My project is on the Peace Corps website. If you would like to read about it:

1. Type in the following website: www.peacecorps.gov/

2. Click on donate to volunteer projects.

3. Search by Volunteer - type in Sprague

4. Scroll down

5. Click on Camp Scientifille to read about it

World AID Day 2010

Working in collaboration, as usual, with my closest CHAP volunteer, I held an event to commemorate World AIDS Day. Step 1: Request an absurd number of condoms from PSI. By an absurd number, I mean a couple thousand. So many that I was able to cover the entire surface of floor. So many that I still have a bucket left over. Step 2: Train Peer Educators and tchouk vendors. I held the training a week or so before the event. Abdel came to translate as the vendors are all women, none of whom really speak French. We talked about modes of HIV transmission, as well as testing and prevention. The Peer Educators practiced giving short presentations on these topics as well as doing condom demonstrations. Step 3: Marché day! My Peer Educators and I (with three CHAP volunteers and some counterparts) walked around the market distributing packets of condoms to the women who participated in the training. They were instructed to hand out one condom with each purchase of a calabash (dried gourd from which tchouk is consumed). The Peer Educators circulated to give demonstrations and answer questions.

It was, well, quite an experience. I am really glad I did it, but if I ever did it again, I would start earlier in the day. Marché is less about purchasing goods than about sitting around drinking tchouk and palm wine. So, by the late afternoon, everyone is pretty intoxicated. By the end of the event, I was hoarse from reprimanding tactless men over the din of the marketplace. I will save you the indignity of exposure to some of the colorful things drunk men might say to a young woman who is distributing condoms. Oh, Togo. Just use your imagination.

But a lot of good came of it, as well. It was a great opportunity to discredit some of the many false myths surrounding condom use and HIV. I remember being warned about some of these during training and have been asked about a few of them throughout the course of my service, but it still surprises me to hear them. The white man created the HIV virus and then implanted it in condoms, so using them is actually how you acquire the virus. Condom use will make you permanently infertile. Using two is twice as good as using one. And so on. As for the best question I heard that day, it was definitely the first time I encountered it: “So, if a dog eats the feces of a man who is infected with HIV, and then you eat the dog, will you become infected?” I made him repeat it three times to make sure I understood what he was asking. But in a country where humans defecate openly and where dog meat is widely consumed, I suppose it was a reasonable question. (The answer is NO, by the way. For a number of reasons.)

It was also a great opportunity to reach a population with whom I have very little contact. Most men spend all day in the fields and besides, I do most of my work with students. My Peer Educators were completely composed throughout, and the other volunteers really stepped up when I needed it. And I learned a lot about project implementation, so I think, in the end, benefits outweighed costs.

So, there is so much more, of course, but I think that is all I can handle at present. 2011 will have to wait for another trip. Oh, and please, please consider donating to Science Camp. Please.

Science club AKA geek club, as my fellow volunteers have so lovingly dubbed it, is just another project for which I felt unqualified but which is quickly becoming the best part of what I do here. Solange and I had originally selected about 16 girls at the 4e and 3e levels to participate. With a few no-shows and quite a few girls showing up, begging to join, we ended up with about 25 girls. As opposed to the general nature of the camp, the club is based on what the two classes are currently studying. We start each session by requesting a volunteer from each class to summarize what they have learned that week. Not only does this repetition give them a chance to reinforce their learning, it is also very clear when a topic was not entirely understood, and Abdel can step in to explain and answer any questions. I think this study group portion is quickly becoming the most valuable part of the club experience.

After reviewing (and doing some silly ice-breakers, practically a Peace Corps requirement), we will engage in activities and experiments related to the week’s theme. Baking soda volcanoes, an overdone classic in the states, was a hit. I also try to relate the topics to the girls’ own lives in some kind of practical application. Last week, we were talking about teeth. After going through the parts and diagrams and role in the digestive system and so on, I used the opportunity to talk about dental hygiene. The girls learned how to make toothpaste and practiced using measuring spoons in the process (these girls have never used either before.) I brought my toothbrush and we all brushed together.

While I was back down in Tsevié for my second week with the trainees, I met with a representative from Trésors d’Afrique, an NGO that has begun a program to support girls in the sciences. For now, they administer an annual science competition for girls in the Maritime region, but they are looking to expand to a national audience. And we are a national camp looking for a community partner. So, both parties are pretty pleased with the collaboration. Wait, is this the first I am mentioning of science camp? I have no way of checking right now, but I have a hard time believing that I have not yet alluded to this life-consuming project. Just to be safe, I am organizing a national science camp for girls, Camp ScientiFille, to be held in early August. And now, my shameless begging: PLEASE DONATE. We have a funding request online now. Pass the link along to anyone who might be interested. I’ll leave it at that for now, but know that the pleading will become more desperate as time goes on.

Time for something more uplifting. In October, our cluster (the six volunteers who share a mail point) held a MAP (Men as Partners) training at the center in Pagala. MAP is a new initiative in the GEE program that encourages men’s participation in gender equity and social development. We each invited a few men from our communities. I brought the director, the new SVT teacher (Solange’s replacement and soon to be my new counterpart) and the chief (also known as my papa). In general, the training went really well, the men were open to the difficult conversations about gender roles and treatment of women and sexual behaviors and HIV infection, and we all felt pretty good about it at the end. The best part, though, took place the day after. My host dad, driving his car (very rare, owning a personal vehicle, but he’s kind of a big deal), stopped me on the road back into village (I was walking from somewhere) and offered me a ride. On the way back, we started talking about the formation and how he thought it went. He mentioned offhand that he was on his way back from the hospital in Pagala where he had just taken an HIV test. He had also made appointments for each of his three wives to go during the following week. This may not sound like much. It is only now, writing it in English, that it seems almost inconsequential. But getting the chef du canton to engage in immediate behavior change, to take an interest not only in his health but in that of his WIVES as well, was not an outcome I had foreseen. In fact, his is a success story people like to tell. I was just sitting in on a training for first year volunteers to which participants from previous MAP trainings came to talk about their experiences and one told the story of my chief. He is now all psyched about testing, and we are trying to get a mobile testing unit to come to village and test everyone for free.

