I know that this post is it a little late but I wanted to talk about the “Take Our Daughters to Work Conference” that I organized with the help of three other Volunteers this past July. In Togo, especially the rural areas (there a lot of them), the number of girls who graduate from Middle School is extremely low. If 100 girls in a village start middle school by the time graduation role around a few years latter that number will have dwindled down to 10. It’s a sad reality in Togo, but many girls drop out of school for three reasons: pregnancy, lack of money, or lack of opportunities.

The goals of the conference was to show girls how to finance and continue their education, give them information about sexual health, and show them opportunities that exist with a high school and university degree. We invited 22 girls from 11 villages to come to Dapaong for the four day conference. The local community center or Affaires Social gave us the conference room and dorm rooms at a reduced price. During the first two days of the conference we talked about self-confidence and different ways that they could earn money and pay for their school fees. On the third day the girls were able to go around and shadow different model women in town. I took a group of 7 girls to see a female school director at one of a private school. She is charge of the day to day operations of the school and is the boss of several teachers. During the visit she talked about the obstacles she faced growing up as a woman in Togo. At the end of the day all of the model women went to the Affaires Social and took part in a panel discussion so that all of the girls could ask questions. We had a nurse, a secretary, a NGO director and businesswomen, come and talk about their experiences. I think that the girls were amazed to see so many powerful women together in one room and I think that the girls benefited from the one day they were able to spend with these women.

I defiantly feel like this was the biggest project that I have undertaken and it would not have been possible without the three other PCVs that I worked with . Peace Corps Togo, especially Team Savannes, is an awesome group and I have loved being here and working with them. Now the time has come to wind down my service and to start thinking about my life when I get back to AMERICA.

“So what is it like having to speak French all the time?” is a question that I get pretty often when I talk to friend and family back home. To be honest there are good days and bad days, good conversations and bad conversations. After being here for over 20 months, I feel pretty confident in my day to day speaking abilities but it’s easy for me to get tripped up on pronunciation and sentence structure. When learning French or any new language it is best to learn from the things that are around you and what you need to be able to talk about, and I am surprised by the range of my vocabulary. I could probably list more parts of the reproductive system in French than in English, but couldn’t tell you the French word for escalator. I know the word for machete, but not fast food. I can talk the benefits of sending girls to school, but I have no idea how to talk about the benefits of sending business suits to a dry cleaner.

I am amazed at how some of the people in my stage came in to Togo with no French at all and basically fluent now. Learning languages is easier for some people I guess, but I am able to do work in Togo. On Saturday I went to a nearby village with my site mates, and I delivered and hour-long presentation in French on gender equity. If any incoming trainees are reading this and are worried about learning French all I have to say is DON’T WORRY. I find that most Togolese are very patient with us and the ones who criticize our French are not worth working with in the first place.

One of the challenges to learning French in Togo is that there is a wide range of French amongst the Togolese. French is the official language of the country and the language used in schools, so most people have a strong foundation in the language. But there are over 40 different local languages in Togo, so for most people French is their second or third language. Children don’t start learning how to speak French until primary school, and there a many older Togolese, mostly women, who can’t speak a word. So sometimes when I am having a conversation with someone and nothing is getting across I am always wondering.... “Is it there French or mine?”

Hot season is upon us again here in Savannes. It is usually about 110-115 during the day and cools down to about 85 at night. Because of the heat not much work is done between 10am and 4pm during the day. I generally try to avoid moving around too much this during this time also because heat exhaustion is not much fun. I generally just hang out on my front porch and read or listen to the BBC World Service on my short wave radio. After it cools down a bit and people start to move around a little more I try and stay productive. A few days a week I teach English at the S.O.S Children’s Village in Dapaong, and other days I try to help out with some kids clubs in my area. I recently meet a woman who started a committee that focuses on improving the lives of women in the region, and last week we held a discussion at a local middle school on the importance of gender equity and the splitting of domestic tasks between brothers and sisters. In most Togolese families the girls are burdened with more responsibilities then boys. Doing laundry, watching the infants, cooking and cleaning are jobs set aside only for girls. I know that stigma remains to some extent in the U.S, but nowhere near to the level that it does in Togo. Because of these extra burdens that girls face they have little time to do their school work at home. So during our discussion we challenged the boys in the group to think about ways they could help their sisters succeed in school and how they could help out more at home. It sounds well and good but there are many men and boys in Togo who are resistant to this idea because they will like it will emasculate them. There also a lot of men and boys who want to marry an American woman and live a life of leisure in the states, “well because everyone is rich over there.” I say fine but can you cook? Can you clean? Can you take care of yourself? They usually just shake their heads and laugh.

