I’ve been eating it for a while and it’s not soo strange anymore. Togolese base their diet upon two staples: a starch and a sauce. The starch can be anything from rice, couscous, macaroni, or fried yams. Three Togolese traditional starches are pâte, fufu and ablo. Pâte and ablo are similar in texture, resembling sticky white paste. Ablo, a small round and flat cake, is made from corn or rice and actually looks and tastes like an idli (South Indian dish). Pâte is also made from corn or rice, can be fermented or unfermented, and resembles a sticky off-white paste. Fufu, which can be made from either manioc or yams, on the other hand resembles play dough and tastes a bit like sticky mashed potatoes. Pâte, fufu and ablo are all eaten with the right hand (NEVER the left hand as that’s the hand you use in the latrine) by tearing off a piece and dipping it in some variety of sauce.

There are many types of sauces popular in Togo: tomato, peanut, gumbo (made from okra), sesame, spinach, etc. and many of these sauces include pieces of vegetables (green beans, spinach, pimento, etc.) and pieces of meat (beef, chicken, pork, fish, etc.). Meat however is usually reserved for special occasions since meat is always expensive. Sauces are always spicy with heat levels anywhere from pleasantly mild to “my-mouth-is-on-fire”. Instead of meat, the vegetarian options include eggs, fried soy (kinda like tofu), and wagash (a dry cheese made by the nomadic Fulani people; tastes like Indian paneer).

Other traditional Togolese dishes include colico, watchi and beans & gari. Colico, or fried yam/potatoes/sweet potato/manioc, is eaten by dipping it in a spicy piment sauce. Watchi, or beans and rice, is usually eaten with a tomato sauce, some meat, some garlic oil and a piment sauce. Sometimes you can add macaroni to the mix and some green beans. Beans & gari is made by boiling black-eyes beans and covering them in gari (granulated manioc) and a tomato-onion-piment sauce.

Beignets, though not traditional to Togo, have also become a popular snack. Sweet beignets taste a bit like fried doughnuts and they can either be moist or dry. Spicy beignets are usually made from beans and interestingly enough they taste like a vadaa (South Indian dish again).

My favorite Togolese dish hands down would have to be fufu from yams with a peanut sauce and some fried wagash. I don’t know why I like it so much but it just tastes so amazing.

Alcohol

You can’t talk about food and not talk about drinks. I’ve discussed some drinks at random points in this blog but I’ll try and summarize. First let’s talk local drinks: sodabe and tchouk. Sodabe, the preferred drink of southern Togo is basically Togolese moonshine. It kind of tastes like a mix between everclear and tequila. It’s very potent and you drink it as a shot. Speaking from experience, there is a very fine line between taking one shot of sodabe and two shots of sodabe so if you ever come and visit, be warned. Tchouk, the preferred drink of northern Togo is basically a low-alcohol-content sour apple cider. It’s made from millet, you drink it out of a calabash (hollowed out gourd shell), and comes in two varieties: unfermented (sweeter) and fermented (more sour). There is a definite regional difference when it comes to tchouk. I prefer Lhosso tchouk as it has less of a bite compared to Kabyé tchouk but to each his/her own. It’s pretty easy to find tchouk stands all over Togo; they consist of a marché mama sitting under a peyote (gazebo) serving tchouk out of large trashcans. Tchouk stands are great informal places to have random discussions with strangers about anything from politics to the weather. A tchouk stand is a Peace Corps volunteer’s best friend as most informal information exchange, regarding ways to prevent malaria or the importance of sending girls to university, is best done over a few calabashes of tchouk.

Liquor is another story here in Togo. Unless you are in Lomé where most popular alcohols (Captain Morgan’s, Jack Daniels, Smirnoff Vodka, etc.) can be found, your liquor choices are very limited outside the capital. Whisky and Scotch is the liquor of choice and there exists all the levels between from whiskey found in a small plastic sachet sold at the local boutique to handles of Chivas at some of the “higher end” liquor stores. Most whiskey is pretty foul but if it’s liquor you want, it’ll do the job. You can also find sachets of gin at the local boutique although I am yet to find handles of gin anywhere in country. Some of the bigger towns have access to bottles of Malibu and Bailey’s, but without other mixing liquors those two bottles are pretty much useless. Vodka is exclusive to Lomé and Kara.

Wine selection is pretty much shit all the way around. Boxed wine and boxed sangria can be found at any boutique but they are pretty revolting. Bottles do exist and they are usually imported from France but considering that, the imports are shit as well. White wine is unheard off outside Lomé. The severe lack of good wine in country has been pretty frustrating for a wino like me.

This brings us to beer! First let’s cover Bière de Benin or B.B., a bottling company from Benin that produces a wide range of beers to soft drinks. Pils, Lager, Eku and Awooyo are the beers and they are all right. Pils tastes like water and Lager and Eku remind me of a Coors Light. I have many friends who love Awooyo but I can’t stand it and it’s probably my least favorite beer in country. My two beers of choice are Castel, a locally bottled beer (I think, or from Ghana), and Beaufort, the beer with the highest alcohol content. I can’t think of any beers that compare to Castel and Beaufort. Guinness is also found everywhere but it’s bottled in Nigeria so it’s not as good as the original. Draft beer is unheard off, everyone drinks from bottles are roughly equivalent to 2 beers in the US, but the one exception is Cheap Bar in Lomé that is just down the street from Mammy’s and rotates one beer on tap each night.

So that’s pretty much it for me. We ate great fufu and colico from yams at the AIDS association that Amy and Taressa work with on both days. Nothing else too exciting happened in Bassar aside from the fire dance. A group of us headed back to Sokodé to hang out and chill and then Marcus and I headed back to Sotouboua on Sunday for another exciting week at post…

Pilaba,

- Nikhil

hey y’all,

When they said you’ll experience your “highest highs and lowest lows” they really weren’t kidding! I apologize for not having posting in over a month but the past few weeks have been a roller coaster of emotions. Not so much with adjusting to life here in Togo, as I am feeling pretty well “adjusted”, but a series of good and bad events have been seriously playing with my mental state. One moment something amazing is happening and I am on top of the world; the next moment and something is dragging me down to the ground. Let’s go back a few weeks and watch the Ferris wheel of my life spin…

September 13th: I finally attended my first VST meeting in Sotouboua. Every month on the second Saturday, all the members gather to discuss various issues from updates by the administrative bureau to discussing the role nutrition plays in keeping one’s CD4 count high. It was great to finally meet many of the members whom I had not met before; it was also the first Togolese run meeting that I had attended so it was interesting to watch the group dynamics of how they facilitate. Although the meeting started off as a “high”, it slowly progressed into a big “low” when two events transpired during the meeting. First of all, Fortuné, my official homologue who works as a lab technician at the hospital and was also one of the founding members of Vie Saine announced that he was being “affectée-d” (or transferred) to Kpalimé. As a government worker, people are constantly being affectée-d to various parts of the country to meet the needs of those communities; no one really has a choice because you either move or you get fired. Since working “for the government” (technically) is probably one of the best and most stable jobs one can find in Togo, everyone pretty much does as they are told. Anyways, with Fortuné being transferred to another part of the country, at least 6 hours away, this poses a problem for Vie Saine since he was not only a driving force in the community for HIV/AIDS advocacy but also as the lab technician, he was aware of the HIV status of any person in the community who got tested. Losing Fortuné is a huge loss for VST.

Second, after Fortuné’s announcement, a fight breaks out between Bello, my other homologue and also the Executive Director of VST, and the members. Due to a misunderstanding in communication and in how exchange rates work, the members accused Bello and Fortuné of “bouff-ing” (stealing) money; this is apparently a huge problem and something we as PCVs need to watch out for when planning projects. The misunderstanding occurred because the previous month, a Spanish group of volunteers (led by Fortuné’s brother who lives in Spain) visited VST and donated about 200 Euros and a bunch of old clothes. The members misunderstood and thought the group had donated 200.000 CFA which is a very different amount (200 Euros is about 150.000 CFA). Even though the admin bureau tried to explain the situation, things got heated. I think this is where some other issues came into play such as Bello being Nigerian and untrustworthy (they REALLY HATE Nigerians not just here in Togo but in Africa in general apparently…If you call someone a Nigerian, it’s a HUGE insult!) and I think someone was called a whore but since at this point the group switched to a mixture of French and Kabiyé, I was totally lost (most of the drama that I am discussing is part what I was able to understand and part what Bello explained to me the next day in a post-meeting recap). Anyways, drama drama drama and next thing I know Bello is announcing that he is resigning. So now I’m left with zero homologues.

Oh and to top it all off, instead of saving that money that was donated by the Spanish group and putting it towards developing projects for VST, the bureau decides to donate the money out to all the individual members which turns out to be very little (each members received between 3.000 and 5.000 CFA which is between $6-$10). This substantially decreases the amount of money VST has to work with for the upcoming months.

So basically in one meeting, I find out that I am losing both of my homologues and that my AIDS association is pretty much broke. Fan-freaking-tastic...

September 18th: Tami from Tchamba meets me in Sokodé to present me with the cutest puppy ever: Swarley! During post visit, Tami was asking around to see if anyone wanted to get one of the new puppies from her compound. Since I had always wanted a dog and mom can’t stop me since I’m on a different continent, I agreed and Tami gave me the puppy and all her old dog supplies for free. Score! Definite “high” as I FINALLY get to own a puppy! Should be interesting…

September 27th: My phone is stolen in the Sotouboua marché. I was running around in the late afternoon picking up some soja and tomatoes for dinner when I reach into the outside pocket of my bag and discover that my phone is gone. I try retracing my steps and frantically search the marché and my house for it but can’t find it. After locating Marcus and having him call my phone, I discover that it has been turned off which means that it was definitely stolen. So now I have to go to Sokodé to get a new phone…I also receive word through Marcus that Taressa has decided to ET (early terminate) and that Krissy is contemplating ETing as well. Definite “low”…

Oct. 1st: I head to Pagala and then Atakpamé to participate in the CREJE training of trainers (TOT) for a new OEV club based on the AED-Kara Club Espoir model. It was awesome to not only see my volunteer friends in the Plateaux Region but great to play with kids for a weekend. I want to start a similar project in Sotouboua through Vie Saine so it was good to learn about kids clubs and to know that I have support from the Atakpamé crew. Big “high”…

On the other hand I find out Allison has already ETed and quiet Mikey is about to ET. There must be something is the Peace Corps water cooler because quiet Mikey makes him the 4th person to ET within a span of 2 weeks from our stage. “Low”…

October 8th: I help out with a dépistage at the Sotouboua hospital that is co-sponsored by VST. It’s nice to feel productive. Fortune let’s me sit in on some pre- and post- test counseling sessions with patients so I get exposed to HIV testing and counseling. “High”…

October 11th: Reid wants to have a big party for her birthday and cook jambalaya so I offer my house since it’s made for hosting large parties. It’s nice to have people over at my house and show off how amazing it is. Also great that I get to see a bunch of my friends from around the country and hear about their experiences at post so far. Of course with our group things get ridiculous as usual, but in a good “reminds-me-of-training” way. Big “high”…However it’s a “low” as this is the last time (for who knows how long) I’ll see Taressa and Krissy (who officially decides to ET). It’s bittersweet b/c although I get to see them before they leave, it doesn’t make it any easier to say goodbye to two good friends.

Krissy leaving has been one of the hardest emotional blows the past few months. When we come to Togo, we leave everyone behind, family and friends. We are thrust together very suddenly in a foreign environment so emotional bonds between people typically form rapidly and with great strength. What we create is our own close knit circle of friends who become our “family” in Togo. When Krissy ET’d, it broke a strong emotional bond and left the sort of gap in our family the way it would be if you were to lose a cousin you were close to. I have created several strong friendships with many people, inside and outside my stâge and Krissy just happened to be the person I felt closest too. No rhyme or reason and I don’t even know if she felt as close to me as I did to her. And there was nothing romantic there; she was just someone who I felt understood who I was and where I was coming from. We had several things in common but most importantly of all, I trusted her, which is a big deal because it usually takes me a while to trust anyone having had my trust broken several times in the past. I mean I know she made the right decision and I only really care that she’s happy back in the US, but it’s still shitty to lose one of the few people who you really click with. So Krissy, it sucks that you are gone but know that you are very much missed…

So yea, as you can see the past four weeks have been tough. It’s funny because they haven’t been tough in the way that everyone else said the first few months are tough. I was totally not expecting this. But it’s happened and I’m dealing with it. It’ll take time to figure out where to go from here but hey, I have 2 years right?

*sigh*

- Nikhil

P.S. Shout out to Andrew DeRussy, Dustin Hipp & Michael Lindsey for sending me e-mails/facebook messages. Much appreciated guys. They definitely made my day…

*note* Before I begin this post, I just wanted to say that now that I’ve had some time to go back and edit some of my blog postings from the past few weeks, today I finally posted a few blogs that I’ve saved on my computer but not had the time or the appropriate access to the internet to post them. So if you are wondering why my blog appears twice as long as when you last checked it, it’s because I’ve finally back-blogged since the beginning of July. Hope you go back and read about my “exciting” life the past 8 weeks...

Not quite sure how I did it but I managed to survive successfully (well okay, that’s up for debate) for one week at post. One down, approximately one hundred more to go. Just kidding. I am not trying to live my life one week at a time (although I am trying to live more in the moment) and I am not trying to base my time here in Togo upon some countdown, no matter how real the sand falling in the hourglass that is my time here in Togo. Adjusting to life here in Togo is going okay. Automatic processing hasn’t quite kicked in so I do spend enormous amounts of energy just doing daily tasks like cooking and sweeping my patio, doing dishes and washing my clothes. I think after a few weeks these things will become second nature to me but right now I actually have to put a conscious effort to these routine tasks. I’ve spent the past week cleaning up my house. As I already said Joelle and my landlord basically left me with a fully stocked house, so now I’m just trying to make the house into a home. So far, Togo is not quite home. During stage I decided that right now I feel like I’m on a really long study abroad program where I decide to stay an extra day each day. Dunno when it’ll feel like home; maybe after I go away on a long vacation and come back it’ll finally feel like home. No sense in rushing it though right?

Apart from routing activities like cleaning and cooking I’ve been biking a lot. I can’t remember if I mentioned or not but the Peace Corps supplied all the volunteers with these awesome 21-speed TREK mountain bikes that are pretty sweet. I’ve biked north and south on the Route and there is this beautiful dirt road leading to Korie’s village that Marcus and I biked this past Thursday. It goes on for a while past her village so hopefully I’ll try and bike it further and see where it takes me. I’ve found that I really enjoy biking. Unlike other workouts like running or doing weights where I do it but don’t really enjoy myself, I actually find myself looking forward to going out for my morning bike ride. I feel really at peace when I’m biking and for some reason it sort of accentuates the African/Peace Corps experience. I usually do at least 10km every day and it’s a great way to pass the time while exploring my community. I’m also biking in preparation for AIDS Ride (a week of bike riding in the bush to deliver AIDS sensibilizations to rural communities) at the end of October.

As for the work, well I haven’t been able to do anything major yet. Vie Saine doesn’t have its monthly meeting for a few weeks so I can’t really do anything with them until I’ve attended a meeting. I’ve gone to the hospital a few times to see if there’s any work but nothing big. I have had two interesting house visitors. My first evening in Sotouboua, I was visited by one of the local traditional healers who invited me to the prefectural healer association. Apparently they were trying to host a conference for all the healers in the Sotouboua prefecture and they wanted me to do a causerie on something for the conference. I didn’t really feel comfortable with my French yet so I told them I just didn’t feel ready but would love to attend and would definitely do something the next time round. My other visitor was from a local ONG called A.V.D.D. that is involved in various development projects in Sotouboua. They wanted to start some type of girl’s scholarship program for the local lycée students. Although girl’s education is a bit outside my area of “expertise” I told them I would consult with some of the other GEE volunteers. Hopefully my work in VST will pick up soon. Although it’s nice to be on my own schedule and sleep in till whenever I want (not that I sleep past 6:30am most days with the bleating goats outside my compound and my neighbour Marc’s chickens cock-a-doodling every morning), I am looking forward to being productive.

Cooking…so I know it’s weird but I’ve been cooking a lot of Indian food recently, or at least my own version at approximating Indian food. It’s weird because I never had any inclination to cook Indian food when I was back in the US (well except for that one time I made tandoori chicken in Atlanta that came out “ehh”). And why should I have tried to cook Indian food when Zyka was a 15 minute drive away or better yet, the best Indian food in the world (duh mom, that’s your food!...although Poornima Aunty’s chicken-anything is a close second) was 30 minutes away. Anyways, Joelle left me TONS of spices as she loved to cook and I picked up tons of spices as well when I was down in Lomé so it’s been pretty easy to experiment when you have a fully-stocked kitchen. I tried to make a rasam and rice the other day and then yesterday, I found these things called haricots beignets which are beignets made from beans. Believe it or not, they taste incredibly like vadaas; so I made a sambar of sorts and poured it over the beignets and voila! Vadaas & sambar!

Okay so week’s over and now I get to survive another one. So far so good, I think I’ll extend my stay here in Africa another day…

peace out,

-Nikhil (a.k.a. “Somiabalo,” my Kabyé name; pronounced “So-me-ah-bah-low”)

What’s up everyone!

I am officially a U.S. Peace Corps Volunteer! I did it. I really did it. The swear-in ceremony is over, I have spent five glorious days shopping, and eating and drinking in Lomé and as of 7:30AM tomorrow, I will finally be on my way to post. It’s ridiculous to think that just a few months ago I was working a 9-5 job [an amazing one at that though…hi everyone at Childspring :)] and living a very comfortable life with my family and friends in Atlanta. And here I am now, about to move to post where I can finally live out my dream of saving the world, or at least begin to live it out as saving the world takes more than a day lol.

The past few days here in Lomé have been amazing; the perfect way to transition between the structured life of training and the great unknown of moving to post. I didn’t get to do much exploring of Lomé last time I was here as we had just gotten to country and technically we weren’t allowed to explore (our schedules were so packed with PC stuff that there wasn’t much time anyways). However after spending a few days here, Lomé is definitely an interesting city. It’s not quite the metropolitan city it aspires to be, but it’s much more “developed” than the rest of the country. There is no McDonalds or Wal-mart here but it still felt like being back in the “western” world. And Lomé sits on the coast with some pretty beautiful views of the “other side” of the Atlantic Ocean.

After packing up and saying one last goodbye to our incredible host families and our beloved training sites, we drove 2 hours south to Lomé to officially swear-in as volunteers, shop for post and enjoy some “comforts” from home. We arrived at Mamy’s again and spent the rest of the day going over PC policy, banking and relaxing. Alicia came by with a few of the older volunteers and we went out to the beach bar to grab a beer and chill. The bar, a few blocks from Mamy’s, is a beautiful covered bar on the actual beach with a spectacular view of the ocean. Although the beach is not the cleanest, at first glance it’s pretty beautiful. At sunset Krissy and I tried to take some pictures on the beach but the light wasn’t the best and my pictures didn’t turn out the best. It was still a pretty awesome sunset though. For dinner that night, I went out with Mikey, Taylor, Lou & Ilona for Chinese food and it was AMAZING! Okay so I’m sure that I’ve had slightly better Chinese food elsewhere but after not having eaten any sort of Asian food in over 3 months, my stomach could not have been happier. I never knew I missed spring rolls and lo-mein noodles so much! After dinner it was off to cheap bar for a few drinks before heading off to bed.