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I went back down to Tsevie for my first week with the new stage. My first impression was that they were so CLEAN. It was also bizarre to have a new group asking me about Togo and the GEE program and my work, when really, I feel like I just got here. But it had been over a year since my arrival, now getting close to a year and a half. My favorite part of being a trainer was getting to sit through stage again, but this time I understood everything! It is amazing the difference a year has made with my French. It was also just nice to connect with a new group of volunteers, especially ones who are at their most idealistic and energetic.

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I’ll admit it. I was pouting and thus waited a full week after the arrival of Solange’s replacement to go meet him. I know that is not professional, or even remotely mature, but I was entirely prepared to dislike him. I had already painted a pretty uninviting picture of him in my mind. He was old, condescending, uninterested, misogynistic, set in his ways and probably a little creepy. Wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, and very wrong. See, sometimes I can admit when I’m wrong.

He is young and enthusiastic, open to all of my ideas, really smart, creative, forward-thinking, opposed to corporal punishment, willing to do anything I dream up. I originally planned to ask him to work with me just on science club, but Abdel has quickly become an all-around counterpart. This does not make me miss Solange any less, and I definitely think that having a female teacher presented the girls with an invaluable model, but, OK, Universe, I guess you knew what you were doing.

I was informed at my mid-service conference that I had been selected to be one of the volunteer trainers for the new stage [stah-ge] arriving in mid-September. While I was excited about stage, I was a little less thrilled about all the time I would be spending out of village. After mid-service conference, I went down to Lomé for the Diversity Committee training (I sort of got volun-told to join the committee, but I’m glad in the end to have done it), then back up to village, then back down to Tsevié for the Training of Trainers for stage. Yikes. Keep in mind the nature of travel here.

So far, so good. Then I got back to village. This is right about when I experienced what I believe is commonly referred to as my “mid-service crisis.” I returned, ready to start on all the second-year projects I had planned with my counterpart, Solange. I was excited to work with her for a million reasons, not the least of which is that finding a female science teacher at the CEG level is almost unheard of. The day I came back, I went to meet with the director to tell him of our plans and ask for his official approval. He let me talk on and on and on, while Solange entered and sat quietly in the back of the room. I finally paused for breath, to ask whether he was still willing to let the girls out of Travail Manuel on Thursdays, and he just chuckled. “Well, I guess that depends.” I looked at Solange, confused. She just looked down at her hands, refusing to make eye contact. “Well, Solange has been transferred, so you will have to wait and talk to her replacement.” The awkward, empty smile that generally implies that I have no idea what is going on around me (a frequent look for me, to be sure) slowly slipped off my face as I grasped the implication of his words, tossed so carelessly in my direction. Solange, transferred. Well, of course she was. Tchifama is not exactly a desired post. In fact, it is usually given to new teachers who need to put in some time before getting sent somewhere better. And it was unlikely that the regional directors would leave a young, single woman out in the bush for too long. But still… I couldn’t even respond. Not only was all of my work based on her collaboration, she was also my closest friend in village. It’s hard to have adult friends when all women my age are married with at least three or four kids by now.

I’ll save you the details of my temper tantrum though there were definitely tears shed and pillows thrown and feet stamped, though mostly in the privacy of my own home, with only my dog as witness. When I recovered enough to go back to the director and talk about where to go from there, he suggested that I try working with another teacher, one who had helped us with Girls’ Club a few times last year. I agreed and said I would be by to talk to him the following week. When I arrived, I found that he, too, had just been transferred. In the same week, the sage-femme (mid-wife) that I worked with at baby-weighing was also transferred. I wish I could say that I was making this up. But, well, it happened. So now my best friend and everyone I ever worked with was gone.

I took the night off, told my family I was sick and wanted to be alone, poured myself a glass of sodabi (gross, I know, but desperate times…) and soul-searched. Besides the obvious sadness of losing friends and acquaintances (a precious commodity here), I was frustrated because in a small village like Tchifama, there are not an overabundance of willing, capable and available counterparts. The entire premise of Peace Corps is that we work directly with Togolese counterparts to transfer knowledge and skills in a way that allows them to continue our projects in a sustainable manner long after I have left Tchifama, long after Peace Corps has left Togo.

It took me the entire first year to build these working relationships, and now, any chance for continuing, sustainable work seemed unlikely. There was a lot of “what’s the point?”-ing going on. I wish, for the sake of the narrative, that there was some, clear, epiphany moment in which I saw it all clearly and came to all kinds of brilliant conclusions. Maybe one of the girls I have worked with would have arrived at my door with a testimonial of how my work here has changed her life. If I were a character in a novel, that is what would have happened. Instead, I went back to work the next day, still a little lost, really just going through the motions, and just kept working until gradually, I remembered every reason that I love this country and my village and my work and these incredible girls and even my loud, overwhelming, demanding, ridiculous circus of a host family. And I do; I love all of these things with a depth I didn’t know possible. This is not supposed to be easy. No one ever said it would be. So I am just going to do the best I can.

Science Camp Tchifama took place the first week of August. We followed the same schedule as in the previous village, and we definitely benefited from the previous week’s trial run. APCD Rose came on the last day to observe and impart a few words of wisdom. She is such an incredible woman, and someone to whom these girls can relate. She, too, came from a small, out-of-the-way village where education was not exactly a priority for girls. And she is now the director of a Peace Corps program that she herself created. The Girls’ Education and Empowerment program is her baby, and Togo its birthplace. She talked to the girls about her own struggles and the importance of pursuing an education.