Many Togolese are amazed at how I am unmarried at 25 with no kids, and that this is a normal way of life in the States. I always try and share stories about my life growing up in America. Like how when my mom was in night classes dad would cook us dinner, how my sister and I both did dishes, and how I would help mom out with laundry when I was in High School. That always gets some wild reactions. “It doesn’t work like that in Africa,” they say, but I always try and remind them that their chances of living a life of leisure in America are pretty slim so how about we try and improve things here in Togo, and we can start by liberating the woman.

I hope you all had a fantastic holiday season. Team Savannes had a lot of fun. We got together at our new transit house for a couple days and watched our favorite Christmas movies, cooked up some great food, and went to the NRM Program Directors house on Christmas day for more food and drinks. Good times were had by all.

Getting together to eat is a big deal here in Togo. Whenever you are invited into someone’s house they feel as if it is their life’s work to make sure you eat more than you can handle. There are small variations in the types of food depending where you are in Togo, but there is usually a starch and a sauce and if you are lucky a meat. The starches are either rice (self explanatory), fufu or pate. Fufu is basically Yams that have been pounded in a mortar with water added, and has the consistency and look of mashed potatoes. The same thing goes for pate, but instead of yams they use maize. On their own fu fu and pate have a VERY bland taste, which is why the sauce is key. There is always sauce de tomate (tomato sauce) or sauce d’arichede (peanut sauce). These sauces are very thin but full of flavor and spice. Most volunteers are more partiale to sauce d’arichede but I am more of a sauce de tomate fan myself. The other types of “street food” that are common in most of Togo are Kolico, which is deep fried yams that resemble french fries, and sodja which is pretty similar to tofu. As you can see protein is hard to come by here in Togo. Malnutrition is a major problem in Togo especially in Savannes. It is not necessarily because people are not getting enough to eat. It’s more so that they are not getting enough protein and other nutrients. Volunteers are always talking about how nutrition Togo, and many community health volunteers do home visits and talk about how feed a family, while keeping in mind that that most families have a tight budget for food.

As much as we love fufu and pate, when volunteers get together we always seem to be cooking our favorite foods from back home. About once or twice a month several volunteers in my region and I get together and have family dinner at the transit house. We usually debate the menu for a couple hours, and then we head to market to buy all the ingredients. Some of my favorite memories here are all of us in the kitchen making everything from scratch. Pizza, Fish Tacos, Bean Burgers, Fried Chicken, Ice Cream Cake, and pot roast are just a few of the things we have made entirely from scratch with very limited recourses. On the Fourth of July, we even grinded the meat ourselves for the burgers. We are pretty much McGyvers in the kitchen. It seems like everyone has their specialty in the kitchen. I guess I am pretty famous for my pancakes and crepes, but I have also gotten pretty good at making tortillas. During training we were given a cook book that has been put together by volunteers in Togo over the years, called Where there is no Whooper (It’s a play on the health manual Where there is no Doctor) Funny title aside The Whooper has been one of the most important things that I have here in Togo. Own my own I have made Poptarts, Pancakes, Pasta Sauces, Calzones, veggie wraps, tuna cakes, coffee cake, and egg drop soup. Cooking in Togo is a great way to pass the time, and when I get back I will be able to share all the tricks I have learned in the kitchen.

One year in……

Wow, I have been a volunteer for over a year now. It’s weird saying that out loud and it’s even weirder to look around and not see the volunteers who just completed their service. Instead there are almost 60 new faces in Togo that swore-in in August and November of this year. It has been great having them around and showing them the ropes of PCV life and I had a great week of being a trainer in October, but it was comforting to have the 2nd year volunteers around and ask them questions about projects or just how to get by in Togo. Now that I am in my 2nd year I will try and be as helpful as the volunteers who just left. It’s sad to see them go but they have been here since September 2008, and most of them were more than ready to go home.

Work in Dapaong has been going well also. I have been working with peer educators. Peer educators are generally high school (Lycee in French) students, who get class time set aside to talk about different themes such as HIV/AIDs prevention or gender equity. It’s a great way to spread a message and it is one of the more sustainable projects a PCV can take part in. They stop by my house a few times a week and normally we talk about different ways we can make an impact in schools. One of the main things that I have been trying to stress to them is how gender and sex affect the spread of HIV/AIDs. For example young girls in Togo have a much higher chance, compared to girls in the developed world, of being victims of sexual violence. Most girls don’t even understand that they have a right to say no. With this high level of sexual violence, there are more girls in Sub-Saharan Africa with HIV/Aids than boys. Also girls in Togo are much less likely to step foot in a class room than a boy, and therefore less likely to learn about HIV/AIDs. As a GEE volunteer it is my job to promote sending girls to school, and to promote gender equality. Working with peer educators is a great way to do this. I primarily work with the same 10 students, 5 males and 5 females, and they work together to make Dapaong a better place. The female peer educators are great examples of educated females who are making a difference in Togo and hopefully more girls will follow in their footsteps as a result.

