hello all. i have really been awful lately about updating my blog. i apologize. so, here are a few interesting tidbits...

PEACE CORPS PARTNERSHIP - TAKE OUR DAUGHTERS TO WORK

thank you again to all those who contributed. we are wrapping up the project up right now. due to all of your generous donations, we were able to provide each of the 16 girls with scholarships for the 2010-2011 school year. we have finished distributing the scholarships and doing follow-up visits with each of the participants. i'll finally be turning in the report this week. thanks again to all those who made this possible.

TOGOS LAST PARTING GIFT...worms and beetles...

several months ago, i wrote a post about a "Blister Beetle" attack that left me with 3 patches of blisters on my face, hand, and neck. i am not happy to inform you all that the beetle has struck again. and worse, again on my FACE. this time, though, it is not as bad. in fact, its hardly noticeable. thankfully. for those of you who didn't catch the last post, the Blister Beetle is a beetle whose juices are so toxic that they form an instant blistered patch if they come in contact with your skin (i.e., if you kill it on your skin). furthermore, if you eat it, you die. luckily, i didn't do that either time...

also, i recently found out that i tested positive for Shistosomiasis, a parasitic disease caused by a worm. gross. no biggie though, i'm taking medication and all will be well soon. .

DEPARTURE...

and last and best, i will be home on DECEMBER 3RD, 2010. i arrive at Philadelphia International Airport at 11:03pm. yayyyyy!!! i am so excited to come home and see everyone again. especially my adorable little nephew.

anyways, much love to you all.-k

This past week, my training group (both Girls' Education and Empowerment and Natural Resource Management volunteers) had its "COS Conference." The acronym "COS" refers to our "Closing of Service," so, when we officially finish our 27 month service with Peace Corps. The conference is geared towards preparing us for life after Peace Corps (i.e., resume writing, interviewing skills, job searchs, reverse culture shock, and looking back on our service).

This was the first time that our entire group had been together since we swore in 2 years ago. However, we have lost quite a few people between the two points. Our group started at 31 people (15 GEE and 16 NRM); we are now at 17 (8 GEE and 9 NRM).

The photo to the right is the 8 remaining GEE volunteers from the 2008-2010 group. Left to Right: James Gurney, Katrina Sison, Sekou Sidibe, Drew Quinton, Emily Malkin, Jessica Trega, Jocelyn Friedman, and Kara Harvey.

And while it was fun seeing everyone, another highlight of the conference was choosing our COS dates!

I will officially be COSing on December 3rd! Of course, that's not when I'll be home, that's the date that I'll be leaving Togo. I've also decided to travel after I leave Togo; I will be going to Indonesia for 10 days between Togo and America (I realize it's not exactly on the way but I'm willing to overlook that fact for a few days in paradise). If anyone is interested in where I'll be going, you can check out the following websites:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balihttp://www.lonelyplanet.com/indonesia/bali

I will let everyone know exactly what date I'll be home when I figure it all out. :-) But, the end is in sight and I can't wait to see my family and friends in 3 months!!!

GEE/NRM Togo Volunteers 2008-2010-k

In August, a young woman, Jessica Goodbred, from my training group (she came to Togo at the same time as me) got married to a Togolese man from our training site, Agou Akoumawou. The wedding was very interesting culturally. It started at the courthouse in Lome, Togo with the female mayor performing the official/legal ceremony. Before starting though, the bride and groom were both asked to state, on record, which type of marriage they were persuing, monogamous or polygamous. After they both said "monogamous," and the audience clapped :-), the mayor proceeded with the rest of the ceremony, which consisted of listing the roles and responsibilities of a wife (to take care of the home and children) and a husband (to financially support the family). Both parties agreed, signed the paperwork, smooched, and it was official.

Mr. & Mrs. Alphonse Trega

Because the bride was one of the five remaining women from our Girls' Education and Empowerment training group, we (the other four) dressed up in matching Togolese pagne.

[Our group started with 9 girls--we are now down to five.]

Left to Right: Emily Malkin, Jocelyn Friedman, Kara Harvey, and Katrina Sison.

Here we are again with the director of the Girls' Education and Empowerment program, Rose (center) and the mother of the groom (far left).

CONGRATULATIONS AND BEST WISHES TO THE TREGA FAMILY!! :-)

For the last three months of service volunteers are not allowed to travel out of their host country. Since I'm coming up on my last 3 months mark (WOW!), I took advantage of my leftover vacation days and went to Ghana with my friend Jocelyn. It was awesome.

This time, rather than relaxing by the beach and sipping on margaritas, we decided to do all the touristy and historical things we'd been hearing so much about. We went to Cape Coast, Ghana. First on the list of things to do was visit Kakum National Park to do a Canopy Walk. The Canopy Walk consists of 7 suspension bridges in the treetops of the jungle.

Second was to visit the Cape Coast Castle which was a military fortress established in 1653 but later became a large player in the trans-Atlantic slave trade. We toured the dungeons where West African slaves and POWs were kept for 3 months in small rooms with hundreds of other people with no light, no ventilation and no escape. The tour was extremely moving. Anything that I could say about it now couldn't even do it justice or capture the powerfulness of the experience.

So, I'll just show you pictures instead:

EGYPT

day #1

Upon arriving in Cairo, after two long flights and a super long layover in Casablanca, the four of us (Me, Sekou, Sam, and Annie) all wanted desperately to take a shower and a long nap. Our tour guide had a different idea. We were immediately whisked away into the historical heart of Cairo: The Giza Pyramids. Within an hour of first stepping foot in Egypt, we were mounting camels and heading into the desert to see some of most widely recognized historical images in the world. We were set up with a tour guide who led us to the pyramids and the Sphinx, explaining the historical background and significance of each…though we later found out that he made most of it up.

Afterwards, our tour guide, Sameh, took us to a an oil shop where they sold Egyptian fragrant and medicinal oils, a papyrus shop where we learned the time-old technique of making paper using papyrus and had the opportunity to buy beautiful paintings, and a bazaar where they sold Egyptian souvenir knick-knacks and whatnot. Leaving the shops, we headed out of Cairo to a hotel where we were stay before heading out into the desert the following day. We were invited to eat dinner at friend of Sameh’s who would be our desert safari guide the next day.

day #2

Our desert safari started early in the morning with the Black Desert that gets its name from the black rocks that cover the surface. The rocks actually come from a volcano that snakes its way underground and deposits its chard-black remains here. Next was “Mount Crystal” which is a small mountainous deposit of crystals in the desert. Lastly, we visited the White Deserts (old & new) which are characterized by hundreds of large, white rock-like formations that were formed over 65,000 years ago when the desert was under water! If you look hard enough here, you can actually find shells and oceanic fossils. We set up camp underneath one formation and after eating one of the best meals of grilled chicken, salad, stew, and veggies, we slept underneath the desert stars. Since we camped here, we were able to see both the desert sunset and sunrise; it was BEAUTIFUL. However, none of us knew that we weren’t going back to the hotel before camping and consequently spent most of the night freezing! There were also some foxes that harassed our campsite all night, but they only managed to make off with Annie’s sandals.

day #3

The next day, we returned to our hotel to shower before heading back into Cairo. After checking into the hotel, we went out for a Dinner Cruise on the Nile. This part was pretty touristy, so the food was only okay and we didn’t really go far on the cruise, as it was only 2 hours in total. But dinner came with a show: a belly dancer and a traditional Egyptian spinning-skirt-man….(?)