I was truly exhausted by the end. So it was the perfect time for a vacation, my first, starting with a visit from Mom, Dad and Kelsi. They flew into Accra and took a car to meet me at the Togolese border. They had assured me that they could easily make their way to Togo on their own. I felt very confident, until I told other volunteers about our plan. They were horrified that I was not going to pick them up. Admittedly, travel in West Africa is not quite like Western Europe. But I had no reason to be alarmed. They found a car at the airport that took them directly to the border. I met them there and helped them cross, a venture that involves redundant paperwork, repetitive questions first in English, then in French and slipping the guards a few CFA to expedite the process. We took a “taxi” to the hotel and checked in. The Bellevue is a gorgeous hotel in the Kodjaviakope quarter. I took my first hot shower in a year and promptly started weeping. I cannot remember the last time I felt so clean. It was incredible. We walked around Lomé, seeing the “sights” and stopped for a drink in the Grand Marché. Dinner at the hotel, next to the pool, was unforgettable. We had a little hiccup in the morning when the car I had called failed to show up. The Poste bus was leaving at 6h, so there was a bit of stressful scrambling to get to the Post Office in time. We made it just in time to slip the driver a few CFA to overlook our excess baggage weight and the fact that I was transporting a prohibited gas tank for my stove, and we were on our way. We got off in Langabou and rented a car to take us to Tchifama.

My family was so excited to meet… well, my family. We spent a few wonderful days in village, eating fufu and koliko (it was yam season), drinking tchouk at the marché, playing catch with the kids, riding motos (Dad and Kelsi), having panic attacks about people on motos (Mom)... I know they all wrote something with the intention of posting it here, so I will leave the details to them. Suffice it to say, it was the best part of my service so far, and I consider myself very lucky that they were able to make the long trip out here.

We wrapped up our time in Tchifama with lots of hugs and pictures. Then we embarked on an epic travel day, in a car from village, to Lomé, across the border, in a car to Accra, flew to Cairo, flew to Luxor. I think it was about 36 hours before we actually arrived. Egypt was incredible, but I guess that is not really relevant to my time in Togo, so back we go.

After returning from the whirlwind of Camp Espoir and Take Our Daughters to Work, I immediately plunged into last-minute planning for the two village science camps I planned with a nearby CHAP volunteer. The first took place in her village at the end of the month. I have such counterpart-envy. While I struggle to find people with whom I can work, she has an Affaires Sociales (Office of Social Promotion) representative and Conseil Agricole (Agricultural Consultant) clamoring to work with her. They both came to camp to help in translating and explaining some of the more difficult technical concepts.

I felt unprepared, but my worries were unwarranted. There were sixteen (relatively) motivated female CEG students who showed up (relatively) on time for the first session. I will admit that science has never been my thing. I was hesitant to take on these projects. But it has been an incredible experience. And somewhere along the way, I became Peace Corps Togo’s unofficial spokesperson for the Girls in Science initiative. Who would have thought? Definitely no one who has seen my grades in high school chemistry.

So, camp was more fun and more successful than I could have imagined. Rather than take a curriculum-based approach, our aim was just to encourage the girls’ interest in the sciences with broad-spectrum activities. We started with a general session on why girls do not pursue the sciences.

*SIDE NOTE: After completing 3e and passing the BEPC, students choose a focus for their studies in lycée. The “A” series is more of a liberal arts degree, with a concentration on languages, history and philosophy. The C/D series is the math/science track. There are very, very, very, very, very few girls pursuing a C/D track at the lycée level. Increasing these numbers is one of the central goals of the Girls in Science initiative.

Right, so we talked about why there are so few girls in Series C/D at lycée. Some of the problems include:

- There are no women in the community working in a science-based field. Without these models, girls are unaware of the opportunities

- Lack of encouragement: friends, teachers and parents will all tell girls that they should stick with The A series. Even directors have been known to discourage girls from registering for Series C/D.

- Teaching methods: As with all other subjects, the focus is theory and memorization, rather than practice and application. There are no materials for experimentation. There are not even text books. Everything they have learned has been from diagrams drawn on a chalk board. Science, especially suffers from a lack of experiential-based learning.

- CONFIDENCE: So many girls I have spoken to have told me that the only reason they would not consider a science track is that it is too hard. These are very intelligent, capable young women, but they believe that they are not as intellectually capable as their male counterparts.

Then there are, of course, the general reasons for which girls abandon school in general: early pregnancy, forced marriage, responsibilities at home, lack of money to pay school fees, sexual harassment from teachers, a failure to understand the availability of post-education work opportunities, and so on.

I digress yet again. I could ramble on about this all day, but I’ll try to get back to the point. We talked about these problems and some of the possible solutions. In the next session, we taught the scientific method, a crucial component of science education in the states that is completely lacking here. To ensure they grasped the concept, we had them perform simple experiments and work through the steps. We talked about the various kinds of graphs and performed experiments with pH paper to exemplify bar graphs and worked with heart rate to illustrate line graphs. There was a session on observation and objective description where they collected leaves from the surrounding area. Conseil Agricole was invaluable in identifying all the plants at the end and explaining their various uses in food and medicines. The most popular session was the one in which the girls used the microscopes that were so generously sent from the states. They had never even seen a microscope, much less been given the opportunity to manipulate one themselves. They finished up by working in groups to compose a sample, scientific question and to design an experiment according to the steps of the scientific method. I was floored by their creativity.

In the interest of having my entries make any sense at all, I think I’ll include something I should have thought of quite some time ago: a breakdown of the Togolese school system. There are three schools, roughly the equivalent of elementary, junior high and high school in the states. After completing the final level in each school, there is a national test that must be passed in order to ascend to the subsequent school. If one does not pass the test, one will remain in that class until one does. This is how it happens that there are classrooms in which, for example, the age of students can range from 12 to 18.

EPP (Ecole Publique Primaire)

- CP1 (Cours Preparatoire)

- CP2 (Cours Preparatoire 2)

- CE1 (Cours Elementaire)

- CE2 (Cours Elementaire 2)

- CM1 (Cours Moyen)

- CM2 (Cours Moyen 2)

Exam: CEPD (Certificat d’Etudes du Premier Degré)

CEG (Collège d’Enseignement Général)

- Sixième (6e)

- Cinquième (5e)

- Quatrième (4e)

- Troisième (3e)

Exam: BEPC (Brevet d’Etudes du Premier Cycle)

Lycée

- Seconde

- Premiere

Exam: BAC I

- Terminale

Exam: BAC II

ALSO, a belated but very sincere THANK YOU for all of the birthday packages, cards, calls, wishes, thoughts :)

I could pretend that being in Africa has prevented me from responding to each individually, but I have always been terrible about thank you notes. But I love you all.