This is now my second Christmas away from home and I miss you all. I will be home next year so get hype. It’s going to be a real good time here though. A real good time. (Sorry Platauex. I just stole your joke. Savannes…You’re Welcome. We just moved in to our new transit house/work station, and we will be cooking up some great food and watching our favorite Christmas movies. I will be sure to write about it. Hope you all have a happy holiday season, and be sure to give a hug to the ones you love.

One of the most frustrating parts about being a Peace Corps Volunteer is that we are constantly being asked to give money. Almost every day I am handed a pamphlet from someone who would like funds to do a project in the area. This sounds great but the budgets are always inflated to a large degree and the person will refuse to do the project for anything less than the stated amount. For example a few weeks ago a teacher at one of the local middle schools handed me a three page handout with information about a month long HIV/AIDS workshop he wanted to do at the school last year, but was not able to because he could not find the funds. I looked over the handout and all of the information seemed great, until I looked over the budget on the last page. It called for the equivalent of about 615 dollars which is a lot more money then what a lot of Togolese make in a year. After reviewing the information again I figured that we could do the same project and achieve the same results for about 20 dollars. This is just one of many stories.

It’s frustrating for volunteers because from the day we have arrived in Togo we are told by Peace Corps that it is more important to share our knowledge rather than our money in part because we don't make much. Many of the “development organizations” that volunteers work with are not self sustainable and never will be as long as they are funded by organizations like Churches in Europe or the U.S, or large international NGO’s like Population Service International, Rotary International or CARE. About once or twice a year a small group from these organizations will come to Togo for two weeks or so and see the progress that has been made. The people from these groups are put up in air conditioned hotels, driven around in Land Cruisers (land colonizers as we call them in Peace Corps), and have western food prepared for them. After their stay is over they hand over a very very large check and head back on a plane back to France. This just makes our job that much harder because we have no money to give and even if we did we are skeptical that the money would be put to good use, because we are here long enough to see how mismanaged the finances are here. I know that Peace Corps is not an option for most people and they prefer to do a small stint in a developing country through their Church or some other organization, but please don’t ever tell me that you did something like, “oh I did something like Peace Corps, and I just loved every second of it. Everyone was so nice and friendly.”

First off…. No. It was not like Peace Corps. Not even close.

Second… Yes, Everyone was friendly to you because you gave them a big check or help them build a church or school and then left.

Third… You were not there long enough to go through the hard parts.

When I flew home in August to go to my cousin’s wedding I flew from Accra, Ghana because it is cheaper but when I was on the airplane I could not count how many groups I saw, who were on their way home after doing their “development work” for a few weeks or less. They are easy to spot. The girls have their hair braided, the guys have their knock off sunglass on, (which they over paid for 3 fold because they can’t bargain), and chances are they are wearing the t-shirt of the church they belong to or some form of “traditional” African clothing (again they over paid for this). Oh and there is always some jackass in the airport lounge who is playing the African drum he bought on the trip

This is by far my most cynical post so far, but I am still very happy here. It is frustrating but I don’t let it keep me down, and I always feel good when I can convince someone that they don’t need a ridiculous amount of money to do some good for Togo. There is also some hope for funded projects in Togo. Another volunteer in a small village close to me is building a school, and I have no doubts that she will be involved in every step of the process making sure that all the money that she raises is not wasted or stolen. Like me she has been here for over a year and has done the research and found that her village could benefit from another school, and she will also be here long enough after the school is finished to see that it is being used properly. Her name is Rachel Gundacker and if you want you can make a tax-deductable donation to her school through Peace Corps Partnerships at peacecorps.gov.

How I spent my Summer Vacation.

It’s been a great summer here in Togo. By the time I got home from Camp U.N.I.T.E school had ended and I started to look for other projects to do in Dapaong. I went to the women’s weaving organization, called C.E.D.A.F, that my site mate works at and helped them in their garden. It was a great experience. We planted melons, sun flowers, cucumbers and carrots with the hope that the women will be able to grow and sell the food. I looked pretty ridiculous working in the garden with traditional Togolese tools, and the women all had some good laughs at my expense. In my defense I had a minimal amount of garden/agriculture experience during pre-service training. The Savannas Region has several Natural Resource Management (NRM) Volunteers, and they gave some good advice. Working in the garden at C.E.D.A.F was an enjoyable experience, but I was still looking for more things to do with my time. Then my site mate introduced me to another organization similar to his called C.A.F.P.E.S. It’s a great organization of female apprentices who are learning how to be seamstresses. The director of the program has worked with PCVs in the past, and I have gone there several times to work with the girls. I presented Like Skills lessons as well as how to make skin crème to sell. On my last day at post, before leaving for my vacation to the states for my cousins wedding, I brought three kids from one of the schools where I work, and they presented two sketches in Moba for the girls because their French is not as strong. My counterpart from the school also came and gave a speech as well.