day #4

Day three consisted mostly of driving to Dahab, a small beach town on the Sinai Peninsula. We arrived exhausted, but had little time to rest before snorkeling in the Red Sea, eating a huge seafood dinner and then setting off at 11pm to Mount Sinai. Because the hike up Mount Sinai is so long and grueling, it is necessary to start the hike around 1-2am in order to see the sunset around 6am. So that’s what we did. And because we were all religiously ignorant (not you, Annie), none of us knew the significance of the mountain until after we climbed back down—for all those like us, Mount Sinai is apparently the mountain that Moses climbed to receive the 10 Commandments. Sam, Sekou, and I agreed to the hike knowing that there was some sort of importance (maybe it held some height record???) but mostly because we knew that Annie really wanted to do it (of course, she knew the significance). So we all arrived at the top, freezing, tired, half-dead, and very angry at Annie. We apologize. But anyways, we saw the sunrise, which was pretty much like every other sunrise I’ve ever seen, and climbed Moses’ mountain, which was pretty much the hardest mountain I’ve ever climbed. You’re welcome, Annie; and thanks, Moses, for making it worth my while.

day #5

Again, we spent most of the day driving. But this day it was rewarded with PIZZA HUT DELIVERY!!!! This may not seem that exciting, but considering I haven’t seen Pizza Hut or any other American fast-food chain in 2 years, it was pretty damn thrilling for me.

day #6

We spent the entire day in Cairo doing a city tour with stops including the Egyptian Museum, which was huge and had a lot of stuff but I was highly disappointed with the curator as most pieces had little or no descriptions at all! We spent most of the time wandering around not knowing what we were looking at. However, there was a special exhibit for King Tutankhamen with many of his jewelry pieces, three of his four sarcophaguses, and his famous headdress. We also toured a huge Citadel (mosque), and a few other churches. We finished the day with a Sound and Light Show put on in front of the Giza Pyramids & Sphinx. The show told the real story of how and why the pyramids were created.

day #7

Again, we hopped back into the car to drive to Alexandria, on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea. Here, we visited the Alexandria Library, which is one of the oldest and biggest libraries in the world. Despite its age, however, it has been totally rebuilt and modernized. Afterwards, we went to see some Roman-Egyptian Catacombs, but none of us really understood what exactly they were and our “tour guide,” who ended up just being some guy from the streets who was hoping to get a tip from us spoke no English or French he simply just pointed to different rooms and said either “Roman” or “Egyptian.” I’m sure the story was really very interesting though… Also, we ate CINABONS!!! They were delicious and possibly one of the best parts of the trip. Afterwards, we headed back to Cairo to do some last minute shopping, smoke some hookah, and drink some mint tea (the latter two were present in each day of our trip).

day # 8

PEACE OUT! Today, we sadly said “goodbye” to Egypt and continued on our way to Morocco, land of the hustlers.

MOROCCO

Morocco was more of a hassle than Egypt, but mostly just because we didn't have the help of a trustworthy tourguide. We spent our three days in Fes, which is an old market town made up of tiny, winding, stone streets, vendors, and people trying to rip you off. We spent the three days just relaxing and getting lost in the maze of streets before heading back to Togo.

On May 30th, my sister gave birth to the most beautiful lil person I've ever seen: Maddox Ellis Volansky. I couldn't be happier for her and John and the whole family!! Congratulations!

Here are some photos of the lil guy:

wish i were there...

LOVE YOU ALL

-k

I finally saw some animals!!! Despite the fact that Togo is in Africa and could potentially have really cool animals to see (elephants) and to run from (lions), there is—sadly—nothing.Rumor is, Togolese peeps killed them all off. There is a National Park, which has some animals (like deer and stuff), but nothing big or cool. So, I went searching; I ended up in Benin (the country bordering Togo on the East). A friend—Jarrett—and I went on a 3-day excursion to Pendjari National Park in northern Benin. The trip was long, hot, and frustrating: approximately 24 hours round-trip and since only a 48 hour visa can be purchased at the border, it was all done in a 3 day span. When we arrived at the hotel, we [luckily] found a driver/guide who does tours in the Park and we were scheduled to leave the next morning at 6am in his tricked out truck:

The next morning, we ate breakfast at 5am and headed out around 6am. We bumped our way through the park on our perch above the truck. Due to faulty craftsmanship of the seat, our backs and derrières were slammed constantly into metal bars under the skimpy seat padding. Luckily, we both sustained only minor bruises and a few days of sore muscles. At one point, a metal bar behind our heads broke free from its welding and was flying about uncontrollably, threatening to impale one or both of us. Jarrett daringly snatched it out of mid air; while I unfastened the bar, Jarrett secured the plastic rug that was serving as our roof, and were back on our way. In our adventures, we saw many different types of deer and antelope, monkeys, warthogs, baboons, hippopotamuses, crocodiles, elephants, and various types of birds. Unfortunately, we missed the lions’ morning visit to the watering hole, because, as our guide continued to point out, we “slept in” (which we found bizarre, considering we left the hotel at exactly the time he told us to the day before—but we later found out that there is an hour time difference between Togo and Benin and we were, in fact, 1 hour late to everything…). The park also boasts being home to many other animals such as cheetahs, water buffalos, hyenas, leopards, and many others, but despite Jarrett’s confidence that he could “see the cheetah before the cheetah sees him,” we were not lucky enough to catch a glimpse of these animals. However, the park stretches across several different countries: Benin, Burkina Faso, Niger and/or Nigeria? So perhaps they were all vacationing elsewhere that day…bummer. At the end of the day, our guide took us to a beautiful waterfall where we swam and relaxed after a tiring day of searching for lions and cheetahs. Overall, the trip was a great time. From seeing elephants up-close, taunting hippopotamuses to try to get them to come out of the water for a photo shoot, the threat of decapitation, the weird French dudes that paid a Beninese woman to eat lunch topless with them, to having our lunch expertly snatched away by a baboon, it was an experience I’ll never forget.

On March 30th, my grandfather Doty died at the age of 85 after a long battle with cancer. His suffering and pain is now over.

While losing someone so close is always a terrible ordeal, this time it proved as a true test of my limits here in Togo. Every volunteer knows that signing up for Peace Corps is a commitment that will inevitably force you to be absent during times of sorrow and during times of happiness for those closest in our hearts, yet farthest from us physically... In actuality, however, it was much harder than anything I could have prepared myself for.

I truly regret not being home for my family (and for my own mental health). And although I wasn't there physically, I can only hope that they felt me there in spirit.

R.I.P ELLSWORTH J. DOTYNovember 11, 1924-March 30, 2010

Well, we made it through the presidential elections! (…sort of) GNASSINGBE Faure of the RPT party was declared the winner. Faure was originally put in office after his father (the sixth president of Togo) died and re-elected this year for a second term. Faure is a member of the RPT (Rassemblement des Peuple Togolaise); the main opposition party is UFC (Union des Forces de Changement) and this year, their candidate was FABRE Jean Pierre. While the time during and immediately following the elections were—for the most part—calm (there were a few incidents involving tear gas in Lomé), opposition supports are claiming that the elections were rigged (i.e., ballot stuffing, faulty machines, falsifying votes, etc.). The opposition is unwilling to stand for such suspected corruption and have been planning events to oppose the election of Faure (RPT) for his second consecutive presidency. Opposition events have been taking place all over the country but predominately in the capitol, Lomé, with the number of UFC supporters growing.For more information, click here.