Although we officially swore-in on Wednesday at the bureau, our actual swear-in ceremony was on Thursday at Brownie Lee’s (the PC Togo Country Director) house. She has a beautiful house that very much reminds me of our house in Bangalore, yet slightly more tropical. The ceremony took place in her huge front yard and in front of our host moms, the formateurs (language and technical), people from the US Embassy, Marines, volunteers and some other random people in Togo. It’s an unwritten tradition that all the trainees are supposed to dress in traditional garb so we arrived all decked out in pagne and ready to party. After brief speeches by Blandine (our training coordinator) and the presentation of certificates of service to some COS-ing volunteers, it was finally time for me to give my speech (btw I’ve posted scripts of my speeches at the end of this post). I was super nervous but luckily everything went well. All my friends cheered loudly for me and I was so relieved when I made it to the end (the fact that Raymond came up to me after and said that my French was perfect was probably the biggest compliment I received!). After my speech, the rest of the trainees did short speeches in our local languages. Kristina and Rose gave awesome “formal” speeches, Kristina in Kabyé and Rose in Ewe. I even gave a second, much much shorter speech in Kabyé. All the trainees finished with the speeches and we closed off the ceremony with speeches by Brownie and also by the interim US Ambassador to Togo (the previous ambassador was headed to his next country of service and the new ambassador had not yet arrived in country). After speeches, we took our “official” oaths of service and then it was PARTY TIME! We mingled for a bit at Brownie’s house with drinks and snack food but after 15 minutes all the food and drinks were gone so a bunch of us headed out to grab street food. Another unspoken tradition of swear-in is to hang out at Reagents (the bar that we went to for our welcome to Togo party) after the ceremony so we all headed there to grab drinks and celebrate. It was nice to just chill with the volunteers and hang out. We drank, danced and had a really good time hanging out all together for the last time.

The next few days were a blur of touring Lomé w/ Djotang, shopping at Ramco, LiterPrice and the Grand Marché and of course the bi-annual GAD Beach Party where we headed to Coco Beach to raise money for the Gender & Diversity Committee. It was awesome to chill on the beach, play football, swim in a swimming pool and eat awesome food. Okay gotta talk really quickly about shopping b/c it was kind of a surreal experience. Ramco is the biggest and probably the most expensive supermarket in Togo. And when I say supermarket, I mean authentic western-style supermarket with rows and rows of food, cooking utensils, liquor and cleaning supplies. I felt like I was back in Kroger or Wal-mart in the states as I was pushing my real shopping cart and everything (I don’t know if it’s funny or pathetic how excited I can get by something like seeing a shopping cart…). They had tons of western ingredients (cereal, marshmallows, Jell-O, etc.) and even pretty much every Indian ingredient I might ever need from channa daal to coriander seeds! LiterPrice is MUCH smaller than Ramco but also much cheaper. The best part of LiterPrice however is their deli where you can order a real deli sandwich!!! I think over the course of three days I bought like 10 turkey sandwiches, complete with sliced cheese, pickles and all…

This brings me to today where I’ve spent the entire day chilling in the volunteer lounge taking advantage of the Ethernet internet connection to upload photos on Picasa and surf the internet. We head to post tomorrow, bright and early at 7AM, as we say bye for now to our many friends who are now a part of our family here in Togo. It’s the end of the beginning (no more stâge!), but this is also the beginning of the next so I hope you will wish me luck as I board this great journey of service and self-exploration over the next two years. It won’t be an easy one, as these past few months have acutely demonstrated, but then again they never said it would be. What’s that old Peace Corps saying? The hardest job you’ll ever love! Hmm, I guess only time will tell. But here’s to hoping…

Du courage et de fromage,

-Nikhil

P.S. I really hope everyone goes and check out my Picasa website that I linked to this blog ASAP as I FINALLY uploaded a ton of pictures from stâge. I have random pictures taken during class, pictures from my hike up Mt. Agou as well as pictures from post-visit week and field trip week. Although I do have a few more albums of pictures from fête-ing, the last few days in Agou and from swear-in, I ran out of time here in Lomé to organize the pictures and upload them. Since I only get “fast” internet connection here in the Peace Corps lounge, those pictures will have to wait till my next trip to Lomé which unfortunately might not be until December when the new stâge swears-in (or earlier depending on if I get to have a “Lomé medical vacation” or if the new satellite internet in Sotouboua is functioning well).

P.P.S. As promised, here is a copy of both of my speeches. The first one is the “official” French speech I gave at the beginning of the swear-in ceremony; the second one is my Kabyé speech. Although I did include a translation for my Kabyé speech, I didn’t include one for the French speech as the speech is long and it would “waste” space on this blog. But if you want the gist of what I was saying in the French one, send me an e-mail and I’ll happily explain it to you.

Nikhil’s French Swear-In Speech

Excellence M. le représentant du Ministre de la Sante

Excellence M. le représentant du Ministre de l’Economie et des Finances

Excellence M. le représentant d’ambassadeur des Etats-Unis au Togo

Madame la Directrice Nationale du Corps de la Paix

Madame la Directrice de Formation

Honorables invités

Chers collègues nouveaux volontaires

Mesdames

Mesdemoiselles

Messieurs

Je m’appelle Nikhil. C’est un grand plaisir pour moi de prendre la parole ici au nom de tous mes collèges. Nous sommes 30 Américaines dont 14 hommes et 16 femmes. Nous représentons les différentes parties des Etats-Unis comme la Californie á l’ouest, Indiana et Texas au centre, Alabama et Géorgie au sud, New York et Massachusetts á l’est, etcetera. Nous avons des formations différentes allant de la licence au doctorat. C’est ainsi que nous avons parmi nous deux docteurs, une avocate, etcetera. Nos personnalités sont aussi différentes à cause de nos backgrounds différents. Cependant nous avons en commun un but: l’amélioration des conditions de vie et le changement du monde. Et c’est là, notre raison d’être au Togo.

Nous constituons deux groupes : le premier c’est le groupe de développement de petites et moyennes entreprises basé á Kumawou et le second groupe est celui de la santé communautaire et la prévention du VIH/SIDA basé á Nyogbo. Avant de commencer notre travail nous sommes passés par une formation du 11 semaines. A notre arrivée, nous étions très contents d’être au Togo mais à la fois nous étions très dubitatifs en ce qui concerne notre habileté de nous adapter au nouvel environnement et de pouvoir opérer quelque changement que ce soit. Une fois arrivée sur les sites, les différentes communautés et les familles hôtes nous ont accueillis à bras ouverts. La formation a commencé le jour suivant dans le deux programmes. Nous avons suivi des classes de langue, de technique, et d’adaptation culturelle. En technique nous avons couvert la micro finance, le paludisme, le développement de compétences et le VIH/SIDA. En adaptation culturelle nous avons appris entre autres l’importance du protocole au Togo et comment porter un pagne. Nous avons eu l’occasion de visiter nos postes du travail pour prendre goût à la vie de volontaire. Nous avons travaillé dur et nous avons étudié beaucoup aussi. Maintenant nous somme prêt à commencer notre travail de volontaire.

Le Corps de la Paix vient de célébrer ses 45 ans au Togo en décembre dernier et nous sommes heureux de porter le flambeau que nos prédécesseurs nous ont passé pour continuer le legs du service. Nous allons à nos postes maintenant avec toute notre motivation et notre passion de travailler aux côtés de nos homologues Togolaises pour les deux ans ou plus pourquoi pas ? Nous demanderions au Togolais d’être patients et tolérants envers nous, de nous aider à les aider.

Avant de finir, je voudrais remercier tous ceux qui ont contribué à la réussite de notre stage. D’abord, merci a nos vaillantes familles hôtes de Kumawou et Nyogbo pour leur patience et la nourriture délicieuse. Elles nous ont gavés. Ensuite, merci à Blandine et à tous les formateurs de technique pour nous avoir donné les informations nécessaires pour faire notre travail avec succès. À tous les formateurs de langues qui nous ont aidés malgré nos fautes en français et langue locales, merci beaucoup. Aux volontaires sur le terrain, merci pour vos encouragements et pour vos conseils. Personnellement, je voudrais remercier mes collègues nouveaux volontaires pour leur support moral. Vous étiez plutôt ma famille au Togo qu’un groupe de soutien pour les « yovos » que nous sommes. Je suis très content de passer les deux ans qui suivent avec vous.

Pour conclure, je voudrais dire quelque chose que ma mère hôte m’a dit la première semaine, « peu à peu… ». Bien que cette expression ait été une source de beaucoup de frustrations, elle a été aussi une source d’encouragement. Que cette expression nous soit un rappel pendant les 3 mois au poste et même durant le reste de notre service au Togo. Je cite : « le changement prend du temps. » Fin de citation le changement se passe lentement et il arrive en fin de compte. Il ne faut pas se presser parce que deux ans c’est un long temps. Petit à petit. Doucement. Ça va aller, un peu de courage et voilà, du fromage !

Bon Appétit, Bonsoir et Bonne fête !

Nikhil’s Kabyé Speech

Mina danaj! Payam se Nikhil. Melina Atlanta. Menge Corps de la Paix soolim tumiye ladu. Mowoki Sotouboua tonuda alafia tumiye labu. Pilabi tasi.

English Translation: Good evening! My name is Nikhil. I come from Atlanta. I am a Peace Corps volunteer. I am going to Sotouboua to do health work. See you later!

Hey!

Two posts in one day! Ridiculous you say? I agree. Well this is a very specific post regarding mail and care packages so forgive me. I already thanked Katie Roan, Jamie Rabb, Megan Kelly & Christina Morton for their amazing-ness at writing to me in Africa. If you want to be amazing, you should write to me as well! E-mails are great; postcards are better; but letters are the best! And if you send a care package…well in 2 years from now, you will receive a very special present :) what may that be you ask? Well you’ll just have to send me something to find out lol! Just kidding, I really don’t need care packages, letters really are all I want. BUT if you honestly feel that you positively NEED to send me a care package, here are some ideas for what to send me…

- Pictures (of you and me, of you and other people, etc.)

- Music (the latest music, popular and underground; you know what kind of music I like); burn onto a CD so I can upload to my iTunes and iPod

- Peppermints

- Books

- Magazines (Time, Newsweek, People, GQ, Maxim, etc.)

- Newspaper articles; Technique articles

- AAA Batteries

- DVDs (a little pricey but if you want to send me DVDs of good new movies that I might not have seen; basically anything after April 2008 I probably didn't have time to see)

- Recordings of all Georgia Tech Football/Basketball games, particularly GT vs. UGA and GT vs. any ACC team

- Calendars with pretty pictures

- Interesting public health related research papers (I know it's lame but if you find anything that might be of interest to me based on my work here, it would be super helpful)

- Seasoning packets like chili mix, taco seasoning, etc.

- Soup mix, pasta mix, Mac & cheese, etc.

- Tea Packets

- Bandanas (REI has them for $1-$3 I think?)

- CHEESE! (packaged, in a can, string, etc. Anything would be amazing since real cheese is hard to come by!)

- Nuts from Trader Joes

- Special K Protein Bars (anything w/ chocolate)

- Ziploc Bags (large)

- Arts & crafts supplies

- Jigsaw puzzles

- Sriracha (sp?) sauce (that’s red chili Asian sauce with a rooster on the front?)

As I said before, you REALLY DON’T need to send me a care package or if you do, you don’t need to send me anything expensive. But if you do send me something, let me know so I know to look for it. Packages go missing every now and then so make sure you follow the mailing rules I posted in my communications post. Thanks!

happy mailing,

-Nikhil

Today is our last official day as Peace Corps trainees in Agou-Nyogbo. My bags are packed and loaded into the luggage truck and starting at 7AM tomorrow morning, I will officially be saying “A bientôt Nyogbo. Bonjour Lomé, encore”. Weird. To think that a few weeks ago I was praying for this day to come and now that it’s finally here, I want it to last just a little bit longer. I am torn between wanting to be done with training and between sadness at saying goodbye to a place that is so familiar to me it was almost beginning to feel like home. I am torn between looking forward to missing my friends (as Heather would say) and actually already missing my many new friends whom over the past few weeks have transformed from strangers, to friends, to what amounts to my “family” here in Togo. But most of all, I am torn between the freedom that being an official volunteer will bring to me and the safety of being a trainee where life was dictated by schedules and I never had to wonder where my next meal is coming from. Don’t get me wrong, I am very excited about bringing a little more control into my life; but the issue is that I am going from a stage in my life where I had little control over what I did to a stage in my life where I have too much control and no idea what to do with it, all within the span of a few days. Although I have no way of pressing pause on the remote control of my life, all I can do is take a deep breath, pause for a moment and remember the fact that countless volunteers before me survived so there is no reason that I won’t either. Or at least, here’s hoping to that…

Hmm, so I was originally planning on updating you on what I’ve been up to the past week and half but I’m not really in the mood to write a really long post so I’ll try and keep this short (short post! Can I even write a short post?)…After coming back from Kara, our days have pretty much been spent reviewing all the health themes from the past three months. We’ve been doing a few more French classes and this past Saturday we took our final language test. Although I was nervous, I knew that I had practiced as much as I could. Luckily my interviewer was my favorite formateur, Ismael, who is really easy to talk too. He made me talk about Atlanta and somehow I ended up talking about the Westin hotel and seeing the new baby panda at the zoo. I must have done okay because they told me that I scored an intermediate high yesterday and I must say I’m pretty pleased. I don’t think I’m REALLY at that level but it’s pretty subjective and at least it’s a passing grade to head to post. I know that I have a LOT more French to learn because I don’t feel anywhere fluent, but it is good to see that my French has improved a considerable amount in 11 short weeks (if you remember, I came in around novice-mid at the beginning of stâge and tested a few weeks ago at intermediate-mid “weak”). Other than doing our final presentations on the 4 domains which went pretty well, the week was pretty uneventful. We did get to learn though about making “foyer amelioré” or an improved cook stove which meant playing in the mud and this past Friday we had “Free University” which is where all the trainees are supposed to teach the rest of us something in French (to practice speaking French). We had everything from teaching how to juggle and clogging lessons to how to play Sudoku and how to kill a chicken! I ended up doing a presentation on “how to speak like a volunteer” that everyone seemed to enjoy a lot (explanation: here in Togo there is an unusual accent most volunteers pick up that I’ve only really heard from volunteers; it’s a strange accent with alternating increasing/decreasing cadences…it’s a bit hard to describe in words so just ask me to demonstrate next time). The best free university lesson however came from Whitney as she taught us CHAP-ers some Togolese dance moves she made up. As you know, in the US there are some “white man” dance moves that are based on routine actions like “starting the lawnmower” and “reeling in a fish”; Whitney created her own moves based on routine Togolese actions, with my favorites being “pounding fufu”, “drawing water from a well”, “washing clothes” and “swinging the coupe-coupe”. All in all, a very funny class. Oh and I’ve also been biking a lot. There is this BEAUTIFUL 15km dirt road between Nyogbo and Kpalimé that’s tough but so worth it just for the view. I’ve done it a few times and it allows for some pretty spectacular views of Mt. Agou. Check out pictures when I post them.

I’ve spent the past few days writing and practicing my speech for swear-in. For the ceremony, all the trainees are supposed to give a speech in their local language. In addition to a speech in my local language, the formateurs asked me to give the formal “graduation” speech in French. I’m not sure why they asked me, but it’s apparently a huge honour to give the speech. My French was NOT at all at a level where I could fluently write a complete speech in French so I ended up doing a mélange-d speech and Cyrille helped me translate the rest of my speech to French as well as fixing all my grammatical mistakes. It’s been a bit nerve-wracking working on the speech as apparently not only am I giving the speech to all the people who attend the ceremony in Lomé but they are also supposed to broadcast all the speeches throughout Togo. Eek! So I’ve been practicing my speech like crazy so I don’t look or sound like a jackass when I get up to speak on Thursday.

Before I forget, I do have to mention about the infamous night of the moustache. So I made a deal with myself at the beginning of training that I wasn’t going to cut my hair or shave my face for the entirety of training. Part of it was laziness and part of it was curiosity as I’d never grown my hair and facial hair out like this before. Well I actually did it (and I’ve decided never to do it again…my facial hair comes out weird) and since this past weekend was our last weekend before Lomé and I wanted to “clean up” before swear-in, with the help of Kristina I got probably one of the best haircuts I’ve ever had, so much that even I thought it was perfect (and Andrew, you know that I’ve never been completely happy after everyone of my haircuts back in Atlanta). I also shaved but decided, thanks to Taylor’s request, to leave a moustache for one night only. That Sunday also happened to be the night we decided to do our Nyogbo Buvette Crawl so as a treat for my fellow CHAP-ers, I left my moustache on specifically for them. The night turned out to be a blast as we all hung out one last time as a CHAP stâge, visited all 3 buvettes in Nyogbo and took loads of incriminating photos of me and my sketch-stache lol! Look out for pictures online at some point soon…

As for our last day here, I pretty much spent it just walking around Agou-Nyogbo and taking in the beauty of this village. I really will miss everything here from my host family and their beautiful house to our tech house, Afrikiko and of course the incredibly gracious people of Nyogbo. Taylor and I went on a picture tour of Nyogbo and we took tons of pictures to remember our amazing training village. Okay, my host mom is calling me to dinner so I’ll leave you with that. Hmm, so much for a short post lol… When I next post, I will be an official volunteer! Till then…

ciao,

-Nikhil

P.S. okay before I forget, I just wanted to do one quick thing: I would like to give a huge shout out to four amazing people who sent me letters during the course of training. You are amazing and I will treasure your letters dearly. Thanks to Katie Roan, Jamie Rabb, Megan Kelly & Christina Morton!

Wow! I didn’t think we were going to make it all in one piece but somehow we managed. It was one hellava ride back from my week-long field trip in Kara-même. What should have been a 7 or 8 hour journey ended up being close to 10 hours. But I’m getting ahead of myself; let’s go back to the beginning of the week…

So last week as you hopefully deduced from the title of this post, Peace Corps sent us on our mid-training field trip. The purpose of the field trip is to not only break up the “monotony” of training but to mainly let trainees see volunteers at work in their domain in other parts of the country. Unlike the business group, our health group was divided into two groups: half of us got a week-long field trip to Kara and the other half of us got only 3 days in Kara. The reason for the split was so that the first half of the health trainees who would be working with HIV/AIDS associations at post would have the opportunity to visit a real association to learn how to work with them as we did not have that opportunity in Agou. Tchao, our APCD, sent us to Kara so we could observe and learn about ONG development and management from AED-Kara, or Association Espoir pour Demain – Kara. Since my main work in Sotouboua deals with working with an AIDS association, I was one of the lucky few to go for the whole week…

AED-Kara

Founded by PC Volunteers a few years ago, AED-Kara is one of the few associations for PLWHA (people living with HIV/AIDS) being funded by a partner NGO in Boston called Hope through Health (check ‘em out online…they are awesome!). The unique partnership makes AED-Kara very different from most HIV/AIDS associations in Togo. To start off with, I use the term ONG loosely. Unlike the traditional definition of a non-governmental organization, ONGs in Togo are merely grassroots organizations that try to fulfill the needs of their communities where the government is unable to. A great majority of supposed ONGs aren’t even officially registered with the government. I would love to go into more detail about this issue but we were never presented with straight up facts about tax brackets and Togolese laws during training so that is the most that I can tell you for now. Maybe one of the older business volunteers might understand the ONG situation in Togo a little better. But back to AED-Kara, which is a registered ONG in Togo…

AED is an association of “pris en charge” (PEC). I have never been able to get a proper translation or definition of PEC but it basically means “care of people”. Therefore AED is an association that cares for people living with HIV/AIDS. AED was originally founded to solely provide psycho-social support but it has now expanded its services to 6 domains based on Paul Farmer’s (yay!!!) model for integrated care of people living with HIV/AIDS in resource-poor communities: the base composed of home visits (“visite domicille”) with 4 pillars of nutrition programs, access to drugs (against opportunistic infections), OVC support (orphans & vulnerable children), and a PMTCT program (prevention of mother to child transmission) with the roof representing psycho-social counseling and support. Since AED doesn’t get a lot of support (particularly financial) from the government, it’s partnership with Hope through Health allows it to sustain when other similar associations struggle to survive. We didn’t go into too much detail about the exact nature of the cooperation between the two organizations but it does allow AED to serve as a jaded beacon of hope for other associations. I say jaded as it’s a bit unfortunate to have US funding thanks to the help of Peace Corps volunteers. This leads to problems elsewhere since now other similar associations expect the “same” from other volunteers which will most likely never happen as I said before since AED is in a unique and rare position, a position other volunteers most likely can’t and really shouldn’t put themselves in as it leads to dependence on foreign support.