I had a great time back in the States in August. I ate good food, saw my friends and family and went to my cousin’s wedding in Ohio. It was very overwhelming walking into the Target with my mom on my first day back, but I quickly feel back in to my old life in Chicago. After having to travel in Togo for almost a year I will never complain about the inefficiency or cleanliness of public transportation in America again because riding the Metra and El’ in Chicago was a very enjoyable experience compared to riding with 18 adults, 5 crying babies, 4 chickens and 2 goats in a bush taxi in Togo.

Shortly after I got back from the States it was time to go to Mid-Service Conference (MSC). At MSC all of the PCVs who arrived in 2009 talked about their successes and failures during their first year of service in Togo. We also talked about future project ideas for the next year of service. During MSC I also found out that I will be a Volunteer Trainer for the new GEE/NRM stage that arrives in less than two weeks. I’m leaving post in a few days to go to the training workshop with the 9 other volunteer trainers. I remember how excited and nervous I was before I left for Togo, and how well my volunteer trainers prepared me for service so I hope I can be a good example for the new stagiers.

If you guys are reading this here is my take on the Peace Corps packing list….

Solar Chargers are great for those of you will be in the bush (NRM that means you I would guess 50 percent of GEE has electricty) but don’t expect them to charge anything more than your phone and i-pod.

Rechargeable batteries are great. If you don’t have electricity you will be close enough to a place where you can charge them.

You defiantly do not need dress shoes. I understand you have to dress business casual at the staging event before you depart but that might be the only time you wear them. It’s a tough call but if you think your shoes will pass at staging then you can leave the dress ones at home.

As far as other shoes go, chacos are great but I would also bring a good pair of flip flops also. No one here really wears shoes.

I would suggest brining your laptop. I have never heard of anyone saying they wish they hadn’t brought it. It may just sit around for a while, but the PCV lounge in Lome has wireless.

I brought way to many collared shirts. It’s fun and easy to have shirts made here. I guess it depends on your personal style. Just keep in mind that the Togolese people you will be working with generally don’t have more than 3 or 4 shirts total. Also guys leave the tie at home.

Exiffico makes great t-shirts. They are comfortable, easy to wash and lightweight. Nike makes a similar dry-fit model. They are a little more expensive than some other t-shirts but that last longer and are great for Togo.

You don’t need to bring sun screen or bug repellant (unless you have a particular brand). The med unit will give it to you on the day you arrive. They will also give you your water filter.

Make sure you have some U.S Dollars to change into CFA. Peace Corps pretty much expects you to buy a cell phone during you first week. They are about 30 dollars for the phone and SIM Card.

My i-pod has been a life saver and i-home makes great portable speakers that run on batteries.

Du Courage.

Every summer a couple of PCVs organize a camp for the youth of Togo at the Peace Corps Training Center in the Central Region. Six other Volunteers and my self were counselors for a week for male apprentices. There were approximately 30 “kids” ranging in ages from 14 to 32. Each volunteer teamed up with a Togolese Counterpart and gave presentations on a range of Topics from Gender Equity and Sexual Harassment to Child Trafficking and Family Planning. I gave my presentation on the importance of sending girls to school. It was a difficult topic to present to male apprentices, many of whom never went to school in the first place, but I think that overall it went well. My counterpart and I introduced the subject with a small sketch and then we asked the kids about what they thought on the subject. We based the rest of the presentation on the idea that “if you educate a woman you educate a family and a nation.”

Each day after the presentations we had team building challenges for the campers. After the challenges we ate lunch and played games and had another small presentation. At night before dinner we had small group discussions with our cabins and I think that was the most important part of camp for the participants. They could ask the counselors questions about the presentations from the day, as well as any other questions they had about life in general. It was a great experience to be able to sit in a small group setting and see the light go off in the participant’s heads. It was pretty moving for all the volunteers who worked at the camp that week.

On the last day of camp we put on our new camp shirts and marched out in the community near the training center. A few minutes after we left it started to rain. The camp organizers tried to stop the march but the kids wouldn’t have it and we continued out in the rain singing songs and dancing in the streets. Little kids saw us and came running beside us, and it was of my most memorable moments during my six months as a volunteer.