Le temps seul peut nous dire ce que vas arriver…

Hello my dearest Blog Followers! I hope you are all doing very well. I am doing well too. Just bored…things have really slowed down here because Togo is holding its presidential elections. PCVs have all been instructed to cease activities and just “hunker down.” So, that’s what I’ve been doing. Little things have been keeping me a little busy. I tutor a high school student two times a week in English and every Saturday I work with an NGO for children affected or infected by HIV/AIDS. Also, being the president of the Togo Gender and Development Committee (GAD) and the House Manager of the Atakpamé Volunteer Transit House give me something to do. Those are my constants and the rest of my life sort of varies around them. I’ve also been doing a lot of writing—this break has given me time to work on my Thesis Proposal! If all goes as planned, I’ll be defending the proposal next month and then I’ll be able to FINALLY get started (keep your fingers crossed for me!!) Also, the Peace Corps Togo Country Director asked me to write a sort of “How To…” manual for the Take Our Daughters to Work (TODTW) project because we don’t have any documentation on it and it’s such a great project. So, I’ve been doing that too… After elections, I want to plan a Teacher Training for middle school directors and teachers on the importance of girls’ education and reducing sexual harassment in the schools. So I guess I’ve got some stuff…but not enough! Other than that, I’ve been getting pretty anxious. I can see the end in sight!!! I have about 8 months left here in Togo. WOW! It kind of seems like a long time, but looking at it different ways makes it seem shorter and longer. For example, 8 MONTHS – long 32 WEEKS – not long at all!! 960 DAYS – impossibly long

Or, if I think of it in terms of individual months and what I have planned, it seems even shorter: MARCH – Togo elections; GAD elections; leading a training session for new PCVs on TODTW APRIL – trip to Benin; last GAD meeting; possible Thesis Proposal Defense MAY – trip to EGYPT and MOROCCO!!; becoming an AUNT! JUNE – mom is visiting!!; Camp UNITE JULY AUGUST – trip to Ghana; Close-of-Service Conference SEPTEMBER NOVEMBER – prepare for departure DECEMBER – FINISH SERVICE! J NOT LONG!!! Well, I guess it is apparent that I have too much time on my hands… But I’ll continue my updates regardless of whether they are important or not because, well, I have nothing better to do… Last month, I went to Burkina Faso (the country directly north of Togo) with my friend Jocelyn. We had a great time! It was such a great break from Togo. We really just went for the food and we were pleasantly surprised! The capitol, Ouagadougou, has a lot of American places to eat (e.g., the restaurant and the American Embassy, the International School) and we had REAL BACON!!!! AND REAL, SLICED, SQUARE BREAD!!! AND REAL COFFEE!!! AND A STRAWBERRY MILKSHAKE!! AND A BANANA SPLIT!!! AND etc. etc… It was exactly what we needed to power us through the end of service. Also, we went to this really cool artisan village and I got some really nice things. Overall, a good trip but made better by the generosity and friendliness of the Burkina PCVs. Thanks, guys and gals! J Well, okay, I’ll stop wasting everyone’s time… A la prochaine!! Yours truly, -kara jo

This is me being really happy about package I just received from my momma filled with delicious goodies and all wrapped up in the spirit of Christmas! J

HELLO!!!

How was your holiday season? Mine was goooood. Actually, better than good!

As most of you know, a neighboring volunteer, Laura Groggel, and I have just finished a large project (actually, the largest project of my service thus far): Take Our Daughters to Work Week for the Plateau Region. The event was a HUGE SUCCESS!! And I cannot thank those of you who donated enough! This event has truly changed the lives of 16 well-deserving high school girls. Many volunteers around the region have reported to me that the girls who attended have been extremely motivated to share the knowledge and skills gained during the camp to other girls in their respective villages! This spreading of information and knowledge is such a remarkable outcome of any Peace Corps event and I am ecstatic to learn that we have inspired such devotion in these girls.

As mentioned above, the camp allowed 16 high school juniors and seniors the opportunity to come to Atakpame for 4 days during the school break in December. This year, we focused on preparing the girls for life after high school. Too often, girls accomplish the feat of completing high school and then are unsure how to take the next step (i.e., how to write a resume, career search, interview, etc.). The purpose of the camp was to show the girls how to stay on track of realizing their goals. The money raised for this event paid for transportation for each of the girls to and from their villages, their lodging and food in Atakpame, per diem for two Togolese trainers who ran most of the sessions and helped with some logistical matters, compensation for Togolese female role models who contributed throughout the week, plus, each girl received a t-shirt, and A SCHOLARSHIP FOR THE NEXT SCHOOL YEAR!!!!

During the week, we discussed a variety of essential topics with the girls such as:

The Importance of Girls Education

Women are a key ingredient to the development of a nation but oftentimes, they go overlooked and are left out of the development process altogether. Because of this, the development of the entire country suffers. The Girls Education and Empowerment program strives to illuminate the important role that women play in such a far-reaching process. Thus, Togo can and will benefit from the increasing number of educated women who implicate themselves in the development of their country.

Self-Confidence

Gender Equity

Income-Generating Activities and Feasibility Studies

Many girls are willing and capable of excelling in both academia and in a professional career; however, they are unable to support themselves throughout this process. Here in Togo, all schools (public and private) require school fees and uniforms. Without the money to pay for this, students are simply denied from entering the school system. Because of this, students sometimes need to find small income-generating activities that can cover the costs (parents are often unwilling or unable to contribute to girls’ education). During the week, we invited PCV Mitch Bloom to teach the girls how to make liquid soap. Another PCV, Jane McDonald, discussed how to conduct a feasibility study for any activity to determine their profit beforehand.

Family Planning

Unplanned pregnancies are common and often result in the girl leaving her studies to take care of the child. Because this is often due to ignorance (i.e., not properly understanding the reproductive system, lack of knowledge about contraceptive methods available, etc.), we discussed the importance of family planning and the different methods available to them.

Sexual Harassment and Rape

Unfortunately, sexual harassment and rape are all-to-common to young Togolese girls. Girls often face sexual harassment at school from students, professors, and sometimes school directors; later in life, women face harassment in the workplace from colleagues and superiors. We discussed their rights and what to do in these situations.

How to Write a Resume/CV

The girls also had the opportunity to practice their computer skills at a cyber café where they were taught how to make a resume in Microsoft Word led by another PCV, Steven “Sam” Miyakawa and assisted by Jane McDonald. For most girls, it was their first time ever using a computer and none had ever even heard of or seen a resume.

How to Choose a Career

Before coming to the camp, each girl wrote a letter expressing her interests and detailing the type of work she was interested in after finishing high school. For two hours during the week, each girl had the opportunity to visit a professional woman in a similar position (i.e., midwife, secretary, professor, director of an ONG). We also had a session on things to consider when choosing a career that is right for them (i.e., skills needed, salary, location, etc…)

Interviewing Skills

Time Management/Future Planning

Returning to Village (how to share the information with others)

Also during the week, the Associate Peace Corps Director for the Girls Education and Empowerment program, KPOMBLEKOU-NABINE Rose, came to talk to the girls about The Realities of Being a Woman in the Workplace and we were lucky to have a panel of professional women come to share their experiences in each of their professions—the panel included two female electricians, a hospital director in charge of finances, a bank teller, a nun, and an employee of the NGO Plan Togo. The girls surely gained a lot from seeing this dynamic, powerful group of women.

The biggest event of the week, for me, was the presentation of the scholarships. None of the girls knew that they would be receiving scholarships for the next year. When it was announced the girls were SO surprised and excited that they rushed the stage that Laura and I were on and swarmed us, screaming, laughing, and thanking us. The next day, one of the girls stood up to speak on behalf of the entire group to express their gratitude and make a promise that they would push themselves to put forth every effort possible to succeed, if for no other reason than to match the efforts that Laura and I put forth for them. Her speech and the promise of every girl to do everything in her power to succeed was enough to bring tears to my eyes. This event has shaped and defined my service and myself as a volunteer. Because of this, I am forever indebted to those who contributed to this project thus transforming it from an idea to a reality. Thank you.

hello!!

wanted to share the website of an artist who lives in Atakpame and works with my sitemate, Sam. Sam has helped the painter to create this website as well as a color-photo catalog of his many pieces and designs.

http://anyigbaart.blogspot.com

please check it out and let me know if anything strikes your fancy. :-)

-k

Actually, it doesn't feel like Christmas at all here..no snow or anything!!

but I know that everyone at home is busy preparing for the holiday season, so I just wanted to send my wishes your way!!