“Karalin, you have a big problem.” My heart sank as I turned towards my oldest host brother. It had been a really rough week. I could not fathom, nor did I wish to, what else could have gone wrong. “What is it now?” “Well, the United States are playing Ghana tonight. I know you are American, but you are African now, too. Who are you going to support?” The relief at the absence of a serious problem in conjunction with the earnestly concerned expression on his face made it difficult not to laugh. He had a good point, though, one reiterated by everyone I saw in village that day. I told them, quite truthfully, that I support my natal country, but that a Ghanaian victory would be wonderful for Africa. This magnanimous attitude became increasingly difficult to maintain as I sat in the video shack (a wall-less, tin-roofed structure housing a 12-inch television, a generator, and a few crudely-constructed, plank benches) and endured the celebration of the 40+ ecstatic, Togolese men by whom I was surrounded. There is something about living abroad that brings out the closet nationalist in me. But the bitterness has subsided, and I was generally distraught when Ghana lost the other night. While the World Cup fever has been an undeniable presence in every facet of life for the past month, including having to plan meetings around game-viewing schedules, I am sure you are more interested in the status of my projects than my feelings towards international soccer. Well, the school year is over. By the official calendar, the last day in 9 July, but no one has bothered to show up since exams ended in May. Welcome to Togo. My English club and Girls’ Club have ended until September. I tried to prolong the English club and continued biking out to the high school each week, but as the director explained to me, no one comes because they can’t make them. As for the girls, I have still been spending time with a lot of them. We had a rematch against the girls from Warangi, the planning of which contributed to the aforementioned rough week. It was just one of those things where nothing goes according to plan. Organized to commemorate La Journee International Des Enfants (International Children’s Day), the girls performed a halftime sketch on the dangers of child trafficking, a common practice in West Africa. The game ended 0-0, which was a nice way to end the last game between myself and my friend who will be leaving in September. She is being replaced in November, so hopefully I can work out a similar arrangement with the new volunteer. I have also been working with some of the girls on a “Petite Entreprise” course to learn the basics of commerce and marketing as well as several specific income-generating activities. My favorite part of Peace Corps service is adding to the list of things I do for which I am completely unqualified. I learned so much about business while preparing the lessons. But it has gone extremely well. So far we have made liquid soap, popcorn, hand/body lotion and peanut candy. Popcorn, previously unknown in Tchifama, is now regularly available, and a few of my more motivated girls have already made a decent profit. It has been really nice to see something tangible come from one of my lessons. The course was a last-minute decision, made only to keep some contact with the girls during the vacation, but it has turned out to be one of my favorite projects. Tomorrow, we have our last meeting, and all the girls have invited their mothers. They will teach them, in local language, everything they have learned. In other work news, I still work at CPC, the weekly baby-weighing and vaccinations. I have started to give short presentations while the women wait. The first, on which I collaborated with my neighboring CHAP volunteer, was on dehydration and how to create a rehydration solution at home. Take Our Daughters to Work has proved to be far more work than I ever thought possible, but now, with it just two weeks away, I am so excited. I have selected the two students from Tchifama, two girls who have never seen electricity, never been to a city, never travelled further than the next village. The 16 participants will get to meet female role models including a school director, high school teacher, NGO employee, university student, mid-wife, parajurist (I don’t know the word for that in English, but they work as a liaison between individuals and the criminal justice system) and librarian. They will have the opportunity to give a short presentation on a local radio station, and they will get a brief introduction to computer literacy at a nearby computer center. There are still a lot of details to work out, but I think it will be an amazing experience for these girls. I just finished training as a counselor for Camp Espoir, the camp for children infected with and affect by HIV/AIDS. Camp begins next week. I will let you know how it goes! The garden has been a bit of a struggle. Now that school is over, no one has been showing up to weed. Luckily, watering is completely unnecessary as we are now in rainy season. I am thinking of paying one of my siblings to keep it up during the summer and then taking a different approach in the fall. What I had originally envisioned was assigning teams of girls to specific rows and seeds and giving them the responsibility of doing all the work, from planting through selling the produce. My homologue decided she wanted to involve all 100 of the girls, but she has now seen that it is difficult to keep them all interested in the work and invested in the outcome. And finally… SCIENCE CAMP! We were able to find some funding. It actually came from GAD, the Gender and Development Committee, on which I serve as the fund-raising coordinator. However, the proposals were evaluated anonymously, so I believe it was selected on the merit of the project J We have also received materials from various friends and family in the states (THANK YOU!). I know some people have said that they would still like to contribute. I will be compiling a list of materials that we could use for the science club that will begin in the fall. Also, I am thinking of organizing a regional science camp next summer. If this happens, I would be applying through Peace Corps Partnership for funding, and anyone interested in donating money could do so electronically. I will keep you updated. It is now just five weeks until my family arrives! I will not even deign to attempt to put my excitement into words. I am also thrilled to be taking my first vacation, especially as it comes after back-to-back weeks of Camp Espoir, Take Our Daughters to Work, Science Camp and an auction I am organizing for GAD. I will be ready for a break. And on the topic of vacation, I have my second planned as well. I will return to the states 17 December – 3 January. Well, that was the plan, but apparently, my flight was cancelled, so it might be the 18th. I cannot even grasp the idea right now, but as I will have been gone for 15 months at that point, I will be more than ready for a visit. Happy Independence Day! Congratulations, Cait and Ryan!

so i got a puppy. he is fluffy and light brown and chubby and absurdly adorable. we have only been together for 6 hours, but i can already tell that it is meant to be. i will obviously be obsessively photographing him in the manner of first time moms, and i will get pictures up as soon as i can. he doesn't have a name at the moment. let me know if you have any suggestions.

moving along, i am in lomé at the moment. i came down to work on my quarterly report, apply for my Ghanaian visa, submit a project proposal, eat cheese and, of course, get my puppy. lomé has so many wondrous things that i miss, living out in the bush. BUT i am very ready to return to village. a few days in a "city" is enough. my 6.5 months in togo have caused the city girl in me to crawl under a mango tree and hide. though it is very nice to have access to Internet and electricity and a GROCERY store. it is so refreshing to buy things that actually have price tags on them, rather than spending 20 minutes haggling over prices. at first i really hated discouter-ing (bargaining) but i am beginning to embrace it.