After camp I planned on going back to Dapaong, but I decided to go to Lome for a few days to use the internet and welcome the new stage. They landed in Togo on June 5th and it they are the first new group of trainees to arrive since I got here in September. It’s crazy to believe that I have already been here for almost nine months. Since coming to post I have accomplished some small but positive goals, and over the summer I plan on working with some teachers in the area about new projects for the next school year. I am also going to Lome again in less than two weeks for an art show that is being put together by Small Enterprise Development (SED) Volunteers. Many SED Volunteers work with artisans through out Togo and this exposition will give them a chance to display their art to a large audience in the nation’s capital. I usually don’t like to travel outside of post this much but I feel it is important to show my support as well as buy a few gifts to give for my upcoming visit to the States. I’m very excited to see you all and I am very excited for my cousins wedding in August. Congrats Justin and Mandy.

On a side note many of you have asked how you can support me as a PCV. I have no ideas for major funded projects yet but if you want to help out Camp Unite for next year you can donate money to the UNITE Foundation in America which is run by former volunteers and organizers of the camp in Togo.

www.unitefoundation.org

Some of you know already know but right now I am in South Africa Right now on vacation. I'm having a great time at Sun City. My old man has a conference here and I thought I should tag a long. Its been a great trip. I took my first hot shower since October and it was great and I'm also eating more than my usual goat and pentard....(pentard is a bird in the north). My parents brought some goodies from the states and it was like Christmas. New t-shirts, a USA soccer jersey, candy, dvds and other odds and ends. Also while I'm here I have had access to Internet that dose not make dial up look fast, and I noticed on peacecorpsjournals.com that some people for the up coming 2010 June Stage are getting their formal invites for Togo. It will be nice not to be the newbies anymore. It's not that we are picked on or there is really any hazing, but it will be fun to have new faces in country. I remember how happy I was when I got my Togo invite (after having already reassigned twice). It was pretty surreal. There were a lot of ups and downs before leaving for Peace Corps and a lot more lot more after getting to Togo, but I wouldn't trade any of them. Except the diarrhea . Well if any invitees read this I hope you know that we all look forward to meeting you and if you have in questions just ask. The packing list is pretty damn long and you wont need most of it.

Du Courage

Almost every community in Togo no matter how big or small has a market or Marché where you can buy food and other items for the house. The larger villages will have larger markets and the chances are you will be able to find more items. Dapaong is a Regional Capitol and on market days people come in from all over the Savannas Region to buy and sell their goods. The Marché area of Dapaong consists of three large open air buildings with green roofs. The first building has several long tables were you can buy seasonal fruits and veggies as well as spices and flour. In the other two larger buildings there are dozens of small booths where you can find cookware, small electronics, clothes, fabric and other odds and ends. You can go to the Marche and find things every day but the big Marche days for Dapaong are Saturdays and Wednesdays. On these days the Marche is swarming with people and you can find almost anything you would need.

I have been trying to cook more and the market is the only place where can find fresh food. I don’t have a refrigerator yet so I have to go every couple of days. Walking around the Marché area is all ways an interesting experience and every time I go I seem to discover a new part. There are always interesting smells, sights, and sounds at the Marché. There are always kids running around and vendors yelling out to you to buy their wares. It feels pretty chaotic sometimes but at the same time it seems natural and proper here in Togo. If you ever come to visit you will just have to experience it for yourself. Usually when I’m done buying all of my stuff I go to a restaurant nearby that has an open air terrace on the second floor and I look down at all of the organized madness. Sometimes you just have to buy things on impulse. Last week I bought a knock off Phoenix Suns Jersey for the hell of it.

In my past experiences abroad I would often tour the Marché or Souks, or Bazaars and look for knick-knacks or other souvenirs to bring back to the states. Now that I’m living in Togo going to the Market is much different. Instead of buying a gift for a friend back home I’m getting food and goods for myself, and I have to be more aware of prices. Knowing how to haggle or “discoute” with the venders is always a interesting ordeal.

Combein pour sa?

10 Mille franc.

Ah heh. C’est le prix pour le « yovo » Je vais paire 3 mille

Non non non non. 8 mille

Le dernier prix est quoi ?

5 mille franc

Ah bon. Je payer 4 mille franc

D’accord

The Marché mamas, as we like to call them, really know how to drive a hard bargain.