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!!

(MERRY CHRISTMAS, HAPPY HANUKKAH, HAPPY KWANZAA, etc...)

and

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

-k

My "Take Our Daughters to Work Week" project is now fully funded!! And I cannot thank those of you who contributed enough! I really appreciate your generosity. I am really excited for this project and am grateful for your contributions that will be going to help the girls of Togo. I will be sure to update you all frequently about that project and the girls whose lives will be changed due to your help.

THANK YOU, from the bottom of our hearts. :-)

-k

Hello all!

Recently, another volunteer (Mitch) and I held a training with Jeune Leaders from an organization in Atakpame that works with children infected or affected by HIV/AIDS. In the past, PCVs have worked a lot with this organization, including setting up two different activities with the organization, "Big Brothers/Big Sisters" and "Club Espoir" (Club Hope) that take place, alternatively, each Saturday--the first, third, and fourth Saturday are Big Bros/Big Sis and the second Saturday is Club Espoir). Normally, a new topic (i.e., Self Confidence, Strategies of Good Communication, Family Planning, Transmission/Prevention of STIs/HIV/AIDS, Hygiene, etc...) is presented by PCVs at Club Espoir along with games/sports and an art session and the same topic is repeated for the next three Saturdays. In an attempt to make the project more sustainable, Mitch and I have trained three of the oldest kids at the organization to be "Jeunes Leaders" (Young Leaders) to the rest of the children. In other words, the Jeunes Leaders will now be leading the sessions, therefore relieving PCVs of that responsibility. Of course, PCVs still have the option of being involved, but the success of the volunteer does not hinge on our presence.

The training went well and our 3 current Jeunes Leaders are AMAZING!! I am really proud of them and the work that they are doing. Below is a photo of me leading a session on Femidoms (female condoms) during the Transmission/Prevention of Sexually Transmitted Infections.

I hope that everything is well on the home front. I miss you all!! Take Care!-k

Hello!

As I think I have mentioned in previous blog posts, one project that I have been working on is a week-long

"Take Our Daughters to Work Week"

that is modeled after the similar American equivalent where children are taken into the workplace to catch a glimpse of what an average day is like for a professional woman. Often times, young Togolese girls do not have the opportunity to see successful, powerful women in a professional environment. Nor do they know what types of opportunities await them after high school or university.

This week-long camp will be held in Atakpame but will host 30 high school girls from all over the Plateau Region in the month of December. The girls will not only have the opportunity to visit work places of interest but will also receive computer skills training, resume-writing training, valuable lessons on how to plan for the future, as well as discussions about the real life obstacles they will likely face due and how to overcome/deal with them.

This project has had success with school girls of all ages all over the world. However, this particular project is dependant on outside funding sources. To fund this project, we are using a Peace Corps Partnership which is a program that gives friends and family the opportunity to support community projects like this one. All contributions are appreciated and will inevitably help this project become a realization for myself as well as Togolese high school girls.

If you are interested in learning more about this project or would like details on how to contribute, please see the following website:

https://www.peacecorps.gov/index.cfm?shell=resources.donors.contribute.projDetail&projdesc=693-338

** All contributions are tax deductible **

Thank you all for your continued support!

heyyy!!!!

its been awhile. i'm sorry. i really dont even have anything exciting to report...i just feel guilty if i'm in lome without blogging. why am i in lome, you ask? well...its a funny story, really...

so... i woke up one day with a red, sore, burning patch on my neck(-ish) and i was all like "OH NO!" but i went about my normal, everyday life... the next day, it appeared to be getting bigger (blisters galore--gross) and was extremely painful. the following day (day 3), i woke up with another patch in between two of my fingers and a third patch on my FACE!!!! at this point, i called the medical unit, convinced that whatever it was, i acquired it while swimming in a lake with some friends:

BUT....it turns out that my lake swimming adventure (which was amazing, by the way) was not the cause of my quickly spreading, quite scary looking blister infestation.

so, anyways, the doctor told me to come down to lome (here i am) and then we went to the dermatologist because she still wasn't sure what it was. turns out, i was viciously, yet secretly, attacked by a BLISTER BEETLE!!! :

these beetles are highly toxic, often causing blisters on the skin and consumption is usually fatal. thank god i did not decide to eat the thing! apparently, i killed it on my neck (patch 1) with my hand (patch 2) then proceeded to rub the toxic slime all over my face (patch 3).so anyways...i am in lome now, recovering from this brutal beetle attack! i shall return to post tomorrow...

hope that this story finds you well...take care!

love and misses,

-k

I recently had the pleasure (although, not so pleasant...) of trying "agouti" aka - bushrat. Which is a large rat-ish animal hunted out in the bush. Some volunteers have raved about the deliciousness of this meat; however, I cannot attest to that. The place where I had it (with fufu), it was very jerky-ish in texture and not-so-scrumptious in flavor. But then again, it doesn't look too pleasant or like anything you'd ever want to get near enough to have to kill it, let alone eat it.

But, I will give it another chance...

hello!

so, i dont have much to update but people have been asking me for suggestions of things to send, so i compiled an extensive list...

Things Kara Would Like to Have in Togo:

Food Stuffs:

Sauce Packets (for pastas, rice, salads, etc.) -- things like "Just Add Noodles!" Packaged Meat (i.e., chicken, tuna, crab, etc.) -- cans of tuna or the bags of chicken chunks. Snacks (granola bars*, crackers, chips, cookies, [chocolate covered] pretzels)

Nuts (peanuts are cheap and easy here, so not plain peanuts--perhaps flavored or a nut mixture with almonds and cashews--yum.) Candy (don't worry about it melting, chocolate for example, as long as its well packaged, i'll still eat it! also, candy is a great thing to give to kids, so big bags of dollar store candy is nice to have around-- so far, my family has loved candy canes for christmas and butterscotch candies) Spices (spices are kinda expensive here and I generally have to go to Lome to find everyday things like Parsley and then when I get there, I never know the name in French so I never end up buying it anyways! my life is lacking in the spice department) Flavor Drink Packets Tea Bags Toilettries: Shampoo; Conditioner Body Wash Face Wash: St. Ives Apricot Scrub (there are 2 that I like: the blue-label "Blackhead Control" and the green-label "Refresh and Renew" -- the blue Blackhead one is scrubbier though, and tougher on Togo dirt, so I prefer blue) Deodorant: Secret Flawless Invisible Solid in Completely Clean Scent Make-Up: Eyeliner: CoverGirl Perfect Point Plus in Black Mascara; Black Eye Shadow: Pretty, earthy-tone colors Clothing: Undies from Victoria's Secret, Size: S-M (they just had their Semi-Annual Sale! I hope you all profited..) Bras: Victoria's Secret PINK Collection Wireless* T-Shirt Bras, Size: 34B (underwire bras are really hard to hand wash!!) Tank Tops: Spaghetti Strap or other thin straps with built-in bra; other wife-beater (not politically correct, I know....) type shirts in various colors; also, anything cute--some days I want to be cute (but cheap cause it'll prolly get ruined and material that can easily be hand-washed in a bucket, i.e., not delicate). T-Shirts -- whatever, cheap, it'll get pit stains and ruined anyways. black and white show sweat least. Fruit-of-the-Loom V-neck T-shirts are good, Size: Small. of course tho, cute stuff. Dresses -- long spaghetti-strap cotton (with a little bit of spandex so they fit nicely) dresses are fun. try Old Navy. but cute! ***keep in mind that I can have dresses copied in local fabric here, so if you send me cute dresses, I'll be able to get the pattern copied and will quit asking for more!*** Jewelry -- earrings! big, fun, beautiful things...you know me... hoops, pretty things, etc... Other: Pictures: DUH! I want to be able to display my far-away loved ones! Picture Frames: thus far, I've just been propping my photos up against stuff, then the wind comes and knocks everything down. Em sent those plastic L-shaped ones that you can buy at Wal-Mart for just a few dollars -- PERFECT, really improved my quiality-of-life, but I still need some more! DVDs: I've really taken up "movie watching" as a hobby so movies or tv series are greatly appreciated -- anything in English... (TV Series I enjoy: Family Guy, Futurama, Seinfeld, Weeds, Friends) also, any Discovery Channel-ish things... Journals: Journal-writing is another hobby I've taken up. I'm on my 2nd journal now and will finish it sometime in the near future and would like to have another ready for all my african tales. Newspapers and Magazines are fun to read...

i know...it's long, it's detailed, and it's absurd...BUT, i have a lot of long lonely days to fantasize about things in america. so i apologize...

lovies!