Anyways, using AED as a “model”, we spent the first 4 days at AED learning about the model of care and meeting with various members of the association. We spent the first day talking about Paul Farmer’s model and learning about how to come up with a strategic plan. On our second day at the association we learned about the various programs and we had the opportunity to shadow several health workers. I went to a session on finances to learn about AED’s financial model hoping it would be useful in helping VST with financial support. I also sat in on a few counseling sessions with infected patients. It was really heartbreaking to hear about people’s situations, although it was motivating to see how passionate all the health workers were about their work and their desire to help the patients. On our third day we spent the morning doing home visits with the “accompagneuters”. During home visits, the health workers basically visited homes of people who did have access to ARVs and made sure the people were taking their drugs properly. It was cool because they modeled their home visit program off the tuberculosis DOTS (directly observed treatment short-course chemotherapy) program, a strategy where health workers make sure patients adhere to a strict regimen of medications over a specific period of time. That afternoon, we sat around discussing the HIV/AIDS & ARV situation in Togo (more on this later). On our fourth day, before the rest of our health stâge came up to Kara, we split up into groups and discussed various strategies we could implement in our communities to develop and manage AIDS associations. Luckily we ended the day on a hopeful note as the various members of AED held a fête in our honour. After singing some songs and eating some food, several members had the courage to tell us their stories of how they became infected and how they were coping with AIDS. It was so inspiring to see members who had nothing but were optimistic enough that they could fight the disease.

HIV/AIDS & ARVs in Togo

The HIV/AIDS situation here is not only frustrating but extremely depressing as well. When I first did research on the AIDS situation last year based on data from the CIA World Fact book, the situation seemed hopeful as unlike many other countries in Africa, Togo’s HIV/AIDS prevalence rate was around 4% (compare this to countries like South Africa and Botswana where prevalence rates are between 15 % - 25 %!). This is not to say that the statistics are wrong but merely that the statistics are not representative. Statistics such as prevalence rates are great when surveys account for the true population; however if there are hundreds or thousands of people unaccounted for in the true population, which is very easy to do in a country like Togo where people live in remote areas, then it’s impossible to find a true prevalence rate. Let me describe it another way: Say there is a population of 1000 people and the prevalence rate within that population is 10%, meaning there are 100 infected people. That 10% rate is only accurate if all 1000 people got tested. If only half the people got tested, then the 10% is an inaccurate rate because there could be many more sera-positive people making the true rate much higher. But now the question is why did only half the population get tested and not the other half? It can’t just be because people live in rural areas otherwise other countries in Africa would have similar problems. The underlying reason is stigmatization against the disease & discrimination against infected people. People don’t want to be tested because they fear being shunned from the community, a valid fear in a collectivist culture. One of the biggest challenges of the PC health program in Togo is not only correcting misinformation surrounding HIV/AIDS (many people in Togo still believe that you can get HIV by sharing razors, through mosquito transmission, and through “gri-gri” or evil sorcery) but also fighting against stigma and discrimination and helping those infected to live peacefully among their Togolese brethren. The disease is largely misunderstood, particularly in the often neglected rural communities.

Now moving on to the ARV situation. As one of the poorest countries in the world, Togo obviously does not have the financial resources to purchase ARVs for all the infected people in country. A few years ago, thanks to a large donation of about $40 million dollars from the Global Fund, Togo was able to purchase ARVs from India & South Africa. Although the original price for the purchased ARVs was around $17 per month, after a carnet system was implemented, the price dropped down to about $2 per month. The carnet system involved entering a lottery for a prescription carnet which would allow you to receive ARVs at the reduced price. However last year, The Global Fund decided to cut the 2nd round of funding for Togo’s ARV program due to corruption issues (not sure where it was occurring but it was either within the Ministry of Health or else within Global Fund Togolese partner: the PNLS program, the national non-governmental program against HIV/AIDS). This now has dire consequences for all infected people in Togo as ARV treatment is a life-long commitment and it’s very dangerous for a patient to not adhere to his/her ARV regiment. The Global Fund agreed to continue donating ARV drugs to people on the carnet until a few months ago but no new people were allowed to enter the lottery for a carnet and the Global Fund would only re-start the ARV program if Togo re-applied in the next round of funding contingent upon Togo cleaning up its act. However until then, the real “losers” are the infected Togolese who now have no hope of receiving any sort of treatment…I could go into a lot more detail but I think that pretty much highlights the important parts.

Sooo, to better understand the interplay of the HIV/AIDS situation and the ARV situation, let me recount a story of a lady I met during a home visit session. There was this one lady who had lost her job selling vegetables in the market because a “rival” marché mama had spilled the beans that the lady was infected. Due to the heavy stigmatization of AIDS, people stopped going to her vegetable stand making it hard for her to earn any sort of income. No money meant she was now unable to pay rent or care for herself in any way. Even though she was one of the few women with a carnet, she was now in danger of stopping treatment since she didn’t even have the money to buy the necessary food to eat with her medication. This is the kind of stories that you will hear all over Togo. And here we are pretty much powerless to do anything. If we just donate money to the women, then we run the risk of destabilizing our roles as agents of development and instead become agents of funding; however if we don’t do anything at all, the lady is sure to die. Talk about a catch-22…

Where we as volunteers will go from here, I have no idea. Hopefully the situation will seem less bleak the more I find resources within the Sotouboua community.

Hotel Kara

Since field trip week is supposed to be a sort of mini-vacation from training (or at least that’s what it felt like), Peace Corps treated us by paying for us to stay at the amazing Hotel Kara. My how my standards have changed! In reality, Hotel Kara is probably comparable to a Howard Johnson or Budget Inn back in the US but by Togo standards, we might as well have been put up at the Ritz-Carlton (okay so maybe it was more like a really nice Hilton but you get the point). We had air-conditioned rooms, hot water, flushing toilets, maid service, televisions and A SWIMMING POOL!!! This was my first time being at a swimming pool in over 2 months and it was amazing! The hotel really is quite beautiful (check out pictures online), again by Togolese standards. Taylor, Bree & I spent all of our lunch breaks during the week laying out by the pool and taking it all in because who knew when we would be able to swim in an actual clean swimming pool again for a while! We lucked out with beautiful weather for the first three days so I even got to tan a bit (not that I need to, but like I said, I was relishing the fact that I could!). Luckily when the rest of the stâge came in on Thursday evening, they lucked out with about 2 hours of good swimming time with us. It was great to just hang out by the pool and relax as a stâge, complete with diving contests and chicken fights :) We never did find out how much rooms are but I don’t think I’ll ever be able to “afford” staying there again and even if I could, I don’t think I would want to waste the money when that money could be put to more important stuff (like real cheeseburgers from Chateaux!).

Ketao

When the rest of our health stâge came up at the end of the week we spent that Friday in Ketao, a small village about an hour east of Kara-même. The purpose of our trip was three-fold. In the morning we went directly to a guerisseur-traditional or traditional healer to learn about traditional medicine and its impact on the Togolese health system. It was interesting to hear about traditional healing and how the tradition was passed along from generation to generation. The healer we visited was a Peace Corps certified healer and he showed us a list of ailments he was certified to treat as well as showing us some of the natural medicines he used. He also explained how he understood the gravity of the AIDS situation and how if a healer is legitimate, they know to refer potential AIDS patients to the local hospital as there was no known herbal cure helpful for AIDS patients, regardless of the superstition around it as being a “curse” disease. As I mentioned in the AIDS section, many people still believe “gri-gri” or evil sorcery plays a role in the spread of the disease and many traditional healers play into people’s fear by making false claims of being able to cure AIDS or being able to “give” AIDS to people they disagree with. It’s a terrible situation and only through education (and working with the healer community) can we hope to dispel this myth.

After our informative trip to the traditional healer, Aimee showed us to AED’s satellite association in Ketao. They had recently completed construction on a building and we got to see the final results. The health workers who ran the association explained what they did and the type of services the satellite association offered to its members. After touring AED-Ketao, we headed to the school to watch part of a peer educator training session. Aimee (who’s from Long Island and went to Emory btw!) was currently hosting a friend from Emory who was now in grad school at Columbia. Her friend was studying under a professor who had written a manual on how to incorporate West African traditions into peer educator trainings. Using the manual, Aimee and her friend were training several HIV/AIDS peer educators. The session we observed was a role-playing game. The presented scenario was that half the participants were members of an international AIDS conference that was taking place on a boat off the coast of Lomé. Due to a storm, the boat was sinking and there was only place for one person on the boat to escape safely and report the conference’s results to the rest of the world. The objective of the participants was to convince the jury (the other half of the training participants) of why they should be the ones saved. All the members of the conference represented different people involved in the AIDS crisis such as the Togolese minister of health, a publicly-open infected AIDS activist, a scientist who discovered the virus, etc. Funny enough and much to the chagrin of my fellow volunteers, after the first round of debating, the jury selected a member of a western ONG who was fighting for the rights of AIDS victims. We are pretty sure their decision had to do with the fact that there were about 20 PCVs watching the game. But then the rest of the participants became angry and demanded that the jury rethink it’s decision because they weren’t happy with the outcome which I don’t believe has ever happened before (usually the jury picks the mother with an infected child). The jury re-voted and this time they picked the scientist who was searching for a cure. So that’s was interesting to watch. After watching the role-playing game and eating an amazing meal of rice with peanut sauce and wagash (probably the best wagash I’ve eaten in country) we headed back to Kara to grab cheeseburgers and pizza from Chateaux.

Club Espoir

On our final morning before heading back to Agou, we went back to AED for one last activity: Club Espoir. Club Espoir, not to be confused with Camp Espoir, is a once-a-month children’s camp that is run entirely by PCVs. Open to all children who are members of AED, the children spend the morning and afternoon with volunteers playing games, sports, educational activities and arts & crafts. It’s a funded activity so the kids even get a free meal out of the club day. The purpose of the club is for the kids to have an opportunity to just be kids and interact with others in similar situations. We only had a few hours with them but we got to meet all the children who came in during our trip and after singing some songs and doing some dancing we went out to the field and played some games. I’m blanking on his name right now but this adorable kid who couldn’t have been more than 6 or 7 attached on to me and didn’t leave my side all morning. He was really cute and had this goofy smile. He stood by me during the sheep song and then pulled me by my hand to the field. I was heartbroken when I had to tell him I couldn’t stay much longer and had to go back to Agou. I don’t think he understood because he asked me if I would come back to the next Camp in September. I don’t know if I will but it would be awesome to go back and play with the kids.

So I just have to mention this one ridiculous game that we played because it was probably one of the funniest things I had ever seen. The game was called “Adam & Eve” and it was kind of like a mix between Marco Polo and Pin the Tail on the Donkey. To play, everyone needs to get in a big circle. Then two people are selected, a boy and a girl. Both are blindfolded and then spun around until they become dizzy. The object of the game is for the boy and the girl to find each other by yelling “Adam” and “Eve” (the boy yells “Eve” and the girl yells “Adam” obviously). While the boy and the girl try to find each other, the rest of the people need to yell as loud as they can and distract the participants from finding each other. It was one of the most ridiculous games ever but all the kids had a great time playing. I was sad to leave but having participated only got me more excited about starting a kids club at Vie Saine in Sotouboua.

Togo Bridges Falling Down

So back to the beginning where I mentioned how our 7 hour trip turned into a 10 hour trip. Backtracking a bit, training here in Togo for my stâge takes place during rainy season. This year apparently rainy season has been pretty bad, so bad that many bridges across the country, particularly in the southern parts of the country have flooded over or worse broken down. I believe right before we left for field trip, one of the main bridges on the Route Nationale near Notsé collapsed. Since the Route is the main pathway for trucks travelling north to south, this was obviously a HUGE problem. Luckily (or depending how you look at it, unluckily) the part of the Route with the bridge was south of Atakpamé meaning trucks were now being re-routed to go through Atakpamé and west to Kpalimé and then down to Lomé thereby bypassing the Route all the way south of Atakpamé (check out a map of Togo to better visualize what I’m talking about). This however was not the best decision in the world since, as I mentioned in my post-visit week post how bad the road is between Atakpamé and Kpalimé. That road was not meant to handle the kind of traffic of trucks and buses that were now being diverted that way. For all you civil engineers out there, I’m sure you can guess what happens when you add unnecessary stress on a road not built to handle trucks: collapsed roads. Due to additional rain and the increased stress from the increased traffic flow, part of the road between Atakpamé and Kpalimé sunk into a mud hole blocking the one of the only other ways south. Unfortunately, our car HAD to go on that road since our training site is ~15km from Kpalimé meaning we hit a HUGE traffic jam about two hours north of Kpalimé. We were stuck sitting for nearly 2 hours before we finally got the go ahead to pass by the sink hole. It was lucky that they were letting bush taxis through or else we would have been stranded in the “middle” of nowhere Togo. I really hope this situation clears up soon or else it is going to make travelling in the southern part of Togo a real b****! So yea, got back around 9pm and we were so exhausted, most of us skipped dinner and went to bed, getting ready for our last week and a half of training…

Pilabi che (Kabyé also for “good night”),

-Nikhil

Bonjour mes amis,

After a pretty grueling 7 hour journey from Sokodé back to Agou, we finally made it home from post-visit week last night. I had a GREAT post-visit week and although I do have a “meeeeeeeee” moment to vent about in a bit, I am super excited about Sotouboua and my work there. So let’s go back to last-to-last Saturday…

Waking up nice & early (5AM) to get ready and load into our vans for our trips to various parts of the country, we finally left the prefecture of Agou around 7:30. It was strange to be travelling to lands unknown as Lomé and Agou were pretty much all most of us knew about Togo. As we ventured on the road from Kpalimé to Atakpamé (btw, if you want to get an idea of the places I am talking about, I HIGHLY recommend checking out any basic map of Togo) it was incredible to see how green the land was. Although the road was pretty shitty with tons of potholes, the view from the van was gorgeous. Just north of Kpalimé the sun came out and there wasn’t a cloud in the sky and we had these awesome unobstructed views of Mt. Agou in the distance. Although it’s a strange mountain, rising from the ground without a “mountain” range in sight, it struck me as quite majestic. We made it to Atakpamé without much trouble and after a brief restroom break we finally joined the Route National heading north to la Region Centrale. Just quickly, the Route National is the main “highway” connecting Lomé in the south to Cinkasse in the north. It’s paved the entire way and pretty much free of potholes. Oh and it’s a 2 lane road, but lanes don’t really mean anything here in Togo. After a few more hours we finally made it to the Sotouboua prefecture where my van (with me, Marcus, Heather & our homologues) detoured from the rest of our caravan of cars to drop Marcus & I off (Heather is headed to Tchamba, so she had another 2 hour drive north east).

We dropped Marcus off first with all his stuff before heading to Joelle’s house where I was greeted by Joelle and two other volunteers from the Centrale region, Korie & Jillian. Korie is in my cluster and is the closest volunteer to me besides Marcus. She’s about 7 km away in Dereboua en brusse (in the bush) and is an NRM (new resource management…basically agriculture/environmental education) volunteer. Jillian is a GEE (girls education & empowerment) volunteer near Sokodé and was just visiting. Apart from Marcus, I have two other volunteers in my cluster (a volunteer cluster is a group of volunteers who are posted close to each other with one of the volunteers being the contact volunteer who rounds everyone up in the case of an emergency), Tony & Sam. Sam is an SBD volunteer in Adjengere (and a transfer from Kenya after volunteers were evacuated last January) and Tony is an NRM volunteer in Babade. Both of them are north of me on the Route. Unfortunately, both were away for Camp Espoir so I didn’t get to meet them until the post visit party in Sokodé.

My post visit week was pretty uneventful but informative. Joelle showed me around Sotouboua which is a lot different than I imagined it would be (but more on that later). She took me over to Vie Saine Togo (VST), the HIV/AIDS organization I was assigned to work with for the next two years. The building consists of a 4 four room building about 3km away from my house. The building has an office where one of my homologues, Bello, does his work as Executive Director. Nothing else goes on at the building except during meetings which are once a month on the 2nd Saturday or every month. VST as an organization was founded a few years ago by one of my other homologues, Fortuné, a lab technician at the hospital and also by one of the hospital doctors who is no longer there. Joelle had spent the past two years working with VST, getting them organized and helping them come up with a strategic plan. My main work objective with them is to help them achieve their objectives in the strategic plan as well as hopefully help them expand their services. Right now they do some psycho-social counseling with the Red Cross and have a limited medical drug program, offering discounted prices on medicine to treat opportunistic infections (the ARV situation is very complicated here in Togo and I’m hoping to learn more about the situation after my field trip to Kara in two weeks). Joelle was also trying to start a moringa garden in front of the Vie Saine building as part of a nutritional program. The trees were planted but she was hoping I could show them how to cultivate the leaves and turn them into a powder which can be used as a nutritional supplement in most foods. Finally with VST, there used to be a kids club for the children infected or affected by AIDS but due to funding issues, the program was cut; hopefully I can get it re-started with the help of the kids who went to Camp Espoir (the PC funded summer camp for children infected/affected by AIDS).

Apart from VST work, Joelle and Bello showed me around to the different ONGs in Sotouboua that deal with health and development work. I met with PLAN (one of the business organizations that Marcus was assigned to as well as they also do some health work ALL over Togo), RADAR, ESD and a ton of other small ONGs (sorry ONG is the French acronym for NGOs…more on NGOs later) in town. I have some opportunities to work with the schools here but as all the children are on summer break, I didn’t get to meet the directors of any of the schools. Joelle used to do some English clubs and some Anti-SIDA clubs (I know, that sounds horrible but that’s just what they call them) so I’m hoping to do some similar work once school starts again.

One last thing that was really cool: Joelle took Marcus and I to the hospital to go and see the lab that Fortuné works in. It’s pretty shitty compared to what you might find even in a high school biology lab in the US but it was nice for Togo. When we got there, Fortuné showed us all the work he did and even let us use his microscope to see some slides. He showed us malaria falciparum and even a schistosomiasis egg. Since Marcus and I both enjoy biology he told us that we were more than welcome to stop by anytime and help out in the lab if we wanted which is AWESOME! So yea, Bello (who came to the homologue conference in Kpalimé) and Fortuné are incredible counterparts and I really look forward to working with them. They seem super motivated and I know we will accomplish GREAT things together.