My feet are always dirty here. You may be asking yourself why is that such a big deal? Aren’t feet always dirty? Very few roads in Togo are paved and side-walks are non-existent, which means that I spend most of my time walking around on dusty dirt roads so at the end of the day my feet are pretty filthy. As a new volunteer its best to get out of your house as much as possible so I have been walking around Dapaong saying hi, or “saultaing” to random people and trying to improve my French, but as soon as I get home the first thing I say to myself is, “holy shit my feet are dirty” or “merde, mon peids sont sale.” Told you I have been working on my French. However as a result of this I have found that a good activity to pass the time is washing my feet. Not in the religious sense a la Jesus and Mary Magdalin, but it just feels good to have clean feet at the end of the day. Simply taking a shower is not enough to get your feet clean. F.Y.I you need a solid 10 minutes of solid scrubbing to get all the dirt off. So it’s best to get a bucket of water, a bar of soap and a sponge, take a seat on the front porch and go to town. It’s best to start with the bottoms then work in between the toes. Don’t ever skip going in between the toes. There is a lot of dirt in there and you can’t be shy about it. Then move on to the top of the foot and don’t forget to rinse and repeat. Always repeat. Another question you might be asking your self is…why don’t you wear shoes to avoid getting your feet so dirty. My response is, “well smart ass it’s really hot here, everyone in Togo wears sandals and I’m trying to be bien intégre.”

Now that that’s out of the way I hope you all had a wonderful holiday season and enjoyed the cold weather. This was my first X-Mas with-out my family so it was a little sad, but at the same time all of the volunteers in Togo are family in a way. We don’t always all get a long but at the day they are a great group of people and an amazing support network. This was also my first New Years Eve not seeing Umphrey’s McGee in 7 years. It was a little bit weird rocking in the New Year without my favorite band, but I guess the streak had to end sometime, and what better place than Togo. New Years Eve is not very big in Togo but there is a pretty big celebration on New Year’s Day. Everyone dresses up in their best clothes and eats A LOT of food. I also found out that it is customary for kids to go up to adults and ask for candy. Not knowing this I felt bad not being able to pass any out, but none of the kids seemed too upset. One brave kid even knocked on my door and asked for some. I really hope he enjoyed the raspberry crystal light packet.

Happy holidays from Dapaong. I hope you are all doing well and are enjoying the season. My first full week at post was rather eventful compared to most other PCVs. Last Tuesday I got a call from the U.S Embassy and I was told that the Ambassador would be coming to small village near Dapaong for a ribbon cutting ceremony for a well that the United States, (thanks for paying your taxes everyone) had donated. The two other Dapaong volunteers and I had already been invited to the ribbon cutting, but now we were also invited to have dinner with the Ambassador and her husband. The three of us called Moussa to take us to the near-by village. Moussa is a driver in Dapaong who many volunteers use when they need to travel or have something moved from one place to another. He drives a beat up, multi-colored, station wagon with no A/C, seatbelts, or carpeting and it has several cracks in the windshield, but because of our skin color, when we first arrived to the village everyone thought that one of us was the Ambassador. It didn’t take us long to clear up that we were PCVs and not part of the Ambassador’s convoy. We were still given a nice place to sit right next to all of the village chiefs from the area and we patiently waited with everyone else for the Ambassador to arrive. While we waited we watched traditional Moba dances, (Moba is the predominate ethnic group in Dapaong and the surrounding villages) and talked with the members of the community who could speak French. After being there for about 20 minutes we saw brand new white Land Cruiser pull up and the Ambassador and her husband emerged from the car. The ceremony then kicked off with the sacrifice of a chicken in front of the Ambassador and then we all sat down and there were several speeches in both French and Moba. The village chiefs spoke as well as the chief of Dapaong. Christophe, who is the head of a woman’s rights NGO, thanked the United States for its contribution as well as all of the PCVs he has worked with in the past. The Ambassador briefly spoke and then she cut the ribbon. There was a news team there and chances are I was on Togolese television…again. (The swear-in ceremony was broadcasted on national television). After all the pageantry we were given a small meal and the three of us spoke with the Ambassador about dinner plans. We decided to go back to Dapaong and meet up again for dinner later that night.

We went to the Campamont Hotel for dinner which is where most of the tourists, aid-workers, and diplomats stay when they are traveling through Savannahs. It’s a nice place, but very expensive for a PCV. A steak will run you about $6.50. However with the ambassador picking up the tab the three of us were quick to order all three courses. The food was great and the dinner topics ranged from retirement plans for the Ambassador and her family to scuba diving. After the meal was over we were dropped off at our respective houses in the same brand new land cruiser that the Ambassador took to the ceremony earlier in the day.

I understand that having dinner with the Ambassador will most likely not be a regular occurrence but it was kind of neat to do something like that during my first week as a PCV. The next day other volunteers in Savannahs found out about our extravagant dinner and were extremely jealous, but they were also pretty impressed. It won’t be the last time that I eat at the Campamont but it will probably be the last time the bill is picked up by the head of the United States mission in Togo.

Well I’m officially a volunteer now. Sorry for not posting for over a month, but the last few weeks were pretty stressful. I had a great post visit to Dapong at the beginning of November so I was really looking forward moving in to my new home for the next two years. I live in a small compound with a few other apartments. I have two bedrooms and a large living room. I don’t really have a kitchen but Im setting up a cooking space in the living room. It was about a 12 hour drive from Lome to Dapong but right now it just feels good to be “home.” Im still setting up, its starting to look pretty good. I need to buy, like cooking utensils, and a desk but for the most part I have all that I will need for the first few weeks.