-k

Hello all!

I apologize for amount of time between posts. Things have been going well here, same old really. My most recent activities have been Camp UNITE (you'll see photos above), English tutoring, and the ever-present thesis proposal.

Camp UNITE:

So, for one week, I participated as a camp counselor at a camp for girl apprentices in Pagala as part of a larger 4 week-long Camp UNITE (1 week for girl students; 1 week for boy students; 1 week for girl apprentices; 1 week for boy apprentices) planned by PCVs and Togoloese organizers. Overall, the week was a success. Originally, I did not want to take part in the camp and was reluctant even after I agreed. However, the week was amazing; the girls were amazing; everything was amazing. The purpose of the camp is to bring together girls and boys from all over the country to be united in activities geared toward youth development. We did sessions on Self Confidence, Adolescence and Puberty, HIV/AIDS, Rape and Sexual Harassment, Child Trafficking, Gender Equity, Time Management, and others. Overall, it was an amazing experience to work closely with a group of extremely dynamic and intellegent Togolese female trainers as well as spending each day with the younger girl apprentices.

Unfortunately, we also had some civil unrest during the week in Pagala. At the beginning of the week, there was a Losso woman raped and murdered on her way back from working in the fields. Because there is a high number of Fulani (an ethnic group of mostly nomads who travel around the country with cattle; however, there are some who are stationary) in Pagala due to the villiage cheif who gave them permission to reside there. Typically, when there are problems, most people blame the Fulani, whether or not the crime was committed by them or can even be proven one way or the other. So, of course, the Losso people blamed the Fulani, driving all the Fulani men out of town as the women and children took refuge in a school. In a retaliation attempt, the Losso people killed a bunch of Fulani cattle, but the next morning found out that they weren't actually Fulani cattle but another ethnicities cattle. So, basically there were three different ethnicities fighting in the streets, they took the chief hostage (but he escaped), they set up blockades in the streets, the miliatary was called in, another man was killed...it was crazy. Of course, the events did not necessarily affect the camp, the rioting was uncomfortably close to the Camp site.

English Tutoring:Recently, I have been working with a young man who is interested in going to a university in the States. He applied and was accepted to a university in St. Louis and just needed to pass an English Language Test (TOEFL: "Test Of English as a Foreign Language") as a final requirement. His exam was in June, and he came to me to begin English in May--giving us 1 month to work together!! Of course, I was skeptical. However, HE PASSED!!!!! I was so proud!! :-)

Thesis Proposal:Ugh--frustration. So, this coming tuesday (the 13th) I was supposed to have my oral thesis proposal hearing in some sort of online Skype conference call situation. However, we decided last minute to postpone it. Which, was probably a good thing because it was somewhat of a nightmare trying to set up all the technical details...unfortunately, we decided to postpone rather than CANCEL it...haha Unfortunately, I had already made the trip down from Atakpame to Lome because I was sick and needed to stay in the Med Unit. I'm fine now, I just had a freak episode in the middle of the night were I thought my organs were exploding. They didn't, though; all is well now and I think we'll never know what it was...weird.

ALSO-- I have moved all the old photo albums to the bottom of the page where they will stay. As I add new photo albums, I will place them at the top and then move them down to the bottom as they get old, and I have new ones to share. By the way-- why is no one commenting on my photos?! C'mon peoples...I need some reinforcement here!

Hi everyone!!

I hope this message finds you well. I just wanted to write to update all my lovely readers on some projects that I have coming up and some ideas for projects that will hopefully be implemented in the future.

First and foremost, I have found an organization to work with for the Girls’ Mentoring Center that I talked briefly about in a previous post. The organization that I will be working with is CREJe. They are a really great organization that is currently doing many different development projects and programs in Atakpamé such as: working with apprentices (often, apprentices go overlooked because they are not part of the formal education system), leading a support group for People Living With HIV/AIDS (PLWHA groups help people to go on living a normal life in spite of being HIV positive; rather than focusing on the negative aspects of the disease, they discuss ways to maintain a healthy and fulfilling lifestyle), organizing a weekly support group for children infected or affected by HIV/AIDS, and managing a Big Brother/Big Sister Program. The director is very excited at the possibility of adding a program directed particularly at girls. :-) I’m also very relieved to have his support.

Secondly, I am organizing a “Take Our Daughters to Work Week” here in Atakpamé. Basically, this is a week-long camp-ish activity for middle to high school age girls to discuss work opportunities available to them. It has been pointed out to me that girls do not have many professional role models. Without these successful women to look up to, girls often become unmotivated to continue with school. In Togo, girls have many responsibilities that often limit their time and resources (i.e., money for school fees; time to devote to studying) often making it difficult to stay in school. The objective of this activity is to present model women in the community to the girls in an attempt to get them thinking about their own futures and the opportunities that await them, should they continue with school.

Thirdly, I have recently been elected to serve on the Gender and Development Committee (G.A.D.) here in Togo. This is a committee made up of volunteers (mostly GEE) that puts out a quarterly newsletter, Lève-toi Jeune Fille—this is an inspirational newsletter focusing on the importance of girls education and empowerment; manages a scholarship program that pays for select girls to go to school (school fees, supplies, uniforms, etc.); and trains all of the four Peace Corps programs in Togo (Girls Education and Empowerment, Natural Resource Management, Small Enterprise Development, and Community Health and AIDS Prevention) on the importance of including gender awareness into their work. I have been selected as the trainer for G.A.D.; thus, it will be my responsibility to attend Pre-Service Training for each of the four programs to train in-coming volunteers.

Fourthly, I have also been selected as a counselor for Camp U.N.I.T.E. Camp UNITE was first started in 2001 as a week-long camp for talented and motivated Togolese school girls and, since then, the program has expanded to include a week for Togolese school boys, as well as a week for boy and girls who are involved in vocational training (mechanics, hairdressers, tailors, etc). If you're curious about what camp is about and what it does for Togolese kids, you can also check out all the info on the website: http://www.unitefoundation.org/Camp_UNITE.html I have been selected to be a counselor for girl apprentices. :-)

I think that that’s basically all right now. I’ve also been working away on my research proposal for my thesis. For those of you who don’t know, I am in the Master’s International Program, which is a program that combines Graduate school with my Peace Corps service. I have already finished all of my graduate coursework at Illinois State University and am working on completing my thesis here in Togo. Before I start the actual thesis, however, I have to do a proposal that discusses the “who, what, when, where, why” of the research and submit that to a committee that will then approve (hopefully!!) or disapprove the project. As of right now, I’m basically done with the proposal paper, but I must do an oral defense of the research to the same committee. This oral defense is set for early July. Keep your fingers crossed that my research will get approved!!!

I think that’s all I have for you this time…but stay tuned…

Love and Misses.