the elections are over. the incumbent president was re-elected. small-scale marches and protests persist (i inadvertently ran into one in the marketplace today) but there was no major action. march was hectic; i was traveling for a good part of it. now, those who know me would be shocked that this is not something i enjoy. but these same people clearly have never attempted to travel in togo. imagine, if you will, 6 hours in a dented van that was produced in the 80s that generally has cracks covering (50% of the windshield), barreling down an only occasionally paved road pocked by giant ruts, crammed in with twice the number of passengers are there are seats. then throw in a goat, a few chickens, a couple of crying babies and extreme heat, and you might begin to see why i would prefer never to leave home.

aside from traveling woes, things are going exceptionally well. the teacher with whom i have the girls' club and garden has been a great help. she came with me to a training a few weeks ago, and she is incredibly enthusiastic. we are hoping to work with a group of girls after the last trimester ends, teaching them simple income-generating activities. They can work on them over the summer and use the money towards school fees in the fall.

i am also working with a volunteer from a nearby village, trying to organize a science camp this summer. the schools do not even have books, so obviously, there are no materials for any kind of interactive work. the sciences, especially, suffer from a curriculum of rote memorization and little else. we are hoping that the week-long camp will evolve into a regular club in the fall. we are currently soliciting ideas and materials. i will post more information at the end. if you know of any individual, organization or school that might have something to contribute, please let me know.

i had so very much to talk about, but i did not write anything up before coming to the Internet café, and now i am running out of time. as always, thank you all for the love and support. the cards, letters and packages are amazing. i definitely have difficult days here, and hearing from all of you is an indescribable source of strength.

sorry, this was rushed, poorly written and un-edited.

happy easter, passover and international women's day.

k

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Dear

I am currently a Peace Corps volunteer stationed in Togo, West Africa. In collaboration with a nearby volunteer, I will be starting a science club to benefit the students in our two villages.

What: Science clubs with the objective of teaching students to think critically about the world around them through experimentation andobservation. At each session an experiment will be conducted anddiscussed. The first few sessions will focus on the experimental method (how to write a hypothesis, procedure, etc) and afterwardssessions will depend on what materials are available, but we hope toincorporate a wide variety of subjects - astronomy, physiology,ecology, chemistry... anything fun and informative.

Where: Assoukoko and Tchifama, 2 small, rural, villages in thesouthern Centrale region of Togo.Who: 30 students aged 12-16 from the local middle schools (15 pervillage - all the students from Tchifama will be girls). The studentswill be nominated by their professors.

When: Bi-monthly meetings beginning September 2010.

Why: We feel that it's very important for students to have theopportunity to have hands-on time in the sciences. Because classsizes here start at 60 students, lessons are understandably focused onrote memorization, and students are not familiar with interactive methodsof learning (and this is often the most memorable part of scienceclasses for US students).

How you can help: We are starting from scratch! If you havesuggestions, templates, ideas or materials for experiments that you oryour organization would be willing to share, they would be mostwelcome. (Togo is a french speaking country, but we would be able totranslate from english).

Karalin Sprague

B.P. 55

Pagala, TOGO

West Africa

Please forward this to whomever you think may be interested / able to help, and feel free to email me with any questions. I do not have regular access to internet but can generally check email once a month.

Thanks so much!

-Karalin Sprague (Girls' Education and Empowerment volunteer)

-Emerson Easley (Community Health and AIDS Prevention volunteer)

This will be a long and likely scattered update. But before I say anything else, I need to acknowledge that my sister is a rockstar. She is the one to thank for the pictures posted on the blog and on facebook. I was never able to upload any myself. THANK YOU!

Other news... I have a new address. I can still receive mail at the other one5 (BP 3194) but they will no longer deliver packages over 2kilos; I need to pick them up in Lomé, so we set up a post box nearby. For anything large, it is better to use the new address. Letters can be sent to either. And while we are on the subject, thank you all for the letters and packages. I appreciate it more than I can explain.

SO, I am in Atakpame again, taking care of a lot of work stuff and stocking up on supplies. The Presidential election will be held 4 March, and we will be on standfast for a few weeks prior to and following that date. This basically entails continuing with work routines, but we are not able to leave our villages. Therefore, we need to have sufficient funds and food to last through this period. I will definitely not have internet until, possibly, the beginning of April, and there are rumors that the already spotty phone reception will be cut off entirely. They are not anticipating widespread problems, but, especially as it will be difficult to contact us, it is likely that for a few days, we will be consolidated to the training center in nearby Pagala. I will be absolutely fine, but I might be out of touch for awhile.

I recently read The Village of Waiting, George Packer’s account of his Peace Corps service in Togo in the 80’s. I don’t know that I agree with everything he said, but it was fascinating to see so many of my own experiences reflected in print. I was struck by the following passage as an accurate and succinct description of village life:

“Two thousand villages lived as they must have for decades or longer. The rhythm, was simple. Sun gave way to dark, work to sleep; larger cycles – the yearly one between rain and dryness and then the cycle of a single lifetime – were made up of hundreds or thousands of repetitions of these daily ones, which never varied. The same smells of woodsmoke, wet mud, human sweat and excrement; the same noises of roosters, squalling babies, fufu pounding, insects, the rare taxi speeding out of nowhere. The village hardly seemed touched by linear time, by history – or, more precisely, had bumped up against it one around the beginning of the century in the form of German and French colonizers, received the bruises of church, school and dispensary, and gone unscathed ever since. In this stasis there was life, and life seemed to boil down to two things, almost indistinguishable from each other: commerce and chat.”