The last few weeks of training were pretty stressful. It was nice to see everyone in my stage after post visit, we were all ready to move on and become volunteers. In the middle of November we took a 4 day field trip around the country and saw volunteers in action and we learned about different projects we could start at our post. Some of the things we saw were a village savings and loan group, a science club, and a women’s rights organization. It was a nice break from the usual training schedule and we got to see many parts of the country. After the end of training we went to Lome for a very hectic four days. We had to sign several forms, get our swine flu shot, (yes, its made its way to Africa) go to the bank, buy things for post, and get sworn in as Peace Corps Volunteers. It was a very hectic time for all of Peace Corps Togo because many of the volunteers who came here in September of 2007 were in the process of leaving the country. It was sad to see them leave after barly getting to know them but they left us with great advice for service and I know they are excited to get back home to their family and friends. People are always coming and going in Peace Corps but the next stage is not until June 2010 we will all have a least a few months having the same people around. I really like the other volunteers in my region and I think we are going to be a good group.

I got to Dapong late on Saturday night and I spent the night at the Peace Corps transit house and I moved in all my stuff to my house on Sunday morning, and yesterday I went and observed some English classes at one of the middle schools in town and I had dinner with two other volunteers who are married and have been here for just over three months and we discussed possible project ideas. Setting up my house has been a work in progress and I hope to put up pictures when I’m done. I hope everyone is doing well and thank you so much to those of you who have sent letters and emails. They are really great and always put a smile on my face and I will do better about responding to them. I promise.

Du Courage

Well I have gotten a few requests to update so here goes. I’m still in training and everything has been going well for the most part. We are going to visit our future posts on Saturday and everyone is very excited to see where they will be living for the next two years. We are midway through training and I think most of the group is starting to get impatient. I will be going to Dapong which is the regional capital in the Savahans region which wayyyyy up north by the Burkina border. I also found out that I will have some really cool region mates when I get there. Before coming to Togo I was doubtful that I would have running water or electricity but as it turns out I will have both at my post. Dapong has a population of about 40,000 (I think), which is defiantly one of bigger posts in Togo and Peace Corps World Wide. I don’t have much more info on where I will be living because the site description was pretty vague compared to some of the others. I know once of the kids from the Natural Resource Management group is going to a village of 300. I think he and I are at the extremes of the spectrum. On a down note, the day we got our post descriptions I had to go to the Peace Corps med unit in Lome because I wasn’t feeling well. I really didn’t want to go, but it was kind of nice to sleep in an air conditioned room and have a hot shower after taking bucket baths for a month. It was almost like being back in the States. I talked to a current volunteer who said his time in the med unit wonderful even though he was vomiting constantly from Malaria. While I was in the Med Unit I was able to hang out with Brian who was staying in the Med Unit waiting for a flight back to the states. He was a volunteer in Madagascar and was evacuated in March after 8 months of service. He was my roommate our first four days in Lome and was a great person to talk to about being a volunteer. He decided that Peace Corps Togo was not for him, and he has a pretty big cross country road trip in front of him. Good luck man. After spending two days in the med unit I was able to go back to training. Since then I have been feeling much better but I haven’t had much of an appetite since. I have lost twenty pounds or so since arriving in country. I also have got a wicked cut on my foot a few days ago, and it’s been a challenge to keep it clean but so far it hasn’t gotten infected. I also got my first two shirts made in since being in Togo. They are both pretty colourful and only cost me 12 dollars to make both of them. Thanks for all the care packages I got lots of pictures and Halloween candy today and everyone else is pretty jealous of all the love I have been getting. Well I hope things back home are going well, I’m a bit jealous of your cold weather because I found out that the hot season in my region is from February to early May and it can get up to 115 in the day!

Well I have been in Togo for almost three weeks and training is going well so far. We have been bonding well as a group and I have been getting along well with everyone. I was very excited to leave Lome for the training village, and It has been much better here. When we first arrived to the training center out host families were already waiting for us. There was music, dancing and food. It was obvious from the beginning that I can’t dance and have no rhythm. I’m pretty sure I was a pretty good source of amusement for the other trainees as well as our host families. I found my host mother right away. It was a little awkward at first, but she is a nice woman and great cook. I meet my host father the next morning because he was away on business. I think I lucked out with my host family because they do not push food on me and they respect my privacy. They are very nice and I have been eating some wonderful food. (To mom and dad, yes I have been getting enough protein). I eat with my family for every meal and they are always helping me with my French. Michael Jackson is loved here and some times during dinner they will play a DVD of all his music videos, and other times we will watch Lion King II in French….great film.