-k

PACKAGES:

Many people have been asking me what I need or what sent to me so rather than listing the few things on here and having everyone send the same things (this happened with drink mixes, I now have like 25 boxes of drink mixes; but they help so much and I’m very thankful, so “Merci!” to all those who sent them!!), I gave my mom a long list of things I need, want, would like, etc. So, if you are thinking of sending something but aren’t sure what, please contact her for some ideas. Of course, anything and everything is very much appreciated. So, thank you, in advance!! However, one thing that I can never get enough of is photographs. I think of you all every single day and love being able to put pictures from home around my house. Also, my friends and family here in Togo love seeing pictures from the States.

Also—I’ve found that the best way to send packages are to get a Flat Rate Box from the Post Office that has a set price, so you can cram as much stuff in there as you want without having to pay more for size, weight, etc…

Hello all!

So, I'm just on my way back from a week long vacation in Ghana with 2 of my friends, Jocelyn and Katrina. The trip was amazing. Ghana has a few more..."amenities"...then Togo. In short, it's richer and has adopted much more modern ideas (i.e., education is important; domestic violence is bad; etc...). Also, in the capital city, Accra, there is a mall!!!! Blew our little minds.

We spent 2 days and 2 nights at the beach in Kokrobite, complete with massages, delicious food, and Rastafarians. The next 2 days and 2 nights we spent in Accra, shopping, eating good (American) food--there is actually a Champs Sports Bar, and just generally being awesome.

But now, we are back to Togo...speaking French...(oh yea, the national language in Ghana is English--sweet!)...

Hope you enjoy the pictures from the trip!

-k

hello everyone!!

i'm so so so so sorry that this update is so delayed. i hope that everyone is doing well. i wanted to upload some photos so that you can all begin to understand a little bit about my life here. however, i unfortunately can't upload a massive amount of photos all at once. so, what i did was create an account at Snapfish.com where you can log on to view my "Grand Adventure" in full color.

the website for the album is listed in the right column...ENJOY!!!

i'm currently doing well. i just returned from a week-long Project Design Management and In-Service Training in Pagala, Togo. the training went well, we received a lot of information to get us started with work at each of our respective posts. yay. work! haha...for the past 3 months i really havent been up to much of anything. peace corps recommends that for the first 3 months, we relax, get to know our post, and just adjust to the reality of living in west africa. so, now that my 3 months has passed, im ready to get going!! one idea ive gotten for Atakpame is a Mentoring Center for girls. basically, an after school program with lessons on Life Skills (things that in America we generally refer to them as common sense, or we get a general background from parents or the school system but are considered more "foreign" concepts; for example: bugeting, birth control, computer skills, making decisions, etc.). so now i just need to find an NGO to work with... of course, this is not definite, just an idea...

i also found a cute little somethin' somethin' that Shippensburg University added to their website about my service: http://sumag.ship.edu/w9trav.html

well, i hope that this message finds you all well. i will try to update again soon. i also have plans to go to Ghana next month with two of of my friends, Katrina and Jocelyn. so hopefully i'll have some fun stories after that too!

take care. miss and love you all,

-k

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!

Yes, I know, I’m almost a month late. Oops…I’m sorry. Nevertheless, I hope that everyone had a wonderful holiday season. I was able to get a few e-mails out around New Years-time, but not to everyone, so I apologize. Luckily, I was able to spend Christmas with other volunteers, celebrating in the most American way that Togo could allow. Despite the lack of snow, family, and hot cocoa, I was hell bent on having a Christmas tree, but unfortunately couldn’t find one in time so we had to make do with a string of lights duck taped to the wall in the (roughly) the shape of a tree. And of course underneath that glorious attempt at a tree, we placed gifts for eachother. We did a White Elephant Pagne Exchange, wrapped, in true Togo-style, in black saches.

[For those who are unfamiliar with "pagne," it is a type of printed cloth that is bought in pieces (usually 1-3 pagnes) that can be used for a variety of purposes, especially clothing (women generally just wrap the piece around their waist as a skirt). And the black saches are really a symbol of the Togolese versitility when it comes to taking things "to go." (haha…) The Togolese use black plastic bags for EVERYTHING. If you go to the market and buy something, it ALWAYS comes in a black plastic baggie. If you buy food on the street, the woman will put the food directly into the bag, regardless of what it is—bananas, fried plaintains, rice, beans, spaghetti, sauce, salad… Which sounds bizarre (not to mention unsanitary), but it’s actually kind of handy because if you get rice and sauce, all you have to do is shake the bag around to mix it up, same with salads and the dressing (which is always mayonnaise mixed with oil or vingar)—Togolese Shake-N-Bake…sorta…minus the baking…]

Anyways— we made a big Christmas dinner, brushetta, salad, coconut chicken over rice, mashed potatoes, gravy, cranberry sauce, and to finish it off, an APPLE PIE, made by myself and Emily. The apple pie was quite a feat considering we didn’t have an oven. For baking, we used a Dutch Oven, which is comprised of a large pot, that you pre-heat by putting it over a stove with a lid. When it’s good and hot, you place whatever you’re baking (like for example, an apple pie) inside, and suspend it off the bottom of the pan, as not to burn the bottom. Then you just leave it in there to bake, as if it was a regular oven. Where did we get apples, you ask? From a can…sent from the United States. Mmmm…

New Years: New Years was also quite different but celebrated, nonetheless. For New Years Eve, I went out with Sylvestre (a boy that lives in my compound). We went to a big hotel that was gorgeous and overlooked the whole city because it sits half way up the mountain. There was music blaring and what appeared to be an awesome site for a raging New Years Party. Only thing missing were all the people. We happened to be 2 of the few people there. He explained later that on New Years Eve, everyone goes to church to pray. I explained, in America, we go to the bars to drink… Overall, the evening was very anti-climatic…no ball dropped, noone cheered or kissed or blew on noise-makers… I also found out later that Togolese do party; they spend the following 3-4 days partying in fact. The next morning, I went with my homologue, Clementine, to see her brother. As I walked in the compound, there were several boys standing outside, working on something. Not really concerned with what they were doing, I walked up and greeted the group. Then, as they began speaking local language to Clementine, I tuned out and looked more closely at what they were doing. They were cleaning something it looked like…something black…then, wait a minute, are those legs?? Oh, yep—that’s a dead, headless, charburned goat…that must be dinner later. I spent the rest of the day eating, drinking, and dancing at my host fathers’ farm in a village outside the city. On that day, I took my new meat-eating habit to a whole new level because this time I didn’t have ANY clue what I was eating…but I was pretty sure it was some type of entrails. For those of you who don’t know, before coming to Togo, I was NOT a fan of meat. I strictly ate chicken, turkey, and fish, anything else gave me the heebie jeebies. Yuk. Chicken and turkey even grossed me out sometimes, but I knew I wasn’t disciplined enough to have a healthy diet if I cut out ALL meat products so I dealt with it. However, I was forced, reluctantly, to change that as soon as I came to post. It is rude to refuse food that is given to you, therefore everytime a hunk of meat was thrust at me (and one way to show that you care about a person in Togolese culture is to give them impossible amounts of food), I choked it down. This New Years was no different. There were several courses to the first meal and I was instructed to eat each and every course. The food was delicious but the thought of what it was nearly put me over the edge. I had to keep pretending I was eating a noodle when I think it was really part of the intestine or a piece of very dark cheese when I think it was actually liver… Thinking back, I ate an amazing amount of food that day. I hope that means they like me…

Anyways…this is getting very long so I think I’ll wrap it up. You’ll notice that I’m actually using proper punctuation and grammar (or as proper as I know how without Megan proofreading). That’s because I now have a COMPUTER that I’m using to write this blog entry. Mom and Dad very generously bought and sent a computer as a christmas gift!! (THANKS AGAIN!!!! J ) However, I don’t have internet at my house or anything, I really just needed the computer to help in writing papers for school and blogs for you all of course. So, while this doesn’t mean that I will be online more now I will just try to update my blog more often since I can write at home and just take them to the cyber café to post them.