Chez Moi

As I said in one of my previous posts, I have a gorgeous house! All the volunteers who I talked to kept repeating “oh, you’re replacing Joelle? She has a beautiful house.” And they weren’t kidding. When you pull up in front of my compound, it looks like the African version of a “castle”. There is a huge yellowish wall surrounding my compound. In front of the wall, several short palm trees stand. In order to enter the compound, one has to cross a “moat” (a deep concrete gutter) and then open two metal gates (“my drawbridge” lol). My compound consists of an L-shaped house divided into 3 sections. My neighbour is Marc and he lives in the part of the L that is furthest away from the metal doors and is the short part of the “L”. He works for the prefecture and we both share utilities (I pay the electric bill and he pays the water bill). I live on the long part of the “L” and that part is essentially two houses. I live in the bigger one and my landlord who actually works a few hours away lives in the smaller one. He’s essentially never there but whenever he does come it’s only for a day or two to collect rent. So back to my house: My section of the house consists of 5 rooms and a long covered patio. Oh and a shared garden with grass and some moringa trees as well as a spigot where I get most of my water from for cooking. When you enter my patio it’s approximately 20 ft long by 5 ft; on one side is some patio furniture and the other side is a place to store my bike next to a lit-picot (a folding mesh & metal bed) for when I want to sleep outside during hot season. There are two doors to enter my house, one opening up into my main room and the other opening up into my kitchen. My main room serves as both my living room and my dining room (most of the furniture, including the refrigerator, is provided by my landlord which is very unusual). From my main room a door leads to a small salon that serves as my bathroom with a sink and two small rooms connected to it in the back which are for my shower (with a detachable shower head) and for my toilet (flushing, even accepting toilet paper…so there are three types of toilets in Togo: pit latrines, bucket flush toilets and flushing toilets. I had a pit latrine during training and now I’m upgraded to a flushing toilet. Flushing toilets which flush toilet paper are pretty rare). On both sides of the bathroom salon are two bedrooms. My bedroom is on the left side and the other room serves as a guest bedroom and I hope to build a desk and turn it into my study room as well.

As I mentioned before, my house is pretty much fully furnished by my landlord. Joelle made some additions like a few bookshelves and a bed for the guest bedroom and she’s leaving everything for me. I’m pretty lucky too because apart from the furniture, she’s also leaving me with her gas stove and two gas tanks along with whatever non-perishable food she doesn’t finish (such as her spices); this basically means that I have very little shopping to do in Lomé. I don’t think a volunteer could ask for a nicer house (okay so hot water would be nice but that would be kind of pushing it as already the house is bigger and nicer than many places back in the States).

Oh and icing on the cake: I live across the street from a buvette! Nothing too fancy but it’s a close place to grab a beer and people-watch during “repos” (the French/Togolese version of siesta). Apparently the guy who runs the place also works for the Togolese Ministry of Health so he might end up being an invaluable resource when it comes to my health work in the prefecture.

Sotouboua

Sotouboua is a prefectural capital meaning that Sotouboua is the largest city in the prefecture, kinda like a county, and everyone has to come in to bank, to do major grocery shopping and to see the prefet (like the mayor). After seeing Kpalimé and Lomé I figured that a prefectural capital would at least have lots of paved roads and maybe a hotel and some restaurants; or at least some 2-story buildings. Boy was I wrong!

Although Sotouboua is “big” it’s more like one of those one-street-towns where the one street in this case happens to be the Route Nationale. The Route is the one paved road in town and all the auxiliary roads are dirt roads, including the road to my house. There is a gas station, the post office, my UTB bank and several convenience type stores on the main road. There is also a petit marché where I do most of my day to day grocery shopping (vegetables and spices). The grand marché is back towards my house and takes place every Friday. I unfortunately left Sotouboua for Sokodé on Friday so I didn’t get to check out my grand marché but I’ll have plenty of time over the next 2 years. It’s nice to have all my every day needs in one place. Joelle said that unless I need “special” vegetables (green peppers, pineapples, etc.) or “special” yovo type items (like yogurt, milk in a box or hot dogs), I don’t really need to leave Sotouboua. The other great thing about Sotouboua being the prefectural capital is the fact that there are loads of ONGs here to work with along with the prefectural hospital of course (as I mentioned above).

Post Visit Party & Sokodé

To end up my week, Joelle, Korie and I headed up to Sokodé to meet up with the other Centrale volunteers and celebrate the end of post visit week at our regional transit house. Each region (except for Lomé/Maritime) has a transit house in the regional capital for the volunteers to stay at if they need to spend the night in the city for work/banking/shopping purposes. Unfortunately PC Admin feels that the houses are seen more as “party” houses so they are considering closing all the transit houses except for the ones they deem necessary for PC purposes. Since Centrale has only 15ish volunteers who use our maison, I’m pretty sure our house will be one of the houses that are closed which sucks because our house is awesome. We keep it nice and clean and it’s a great place to just “get away” when you want to escape from village life. There are beds, a TV and a full kitchen so many volunteers come by the house to catch up on reading or chill and watch movies. Oh well, might as well enjoy the house while we still have it (for another 6 months that is). So yea, came up to the house on Friday to chill and check out Sokodé and we had our party on Saturday.

Sokodé, unlike Sotouboua, has a real “city” feel. Apparently it’s the 2nd biggest city in Togo and it’s really nice. A little more city-feel than Kpalimé, but more Togolese-feel than Lomé. I won’t go into too much detail about Sokodé, since in terms of amenities it’s not toooo different from Sotouboua, just bigger. The one difference is that although Sokodé has a grand marché day (every Thursday), the marché is still open all week long making it really easy to pick up flour and cucumbers and peanut butter (which unfortunately is not found in Sotouboua for some reason) and a huge selection of pagne.

Okay, so there are 14 volunteers in Centrale (at least the ones who use Sokodé as their regional capital…there are 5 volunteers in the Pagala cluster but they go to Atakpamé for their regional capital as it’s closer and cheaper to go there than to come up to Sokodé). Oh and there’s Amy in Bassar (who Taressa is replacing) who is technically in the Kara region but come to Sokodé too as it’s closer for her than her regional capital. Marcus, Korie, Sam, Tony and I (and Joelle) make up the Sotouboua cluster; Rachel (GEE), Rebecca (ICT) and Jillian (GEE) make up the Sokodé cluster and then Heather (CHAP my stage), Tami (GEE), Chris (NRM), Golda (NRM), Silas (SBD), and Angela (SBD) make up the Tchamba cluster. I really like the vibe of the volunteers in my region. The other regions joke that we are the “retirement home” region which I both agree and disagree. We are all super chill and easy to get along with but way more fun than a retirement home though. Joelle, Tami, Rachel, Chris and Silas are COS-ing (finishing their service and heading back to the US) soon so they are leaving our region but will be replaced with new volunteers from the next stage (Joelle and Silas are being replaced by me and Heather obviously) and I heard we might be getting one “new” post in the next stâge. Hope they are as cool as we are :)

As for the actual post visit party, it was cool and chill like the volunteers. On Saturday the current volunteers cooked us dinner and it was AMAZING! Having pretty much eaten only Togolese food (which although it’s really good, it gets a bit monotonous after a while), it was a nice change of pace to eat chili dogs (we found real hot dogs here in Sokodé and then the volunteers made a Togolese version of chili thanks to spice packets from home). The volunteers also made real French fries, guacamole and beer-battered wagash. Can’t remember if I already mentioned it or not but wagash is the Togolese version of cheese made by members of the Fulani tribe (a nomadic West African tribe). It actually tastes pretty much like Indian paneer and it’s delicious when fried. It’s not found everywhere in Togo so it was a special treat to eat. The beer-battered wagash was AMAZING! And to top it off, we added guacamole onto it with some sriracha (sp?) sauce and it was an explosion of taste in my mouth. SOO GOOD! We devoured the entire meal. Oh yea, forgot to mention that some of the Kara volunteers decided to crash our party so in addition to Amy and Larissa (Kara volunteer), we also had Krissy, Taressa, Will and Mark from my stage join us for our party so that was cool to see them and hear about their post visit weeks.

But all good things must come to an end I guess and after waking up in the morning, my stâge-mates who were posted in the Kara region came down and picked us up and we all travelled back to Agou in a cramped 15-placer bush taxi for a very LONG and very UNCOMFORTABLE ride back south. I wasn’t feeling too hot so I took two Benadryl’s and was pretty much knocked out for the rest of the car ride back which was good, although my butt hurt like no other (*note to self*: must remember to ask mom to send me a butt cushion for travelling in the next care package).

Meeeeeeeeeeeee

As I mentioned earlier, I am about to have a “meeeee” moment as Jess would say. Let me preface this with the fact that I am super excited about my post and even though it’s my fault I am in this situation, I can’t help the way I feel, no matter how illogical or irrational it may be. If you don’t want to hear me whine & complain, I suggest you skip this part.

Expectations suck. You don’t want to have them, but you do anyways. Then sooner or later you realize the inevitable, that what you expected is NOT what you got. I tried to come to Togo with no expectations other than 2 years of service. But with me I also brought an image. The typical Peace Corps experience: mud hut, tin roof, no running water or electricity, and middle of nowhere Africa, cut off from the entire world except the tight-knit community you live in. Yes, it was an image somewhat fueled by romanticism (blame Dr. Farmer or The Poisonwood Bible or even every Peace Corps ad you ever see). An image also somewhat fueled by this desire to prove to myself that I could live less materialistically (blame my Dad). But mainly it was an image fueled by the fact that I would like to think of myself as a badass. I wanted to be a badass. Who spent the last two years in the middle of the hot African jungle where he didn’t have air conditioning, had to do laundry by hand and the nearest post office with his mail was 60km away? Oh that’s right: me, the badass!

But what do I get: running water from a spigot 3 feet outside my front door, a detachable showerhead, reliable electricity, a big town with all the essentials, a gas stove, a site mate to keep me company and of course, the coup de grace – a flushing toilet. Not a stinky pit latrine or even a flush-it-yourself bucket-flush toilet but a full on, push-a-button-and-watch-it-flush American style toilet. Hello Posh Corps! Ready for duty. I can’t believe that I am actually complaining about having all the amenities I mentioned above but part of me didn’t want any of those things, even if I did bring my laptop, digital camera and iPod with me from the US. Like I said, this is how I feel and it’s funny because I don’t think I knew what I wanted in a post assignment until I saw my actual post and realized it’s not what I truly wanted.

So just some advice for all you potential Peace Corps volunteers out there: as much as you think about what you are willing to live without for the next two years, also think about what you are willing to live with…

There isn’t really anything I can do about this situation since our post assignments are final, at least for the first year. I’ve tried talking to other volunteers about my situation and although they do sort of understand where I’m coming from, they keep telling me that all that “peace corps experience” stuff isn’t the hard stuff. Volunteers get used to going to bed when the sun goes down, they get used to spending 2 hours over a charcoal stove just to cook breakfast. The quote-unquote “hard stuff” is the work. The apathy. The language gap. The total lack of punctuality (mind you, I’m not saying that in a negative sense…us Americans might do well to learn that a little tardiness is good for the soul). But even though the “peace corps experience” isn’t the hard stuff, it still goes back to my expectations and the image I had in my head. Not what I expected and not what I wanted. Especially when there were people in my training group who only wanted electricity or really wanted running water. I feel like I jipped them out of something they could have had.

I’ve tried to contemplate why do I feel this way? Who on earth in their right mind would actually WANT to live that way? Not to say the “village” life is undesirable in any way, but why would an American or even a westerner who is so used to “modern” and convenient technology WANT to live like this. And honestly, I don’t really know. I guess I could say it’s because I saw Peace Corps with a certain image and they even “promised” me that image when I signed up. They mentioned it in the interview: what are you willing to live without for the next two years? Health volunteers are mainly placed in small, remote villages. Do you think you can do it? Of course I can. This is the schema I have in my head. It’s what I’m prepared for and in a way, it’s what I secretly want. And then they have to go and break this image by placing me in a “city”. It’s funny because Peace Corps talks about putting the volunteers in the same living conditions of people in the community and here I find myself in not just one of the nicest houses in Sotouboua but probably one of the nicest houses in my region. I’m sure if PC really wanted to find a house with a pit latrine and an outdoor shower in Sotouboua they wouldn’t have a very hard time. It’s also funny because out of the 15 available posts in Togo for health volunteers, only 4 of them could really qualify as being “en brusse” villages. So much for CHAP volunteers being in “small, remote villages”…

So finally my “meeee” moment, my internal monologue, concludes on a certain fact: that my so-called image of the “peace corps experience” isn’t just an image. It’s life. Real life. For billions of people. The so-called “peace corps experience” might be “roughing it” for me but it’s the everyday-to day life for my fellow Togolese. They aren’t in those conditions for an “experience”. They didn’t choose to live that way. The live the only way they know how. The only way their economic status will allow them. And so they live… and I guess I’ll just have to stop pitying myself and appreciate what I have when so many others don’t…

ciao for now,

-Nikhil

Nyana Danaj (pronounced “Nyá-nah Dáh-nah”),

Alafia we? Tumiye yo? Amerika mba yo? Payam se Nikhil ne menge Corps de la Paix soolim tumiye ladu.

I hope that all of your answers to the first few questions were “Yaa alafia” because that would mean that your health, your work and the people of America are all well as I hope they are. In case you were wondering, no that is not French I am speaking above (with the exception of the “Corps de la Paix” bit) but Kabyé (or Kabiyé), pronounced “Kah-bee-yay”, one of the two main languages spoken here in Togo. The other main language is Ewe, pronounced “Eh-vay”, but since that is mainly spoken in the southern part of the country it won’t do me much good at my post. Oh and before Togolese people and some of my fellow PC volunteers get mad at me, yes, Ewe and Kabyé are the two predominant local languages of Togo; however, Togo is home to many more local languages such as Ife, in the southeast; Kotokoli and Tchamba in the middle; and Bassar, Konkomba, Lhosso, Nawdum and Mina in the north. And even that doesn’t encompass all the languages spoken in Togo.

Btw, a basic translation of what I wrote above translates out to: Good evening. Are you well? How’s your work? How are the people of America? My name is Nikhil and I am a Peace Corps volunteer worker.

So yea, as we get ready to head to our post tomorrow for our mid-stâge post visit week, our language “formateurs” (French for trainers) decided to give us brief local language lessons so that we can “salue” (or greet) the people in our post communities. Since Sotouboua is mainly Kabyé ethnically, I’ve spent the past week reviewing very basic Kabyé with Marcus (my site mate) and Reid. Although I am enjoying learning a local language as it was one of the things I was most looking forward to doing in the Peace Corps, it’s been a little frustrating to jump into Kabyé classes when I still don’t feel my French is strong enough to visit post and a little more frustrating that the formateurs are teaching me Kabyé in French! I mean what can I do but go with it right? Luckily I only had to suffer about 2 hours of local language before returning back to French classes.

Okay enough whining, let’s get back to updating you all, my oh so faithful readers, about my life the past two weeks since I last posted.

4th of July

Last time I posted on here I was in Kpalimé buying supplies for our 4th of July fête in Agou-Nyogbo. Luckily we were able to find all the supplies we needed for a good dinner including hot dogs and potatoes. The celebration ended up being a lot of fun and even though it wasn’t exactly like the 4th of July parties we are used to in the US, it was definitely the closest approximation to what we will have here in Togo. For our feast we made what came to basically be our versions of french fries, chili dogs, mango salsa (this was one of my contributions to the party and it turned out AMAZING), guacamole, fried soy (bought from the petit marché) and beignets with chocolate icing (the beignets from my host mom was my other contribution…btw beignets, pineapple jam and chocolate icing “mélange-d” (mixed) tastes pretty much like a toaster strudel, yum!). After devouring our meal both groups from Koumawou and Nyogbo just sat around and chilled; we were supposed to try and organize a SED vs. CHAP Ultimate Frisbee and Capture the Flag competitions but most of us were so satiated into food comas that we didn’t have the energy to run around. After the Koumawou kids left, the CHAPers somehow got into very serious conversations about life and other stuff when it started to pour heavily outside our tech house. In order to cheer all of us up from our somewhat subdued states, I dragged everyone out into the rain to dance. It was one of those spur of the moment, “why not?” things that ended up being a lot of fun. We danced for a few songs, got completely drenched and then we all had fun getting home to our host-families. Overall, a successful 4th of July party.

Cultural Exchange

As many people are unaware, the US Peace Corps has 3 goals, two of which are completely unrelated to the first goal of “development” (although this first goal is hotly contested among the PC community, I shall reserve my judgment for a later time). The second goal involves teaching the Togolese people about American culture in hopes of creating a better understanding of America on the part of the Togolese; the third involves teaching Americans about Togolese culture in hopes of creating a better understanding of Togo on the part of the Americans. Since this blog sort of serves the purpose of detailing Togolese culture to my friends and family back home I am excited that you, my readers, are getting to partake in the Peace Corps experience via this third goal. Last Friday, all of us stagieres along with our host families participated in a large cultural exchange as we demonstrated a little bit of American culture for them and they returned the favor through a big fête (in case you haven’t realized it, give Togolese a reason to party and they will party). The first part of the cultural exchange involved presenting a skit: the Togolese host mom’s came up with a skit to portray a particular aspect of Togolese life and we came up with one to portray an aspect of American life. Now I have to say that we didn’t really know what we were getting ourselves into as our skit ended up pretty lame compared to the Togolese skit. Our host mom’s decided to portray a marriage proposal & ceremony and they had this intricate storyline of deceit and power hierarchy complete with a fight and lots of singing and dancing totaling approximately 20 minutes. It was all in French and it was really funny and interesting to watch, if for no other reason than to watch some of our host mothers act and come out of their shells. We definitely saw a different side to them than what we see in our houses. Even my host brother ended up taking part in their skit. The American skit ended up being about “typical” things you might see in a coffee shop. Not really sure how we ended up with this idea but we were able to come up with some pretty funny scenarios that were extremely humorous to us, even if the scene didn’t translate extremely well for the Togolese. We had scenes involving ordering coffee at Starbucks, a group of friends discussing sports & why football isn’t big in the US, a business meeting (which I took part in), and even a hilarious break up scene between a couple. In my scene Allison and I were trying to portray how in the US there are many women in business who are in higher positions of power than many men. So Allison was my boss and I was her assistant and she was basically bossing me around and ordering me to do a bunch of things for her or else I would be fired. The big really funny scene that I want to mention quickly was the break up as it turned out WAY better than I could have imagined. Whitney and Rayan played an “inter-racial” couple being all lovey-dovey in the coffee shop. After a few seconds, Trisha walked by their table and Rayan checks her out. When Whitney saw this, she decided to slap him in the face, throw her coffee at him and storm off. What Rayan didn’t realize was that Whitney has some water in the coffee cup so when she “threw the coffee” at him, he wasn’t expecting anything to actually hit him. Also they had originally staged a fake “slap” in the face but when Whitney went for the slap, something happened and she ended up really slapping him pretty hard in the face. The two mishaps together had our Togolese families falling out of their chairs laughing, even if they didn’t quite understand what was going on. Our Togolese mom’s definitely showed us up but apparently the Togolese skit is ALWAYS better than the American skit so we weren’t too disappointed.

The second part of the cultural exchange involved a fashion show: American and Togolese fashion. First they had us talk about American fashion and what we might wear in various occasions in the US. Rayan & Rose emceed our show and talked about the 8 different categories of clothing we came up with: school attire, date attire, beach attire, casual attire, work attire, tourist attire, outdoorsy attire and workout attire. It ended up being pretty funny with the way many of us decided to dress up. Kristina & I got selected to show off casual attire, as in what we might wear as we “lounge” around our homes. Down the runway I wore my Georgia Tech t-shirt and some track pants and Kristina wore a shirt and some PJ bottoms. I tried to get some good pictures of the show but many came out blurry so when I post pics, you can see what I was able get from the skits & the fashion show. After we portrayed American fashion, our host mom’s fitted us in pagne complets to demonstrate Togolese fashion. It was really funny to see some of the clothes they had us wear. My host mom fitted me in a lime green mawua (bubu & pants) that had some pretty intricate embroidery. I tried to post a picture of it on facebook so check it out. It’s funny because the mawua looks pretty much like an Indian kurta pajama but with lots of colour so I felt somewhat at home in them. All the girls had many different styles that you can see when I post pics. The guys however were evenly divided between the pagne complet mawua, pagne complet suit and the village chief garb complete with heavily draped fabric, beaded necklaces and a traditional hat. After all of us rocked our Togolese clothes down the runway at the Nyogbo techhouse, we even had our formateurs walk down the runway in other versions of Togolese clothes, particularly those clothes more commonly found up north. To end the fête, no Togolese party is complete without dancing so we all boogied into the night. All in all it was a great day as we all partook in an interesting cross-cultural sharing experience.