The training days are long, but we get a lot out of them. I usually wake up around 6:15 to get ready and eat breakfast, and then I get on my bike and head to the tech house. Along the way I hear little children singing the Yovo song. Yovo means white person here in Togo, and it’s probably the first word that the Children learn, and they are always excited to sing the song. We stick out here and we hear the song all the time, mostly from the 3 to 6 year old children. I get to the tech house around 7:30 and we start training. We either have sessions on the realities of girl’s education in Togo, or French lessons. We also have health sessions about staying healthy in Togo and how to repair our bikes. I have been fine so far but a few people have gotten sick but nothing major, except one girl who was medically separated after being in country for only a week. I felt terrible for here because she really wanted to stay here and it was sad to see her leave.

At noon we head back home to eat lunch and take a break, and we return to the tech house at 2:30 for more sessions and then we head home at 5:00. Sometimes we go out for a drink. We don’t get much money as trainees but luckily the local beer is cheap and not too bad. I usually get home around 6 and dinner is at 7. After dinner I usually go to my room where I will watch part of a movie or read a book on the terrace in front of the house. We have been advised not to go out late after dark until we are more familiar with the area. There is not much to do here at night anyways and I think we are all pretty tiered at the end of the day anyways. We have played ultimate Frisbee on Saturday afternoons and have a free day on Sundays. Yesturday some of us watched Arrested Development on someone’s laptop. I’m excited!

Well I hope this answers some questions about my life in Togo so far. I miss and love you all and I hope that you are all ready for the cold weather. Its pretty hot here, but nice in the shade and I really miss air conditioning. It has also rained pretty hard for about twenty minutes the past two days as well.

Well I’m here in Africa. There is only one paved road in the Capital of Togo which is Lome, The first few days have been interesting. I have had to get four shots since being here and Im on Malaria meds which are supposed to give you some pretty wild and vivid dreams but I have not had any yet. Im going to move into my training village today for the next nine weeks. Im really looking forward to that because it will give me a good idea of what life in Logo will be like when I swear in as a volunteer. We had dinner at the Country Directors house and the U.S Ambassador was there and she was very gracious for the work that volunteers do here and she wishes that the Embassy could do more.

I arrived here with 33 people ranging in ages of 22 to 28. I know it is not very diverse even by Peace Corps standards because they are pushing for more and older people to serve. We are from all over the country though and there are a couple people here with Chicago ties and one kid even has the same Chicago stars as me. They seem really great and when we were in Philly a few of us even got into a bear fight ( I guess that will be the first inside joke between us…he he he)

Since being here we have been called Yovo countless times which mean white person here. Its not that derogatory and its mostly little kids who say that. Some of the current volunteers don’t like it and others don’t mind. It doesn’t bother me…..yet. My training village will have internet but the speed will make dial up look like DSL . I hope to stay in contact but if you don’t hear from me for a while its not because I don’t miss you its just that I have VERY limited recourses.

Well I leave in just under a month....fingers crossed. I have confirmed my flight to Philadelphia for stage (a two day orientation about Peace Corps Togo), and I leave Chicago at 6:40am on September 17th. So say your final goodbyes before then!!!!!. My stage class and I leave for Togo at 6:40 pm on September 18th with a couple hour layover in Paris. My group will be much smaller compared to the one that I would have left with for Mauritania. I am leaving with 15 other volunteers in my sector and there are only 2 other male volunteers. What is my sector you might ask? Instead of being an English Teacher I will be working in the Girls Education and Empowerment section as a Girls Education Extension Agent. What dose that mean really, here is what I was given in my assignment.

YOUR PRIMARY DUTIES

The goals of the Girls' Education and Development project are:

1. Girls (students or apprentices) together with boys (students or apprentices) 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 communities 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 enrollmemt and retention rates of girls in schools and apprenticeship centers. Comuunities will use local and external resources to support gender equity in families, community organizations, schools and cooperative groups.

And here are some of the tasks that I am supposed to accomplish...

By the end of the first year, you should be collaborating with your counterpart(s) in implementing at least two of the following activities:

Village Savings & Loan programs, to help families improve their incomes so that they could better support the education of their children, especially their girls;

Training of families on gender issues to encourage them to provide the same opportunities for both boys and girls regarding their education;

Tutoring and other activities such as training in study skills aimed at improving the performance of girls in the classroom;

A teacher/apprentice supervisor training on gender equity and life skills;

Organization and co-facilitation of at least one club;

School vacation enterprise program to help girls to meet their financial needs during the school year.

Just thought I would let everyone know what I will be doing in Togo.

Im going to Togo. I leave for stage on September 16th. Looks like I will be here for my Birthday!