So I might have mentioned that I have witnessed a fair amount of animal slaughter lately. This has become alarmingly commonplace. I see goats being chopped up at the marche, the cow that was tied to our tree one night is in pieces the next morning, I stepped on an unidentified jaw bone the other day… After five months in Togo, I find that fewer things faze me. Yet, I think the lamb slaughter story warrants a little special attention. But for me to continue requires an embarrassing personal revelation. I am just a few months shy of the quarter century mark, and I still sleep with my childhood stuffed animal. There, I said it. Many of you who know me personally are already aware of this fact and are acquainted with Lamby. As for the rest, my apologies if your opinion of me is diminished; we all have our vices. He has traveled the world with me. He, too, has lived on four continents, and to be honest, his Spanish, French and Adeli are all better than mine. But in some ways, he is incredibly naïve. Which brings me back to the story…

A few of the ruffians I call siblings had managed charm their way into my room. I generally try to keep them out, this being the only personal space that I have, but the chief had just returned from the hospital following a car accident, and I was feeling particularly generous. We were dancing around when my four-year-old brother spotted Lamby napping on the bed. I let him hold him just long enough to take an adorable photo. But while he was posing, someone called him outside. He dashed out, still holding Lamby. To give thanks for the chief’s recovery, the elders were chanting, shaving his head and, oh yeah, killing a huge lamb. Thankfully, I had a friend staying with me who, upon seeing the panicked look on my face, took control of the situation and chased after my brother, but it was too late. The damage was done. Lamby witnessed the bloody murder, forever shattering his long-held belief that lambs and humans share an entirely friendly relationship. And so it goes…

I have been contemplating getting a pet. I think it would be really nice to have a dog, but, slaughters aside, I have been having trouble with animals lately. A mother hen jumped at me, squawking and scratching when I accidentally crossed between her and her chicks. The dogs of two friends were killed by motos in the same week. The village monkey, with whom I previously enjoyed a reasonably good relationship, went on the offensive, screaming and clawing. Granted, he was not completely unprovoked. He was sitting on my lap, searching my arms for bugs, and he strayed into armpit territory. I can’t help being absurdly ticklish. When I jumped up, he got scared and launched his attack. We stopped hanging out for awhile after that, but I have been back to visit him recently, and all seems to be forgiven.

Despite all of these animal attacks, I volunteered to dog-sit for two friends recently. I was really nervous. I have never lived with a dog, and I was terrified that he would run away, bite a small child or be eaten. As a side note, dog meat is eaten here, though not generally on a regular basis. I will be attending a ceremony this summer that celebrates the consumption of dog meat as a signal of passage into manhood. I am interested to witness the event, but I will not be abandoning my vegetarianism to partake.

I’ll take a break from the colorful, cultural anecdotes to talk about work for a bit. The soccer game was great, tough we lost 1-0 on a contested penalty kick. We have already called for a rematch. At halftime, we had a sensibilization on family planning. The turnout was fantastic. Not at all disheartened by the loss, the girls sang and chanted the whole ride home.

The girls club is going very well. The girls are amazing. I was floored though, by some of the questions they asked during open discussion time. These are developed teenagers, some as old as 17, who do not know the basics of puberty and menstruation. I have reworked my curriculum and arranged for a nearby volunteer who works in the CHAP (Community Health and AIDS Prevention) to come for some health presentations.

I have just been granted permission and a plot of land to start a garden with the girls. Another volunteer in my cluster who works with NRM (Natural Resource Management) has agreed to come and do a presentation on composting and to help us get the garden started. My hope is that the girls can sell the vegetables that they grow to raise money for school fees.

I have started helping out at the dispensaire (health clinic) for their weekly baby weigh-ins and vaccinations. Once a month, the mothers bring in their infants to receive any inoculations and to chart their growth. I think it is a wonderful program, but there is still such widespread malnutrition.

I started an English club at the lycee (essentially the equivalent of high school). There is not one in Tchifama, but they just opened one in Tadjan, a 30 minute bike ride away. I was a little nervous, as I have no counterpart for this project. It is just me in a classroom with 60+ students, some of whom are likely my age. But it is going so well. They are enthusiastic and currently working on writing letters to Mr. Kline’s class. My biggest frustration is related to l’ecolage (school fees). For all students, there is a national fee imposed, 4000CFA for girls and 6000CFA for boys. The government recently decreased fees for girls in hopes of retaining girls’ enrollment rates. On top of that set amount, each school can impose additional fees, depending on their needs and costs. Because it is a new school, the lycee has added an additional 9000CFA for each student. All told, it probably only works out to about USD$30, but that is a lot of money here. Last week, the regional inspector came through and kicked out all of the students who have not paid their fees. My class size was reduced to half. It is so difficult to get kids to stay in school up to this level, and here are 30 kids who really want to be there but who are being prevented from attending. I was really upset, and I am going to sit down with the director to talk about the problem.

I am working with nearby volunteers to organize an inter-village soccer tournament; the games will be used as a platform to present sensibilizations on potable water and hygiene. We are working on a budget at the moment, and hope to it funded by a health organization that funds small projects. As you may have noticed, involving soccer is a really effective way of getting people’s attention. While we are on the topic of soccer, if anyone knows of a team or organization that has old uniforms or balls, I would be happy to arrange for shipping.

Finally, I am helping to coordinate a region-wide Take Your Daughters to Work Week. We are bringing girls from our small villages to the city for a week and putting them in contact with professional women. We will have sessions on the importance of education, sexual harassment, reproductive health, women’s rights. We will also be taking them around the community to observe women in their work environment. It’s proving to be a lot of work, but I’m really excited about this one.