Training

So I know that is seems like all us Peace Corps volunteers do is party (and from my pictures it might seem that’s all I do too) but I promise that I/we DO do some actual work. Training is pretty intense and social time is our way to distress from the 24/7 sensory overload of information. As I mentioned in the previous post, training involves lots of exposure to not just theory but practical applications of projects we can implement within our communities. The CHAP program in Togo is categorized by meeting the needs of Togolese people within 4 specific domains: HIV/AIDS, malaria, family planning and nutrition. In addition to these four domains, many of the health volunteers work on hygiene/sanitation projects such as latrine construction and organization development such as NGO capacity building. Based on the 4 main domains, our training has been divided up to focus on one domain each week.

Our first week consisted of learning about nutrition and the state of nutrition in Togo. We learned that Togolese are taught a very different “food pyramid” than the one we use in the US based on the availability of certain items in Togo. The three main food groups in Togo are construction foods, energy foods and growth foods. As part of our week on nutrition we learned how to make enriched bouille (basically fortified porridge) and we participated in a local C.P.C (Controle et Promotion de la Croissance), or baby-weighing activity. Baby weighing, which was a lot of fun and something I hope to take part in at my post, is a standard part of infant growth monitoring, a UNICEF tool to monitor the health of a baby based on its weight. After weighing the babies and checking to see if they fall within a safe range based on weight and age, we performed nutritional consultations with the mother to make sure the baby is not only getting enough to eat but also enough of the right types of foods. Something I mentioned in my previous post was how CHAP volunteers get to work on gardening projects and that is due to our involvement in nutrition work as growing the right foods in certain parts of the country is essential to improving the nutritional state of that area. Additionally, leaves from the Moringa tree are highly nutritious and can be added as a nutritional supplement to any meal.

Our second week covered the topic of HIV/AIDS and its effect on the Togolese population. Contrary to what I had mentioned a few months ago about Togo having a very low HIV/AIDS prevalence rate, I came to find out that the low rate is due to under-reportage and lack of testing. Basically, the statistics are based on the number of people who have been tested and due to heavy stigmatization and discrimination, many people who might be infected refuse to get tested bringing the prevalence rate lower than it most likely is. Even with forecasting and extrapolation, it is extremely difficult to determine the exact number of infected people in Togo as polling and census data are inefficient and very incomplete. One of our technical sessions was a presentation by an amazing Togolese man by the name of Augustín who is HIV+ and one of the few people in the entire country who has VERY publically displayed his sero-positive results. He is also one of the few infected Togolese who is receiving ARV treatment. Although he tried to talk about the Global Fund and the ARV mess that is going on in Togo, the whole situation is very confusing and I hope that we will gain clarification on many issues at a later point. The second part of the presentation was by Jon (one of the only 3 male CHAP volunteers already in country and about to COS shortly), a volunteer in Kanté who has been working on creating a satellite at his post of AED (Association Espoir pour Demain), a HIV/AIDS association of “pris en charge” in Kara. Jon’s presentation was very enlightening as I will be doing similar work with VST, my HIV/AIDS association in Sotouboua.

This brings me to this past two weeks where our topics of discussion have been about malaria and hygiene/sanitation (the two are highly correlated). We haven’t done anything extremely exciting with these topics apart from doing home visits to understand barriers to mosquito net compliance and listening to a speaker from a health and sanitation department on different types of latrines and how to go about working on various water projects in our communities. When we get back from post in two weeks, we’ll begin our discussion on family planning and then apparently I’ll be going for a week to Kara for my field trip to study organizational development and NGO capacity building. Although training is getting to be a bit tedious and draining, I am grateful for the review of information and it’s nice to see what kinds of projects we can implement in our site.

Language

Okay, so I already talked a little bit about language but I did want to highlight two more things quickly: our mid-service language test and cocktail français. First of all, in preparation for our post-visit, the formateurs tested all us stagieres to see how much our French level had improved from the beginning of training and to see whether we were making adequate progress towards reaching the mandatory level to go to post. Although I felt more comfortable with my French than when I first arrived in country, I didn’t feel as nearly prepared as I would have liked to before post-visit. The oral test was slightly nerve-wracking but I made it through and somehow ended up with a “low” intermediate mid. Considering I came in “high” novice-mid/ “low” novice-high, this was quite an improvement, although I am dubious as to what standards the formateurs were using when they decided to place me at my level. Regardless, I only need an intermediate-mid level of French to be approved for post so that takes off a lot of pressure. I know that with adequate exposure to new vocabulary and new grammatical rules, I’ll feel a lot more comfortable before actually moving to post in a few weeks.

One of my favorite language activities so far has been cocktail français. I wanted to highlight this activity because I feel that this activity contributed greatly to my increased ease of speaking French. Unlike the classroom setting where we focus on vocabulary and grammar, cocktail français was an opportunity for us to speak freely and converse about general topics of interest to us such as literature, art, travel, politics, etc; the catch is that we are only allowed to speak in French. Additionally, we ended up having class at Afrikiko, one of the main local bars, so that we could order beers (American invitation, not Togolese) and chill with snacks prepared by the formateurs (aka. Yummy popcorn!). This is up for debate, but I am a huge advocate (based on evidence from my study abroad experience in South America) for the use of alcohol in foreign language situations. I am not saying one needs to drink copious amounts of liquor and be hammered, but even a single beer has the ability to lower one’s inhibitions enough to speak freely without the consequences of analyzing every word that is about to come out of one’s mouth. I noticed that my French came out more smoothly as I didn’t have to think about each sentence before I uttered it. Although I stumbled here and there, it was nice to be in an unintimidating atmosphere where I could control the direction of a conversation and speak about things I knew how to talk about, not just “how to buy things at a grocery store” or “how to ask for directions” as we would often do in class. Anyways, it was a great activity and it was the first time where I was able to see the progress I was making with my French based on my ability to hold a conversation about a random topic for at least a few minutes. I really hope we get to do this activity again…

Homologue Conference

So I guess this all brings me to today, our homologue conference. For the first time, we met face to face with all of our homologues, or counterparts, with whom we will be working side-by-side at our posts. My homologue is Bello, one of the founding members of Vie Saine Togo (VST), the HIV/AIDS association that I will be working with in Sotouboua. He seems really nice so far and he also seems really motivated to work hard so I hope we will be able to accomplish a lot. So the homologue conference was held near Kpalimé and all 30 of us volunteers and all 30 of our homologues met up to reinforce the expectations and responsibilities of the volunteers and homologues in each of our communities. The homologues had already had a full day of sessions yesterday so when we arrived today, our main goal was to introduce ourselves to our homologues, introduce our program (CHAP & SED) and make sure that both groups are on the same page when it comes to what each of us is bringing to the table. Although the conference was a bit repetitive information-wise as we had already been drilled on what many of our homologues, particularly the new homologues in new posts, would want from us: money, it was good to hear what else they expected from us and to see how excited some of the newer homologues were to work with Peace Corps. After the conference, all the volunteers were given rides to the Kpalimé marché to buy last minute items for our post visit week. Since I didn’t need to buy pretty much anything as Joelle told me she pretty much had anything I could need for the post visit week, I ended up going out for “pizza” with Krissy, Marcus, Reid, Heather & Whitney before running over to the internet café to check my e-mail.

As I mentioned earlier, we head to post tomorrow to check out our new assignments, meet the people of our new communities, and basically get an idea of what life as a volunteer is going to be like. Although I am excited to finally see what Sotouboua is like and to meet Joelle, I am sad to be leaving many of my close friends from stâge. It’s weird because even though we’ve only known each other for a few weeks, we’ve created incredibly close bonds among our two groups so it’s strange to see some of those bonds tested. Although it sucks I guess it just prepares us for the next two years of our lives.

As the Kabyé say…

“Eso fezi” or “May God wake us up tomorrow”

ciao,

-Nikhil

Bonjour tout le monde!

Happy 4th of July to everyone! I hope y’all are having an enjoyable Independence Day back in the US. It’s weird to think that a national holiday back in the States is just another day here in Togo. I hope y’all are enjoying the warm weather, the BBQs, the parades and the fireworks tonight. Us here in Togo unfortunately don’t get any of those things (well sorta). However, what we do get is the day off from training! Woohoo! And this is exciting because after stage (Peace Corps Pre-Service training) apparently we only get Togolese holidays off as opposed to getting American holidays off. So yea, since we got the day off, a bunch of my stage-mates and I decided to venture over to Kpalimé, the nearest “big” city near our training site, to use the internet and buy some yovo supplies for our 4th of July Extravaganza tonight. Apparently I was unofficially appointed social director of the CHAP (health) volunteers so I was given the task of coordinating today’s festivities which includes a field day of kickball, capture the flag and ultimate Frisbee followed by an “American” dinner of hot dogs, fries, beans, guacamole, chips & salsa. We also wanted to invite the SEDers (business volunteers) over to Nyogbo for the 4th, so that further complicated all our logistics. Anyways, we’ll see how everything turns out…

So yea, back to the main reason why you read this blog: me! Yes, I am alive and doing just fine. I’ve had some good days and some bad days and I’ll try and get you updated on what’s been going on the past three weeks since I last posted. I apologize for the lull but we have basically no internet access here in Agou-Nyogbo and internet access is not much better in Agou-Koumawou, the SED training site. I’m hoping things will be better when I get to post (which I’ll tell you more about in a bit since I FINALLY know where I’ll be posted for the next 2 years…). Kpalimé is the nearest city with “decent” (decent for Togo that is; very shitty by US standards) internet access so I had to wait till I had an extended amount of time to spend before I could post. Okay so I apologize for a) how disorganized this post is going to be but the past three weeks have been a blur and a LOT has happened and b) how long this post is since like I said, a lot has happened, and there is SOO much that I want to talk about. I will do my best to be as brief but descriptive as possible because I really want you to have a good idea of what I’m going through. I guess let’s start at the beginning…

Agou Nyogbo

Agou-Nyogbo, the CHAP training village, is situated on the northeastern side of Mt. Agou, not only the tallest mountain in Togo at an elevation of 986m but also one of the highest points in central West Africa. Part of the Agou prefecture in the Plateau region of Togo, Agou-Nyogbo is to be my home for remaining 7 weeks of training. Ever since we arrived three weeks ago, I can’t shake how much Nyogbo reminds me of Bhogavi, my dad’s village in India. Nyogbo is a farming village with a single paved road running through the middle along with several arterial dirt roads. Although there are few businesses or boutiques in our village there is a large private hospital which brings a good amount of people into the village. Nyogbo is very pretty. There is a lot of greenery and it definitely lives up to its reputation as one of the prettiest places in Togo...

It’s rainy season as I mentioned in a previous post and with that means sporadic downpours every day. We don’t exactly get the weather channel here to warn us so that makes getting caught in the rain a super fun experience. Although the rain does bring temporary relief from the Togolese heat, the downside is that rainy season coincides with malaria season since mosquitoes breed and thrive in the small pools of water that are left behind after each storm that passes through. So although I am appreciative of the “cool” air, I am not appreciative of the plethora of mosquitoes that have feasted on my blood and left me itchy all over my body. My whole body is covered in mosquito bites. Its pretty lovely.

One quick last note before I switch topics but the sky here in Nyogbo is incredible. Last night the sky was the clearest I’ve ever seen it. There was not a cloud in sight so the stars were out in all their brilliant glory. It was literally like looking up at the ceiling of a planetarium; but this was no planetarium, this was the real thing. The stars were so bright that as Taylor & I were leaving Afrikiko (the local buvette that all us CHAPers hang out at to chill…I’ll tell you more about the Yovo Support Group later) decided that we just had to take a moment to enjoy the sky. We had a full 360° unobstructed view and I even saw a shooting star! It was pretty unreal. I’ve only seen the sky this clear twice in my life, once in Bhogavi and once in Parati, Brasil (remember that night on the beach Jess?) and even those moments don’t compare to the clarity and range of last night…

Ma famille-hôte

My host family is amazing. I have a host father, a host mother and two host siblings, a younger brother and older sister (but my host sister is married and lives in Gabon so I haven’t met her). I’m one of the luckier volunteers in my village as my host family has electricity (although its pretty inconsistent as electricity usually is throughout Togo), a tap for water and a refrigerator! I know that a fridge doesn’t seem like a pretty big deal but they are very expensive and it means that I get cold water, a luxury in the hot weather. But yea, my host family rocks. My father is a farmer and my mom used to be a nurse but now she’s a housewife. However she makes the most amazing beignets every morning to sell and she always saves two for me for my breakfast. Yum! My younger brother Kofi is 21 and goes to school in Kpalimé but since it’s summer vacation he’s back in Nyogbo and hangs out with me which is great.

My host family house is awesome. Its over on the west side of Nyogbo right next to the private hospital. I have my own room as a part of the house and its huge, complete w/ double bed! And i know a lot of you are wondering about my bathroom facilities: i have an outdoor latrine that has a wooden box to “sit” on so yay to no squatting and i take bucket baths every morning in a four-walled room w no roof next to my outdoor latrine. The bathroom complex is about 10 yards from the main house. My host mom heats water for me every morning so luckily i get hot water baths every morning.

Training

There is SOO much to talk about training I might just have to dedicate a whole post later on to training (the actual language, cultural and technical training that is). But just a brief synopsis so you can get an idea of how I spend my days. It’s kinda like being in school again as we have “class” Monday through Saturday (with Saturday being a half-day). Class starts at 7:30 and goes till noon where we break for lunch and the Togolese version of a siesta (it’s SOO hot from 12-2pm). Then class begins again at 2:30 and goes till 5:30. Saturdays we only go from 7:30 to noon and sundays are our days off. We usually do 2 hour blocks of either language class, technical class or cultural class. Language classes are where we are put in small groups based on our French fluency to improve our French. There were originally 4 language classes and I was placed in the 3rd group since although I know some French, it’s pretty much non-existent. But then this past week they decided to move me up to the 2nd group since apparently my French was coming along thanks to my 1.5 semesters of French at Tech and my 10 years of Spanish (all the rules are pretty much the same so I was able to transfer a lot of my Spanish knowledge to my French learning). SO yea, French is definitely going to be my biggest challenge compared to the rest of what I’m dealing with. Technical classes are cool. We are doing a lot of hands on learning to get experience with the types of projects available to us at our sites. We spent the first week talking about Peace Corps philosophies and approaches to teaching a community. Our second week was spent talking about nutrition as malnutrition is a HUGE problem all over Togo, particularly infant malnutrition. Our third week we’ve talked a bit about HIV/AIDS and next week we’ll tackle malaria. We’re covering a lot of really interesting topics but we are only three weeks into training so I’ll talk more about our technical training towards the end of stage. One more quick note, all the CHAP volunteers get to learn about gardening! We’ve spent two technical sessions in the farm learning how to garden for nutritional enrichment purposes. We even learnt about this REALLY AWESOME plant called Moringa. It’s pretty much one of the most interesting plants as not only is it very durable all over the world but it’s also HIGHLY nutritious containing insane levels of vitamin A, calcium and other essential minerals & vitamins. But more on moringa at some other point. Cultural classes are going well and they are a lot of fun because we get to do them with the SEDers. It’s interesting to learn about Togolese culture and traditions and customs. We’ve learned how to greet elders and differences between Togolese & American definitions of relationships, professional and social. We’ll do a couple more fun cultural things soon so I’ll talk more about them later on as well.

So yea, this brings me to yesterday, something I do want to talk about as it was an extremely nerve-wracking day since we spent the whole day doing interviews with the CHAP APCD (associate Peace Corps director) Tchao and getting individual feedback on language/cultural/technical training. What this basically means is that I sat with Tchao and discussed where in country I wanted to go and what kinds of projects I wanted to work on. And it’s kinda funny because in the interview he originally told me he wanted me in Bassar because the HIV/AIDS organization there needed organizational development assistance with capacity building and strategic planning but when we all found out our posts yesterday evening I ended up with one of my first choices in post: Soutoubua! I am super excited about my post because not only will I get to work with an already established HIV/AIDS organization but I also have opportunities to work on gardening projects (w/ Moringa) with some NRM volunteers, peer education, health clubs in schools and also a potential CPC/nutrition project in a nearby village (I’ll go more into my site once I actually get there and see what is actually available for me to work on). I am a little sad because I was kinda hoping to be in the Kara region, but the one post that I really liked was way more perfect for my friend Taylor and Bassar, which is also in the Kara region, was a perfect post assignment for Taressa. So it all worked out. Btw, for those of you who don’t know where Soutoubua is, check it out on the Togo map. It’s in la Region Centrale and it’s a pretty big city since it’s a prefectural capital and on the Route Nationale. This means that I’ll have good cell phone reception, electricity and even good access to the internet (more on that later). I also heard that I have one of the nicer houses for PCVs and I even have a flushing toilet! Looks like I’m gonna be living Posh Corps starting September J

Stage

I have an amazing stage (well sans one volunteer but I don’t really want to get into that here; if you have questions, I’ll talk more about this person in a private setting). By that, I mean that I really like all the people who are going through training at the same time as me in both the CHAP group and the SED group. I’ve already made some incredible friendships and it’s sad to think that in a few months all of us are going to be split up across the country (although I’m incredibly lucky since one of my closest friends, Marcus, from the SED group is being posted to Soutoubua with me as an IT volunteer to help develop better internet access points in the city). It is interesting to look at the group dynamics of both groups. I love our CHAP group. We have 4 guys (we used to have 5 guys but one left two weeks ago and it really took an emotional toll on all of us) and 11 girls. We all get along great and I feel like we are a much more tight knit group than the SEDers (hey, y’all are welcome to debate this issue). We are all from different parts of the country (unfortunately no other volunteers from Georgia though) such as New York, Texas, Michigan, California, Indiana, Massachusetts, Washington and Pennsylvania but it’s so amazing to be surrounded by so many people who care so deeply and so passionately about health issues. We also have different backgrounds and interests. We have 2 doctors (1 medical doctor and 1 PhD doctor) and 2 others with master’s degrees. Some of us are very interested in nutrition work while myself and a few others are more interested in community health work. There are three other psychology majors and four other pre-medders which means I’m in good company. I was really worried but I found two other girls who are huge Paul Farmer fans and I’m slowly spreading the good word so that I can convert the rest of them into Paul Farmer advocates.