Again, I hope that everyone had a wonderful and safe holiday season. I’d love to hear about your holidays as well!!

Much love,

-k

"I tried hard to let the world define me and to be what other people said I should be, and it never worked. Now I've got to look within my own heart and define myself. There is an incredible strength in coming from your own truth."-Jamison Green Becoming a Visible Man

Okay, so Ive returned to this so-called cyber "café" to finish my stories...

The last post about travel reminded me of a funny story that heppened during post visit:

So, before I left for post visit, I realized that I didnt really have any nice shoes other than my Chacos (which just dont go with everything, and when meeting important people here, the type of shoes you wear is very important) so I purchased a very beautiful pair of flip flops--gold with a unique sparkly leaf design--a big hit all around. But, during post visit, I walked a lot, putting much too much stress on ,y fabulous yet poorly-crafted sandals. Then one day, after a somewhat long and uncomfortable car ride (keep in mind the Togolese travelling habits: far too mant people crammed into a small car, forcing my body, thus my feet, thus my shiny new flip flops to be contorted into strange and unthinkable positions), I emerged with 1 broken flop. Oh no!! With a tear in my eye, I showed my homologue. In no time, she snatched up the shoe and handed it off to some man in some type of Emergency-Shoe-Repair-Assembly-Line Situation. Away he went, my shoe in hand; to fix it, I presumed. And fix it he did! Voilà! However, this process wes not as instant as it sounds...between the time that the shoe was whisked away and the time that it was returned--good as new--I had to individually greet a line of approx. 10 chiefs, wearing only one shiny shoe. How embarassing...

THEN, a few days after I returned rom post visit, I was walking home in style, sporting my shiny shoes once again, when the OTHER shoe broke!! CRAP! junky sandals! However, I barely made it into the compound when a host brother noticed my dilemma. He too snatched up my shoe and away he went, returning about 15 minutes later, fixed shoe in hand! MIRACULOUS! Luckily though, this time I could rest safely in the comfort of my compound as I awaited his return--no nobility involved!!

Hello again!

Another update, but this time Im writing as an official

PEACE CORPS VOLUNTEER!!!

On Thursday, December 4th, I was sworn-in as a Girls Education and Empowerment Peace Corps Volunteer. Congratulations to each of the other 24 volunteers from both Girls Education and Natural Resource Management that were sworn-in with me. We did it.

From now on, my address will be the same, however now please write: "Kara Harvey, PCV"

Now its onto the hard part....

For the next 3 months, I will be just chillin in Atakpamé. Peace Corps advises us not to start any projects for the first three months, as we need this time to get to know our post and for everyone to get to know us. While I welcome this "break" (pre-service training was long and draining) I think it will also be a struggle. Its important to realize that EVERYTHING here is work. Speaking French is work, learning the culture is work, taking bucket showers is work, adapting to my surroundings is work, becoming accoustomed to the food is work... So while I may not be teaching classes, starting clubs, or planning events, Im still hard at work. Peace Corps lists three main goals for our service, two of which are "cultural exchange"--that is both explaining American culture to Togolese and Togolese culture to Americans. So, blogging is work!! haha Also, since we are not supposed to start projects, that leaves me alone, bored, and in a city that I dont know very well...my sanity is in jeopardy. Thus, Ill be trying to come to the internet as often as possible so I welcome all e-mails, messages, comments, etc. you would like to send my way!! Please tell me stories of your life!! I miss you all!!

A Day in the Life...A lot of people have been asking me for interesting stories, but when I stop to think about funny stories, I come up with nothing... Things have become so routine here--not routine in that nothing new or bizarre ever happens, but routine in that nothing really shocks me anymore. A large part of my day is spent thinking "What the hell is going on...?!?!" or "I hear that person speaking, but I have NO IDEA what those words mean..." and the rest of the day Im usually giggling about the ridiculousness of the situation, and then I quickly move on. However, Ill try to paint a picture of my life here including some everyday situations I find myself in...My day usually begins around 5 or 6 a.m. when the chickens start cock-a-doodling and the women beging sweeping the compound--each morning the compound is swept with a small broom-ish thing without a handle, so basically just some bristles tied together at the top. I crawl out from underneath my mosquito net-covered bed, get dressed, pull my hair back into a pony tail, and head to the bathroom to brush my teeth. During PST, I had class every morning at 7:30, so I ate breakfast (bread and instant coffee) and left the house by 7 a.m. On the walk to school, I would greet almost everyone I saw (greetings are very important, people generally ask how you are, how you slept, hows your health, how is your family, and how was your work yesterday), and try not to get hit by the cars and motos speeding past carrying way more than is safe. In Togo, there are "bush-taxis" and "moto-taxis" that you use to go most places. Usually, in a car that normally seats 5 people, they will pack in 7 or 8 (once, I was in a bush-taxi that had 9, thats with 2 people in the drivers seat!!), they also stack as much as possible on top of the car--including live animals (usually chickens or goats--Ive even seen goats strapped to the back of a moto on several occassions), and then they drive EXTREMELY fast (however, Im not quite sure of the speed since Ive never actually been in a taxi that had a working speedometer). Also, travel in Togo is very unreliable. For example, while on my way to post visit, we were heading up country to Atakpamé but since it was rainy season, the road was very muddy and a large truck got stuck in the mud, and flipped over. As another car tried to pass it, it too got stuck in the mud, leaving the road completely blocked. In order to pass (there was no other way to get to the city, there is only 1 road currently that goes up country), we had to wait alongside the road for 2 hours while they carried enough rocks to rebuild the road!!! Then, when they finally got it fixed, the cars were too heavy with us and all the stuff piled on top of them for them to pass, so we had to walk for a ways until we could get back into the cars. Its also not uncommon for the cars to break down or get flat tires. Patience is truly a virtue here. Oh no, Im running out of time (Im at a cyber café, so I have to pre-pay by the hour...I not sure why they call it a cyber café though...theres no drinks or snacks available....weird). I will have to come back and finish my stories later this week. STAY TUNED!!

heeeelllllooooo!!!

i dont have much time to blog right now but i just wanted to say that

i finished pre-service training!!!

YAYYYYY!!! tonight we will be sworn-in "officially" as Peace Corps Volunteers in Lomé!! saturday we will be moving to our posts (Atakpamé for me!!). if i dont have time to update again while i am in Lomé, i will definitely have a chance when i get to post.

i hope that everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving. Peace Corps hired some chefs to cook all the trainees a traditional (American) Thanksgiving dinner, so we got to celebrate too. :-) of course, it wasnt as special without my family and friends from home but we made the best of it, and of course, we all have plenty to be thankful for!!! :-)

hope you all are well. i miss you all and think of you often.

take care!!

much love,

-k

HI EVERYONE!!!

ok, i know that it has been a super long time since i updated my blog, but i just want you to keep one thing in mind--im in africa. also, im gonna make a quick disclaimer, this update is going to be full of grammatical and spelling errors because keyboards here are much different, they look like they were patched together from a variety of different types of keyboards (well, they dont just look like that...they totally were) but as a result, i cant find several keys and i dont feel like trying to master it right now.

i dont have access to internet in my training village (Agou Akoumawou) so i have to go to the closest city (Kpalimè) to pay to use the internet, hence why its been a month since my last update.