OK, I think that is all I can feasibly ask of your attention span. Thank you for the continued love and support. I have not yet responded to so many letters and cards, but I promise I think of you all frequently and with love.

k

Pictures:1: Beach in Lomé2: My host family during training in Tsevié pounding fufu3: Marché (the market)4: My road in Tsevié5: Along the road to Pessaré6: My host family in Tsevié- Mauta, CeCe, Papa, Maman and Beauty7: My porch in Tchifama (my village) with the chief's daughter, Tabita8: Chief's grandchildren9: My bed with mosquito net10: Tabita, Prince, Abigail, and I (chief's daughters and grandson)11: The village monkey (and as you can see...my new friend)12: Tchifama's only road13: Road to Pagala14: EPP (primary school)15: Tchifama inside a classroom with Holy and Abigail

a belated holiday greeting to everyone- tabaski, hannukah, christmas, new year's. i have been at post for about 5 weeks now, and i'm coming up on the 4-months-in-country mark. life at post has been pretty great. there are obviously a number of frustrations, (i thought 2 sisters was tough, now i have 9) but overall, it is going very well. i spent most of last week at the school, observing classes and attemping to get a general feel for the education system. my girls club will be back up and running as of this thursday, and a volunteer in a nearby village and i have organized a soccer match (with a halftime sensibilization) for the girls this coming saturday. i also started working with my french tutor. my french has not really improved since arriving at post. i spend most of my time with the little ones, and their french is worse than mine. some don't speak it at all.

i have twice woken up to an animal being slaughtered and butchered right in front of my window. my family is amused by how squeamish i am around cow brains and sheep intestines. i remind myself at these moments what a valuable experience this is. after two years here, i am fairly certain nothing will faze me.

i had really hoped to have finished responding to the very insightful questions posed by my 'world wide schools' partnership class, but these computers are SO SLOW. i will post what i have and make promises to get around to the rest the next time i am somewhere with electricity.

to mr. kline's class- the responses are in no particular order right now. my apologies for the lackluster response. i really loved your questions and comments. i want to get around to al of them. i am meeting with a teacher at the lycee this week to talk about starting an english club. i would love to have them write letters to you all. i will keep you updated! thank you again for your interest.

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There are a number of reasons students, especially girls, abandon school. Parents are often incapable or unwilling to pay school fees. Families are generally large, and if there is not enough money to send all the children to school, most families will send only their sons. Many girls leave school to marry at a very young age, and even more leave when they become pregnant. There are no education laws as there are in the states, to mandate that children stay in school through a minimum age. Therefore, they can leave at any time, for any reason. Some never go at all.

There are two universities in togo, one in lome and one in kara. There are very, very few yong women enrolled. By 4eme, a class level roughly equivalent to 7th grade, there are likely to be only a handful of girls still attending. In lycee, the equivalent of high school, it is lucky to have two or three in a class.

Children’s role in society is radically different here. Children are expected to perform the bulk of work around the home. They fetch the water, sweep the compound, help with the cooking, wash the dishes, look after the babies, even the young ones wash their own clothes… They also have these responsibilities at school. They have one afternoon a week where they perform manual labor at school in place of having class. They carry in water and firewood (well-balanced on their heads, of course), cutting weeds, picking up trash. I would be interested to see how NPS students would react if a similar policy were implemented there. Dad, maybe you should bring this up at the next Board of Ed meeting as a way to save some money on maintainence :)

There are internet cafes in larger cities. I travel about three hours to get to the closest one. It costs about 300 CFA (around US $0.60) for an hour. The computers are ancient, and the connection is incredibly slow. I have tried to upload pictures more times than I can count, but it is impossible. I have something in the works, however, so I hope to have some up in a few weeks.

The hope is certainly that PC’s presence will positively impact the village. The goal is to implement sustainable programs that will continue to promote change and development, even after the volunteer has finished her service.

It is impossible to generalize an entire population, but, from experience, the Togolese are an incredibly welcoming and hospitable people. Whenever I have visitors, my host moms insist on making giant bowls of fufu and heating bath water.

i attempted to get this post up yesterday, but we have not really had consistent electricty this week. the internet café had a generator running, so i paid double the price to use it just long enough to get the post up. just as i clicked the button, the generator died. now, the situation was not dire, but i use this as a segue to my apology for not writing sooner. it is difficult, especially on an unfamiliar keyboard and without the aide of spell check. therefore, please excuse my tardiness as well as the atrocities i commit against the English language. i am hoping the content will compensate for my errors in spelling and technique.

i hope everyone had a wonderful holiday. it was somewhat disconcerting, celebrating thanksgiving in 90+° weather, but it was a really nice day for us all to be together.

I have one last addendum before I put up the original post: to the members of mr. kline’s class- bonjour et beinvenue!

i am thrilled to be working with you over the coming school year. Please let me know if you have any questions about my work here or about life in togo. You can leave a comment on the blog or email me directly (kara.sprague@gmail.com). Kelsi, now you have no exuse for not reading this and writing me!

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i have much to report, so i will not waste precious time with more apologies. first up, post visit. i spent a full week in tchifama, my home-to-be. my house is not a free-standing structure, but rather two rooms in the chief’s house. i have a separate entrance, but, well, it is cozy. while i have bid farewell to the comforts of electricity and running water that i (usually) enjoy here, my latrine is clean and i really enjoy bathing in a roofless cement stall. how many of you get to star-gaze while showering? that’s what i thought.

the water pump is right on the compound and nothing amuses residents more than watching me pump (a process that involves holding onto a bar while jumping on the pump with one foot) and then attempting to carry it on my head. this generally results in water sloshing down my back, but the kids love the spectacle.

the last volunteer, a CHAP (community health and AIDS prevention) volunteer, COS-ed (closure of service-ed) in august. she left the house completely furnished, for which i am extremely grateful. my only big purchase will be a mattress. i spent the week with only a thin yoga mat protecting me from the unsanded planks of the bed frame. this arrangement was designed to allow me to continue sleeping under my mosquito net, but i managed to acquire a large number of bites regardless. and it was not exactly comfortable, so i will be happy to invest in a really nice mattress, though i do not know what that means by togolese standards.

the village is gorgeous. the weather is comparatively cool, still ridiculously hot, but much more manageable than it is here. it is a small village, maybe 2000-3000 people and one paved road, but we do boast three primary schools, one CEG (middle school) and a village monkey. i am really thrilled about my placement. my living situation is slightly more difficult than i had envisioned, but i am hoping that i will either adjust quickly or be allowed an alternative. the kids are great; i had an amazing time. but it is so thoroughly exhausting. there really are over 20 kids on the compound. somehow they are capable of waking up before me, going to sleep after me, going to school, playing around, climbing all over me, fetching the water, sweeping the yard, washing the clothes, doing the dishes, helping with the cooking and showing me how incorrectly i perform all domestics tasks, all without the slightest decrease in energy level. i, on the other hand, left the week completely exhausted. the world’s energy crisis could be solved on this compound if only they found a way to harness these kids’ energy.