It’s funny to think how freaked out I was at the probability of me being the only guy in this year’s CHAP group. Last year the CHAP group was all females so I am really glad to have Mark & Mitch with me this year. They are super awesome and even though we are posted to very different parts of the country, I hope we remain good friends. Funny enough though, one of the volunteers who I have clicked with the most (in the CHAP group) is a girl from the West coast, Krissy. Her and I have a lot in common and keep each other entertained in class. I’m kinda sad she’s not posted super close to me but at least it gives me a reason to travel to visit her after swear-in. The rest of the girls are really cool too (you know I love all the CHAPers). Mom, you’ll be happy to know that I’ve had a few more marriage proposals while here in Togo. But only ‘cause the girls want to have an Indian wedding. So at least I’m marriable…

As for the other group I’ve made some good friends and some who I just don’t know that well. They have a lot more people who are kinda quiet. But that’s okay ‘cause we have 2 whole years to get to know each other better. I gotta give shout outs to some of my boys in the other group though who kept me sane in Philly and those first few days in Lome: Marcus, Mikey & Frankie. Frankie’s from Alabama so it’s nice to have another guy from the South to hang out with. Oh and random but Frankie was born in England so he also has dual-citizenship like me! Weird! Mikey is basically my Asian brother from another mother. He and I clicked in Philly and he and I have some pretty interesting philosophical conversations. Oh and he’s Catholic which is funny only because ever since Georgia Tech, I realized that most of my best friends are Catholic. Im really sad that Mikey and Frankie are getting posted to Maritime which is kinda far from my post. I wish they were closer. Oh well. And then there’s Marcus. It’s weird how well we get along and I’m super pumped about being in Soutoubua with him. Although it’ll be good I’m kinda scared at the kind of trouble we might get into being in the same city lol. Oh well, there is a lot more to talk about my stage-mates but more of this later…

Highs & Lows

“You will have your highest highs & your lowest lows…”

The Peace Corps is an emotional rollercoaster. Never in my life have I ever been so bi-polar, particularly within the span of a single day. I might start the day feeling great, then a few hours later during lunch something might bum me out or get me really frustrated, and then by dinner I’m feeling great again. Someone once said the aforementioned quote regarding the Peace Corps and they were right. When we are feeling good, it’s the best kind of good; when we are feeling sad, it’s pretty much the pits. The good triggers can be as simple as hearing something really funny someone said or just laughing at how ridiculous your life currently is. The bad triggers can range from not being able to make a phone call to not being able to understand anything your host family says to you. Back in the US, I remember reading a blog from a girl who served in Benin and in her blog she started to list at the end of each week a few highs of the week and a few lows of the week, just as a way to remind yourself that even though life can suck, it can also be good. I am going to try my hardest to do something similar as a great way to remind myself just how the smallest things can really make a difference in one’s day.

Week 3: (point of clarification: this was something I wrote this past weekend regarding the previous week)

Week 3: Lows

- Although I’ve been blessed with “good” health (good is a very relative health as good for Togo is not necessarily good for the US) so far in training, several of us have gotten really sick and it sucks to have good friends get really sick. But yea, the other night I had a slight fever and chills and I basically felt terrible and that combined with the hot weather led to a pretty bad night. ß it was only for one night and I’m much better now…

- I had the hardest time understanding my host father last Sunday. I thought I knew what he was asking me but it got pretty bad that he just had to ask me in English. It’s frustrating because I still can’t hear the subtle differences in the French language and learning French is going to be my biggest challenge in Togo. It sucks to not be understood and to not be able to communicate. It would be so much easier to learn French if EVERYONE spoke French but unless they are speaking to me, most of the villagers in Nyogbo speak Ewe, the local language so I’m not as immersed into French as I thought I would be.

- I haven’t checked my e-mail in 2 weeks which is a LONG time for me. Also I wasn’t able to talk to my mom before she left for India last week. I feel so disconnected with the world as I don’t even know what’s going on outside our bubble in Togo.

- We get to know our post sites next week which is a high but also a low because it means that everyone is going to be split up all across the country and some of my close friends might be a 5-10 hour bush taxi ride away. I’m trying to live in the moment and cherish my time with everyone while we are all still together but it still sucks to think that we can’t just ride 5 km to the next village to see a good friend from stage.

Week 3: Highs

- I got to weigh babies at a CPC, something that I have always wanted to do. It was so incredible to interact with the mothers & babies and assist in teaching them about healthier nutrition habits as malnutrition is a big problem in Togo.

- FanMilk is always a highlight of my week. FanMilk is basically the Togolese version of an ice cream push-pop. There are lots of flavours and FanChoco is my favorite so far. It tastes just like eating frozen chocolate milk.

- A chicken walked into my latrine with me and watched me go to the bathroom. I know this is random but it cracked me up at how ridiculous of a situation this is because this would never happen to me in the US.

- After hanging out at Afrikiko for Emily’s “birthday party”, Marcus & I had a sleepover at my host family’s house. It’s like we are all in middle school again asking our parents, “Can XYZ spend the night?” It was fun to just hang out and to return the favour after I spent the night at his place in the other training site.

- Next week we will FINALLY know where we are going to be posted for the next two years. Although it is kind of a low as I mentioned above, it’s also a high to know what kind of work we have to look forward to.

- We had a movie night and watched “Zoolander” after which a couple of us had a walk-off that led to some interesting moments.

- I’ve gotten a bunch of my stage addicted to “How I Met Your Mother” and it’s amazing ‘cause now I can quote obscure lines from the show and people ACTUALLY know what I’m talking about. Suit up!

Mt. Agou

I have climbed the tallest mountain in Togo and lived to talk about it! No seriously, like I mentioned earlier, Nyogbo sits on the northeastern side of the mountain and the first Sunday after arriving in our village, 9 of us decided to climb the mountain and summit the peak, all 986m of it. I know it doesn’t sound like a lot but it took us 2.5 hours to climb to the top and including a break at the top our total roundtrip took about 6 hours. We left around 9am and didn’t return until 3 in the afternoon. We lucked out with beautiful weather and thanks to my amazing host brother Kofi and Mitch’s awesome host sister, we had two skilled guides to get us to the summit. On the way up we passed through two mountainside villages that have some amazing views of the valley below. Point of reference, the villages we passed were really small and pretty poor. The villages were basically mud/cement buildings with tin roofs but looking down from the top of one of the villages reminded me of the chapter in Mountains Beyond Mountains where Dr. Farmer brings Tracy Kidder to Cagne and I imagined that Cagne must look something like this. So yea, it was a tough climb but totally worth the hike. All the way up and down we had some incredible vantage points overlooking la Region Plateaux, definitely the greenest and most lush part of Togo. When we got to the top, the panoramic view of Togo was breathtaking. We even had the opportunity to spot Ghana in the distance (Mt. Agou is situated on the western side of Togo, about 40-50 km from the Ghanaian border). Although we got pretty sweaty and dirty and the hike was tough, our entire group bonded and it was great to just spend some time together outside of class and be one with Togo…(I took tons of pictures so when I get good internet access, I’ll upload)

So if you made it this far, congratulations! Thanks for reading about my experience in Togo so far. As I mentioned in my previous post from Lome, if there is anything specifically that you want me to talk about or discuss regarding Togo or the Peace Corps, let me know. Gotta fulfill the Peace Corps’ 3rd goal right? Before I leave y’all to go and eat lunch I wanted to make a quick request! PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE send me mail. I don’t have any needs for packages just yet (that will happen once I get to post) as I have or can get easily most of what I need right now, but letters from you would make my day (e-mails are great but like I said, internet access is shaky, particularly during my training period right now). I REALLY want to know what you are up to and I really want to know what’s going on in the world. Also I really want everyone’s mailing addresses and since I have all these stamps but no addresses I can’t mail anyone letters from Togo. I promise to send you a letter back if you write me J

I’ll end this post with some of my favorite quotes from stage…

“Man, I wish I was a chicken!” – Krissy

“J’ai accouché?” – Brittany

“I should have gone to South America” – me

“Did he say Mexicans?” “He said med-students!” – Taylor to Taressa

“I feel naked without it” “Looks like you’re gonna be naked for a long time…” – Brittany to Ray

“Are your needs being met?” – Maggie

“We’re about to have a lot of sex” – Alex

“Does anybody love me?” – Brittany

“The work there will be sex” – Tchao

“Does anybody need a hoe?” – Trisha

“Is it okay if I pull my pants down?” – Mitch

“Yay for happy hour with the village chief” - unknown

Okay, enjoy the fireworks! I miss you ALL terribly but know that I am safe and doing well for now. Till next time…

A bientôt,

- Nikhil

*important* quick note but for anyone who has tried to call or text me, I apologize for not receiving it. Nyogbo doesn’t have the best cell phone reception for some weird reason. You literally have to be standing in very specific spots in the village to get reception. Whenever I call Atlanta, I have to go to my friend Taylor’s house and stand in her front yard in this 1m x 1m square to get enough signal on my phone to make the phone call. If I don’t have signal, I won’t get any texts or phone calls. I promise this situation will improve when I get to post so for now, unless I call or text you, forget that I have a cell phone. Speaking of which, if you want me to call or text you, I need your phone numbers! So write me/e-mail me your numbers…

After our arrival in Togo, our first few days of training consisted of a retreat in the capitol close to the Peace Corps bureau. The purpose of the retreat was to acclimate our stage (franglais for “training group”) to Togo and they did an awesome job of transitioning us into Togolese life; however real life in Togo will REALLY start tomorrow when we head to Mt. Agou for our actual training. At our training sites we’ll be living with host families and we’ll have to get used to taking baths from a bucket of water, living in a communal compound and doing our own laundry by hand. Luckily that’s what our families are there for, to help us. Tomorrow will be a sad day however as it’ll be the first time our two training groups of CHAP (the program I’m in) and SED will be separated since we are training in different villages. Luckily our two villages are only 5km from each other so it’ll be easy to hang out with some of the people in the other group with whom I’ve become close friends (Marcus, Frankie & Michael, I miss you already lol).

Anyways, back to our training retreat. One of the other important reasons for our retreat was for health reasons: we needed to get a LOT of shots. The PC made us get a few vaccinations during the application process. In Philly we received our malaria medications (where I was put on doxycycline, the one-a-day pill…but more on that later) and the yellow fever vaccine. During the retreat they gave us shots for Hep A, Hep B, Typhoid & Rabies and apparently there are a few more shots to come. On Sunday morning during my health session I talked with my health director and apparently there was a mistake made and I was now going to be switched to mefloquine, the one-a-week pill that is supposed to give us wicked dreams. I’m kinda glad I got switched because taking pills every day would have gotten really annoying; besides, I get crazy dreams anyways so taking mefloquine (Larium) won’t make much of a difference. After my health session, a couple of us trainees decided to go for a walk around our area of Lomé. I didn’t realize how close we were to the shore but it was only a few blocks to the beach so we decided to visit. The beaches, at least in Lomé, are pretty dirty, not just the beach but also the water (I won’t go into details but I’m sure you can imagine why). It was very pretty though. The water looked amazingly blue and at that time in the day the only people on the beach were fisherman dragging in their boats and their catch of the day. Took a couple of pictures and then headed back to the hostel for lunch. The rest of the day consisted of going over safety & security measures for PCVs.

Sunday night, all the current Peace Corps volunteers who were able to make it to Lomé threw a welcome party ("fete" in French) for all the new volunteers at a pretty cool jazz club a few miles from the hostel. The party was pretty amazing as it was the first time many of our training group had the opportunity to meet some of the “older” volunteers. Those volunteers really are the shit. I can only hope that we are as cool and as well integrated as they are in a year from now. The jazz band that played was really awesome and after about an hour they started taking requests for American songs. There were even some PCVs who joined in the band and started playing along which was fun. Btw, I finally had an opportunity to try BB or Biere de Benin, a beer company that is supposed to be pretty popular in West Africa and there are even some bottles available in the US. My favorite version was Pils but I think so far Castel is my favorite beer found in Togo. Anyways the party was a lot of fun and I danced a bunch. I didn’t end up leaving until around 1am when the last of our training group decided to head back to the hostel to crash. I swear, if this is what life is going to be like as a PCV, I think I could get used to it J. However alcohol is definitely my veritaserum and it definitely led to some emotional vomit. At least they were to people I can trust…Btw, I did happen to run into a group of 4 Indians at the club which was really wierd. I couldn't tell if they were on vacation or if they lived in Togo. Oh well, I guess Indians really are EVERYWHERE in the world...

The past two days have been pretty chill. Our health sessions covered malaria the second day and diarrhea on the third day (Loose stools! The squirts! Chocolate Soup! Wow we all totally become 5th grade boys on that third day…). We also covered integration issues, and learned how to live with our host families regarding chores such as laundry, taking a bucket bath and pooping in a hole (thank god for toilet paper!...make sure you eat with your RIGHT hand and don’t touch any food with your LEFT!). We took language placement exams on Monday at the bureau and at the same time we also got issued our bikes!!! Although we don't have our bikes with us at the moment, they will be delivered to us at our training site in a few hours. I am super pumped about our bikes as they are Trek bikes and we have sexy helmets (as required by PC policy). I won’t go into much more detail about the training retreat but I do want to comment regarding Monday night as all the volunteers, the volunteer advisory committee, and some of the Peace Corps staff were invited to dinner at Brownie’s (our Country Director) house for dinner. The dinner was awesome (food was delicious...more to come about food, i'll prob dedicate a post to it later when I get to try more of the traditional Togolese food). We even had the US Ambassador David Donne (sp?) pay us a visit and join us for dinner. He spoke about Togo and towards the end of the night even visited my table where he sat with me and some of the other volunteers to discuss politics. I even got a picture with him (I’ll post it on Picasa at some point) J

We head to our village in the morning so I should probably finish posting pics and finish packing. Before I sign off for the next few weeks, I just wanted to thank all my faithful readers for keeping up with my bloggings. Part of the reason for this blog is to fulfill the 3rd goal of the Peace Corps which is to share Togolese culture with the American people; therefore, I invite you to post comments about anything you read here in the blog and I will do my best to answer any and all your questions. If you would like me to talk about any topic in particular, let me know and I will most definitely dedicate my next blog posting or at least part of it to tell you more about life in Togo.

BTW, here is a shout out to Brittany’s mom in Texas J Thanks for reading. Your daughter is safe and she loves you and misses you very much…

I’m sitting on the 1st floor of Hostel Mamy’s, a local hotel in Lomé where our training group is staying for the initial training retreat of our PST (pre-service training). It’s the beginning of rainy season and although we were blessed with great weather our first 24 hours, the rain is pouring down hard. It reminds me of monsoon season in India, where the rain comes out of nowhere. Dark clouds roll in and you’d better run for cover or else you’ll be soaked within the next 15 minutes. As we take a break between our intense day of training, some chose to relax with a good book. Others chose to play boggle. I am going to utilize this time to reflect on my first 24 hours in country. I can’t speak for the rest of my training group but here goes…

I don’t really know where to begin. The Peace Corps is something that I have wanted for such a long time that for me to finally be on the African continent was incredibly anti-climactic. I thought I would be a lot more overwhelmed or excited (don’t get me wrong, I am SUPER excited to be here), but I think that I have been building this experience up for so long that my brain still can’t comprehend that I am here. I kind of feel like I’m in vacation mode because we are being transitioned REALLY slowly into the country and I don’t feel stressed. But I can’t believe that I am actually in Africa. This is real I tell myself. I try to pinch myself but it still feels like a dream. I know I should have all these emotions coursing through my body but at the same time something is blocking them all from affecting me at the same time. And I’m scared because that means either one of two things are happening: a) like a funnel, all the built up emotions will eventually rush through me so I can feel it all at a slow rate allowing me to enjoy my experiences here or b) those emotions will build up like water filling up behind a dam and at the most inopportune time the dam will break and I will be so overwhelmed with emotions that I’ll break down. Either way at some point, I will need to feel something. I’m guessing I will finally feel the stress when I am in a situation where I want so badly to express myself completely and can’t due to my limited French speaking skills. But it could happen at another moment during training. Je ne sais pas. I guess I’ll just have to wait and see.

As our flight pulled into Lomé, in the back of my head I had prepped myself with the idea that this can’t be any different than going to India. Although Togo and India are worlds apart in terms of economic development and social norms, I figured that the general environment couldn’t be that much different. I think my mind was just trying to find some mental schema into which I could comprehend what was happening to me. What greeted my five senses was a strange combination of the familiar and the exotic. Now just to clarify, I was definitely not in Kansas anymore so when I say “familiar”, I don’t mean familiar in the American sense. As far as I can tell, there is nothing American about this place (as of yet…). As expected the first thing I felt as I stepped out of the plane was the humidity of Togo. This was expected as that’s usually the first thing I feel when I step out of the plane in Bombay. But there was something missing. Then it hits me, there is no smell. India has this distinct smell that is both pleasantly aromatic and nauseating at the same time. But Togo doesn’t really smell of anything that I can recognize. I smell fresh air. African air. After a fairly un-chaotic shuffle through airport security thanks to the help of the PC administration who met us as we got off the plane we finally loaded our bags into the Peace Corps trucks and headed to Mamy’s for dinner. As we drove through the streets of Lomé, again I had a hard time meshing my mental schema of the streets of Bombay with the roads on which our vehicle was driving through. Much was familiar from the lines of small stores with tin roofs, the street vendors selling fresh fruit and vegetables, and the painted commercials on the free space of all available walls. What was missing to me were the free roaming animals such as cows & buffalos, the beggers on every street corner and the autorickshaws. It was there in the car that I realized, as much as I wanted Togo to be like India, there was no way the two could ever compare, though not out of lack of trying. This is not India. T.I.A. This is Africa.

Quick story: apparently I make a great first impression. As I deplaned with my carry on luggage and took the shuttle bus over to the arrival terminal that was all of 500 meters away, I met up with the rest of my Peace Corps group only to realize that I had left my small REI passport binder on the plane, which had not only all my passports but all my travel documents and free cash as well. As I slightly freaked out to Kim, one of the ladies who met us at the airport, she calmed me down and spoke to several employees who hunted down my binder and returned all my important documents in one piece. That was a huge relief! Don’t worry mom, that travel binder will not be leaving my side for the next two and a half years.

Anyways, the car finally pulled in front of Mamy’s where we were all greeted by several current volunteers. Apparently there was a small party going on and we were the guests of honour. Sweet! The names are a blur as I met several current PCVs from all over the country along with many of the administrators with whom we would be working closely during training. There was Rebekah “Brownie” Lee, our country director; Blandine, our APCD; Stephen, our Safety & Security officer and many more. There was even a feast of Americanized treats: beef on a stick, fried tofu (which actually turned out to be friend Fulani cheese), mini pizzas and cassava fries with some tasty sauces. Our welcome party was fun and it was great to meet current volunteers who could totally relate to the emotions we were going through and also answered tons of our program work-related questions.

Around 10PM, as most of my stage (PC Franglais for our training group, pronounced "stahge") unpacked and took showers to wash away the sweat from the previous 18 hour journey from Philadelphia, Marcus and I decided to join some of the current volunteers for a beer at a bar around the corner. Jetlag hadn’t really affected me too badly so it seemed like a good idea (and it was a very good idea). The bar was a blur as I met TONS of volunteers including Fabiola (I girl I talked to over facebook in Togo) and Tristan & Nadia, whom I had presents for, courtesy of Cameron, a previous volunteer in Togo. All the volunteers were super chill and incredibly nice as they bought us beer and welcomed us to Togo. I took my first taxi ride with some current PCVs to a pretty posh bar in another part of Lomé. I forget what the bar was called (Mandinka?) but since the drink prices were pretty expensive, we headed to a dive bar around the corner and all of us chilled and chatted. I was excited to meet Peter and David, current volunteers up in Kará because Peter went to Maryland and David went to UVA so I have some ACC buddies to hang out with (if anyone can record the GT vs. UNC, GT vs. Maryland, & GT vs. UVA games and mail them to me, you would be a GODSEND! Praying GT comes out on top with our new coach). Anyways, the bar was cool. Chilling with the volunteers was cool. Around 11:30, Marcus and I headed back to crash and prepare for our first official day of the training retreat.

So those are some of my thoughts and impressions of Togo so far. I am barely 24 hours into the country and I am already looking forward to discovering more of this beautiful country.