things here are going well, i am living with a host family who is very welcoming and taking good care of me. i have my own room with a mosquito net-covered bed and we just recently got electricity which was cool. before that, i just used a gasoline lantern at night to find my way around. we also dont have running water, so i my "bathroom" consists of a latrine (basically, an outhouse) and a little concrete room where i take my "bucket showers." to take a shower, i take my bucket, fill it up with water from the well or i leave it out during a rain storm to collect rain water, go to my little shower room, and pour water over myself with a cup. the water has two temperatures, cold and freezing. haha, i could ask my host mom to boil water for me to take warm showers but i dont mind the cold. the days here are soooo hot and humid that the cold showers are a nice break from being sweaty.

the food is good, its mostly carbs, so im worried im slowly packin on the pounds...oh well, big is beautiful in africa :-) most meals consist of either rice, couscous, or pasta and some type of sauce, then for protein my mom gives me either fish or chicken. ive become much less picky about meat, she gives me chicken wings or legs and i bite right into it, i dont worry so much anymore. haha and one day, i actually watched the family catch my dinner. haha, like 5 of them running around the compound chasing a chicken....lol

the food and culture are great. i have already started wearin african-made clothing. :-) i love it.

so far, i have gotten 7 shots but i think i still have some more to get...i hate shots but theyve become so routine that it doesnt bother me anymore...i go into the room, plop my arm up on the table and take it like a champ. no biggie...

this week, i received my post placement!!! so, after training, i will be living in a big city (well, big by african standards) named Atakpame. i was really happy to get this post, it was the one i wanted. yay!!

anyways, i must be going now. typing on this keyboard is draining. for those who dont know, i got a cell phone here so if anyone wants to call, my number is 986-19-48, dial 011 to get out of the US, and the Togo country code is 228. all together, you have to dial 011-228-986-19-48

also, getting mail here is like the most amazing thing, so if you have time to send a letter, i would LOVE it!!

some things that i found i need are:

Powdered Drink Mix (like the little Crystal Light On-the-Go packets...we have to add bleach to our water, so it tastes awful)Underwear from Victorias Secret (i miss VS!!!!!!)Cleansing Face Wipes (when i wake up, my face is really greasy and gross)Make-Up (yes, i still wear make-up some days)PicturesTank Tops (the clothing restrictions are NOT as strict as peace corps made them out to be so im experiencing a shortage of tank tops...)ok, much love to all!!-k

heeelllloooo!!!!

So, we just finished the second day of Staging in Philadelphia. Talking about Togo and our upcoming experience for 2 days has me very excited about leaving!! Everyone seems really great in my training group so far! There are 31 of us that are heading to Togo tomorrow--15 of those are Girls Education & Empowerment (GEE) and 16 are Natural Resource Management (NRM). They all seem like really great, like-minded people so I'm very excited to spend more time with them as well.

Tomorrow will consist of a trip to the clinic to get shots ( YIKES!!!! ) and then some waiting around in the airport and we fly out tomorrow at 6:45 p.m.!!!

From what I understand, I should have some access to the internet for the first 3 months of training so I hope to be able to get all your messages and update my blog frequently. I hope that is the case because I have really enjoyed and appreciated all messages thus far. Thank you all for your love and support...

Please keep me updated about your own lives as you all have plenty going on that I don't want to miss!

much love,

-k

"what you do speaks so loud that i cannot hear what you say"-ralph waldo emerson

Hello!!

It's getting down to my final days here in the States!! So, as you can imagine, I've been getting a ton of information from the Peace Corps about my upcoming adventure. And since I have been asked a plethora of questions from friends and family that I have not been able to answer thus far, here's some info that might interest you as well....

How I'm getting to Togo:

Sept 19: Depart Philadelphia Airport via Delta/Air France # 8379 at 6:45 pm

Sept 20: Arrive Paris (Charles de Gaulle Airport) at 8:25 am

Sept 20: Depart Paris via Delta/Air France # 8538 at 1:20 pm

Sept 20: Arrive Lomé, Togo at 5:35 pm

Address (During Training--September 20th-December 8th):

Kara Harvey, PCT

Corps de la Paix/Peace Corps

B.P. 3194

Lomé, Togo

West AfricaSend me stuff!!(but please keep in mind that the postal system may not be as reliable as the USPS--so be mindful about the types of things that you send...)

Vaccinations to be Received during Training (Note: this does not include all the ones I have to get pre-departure!!!):

DT, Meningitis; Typhim; Hep B 1, Rabies 1; Hep A 1, Rabies 2, Rabies 3, and Hep B 2.

Overview of Training:

September 20: Trainees arrive in Lomé (Capital of Togo)

September 20-23: Arrival Retreat

September 24: Departure for Training Sites (where I will spend 8 of the 11 weeks of training)

As a GEE Volunteer, I will be in Agou Akoumahou, which is about one hour 25 minutes northwest of Lomé. During this time, I will be living with a host family.

November 1-8: Live-in at Post (during training, I will spend a week at my future post)

December 4: Swearing-In as a Peace Corps Volunteer

I will be officially sworn-in if I have successfully completed all the training requirements and achieved the language level required by your project, you will be sworn-in as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Togo!

December 8: Departure to Post (where I will spend the next 2 years!!)

Money Matters:

From September 20–December 4, I will receive $1.75/day for walk around allowance. This amount is given on a weekly basis and in local currency (i.e. in CFA).

The current exchange rate is about 419.14 CFA to US$1.

Okay, that's all for now!!!

-k

The short answer is-- Girls Education and Empowerment (GEE).

The long answer is-- This past year, I lived in Bloomington-Normal, IL doing my graduate work at Illinois State University. I was lucky enough to find a program that combined both graduate-level education (in Sociology) as well as a Peace Corps experience into a 'Masters International' program. ISU, with the help of the Stevenson Center, happened to be the only school in the country that offered this sequence with Sociology. So, upon completion of my thesis and my volunteer service, I will have my Masters in Sociology and Applied Community Development.

Under the 'Community Development' branch of the Peace Corps there are several different programs--GEE being one of them. Because of my interest and experience in women's studies, I gladly accepted this offer!

So, again...what exactly will I be doing?!

According to the Peace Corps, the GEE program focuses on the following goals:

1. Girls, together with boys, will increase their knowledge and will develop personal skills that contribute to their successful completion of school or professional training and will be empowered to participate in their communities.

2. Formal and non-formal educators will create positive environments for the promotion of girls' education in collaboration with boys.

3. Organizations will contribute to the development of their community through the promotion of education and empowerment of girls in collaboration with boys and the development of financial and human resources.

4. The communities and community based organizations will be actively engaged in the campaign to increase the enrollment rate and retention (continued enrollment) of girls in schools and apprenticeship centers. Communities will use local and external resources to support gender equity in families, community organizations, schools and cooperative groups.

**(The above information came directly from the Peace Corps Assignment Description)**

I will spend the first 3 months in an intense training program. The training includes language (French), cultural , safety/security, medical/health, and technical training. During this time, I will live with a host family who will me acclimate to my new surroundings. After I complete training, I will then move to my post, where I will complete a full 2 years of service...

I hope that helps some people to understand a little bit more of what I'll be doing....my individual project won't be determined after I have been on site for awhile, complete a community assessment of schools, apprenticeship centers, etc. and determine what types of activities are needed in the community. Again, I'll be sure to keep you all updated as this process unfolds...

-K

Welcome to my Blog!!!

I've never had a blog before, but this will probably be the most exciting thing I'll ever do in my life--moving to Africa, that is--so I figured there's a first time for everything (both blogging and Africa, I guess). Hope you all enjoy it... :-)

The Title: For those of you who don't know much about the Peace Corps, one of their slogans is "Life is Calling, How Far Will You Go?" So, that's where my title, "Life is Calling, I went to Togo," came from. That was my attempt to be clever...

I will try to update my blog (with photos) as regularly as possible while I am preparing myself and my life, during pre-departure Staging, and of course, while I am in Togo. So, stay tuned...

Much Love...

-K