After an exciting morning at the health clinic to receive our yellow fever vaccines and grabbing a “last lunch” in the US, we all headed over to the airport to catch our flight to Paris. As I mentioned in my previous post, PC Cameroon oriented with us at the same hotel in Philly (although we were separated in different conference rooms); we found out that they were actually on the same flight as us to Paris where they would catch an earlier connecting flight to Cameroon so that was cool. We got to the airport and proceeded to check in with Air France (our flight was code shared with Delta but we flew on Air France which was SUCH a relief as I hate the Delta flights to Paris since Air France is SOO much more comfortable). I finally checked in and miraculously I didn’t have to pay any overweight charges on my bags! Score! We had two hours to kill at the airport so we just chilled at our terminal checking our e-mail for the last time and making last minute phone calls to loved ones back home. Finally, at 6:45pm we boarded our plane. We were on our way to Africa! Goodbye USA…see you in 2.5 years!...

So a quick story about how I am a genius …Whitney, Marcus and I are sitting by each other on the flight over to Paris and we decided to play Uno. So I open up the deck and shuffle the cards and deal them. We are playing and nothing out of the ordinary jumps out at us until the end of the game where Marcus is down to one card and I am down to three cards with it being my turn and Marcus is next. I thrown down a wild card and taking a chance, I pick blue. Marcus unfortunately doesn’t have a blue card so he starts picking up cards from the group deck. He starts picking up cards and picking up cards until there are only two cards left in the deck. Suddenly we all realize that there are no blue cards in the deck and it also clicks that we haven’t played any blue cards the entire game. That’s when it hits me how retarded I am. When I packed for Togo and was packing the Uno game, I opened up the box, saw the two separate decks and thinking that the Uno box was similar to a set of two boxes of cards only packed one of the Uno decks not realizing that you needed both decks to make a complete deck since one deck was red & yellow and the other was blue & green. So basically we had been playing with only two colours. Go me! To make matters even better, I had left the other deck at home in Atlanta. I am amazing…

Paris was cool. A lot of people don’t like Charles de Galle airport but I really like it there. We had a 5 hour layover before our flight to Togo so a couple of us decided to clear customs and check out Paris. There was no way to head into the city due to lack of time but the least we could do is walk on actual French land. So we cleared customs, headed outside and took some funny pictures outside the airport. Then we went in search of food and drinks. We found a cool little café where they were serving drinks and hung out for a bit. Then Reid & I found a great sandwich shop and we ordered amazing baguette sandwiches that were SOO good. The rest of our layover in Paris was pretty uneventful but at 1:20 we finally boarded our plane and we were now on our way to Togo. The flight to Togo was also pretty uneventful but I did get some great shots from my window seat of several cool locations. As our plane flew over the northern coast of Africa, I got a pretty good shot of Morocco. Later as we flew over the Sahara desert I got some decent shots there too. My final cool picture happened really randomly because I had just woken up from a nap when at that exact moment we were flying over the Niger river, just south of Niamey (the capitol of Niger) so I managed to take a good picture from my seat. A few hours later, we landed in Lomé, Togo.

Hey!

So I have this life philosophy about fear and adventure: sometimes the only thing to do is to take yourself to the brink of no return, then jump. This is where I am. I have no where else to go. So here I am on the edge, looking at a future of unknown and about to take the plunge.

My bags are packed. My ticket is booked (thank god for the Air France plane to Paris). Orientation was awesome. I am in love with my group. This is really here. I am really doing this. I am moving to Africa. WTF?!? I am scared as hell. I don't know what to expect and I don't know if I'm ready. But I am leaving all my doubts behind and just going to do it.

So jump with me.

3.

2.

1.

Jump...

-Nikhil

Comment ca va?

The picture above is one of my AMAZING group heading to Togo! Half of us are in the health program (Community Health & AIDS Prevention) and the other half are in the business program (Small Enterprise Development). Although I joke that the health group is way cooler (16 people, 5 guys, 11 girls) I love all the people in our group. Everyone is really chill and super cool. Some people are incredible stories. We have people from all walks of life too; we have an "older" volunteer, two married couples, and great diversity in our group as well (4 Asians!). It's cool how we all have similar beliefs and values but I guess that's what happens when you join such an idealistic organization as the Peace Corps. I know that we are going to do good work over the next two years and I REALLY hope everyone sticks it through. Right now I don't forsee anyone dropping out but things could change a lot when we get to Togo.

Orientation was really great. Not only was it super informative and definitely helped answer a lot of the questions I had over me, but it was a great time to get to know all the other volunteers in our group. I still had a lot of doubts but most of them have been lessened thanks to the sessions. Most importantly it was nice to know that everyone else was going through the same things that I was going through. We had similar aspirations but also similar anxieties & apprehensions. Although it was wierd to be back in "class" and that's kinda how training is supposed to be, I know that I will learn everything that I need to know before I get to my official site in August.

Philly is cool. Had my first original Philly Cheesesteak OF COURSE! (super good btw). We are staying at a hotel right by Market Street so I really like the area. There are loads of great restaurants and bars and stuff. I am glad I finally made it over to Philly 'cause now I can say that I've been to Pennsylvannia which is the last of the 13 colonies that I had yet to visit. Btw thanks to Pavi & Sujatha Aunty for taking me out to an AMAZING last lunch in the US. It was SOO great to see them before I left and although I didn't get to see uncle or Arpan, it was nice to see a familiar face in Philly...

Anyways I need to finish packing and get SOME sleep tonight before we leave today. We are flying to Paris (thank GOD on Air France) and arrive on Saturday. Then on Saturday we fly to Togo which is where I will FINALLY be on African soil. Wow.

a bientot,-Nikhil

Bonjour mes amis!

As I say my goodbyes to all my family and friends, the one question that's on everyone's mind is "how can I keep in touch with you?" To answer this question, I have decided to dedicate a whole post to it as there are several ways to keep in touch with me and know what's going on in my life. Very recently the Togo Desk sent me and letter entitled "Letter to Family & Friends - Togo" that I am supposed to distribute to y'all; however I don't really like the format of the letter and I want to make some addendums so I have re-created my own personal version of this letter below. Enjoy...

Dear Prospective Volunteer: Please give this letter to your family/friends and ask them to hold on to it for as long as you are in Togo.

Dear Everyone,

Greetings from Atlanta. I am very excited to be a part of the Togo training program. Over the past few weeks I have recieved numerous questions regarding ways to keep in contact with me whether it be to send a letter, send a package, call me, visit me, etc. Below I have listed some easy ways to keep in touch (rester en contact) with me...

1. African Abscondinations - My blog will be the easiest way to keep in touch with me after 3rd of June. I will attempt to blog as much as I can once I get over to Togo but I can't make any promises since I don't know my exact internet situation yet. Anyways, instead of doing a group mass e-mail list, I thought it would be easier to keep a blog the way I have in college and the way Jess & I did for South America. I apologize now for any lag in posting but as I have mentioned before, my access to the internet may be sporadic. Not only are there is there a lack of infrastructure to access the internet but many of the cybercafes that I will be using contain old computers that run off generators (although I heard there is a GREAT cybercafe that has FAST internet in Kara). I will do my best to post at least once a month...

Btw, if you have any questions or if you want me to talk about some aspect of Togolese life on my blog, feel free to leave a comment. I will do my best to read the comments and respond appropriately so that you, my readers, can learn more about my country and its culture and people.

2. Cell Phone - The telephone system in Togo has fairly reliable service to the United States. In the interior of the country, where most volunteers are located though, the system is less reliable. Although I don't believe it is mandatory by Peace Corps - Togo for all volunteers to carry a cell phone, from what I understand most volunteers in country carry one anyways. I don't know when I will have the opportunity to buy one in Togo but once I know my cell number, I will post it on the blog. The cell phone will be the easiest way to get in touch with me immediately. Additionally, I have heard that cell phones are most used in country for texting purposes so if you recieve a text message from Togo, don't be alarmed.

(Edit: My new cell # is 938 52 86; to call me, dial 011 (international call)+228 (the country code)+my cell number; therefore, to call me from a phone without a calling card, dial 011 228 938 52 86. Incoming calls are free and I can recieve text messages so PLEASE text me your phone numbers so I can text you which is kinda cheap. My phone will not be having the GREATEST service for the next 3 months but this will be my number for NOW on for future reference...)

In terms of calling me, it is best for you to call me as opposed to me calling you as it is very expensive for me to make international calls. One piece of advice that I read suggested that if I want to talk to you, I should text you first with the phrase "Call Me" and then have you call me on my cell. Thanks to one of the PC Mom's on the PC yahoo group, I found a calling card called PennyTalk that apparently has one of the "cheapest" rates to call Togo. Currently through PennyTalk, it costs $0.31/min so that might be a card you want to invest in if you want to talk to me. So if you want to hear my voice, call me! Don't forget that when dialing direct to Togo from the US, you need to dial 011 (the international access code) + 228 (the country code) + my number.

3) Snail Mail - Yes, I have a mailing address. At this address I can recieve letters and packages. My address is as follows:

Nikhil Patil, PCT/PCV

Corps de la Paix

B.P. 3194

Lomé, Togo

Afrique de l'Ouest

*An important note*: I will be a PCT from June 4 - August 20. If you plan to send me a letter or anything between that time period, you need to address me as Nikhil Patil, PCT. Only after I swear in as a volunteer on August 21 can you begin to address me as Nikhil Patil, PCV on my mail.

If you do plan to send me a letter or package here are some friendly tips:

- When sending postcards, place them in a regular envelope before sending as postcards can go missing and get stolen (for what reason I have no idea).

- Mail is less likely to be opened/stolen if you write my address in red ink; mail is also less likely to be opened if it appears to contain religious material. So throw a "father" in front of my name; draw a couple of crosses; and perhaps write your favorite bible verse and we should be good to go.

- I want to keep up with world events and what's going on outside Togo. Another cool idea I'm stealing from current PCVs is that when sending me letters, you should staple or write on the back of cool articles you think I might enjoy. Even if it's the latest gossip, you'd be surprised how much volunteers crave even the slightest news of anything from the outside world. One volunteer wrote in her blog how it made her day to hear news that Jennifer Aniston & Brad Pitt broke up. It's a great way to save space in an envelope addressed to me.

- Some notes from PC:"The mail service in Togo is not as efficient as the U.S. Postal Service. Thus, it is important to be patient. It can take from three to four weeks for mail coming from Togo to arrive in the United States via the Togolese mail system. From a Volunteer’s post, mail might take up to one to two months to reach the United States depending upon how far the Volunteer is from the capital city, Lomé. Sometimes mail is hand carried to the States by a traveler and mailed through the U.S. postal system. This leg of the trip can take another several weeks as it is also dependent on the frequency of travelers to the U.S. We suggest that in your first letters, you ask your Volunteer family member to give an estimate of how long it takes for him or her to receive your letters and then try to establish a predictable pattern of how often you will write to each other. Also try numbering your letters so that the Volunteer knows if he or she missed one. Peace Corps Togo has established “The Lomé Limo” which runs up and down the country monthly, delivers mail, medical supplies, and sometimes volunteers or staff to central sites along the national road.

It is recommended that packages be sent in padded envelopes if possible, as boxes tend to be taxed more frequently. Packages can be sent via surface mail (2-3 weeks arrival time) or by ship (4-6 months). The difference in cost can be a factor in deciding which method to utilize. For lightweight but important items (e.g. airline tickets), DHL (an express mail service) does operate in Lomé, but costs are very expensive. If you choose to send items through DHL, you must address the package to the Country Director, s/c Corps de la Paix, 48 Rue de Rossignols, Quartier Kodjoviakopé, Lomé, Togo. The telephone number for the Peace Corps office in Togo is (228) 221-0614, should DHL need this information. If you send the item to the Country Director, no liability can be assumed. For more information about DHL, please call their toll free number, 1-800-CALL-DHL, or visit their web site at www.dhl.com. Please be aware that there is a customs fee for all DHL packages sent to Volunteers. For each DHL package, the Volunteer will be taxed 10,000 CFA (roughly US$20)."

- PLEASE REMEMBER: NO NEWS IS GOOD NEWS! I will do my best to respond to each of your letters in a timely manner; however, stamps are expensive and my schedule can get hectic at times. I promise I will respond so don't worry...

4) E-mail - Yes, there is the internet in Togo so I can recieve e-mails. As I mentioned in my contact information, please send me e-mails either to npatil55@gmail.com or UniverseRunr5585@yahoo.com. I'm not sure which e-mail address will be easier to access so for now, send to both and once I have a better idea, I'll change the e-mail address choices to one. I don't know how often I will have internet access so that will obviously affect how often I can check and respond to e-mails. I will do my best to respond to all your e-mail but honestly, I think you will have better luck communicating with me via snail mail. If you don't enjoy "writing" letters, you can always type your letters and then print and stuff them in envelopes. It's more important for me to read your letters than to see your handwriting. And let's face it, some of you have bad handwriting. Additionally, internet cafes can often be slow and expensive and are not the easiest places to access. Depending on where I am in country, I might have an internet cafe 1 km away or I might be 30 km from the closest internet cafe. Therefore e-mailing can be a slow and expensive means of communication...As I mentioned above, I will do my best to access the internet at least once a month.

Anyways, I hope this information is useful. If you have any questions, feel free to e-mail me, especially if you have questions regarding mailing things to me. A lot of you asked me what to send me while I am over there in Togo and I promise to post of items you should send me once I start having cravings for certain items. Thanks for your concern and I look forward to communicating with you from Togo.

Sincerely,

- Nikhil

Hey!

So being the huge procrastinator that I am, I finally started packing today. Great timing right? Only 3 days to go. Luckily I have everything I want, now it's just a question of fitting everything I NEED into my luggage. Since I had a hard time coming up with a good packing list based on my research online, I decided I should probably post my packing list here as a reference for future volunteers (particularly those volunteers who are male, going to Togo, and in the CHAP program). Btw, I'll post this list now but expect it to get edited from now until about a good year-or-so into my service when I say "damn, I should have brought XYZ to Togo" or "I'm such an idiot, why did I bring XYZ to Togo".

Oh and just something for you future applicants to think about, one of the unmentioned truths about joining the Peace Corps: it can be pretty expensive. They might give you reimbursements on your medical exams and some money to spend while in country (in all honesty they say, you don't need to spend a lot on things to take with you...which is true to an extent), but if you want to shop properly for the Peace Corps, be prepared to spend a lot of money. I'm probably on the "spent way too much" side of the spectrum but then again, I'm also on the side of the spectrum that believes that it's better to overpack than to underpack.

The Packing List

Luggage:

- Eagle Creek Load Warrior LT 30

- Eagle Creek Grand Voyage 90L

- Jansport Backpack

- Eagle Creek ES Cargo Duffel

- Luggage Locks (TSA Approved)

- Money Belt

- Passport Holder - Travel Wallet

Electronics:

- Dell Inspiron 6000 Laptop

- Laptop case

- Canon SD600 Camera; 2 Batteries; 2 Memory Cards

- Automatic Camera (as a backup)

- Headlamp

- Flashlight

- Batteries (AA; AAA)

- Battery Charger

- Solio Solar Charger

- Eton American Red Cross Shortwave Radio

- Ipod & Charger & Headphones

- IMain Go (portable speakers)

- Travel Alarm Clock

- Wristwatch

- Voltage converter

- External Portable USB HardDrive

- 1 GB Flashdrive

- Calculator

Grooming

- Toothbrushes

- Toothpaste

- Deoderant

- Razor blades

- Shaving Cream

- Comb

- 2 pairs of eyeglasses

- Contact lenses

- Contact solution & cases

- Eye drops

- Bug spray

- Sunscreen

- Cotton swabs

- Pack towel (quick-drying)

- Eye Mask

- Purell hand sanitizer

- Nail clippers & grooming scissors

- Hand mirror

- Chapstick

- Stingeze/Bite Relief

Clothes:

- Polos- Dress Shirts- Ties- Khakis- Jeans- Shorts- Swim shorts- Boxers- Undershirts- Socks (Casual & Business)- T-shirts- Running Shorts- PJ bottoms- Sunglasses (Sport & Casual)- Belts- $ to buy fabric so I can get western & Togolese clothes tailored for CHEAP!

Shoes:

- Chaco Canyonland Low Russet

- Chaco Z/2 UWP Black

- Chaco Hipthong Singletrack

- Mizuno running shoes

- Brown dress shoes

Kitchen Items:

- Ziplock bags (large & small)

- Can opener

- Vegetable cleaver

- Switchblade knife

- Swiss Army Knife

- Nalgene bottles

- Gatorade & Crystal Lite Drink packets

- Spices: Tabasco, Crushed Red Pepper, Garlic, Salt/Pepper

- Orbitz Chewing Gum

- Candy (for the kids)

Miscellaneous Items:

- Pillow case & Bedsheet

- US & World Map

- DVDs (including How I Met Your Mother Seasons 1 & 2...a must have! and some Hindi movies b/c apparently West Africans love Hindi films)

- Photo Album and photos of family & friends

- Frisbee

- Harmonica

- Guitar Chord Book

- Duct tape & Masking Tape

- Scissors

- Pens

- Pencils

- Notebooks

- Journal

- Passport Photos

- Uno & Playing Cards

- Highlighters/Markers/Sharpies

- Stickers

- Post it notes

- US Stamps

- Toys (for the kids)

One final note, I HAVE to give a shout out to some amazing companies that gave me a discount on my purchases because I was a Peace Corps volunteer. Most notably: Chaco USA, Eagle Creek & REI. Thanks guys!

ciao,

-Nikhil

Hey!

"4) Terror - What have I gotten myself into!!! I am moving to Africa in one week. How am I going to survive by myself. I hate bugs, what about the bugs! I just know I'm going to get malaria. Why didn't I listen to my parents!? And how exactly does one poop in a hole? Did I pack enough? Did I pack too much? Am I going to get robbed? How am I going to cook for myself? clean for myself? You silly silly person. You just had to be a hero didn't you; you just HAD to go off and save the world and now look at the mess you got yourself into. You are going to come back in two years and no one will recognize you. Mommy, please come hold me. This is stage 4."

It's official. I'm in stage 4 (to see what I'm referring to check out my theory on a "PCVs Emotional Progression: Invitation to Departure"). I have started to freak out, and not in a good way...

This afternoon I FINALLY finished packing up my apartment. It's wierd to think I'm moved out since most of my things are staying in the apartment for my brother (I didn't have to pack up my kitchen or move any large furniture as it's ALL staying! so yay to that!) But just as I predicted, as I drove home to Alpharetta, living in no-man's land, I felt a huge pit drop in my stomach. It was like that feeling you get before you ride a rollercoaster, or actually the part that occurs when you just get into the line of the coaster and still have some time before you get to the actual coaster. That's where I am. Nervous anticipation. I almost had to pullover two or three times because my thoughts regarding my upcoming journey were making me a little nauseaous (luckily I didn't puke though).

I have recently become full of doubt about my ability to go through with this journey. Don't worry, I will be on that plane to Africa and I have every intention of completing my 27 months of service. But that doesn't make it any easier for me to get rid of those nagging thoughts in my head, the one's that ask "what if...". What if I get sick, like really sick? what if I can't stand the food? what if I miss the comforts of the US too much? what if I don't feel like I'm making any positive change? what if my French doesn't come to me as fast as I need it to? what if...and how am I going to deal with this situation?

But I'm a survivor. I have perseverance, I am dedicated, and I know this is the right path for me. Doubts are on the surface of my mind right now, but luckily doubts go away after a while; however, I know that if I don't do this, I'll have regrets for the rest of my life. And I can't live with regrets. I know the Peace Corps and Togo are going to throw a lot at me but I'll make it out alive. That's which doesn't kill you only makes you stronger, or so they say. Here's hoping that's true...

Anyways, these next few days are going to be crazy. And it's going to be hard to concentrate and get my shit done with that stupid pit in my stomach. Oh well. Even though I'm all packed up, I have to make a trip down to the apartment to bring my boxes back to A'retta since my car didn't have enough space today. Oh yea, and I have to actually pack for Togo! Kinda important. I've bought (almost) everything that I need, just a few odds & ends left to buy. Plus I have a ton of errands to run such as closing my bank account, filling out my power of attorney and reading through all the documets PC has sent me regarding orientation and training. So much to do, so little time...

Speaking of orientation, when I FINALLY recieved my staging packet a few weeks ago I discovered that my orientation starts in Philadelphia on the 4th (as opposed to the 3rd which was the original date). But I'm still flying in on the 3rd from Atlanta on Delta, departing around 5PM and arriving around 8PM in Philly. I'll be staying in the Holiday Inn - Historic District so hopefully that will allow me to check out some of the sites since I've never been to Philadelphia before and I'm excited as it was the last of the 13 colonies that I needed to visit. And as I mentioned in my previous post, I'm supposed to see Pavi and Sujatha Aunty (and perhaps Uncle & Arpan too) for brunch on the 4th before my orientation starts at 2PM. We'll see how that works out...

Anyways, it's 3AM ("and I must be lonely...") and I should prob go to bed seeing as how a) I only got like 5 hours of sleep last night since Jess & I chilled on her balcony drinking wine till 4AM, and b) I have a LONG day tomorrow of shopping and running errands. bonne nuit!

a bientot,-Nikhil

hey!

I have always wanted a sister. When I was little, I really, REALLY wanted a sister. My parents, particularly my dad, really wanted a daughter. Unfortunately, along came my brother (but we still love him...most of the time). I don't know how true the following story is but rumor has that on the day my brother was born, I was so upset that I didn't get a sister that I started to cry. Anyways, fast forward to today where I have been blessed with not one but seven "sisters". They may not be biologically-related to me but I still call them "sisters" nonetheless. Over the years, based on my friendships with the children of certain very close family friends, I have taken the liberty of "adopting" some of them into my extended family. I would just use the word "friend" but that word lacks certain sentiments and connotations that you can only capture with the word "sister". I treat them as my sisters, the same way I treat my actual brother as my brother, therefore they become my sisters. Or maybe it's just my unconscious (and conscious) desire for a sister that drives me to refer to them as such.

In addition to my sisters, I've also adopted their parents into my extended family here in the US. Their moms are like my second "mom". Perhaps it's just the Indian in me but I have a need to have a large "family". In India, your family is more than just your parents and your siblings; your family consists of parents, siblings, grandparents, cousins, nieces/nephews, etc. Since most of my family, save for a few cousins, are in India, it's nice to have more "family" around. I guess it'll be interesting to see how Togolese people define "family" when I get over there...

So yea, today I have seven "sisters": Shilpa, Sneha, Jo, Sonia, Pavi, Minutha, & Saneeha (Arpan & Amar, I haven't forgotten you, my other "brothers") and I will refer to them from here on out as my sisters just as a point of clarification.

I brought this topic up because over the past week I have spent a lot of time with my sisters. Shilpa came down for my grad party a few weeks ago and I'm SO glad I got to see her. I'll be seeing Pavi (*crossing my fingers*) when I get to Philly since they live in New Jersey and said they would drive down to see me before I leave. Unfortunately I won't be able to see Sneha before I go as she's finishing her final exams to FINALLY become a doctor in the UK. But I did get to spend a lot of time with my other sisters. Sonia graduated from Northview High School this past weekend and b/c of that, Jo came into town. So Sonia, Jo, Minutha, Saneeha and I saw a lot of each other at my parent's house and at Sonia's graduation. Then today I spent the afternoon w/ Sonia (and Minutha) and got to say bye to her before she leaves for Harvard (!!!) in the fall. I also swung by Sonu's house to say bye to Poornima Aunty (one of my second moms) and Prithipal Uncle. Then I headed off to dinner with Minutha and Kavitha Aunty (another one of my second moms). Saying bye to my sisters really brought the reality of my impending departure to my attention. I am so proud of them and I'm going to miss them (and their families) terribly! But I guess that's the great thing about families, it doesn't matter how long it's been since you last saw them, they're your family and you can always start again where you left off...

Δ = delta = change

Over the past five years as a student at the Georgia Institute of Technology, a single concept was stressed into my educational mindframe regarding research methods: quantitative data > qualitative data. If you are going to do research, you must collect data. If you collect data, you must collect quantitative data. The world might be subjective, but to engineers and scientists across the world, the only usable data is quantitative. Only quantitative data can verify hypotheses and support theories. Only quantitative data matters. So basically, qualitative data is useless, usable in certain situations, but overall useless. Even in the realm of psychology, where so much is abstract and relative, most of my research projects stressed quantitative data measured by behavioural responses: a test subject's answers to a survery on a 7-point likert scale, measuring the reaction time to give a response, counting the number of times an animal performed a specific action, etc.

What does this have to do with my Peace Corps experiece you ask? Well over the past few weeks, a number of people have come up to me and said, "I am so proud of what you are doing. It is going to be an incredibly life-changing experience and you are going to learn so much about the world. etc." Suddenly the inner engineer in me comes out and I start analyzing those statements. Life-changing. Hmm. A research question pops into my head: How much will my life change over the next 27 months? In all my readings over the past few years I haven't come across a formula or theorm to effectively answer this question. But research is all about taking things we already know and applying them to novel situations. So, what if I was to take a formula I already know and apply it to my situation.

I already know that change can be represented by the symbol Δ. To measure change you subtract the initial value from the final value. Assuming all things constant and the only change in my life between June 2008 and August 2010 is due to the Peace Corps, my life change can be measured by the following formula:

Δ (PC) = [Nikhil (f) - Nikhil (i)]; where:

Nikhil (i) = my life and how I see myself before the PCNikhil (f) = my life and how I see myself after the PC

So that formula resolves how I shall measure this change. Now the question arises, how do I measure who I am before the PC and who I am after the PC. Thanks to my amazing service advisor (and friend) Sarah, I came across this cool little reflection activity. Unfortunately the activity is not entirely quantitative, but I am okay with that since much of who I am is completely qualitative (so yea, I'm cheating). Therefore I will perform this activity now and perform it again when I get back and maybe after fiddling around with the formula, I can come up with a response to my original question so we can all know how much I have changed over this next 27 period of my life.

The activity:Create a list of statements that describe who you are and how you see yourself in the world. Begin each statement with the phrase "I am/have...". This list can be as long or as short as you would like it to be and in no specific order.

I am Nikhil.I am a citizen of the world.I am a son, a brother, and a friend.I am a graduate of Georgia Tech, a semi-proud YellowJacket and a hellava "non"-engineer.I am bad with names.I am a Delta Sig.I am an idealist and wildly passionate about "saving the world", particularly health issues in the developing world.I have a very loud sneeze.I am 5'8, 165 lbs, black hair, brown eyes.I am open-minded and will try most anything at least once.I am socially liberal / economically conservative.I am a realistic romantic.I have low self-esteem.I am a US Peace Corps Community Health & AIDS Prevention Volunteer in Togo, West Africa.I am not very good at dealing with change; I crave stability (sometimes)...I am an agnostic Hindu.I have a hard time living in the moment; I'm always "looking forward to looking back" (or pre-nostalgia --> thanks Wilky).I am a sponge; when I'm around other people, I tend to subconsciously pick up and mimic their personalities/quirks.I am an XNFP.

Hola mis amigos!

Costa Ricans have a saying they like to use called "Pura vida". Literally translated, it means "pure life"; however, it's really a phrase that is meant to encapture the "tico" lifestyle of relaxation and stress-free living. Think of it as the Costa Rican version of "hakuna matata" = "no worries...life is good". Even though my mind was consumed with the daunting list of things I had to do and take care of when I got back from Costa Rica, I really tried to live the pura vida life by putting it all out of my head and just focusing on being on vacation. And you know something, it really worked :) I don't think I've been that relaxed on vacation ever. Although Michelle had some great ideas of activities to do, it was great to just relax and take in the beauty of the country. There was no timetable. I had a car to take me wherever I wanted. The weather was great (sans Wednesday). Basically, it was an amazingly freeing experience to just live in the moment, something I haven't done in a long time...

So yea, my trip was great. Costa Rica was amazing. It's such a beautiful country filled with beautiful people. The beaches were gorgeous. The flora was lush and tropical (even though we were in cowboy country it was still really green everywhere). The food was delicious and even though Imperial is a decent beer, I basically drank my weight in these great fruit drinks called "naturalezas", the mango ones being my favorites. I got a chance to relax on three different beaches (Bahia de Pirates, Playa Tamarindo & Playa Grande). I went ziplining, rapelling, rock climbing, whitewater tubing and got a spa treatment (sauna, mud bath & volcanic hot springs) in Guachipelin. I even went snorkeling on a booze cruise where I saw one of the prettiest sunsets while sipping on the greatest pina coladas ever (fresh pineapples makes a world of a difference). I got to visit a monkey rescue & rehabilitation center and had one of the best meals of my life at Mar Y Sol, a 5-star restaurant overlooking Playa Flamingo. The only thing that I didn't get to do was go surfing because it rained all day wednesday, the day I had planned to schedule a lesson. That bummed me out. But regardless, it was a GREAT vacation and I have Michelle to thank for that. Thanks Michelle! :)

I can't wait to go back to Costa Rica. For such a small country it really packs quite a punch. I still have yet to check out Monteverde or Arenal. I didn't even get to check out the Caribbean side of the country. It's okay though 'cause this just means I have a reason to go back. I'll post pictures when I get a chance. Now that I'm back in the US :( I have a LOT to do and not a whole lot of time. Oh well, just gotta take it one day at a time right?

hasta luego por ahora,-Nikhil

Hey!

So today was a very stressful day; stressful because I had SO much to do and so little time. Not only was today my last day at work, but it was also the last day that I agreed to see my friends and say bye to them (the only exceptions being Patrick, Jess & Kasey who had valid reasons for not seeing me before I leave for Costa Rica). So before and after work I spent most of my time running around Atlanta to see everyone. After waking up at 6:30AM to drive down from Alpharetta, I had breakfast in the morning with Sarah (for a final "french toast special" at Junior's which I am going to miss A LOT! so delicious...), then after work me and my co-workers went and had dinner and drinks at Front Page News to celebrate my last day. Pete, who was leaving for Fiji with the PC in a few days even made an appearance :) Then I hung around some more at Front Page News since Katie was having her birthday dinner there. After saying bye to her and Patrick it was off to Marianna's apt where I got to see Marianna and Carl before I leave. Finally I made an appearance at Delta Sig to say bye to Benji and Michael. I didn't get back to my apartment to start packing until a little after midnight! Phew what a day...This week has been exhausting meeting up with people to say bye to them while also juggling the chaos of work. oh well, at least I got to see most everyone I wanted to (for everyone I don't get to see before I leave...I'm sorry!).

Since today was my last official day at Childspring (I say official since I'll have to come back into the office next week to do my exit interview, wrap up a few loose ends and return a book to my supervisor) I guess I should give the organization and my awesome co-workers a shout-out here *cough* grad school recommendations *cough*. I just have to say that it was a pleasure to work with everyone at Childspring. I learnt a lot, personally and professionally, and I know that wherever my life takes me, I am going to utilize my experiences at Childspring everywhere. Childspring is truly an incredible organization and it was such a blessing to be surrounded by people who care about the world and its people as much as I do. It wasn't easy work, filled with obstacles, dead ends and many other challenges. But in the end, rewards were great and it fills me with great pride to know that I made a difference in the lives of my children. I am sad that I never had the opportunity to meet any of my children whom I worked so hard to bring to the US but regardless I am happy that I helped a few children get the medical treatment they needed. If anyone, particularly anyone who speaks Spanish, is looking for a job, you should definitely check them out.

hmm, well for the sake of getting some sleep before my flight to Costa Rica tomorrow, I should probably get back to packing and then hit the sack...

bonne nuit,-Nikhil

Bonjour mes amis!

Comment vas-tu? Je suis bien mais je me sens tres inondé avec tout!

Hey!

So just to throw this out there, a friendly request from moi: No one is allowed to get married or have babies until I get back! So basically everyone has to be boring over the next two years so I don't miss any special memories.

In all seriousness, I really want to be there for all your good news (graduations, engagements, 21st birthdays, etc). Unfortunately, that will not be possible with me being across the ocean from a lot of you. However, definitely keep me informed because I would love to hear of everyone's sucesses. So write me! E-mail me! Txt me! I promise I'll write back (I'll post instructions soon on how to send me snail mail/packages)

I promise to update everyone on what's been going on these past few weeks. Lots of exciting stuff (though nothing Peace Corps related) has happened from my Beer Olympics to my amazing Bon Voyage Party. Glad you are still reading this thing...

adieu,-Nikhil

HIV/AIDS has been on my mid a lot recently. I apologize now if some of my comments seem harsh and slightly unorganized but I had to get them out of my head. Know that my words are not necessarily directed towards you...

There's only usThere's only thisForget regretOr life is yours to missNo other roadNo other wayNo day but today-"Another Day" from Rent

Last night I went to go and see Rent at the Fox. It was an incredible show and I'm glad that I finally got to see a live performance. Hearing several of my favorite songs ("Another Day", "La Vie Boheme" and "Goodbye Love") in person definitely gave me chills. Watching the show definitely got me thinking a lot, particularly about AIDS, since in the show several of the main characters are infected with the disease. The AIDS epidemic has certainly come a long way from the early 1990s when the image of AIDS was confined to urban cities such as New York and medical opinion declared that the only four at-risk groups for HIV/AIDS were the 4 H's: Homosexuals, Hemophiliacs, Heroin-users, and Haitians. Now AIDS has become one of the biggest global health crises of the millenium that affects everyone. AIDS has recently become a very personal issue in my life as I'm about to join the Peace Corps where half of my job title involves dealing with the HIV/AIDS epidemic in Togo (Community Health & AIDS Prevention).

I don't have a lot of experience dealing with AIDS. I don't have AIDS. I've never been close to someone with AIDS. I don't have a somber story about someone I knew who died of AIDS (and this worries me because I don't know how I am going to deal with death from AIDS). The first time I met someone with AIDS (or atleast who I KNEW had AIDS) was a few summers ago when I attended an AIDS 101 workshop put together by AIDAtlanta. My main exposure to AIDS has been from a global public health standpoint, as opposed to a personal human connection. Unfortunately right now, when I see AIDS, I see statistics, not human faces; this is definitely something I want to change. When it comes to my interest in global health, I don't want to see diseases as just public health challenges; I want to put a face to these global health diseases to better understand what I am fighting for: humanity.

Something that really grinds my gears is that there is a HUGE misconception among my friends that everyone in Africa has AIDS! This frustrates me to no end. I don't know whether people are serious or just playing dumb but I have had people come up to me and say "Be careful! If you go to Africa, you will catch AIDS". Even if they are just trying to be funny, by them mocking the situation, it only devalues the seriousness of the issue. And the AIDS crisis is serious! It may not seem serious to us in the so called "first" world where AIDS drugs are fairly accessible as are treatment centers and sources for support. Yet in Africa, people infected with HIV/AIDS have to deal with not just the lack of financial resources to treat themselves but also they lack the social support systems they need to cope with the disease. AIDS in the US tends to be a choice: not using a condom, sharing needles, and other risky behaviour. AIDS in Africa tends NOT to be a choice, particularly for women.

Unlike some of the other African countries, Togo is blessed to have a fairly low prevalance rate of AIDS (4.1% as compared to 0.6% in the USA); therefore, much of my work in Togo will deal with many of the social aspects of AIDS as opposed to straight prevention and education. There are still misconceptions on how AIDS is transmitted; additionally, due to the heave influence of animism and sorcery, many still believe AIDS to be a punishment in the magical sense. AIDS is a highly stigmatized disease and I hope that my work through the Peace Corps will help me break through some of these stereotypes and false images against PLWHAs (People living with HIV/AIDS).

Another issue that frustrates me regarding the disease is that in today's media, AIDS is "sexy". Everyone wants to work with AIDS. Everyone wants to donate to AIDS campaigns. And as important as it is, focusing solely on AIDS will not improve the situation much more unless we take a holistic approach to fighting the disease by realizing that AIDS is a co-morbid disease. You don't die from AIDS, at least not specifically; you die from pnemonia, tuberculosis, malaria, even the common cold. AIDS weakens your immune system to the point that any disease that comes along can kill you. You have to treat AIDS, but you also have to treat the other diseases. There are also so many issues tied to HIV/AIDS (access to drugs, abstinance-only funding, denial) that this is why its so important to look at it as a large-scale global health problem, not just a medical issue.

Okay before this turns into an uglier rant I think I'll stop and leave you with the aforementioned points to ponder...

ciao,-Nikhil

Hello, Hello...

Life is a continuous series of hellos and goodbyes. My first hellos were to my parents. My first goodbyes were to the doctors and nurses in the ICU of my hospital (I was 5 weeks pre-mature). Future hellos included my younger brother, relatives, friends and most recently my co-workers. Future goodbyes included cousins, my paternal grandmother and most recently, Georgia Tech. Last night I said my first goodbye before Togo.

I know it seems wierd to be so poignant about saying goodbye, particularly since saying goodbye is an action I am very familiar with. Whenever I left England for Saudia Arabia or India for the US, I said goodbyes to many people. However for me, saying goodbye today takes on many different meanings. Not only am I saying goodbye to friends and family with whom I have shared several fond memories from college or high shool, but saying goodbye today is really me saying goodbye to a life of "knowns". I know Atlanta. I know Georgia Tech. I know my family and friends. I don't know Togo. Saying goodbye today is me realizing that my life is never going to be the same.

I am getting ready to embark on a journey of unknowns and what do people do when they are outside their comfort zone? They cling to the familiar. Yet Togo will be unlike anything I have ever experienced. I try to rationalize to myself that being in Togo can't be very different from being in Bhogavi, the village where my father grew up in rural Karnataka. After all, I survived Bhogavi, so I can certainly survive Togo. However, deep inside I know that Togo will NOT be like India. Even in my dad's village, regardless of the conditions, I was only there for no more than a few weeks before I returned to a sheltered life of computers and running water in Bangalore. Whereas now I am about to move to a foreign country for two years! Big difference.

Another reason why saying goodbye to my family and friends is so poignant is that they are who I am closest to at this moment in time. When I say goodbye to them, I don't know if I will ever say hello to them again. We are all moving in so many different directions, medical school, graduate school, jobs all over the country, that it's difficult to forsee where we all will be in three years when I return. Some of my friends will be married. Some of them will even have kids! I hope we all keep in touch but time changes the relationships we form with people; some will grow weaker, but some also will grow stronger. I am saying goodbye to you now in hopes that someday I will say hello again.

Anyways, last night I said my first goodbye to Corrie. It was wonderful to spend time with her and see her after so long. We pretty much spent the evening catching up and reminiscing about school, greek life, spring break and my 21st birthday over our favorite calamari at The Globe. It was a bittersweet evening but I knew it had to come. I will miss Corrie terribly but hopefully we will say hello again in the future. I can't believe I pretty much only have 3 1/2 weeks left to say goodbye to people. Starting May 16th I am out of the country (to say goodbye to Michelle in Costa Rica) and after that its time for me to spend some quality time with my family before I depart. So yea, I know that although I will have many more goodbyes to say in the upcoming weeks, I will also have a plethura of hellos to say as well. Hello to my fellow Peace Corps volunteers. Hello to the Peace Corps staff. Hello Togo.

6 weeks! eek!