the highlight of the week was the first meeting of our girls’ club. my homologue and i had spoken about starting a club to support female students, but i thought we were still in the theoretical phase of the planning process. then, one of my host brothers (i wish i could tell you his name, but I was only able to master about 1/5 of them) said that he heard i was coming to the school for a meeting on thursday. i could not reach my homologue by phone (my reception there is less than ideal) so i decided just to show up. the one female teacher in the prefecture was there… with 80+ girls from the CEG. she started off discussing her plans for the group and then asked me to explain what my goals were. ummm…

this is not something i had really spent time considering… even in english. but i did my best to improvise and talk about the challenges that female students face and the steps we can take together to alleviate some of those pressures. the fact that i was even remotely understood is nothing short of miraculous. the girls were really enthusiastic and very open and frank when i asked them to name some of the greatest challenges they face. lack of money to pay school fees, the overwhelming amount of domestic responsibilities, timidity/issues of self-confidence, lack of parental support, early marriage/pregnancy… it was incredible to hear how self-aware they are. i think there is a really great foundation there to start work on a life skills class (a combination of information on good communication, peer pressure, decision-making, HIV/AIDS prevention… i also want to add a nutrition element as well as, possibly, a drama/improv class to get the girls more accustomed to speaking publicly). and the female teacher is going to be an invaluable counterpart.

i toured the lycee (high school) as well. there are so few girls in the classes; it is horrifying. i definitely want to work with the older girls as well, with an initiative to raise enrollment and retention rates in the upper levels. i already have some ideas brewing… it is shocking for the togolese teachers to hear that all students are required to attend school until the age of 16. therare so few girls of that age who are still pursuing an education in togo, while it is something that we take for granted.

overall it was an incredible week and really allowed me to move out of the hypothetical and into the concrete. coming back to training was difficult. i know that it is with good reason; i am not yet endowed with the skills, language proficiency and information that i will require. but regardless, it was really exciting to leave the monotony of all-day trainings and experience a bit of what volunteer life is going to be.

during the following week back here in tsevie, we learned a lot of possible AGR (income-generating activities). i learned to make bouille enrichi (a kind of porridge, which is common, but ours was made so as to incorporate far more nutrients), soy milk, tofu, a more cost-effective, environmentally-friendly cook stove, liquid soap, hand crème… not only do these projects make me feel incredibly resourceful J they are great to introduce to girls’ groups as projects they can do over the summer to earn money for their school fees.

last week, we had our field trip. i know, i know, “fieldtrip” probably conjures images of brown bag lunches and bus buddies, instead of a group of adults on a professional trip, but this is the terminology we were using. we spent three days traveling the BUMPY roads of togo, visiting various volunteers to see some projects that are being completed in other regions of the country. it was incredible, getting to see these program in action after talking about them for months. i think it gave us the motivation we needed to come back and finish training. i think i can speak for the group when i say we are pretty tired. it has been a long ten weeks.

but now, we are just about done. our final language test is saturday. i do not want to think or talk about this quite yet. and then we leave for lome on wednesday. the ceremony is thursday, during which we will all be giving a short speech in french AND local language.

as for the grand holiday, we have been given a reprieve from the grueling training schedule to celebrate… togolese stlye. i am told that this involves getting a turkey drunk on sodabi (local moonshine liquor) and then, you know… killing it. i am just soaking up the cultural experiences.

as always, there is so much more, but I just do not have the time. i have been keeping a very detailed travel journal, so maybe at post i will have the time to catch up. for now, just a few final thoughts:

-i cannot receive international texts sent by cell phone. i know a few people have said that they tried. the only way to send texts is through skype. which i highly recommend

-THANK YOU! the comments and emails and phone calls and letters and packages i have received have been an invaluable source of strength and a continual reminder of all the love and support i have stateside. it occasionally takes me awhile to respond, but know how much i appreciate it

-as of dec 3, (as long as the aforementioned test goes well) I will be an official volunteer. the only change in my address is that the initials after my name change to PCV.

-i love you all and wish you the happiest of thanksgivings. (especially you, mom. be strong!)

i scarcely know where to begin. the inherent problem with this blog-keeping is that if had the time to write on it, i would not likely have much to report. but as it is, i am so occupied with doing reportable things that i lack the time to report them… c’est la vie.

enough rambling. i have received my post assignment. my home for the next two years is a small village called tchifama. it is located about halfway up country, off to the west, close to the ghanaian border. i would advise you to check it out on a map, but i have been informed that it does not rate inclusion on google maps. please let me know if you find otherwise. i have attempted to take a photo of the map that was given to me, but at the time of writing, i do not know if i will be successful in posting pictures. if not, be patient. this is africa, after all :)

but, i digress…. tchifama. i still know very little. this will change shortly as i am leaving on saturday for a week-long post visit. for the moment, i can share the basics:

- my counterpart/homologue is the director of the CEG (basically the elementary school principal)

- i will spend my first few months teaching english until my french reaches a level that will allow me to work on other projects. i have NO idea as to the nature of my future projects. i need to do a lot of needs assessment before i can even begin to consider the possibilities

- i am only 23 km from the nearest volunteer. and her site is the one to which i will go for mail, fruits/veg… you know, big city living

-the weather is pleasantly temperate (relatively speaking, of course. again, this is africa)

- i will be the first GEE (girls’ education and empowerment) volunteer, but there have been two CHAP (community health / AIDS prevention) volunteers posted there in the past

- there is no running water, but there is a pump nearby. this means i will perfect the art of carrying buckets on my head

- there is a dispensaire (clinic) in the village [ahem, ali… i’m just pointing it out]

and, for the sake of suspense, i have saved the best for last.

- my house-to-be is located on the compound of the village chief. wild, right? it gets better. living with the chief means living with his three wives and 21 children. no, no, that was not a typo. he actually has 21 children. and three wives. [christine, i will garner as much firsthand information on polygamy as i can.] as for the children,.. well, let’s just say that this was not my ideal living situation; it is far from what i had envisioned. the thought of 20+ kids clamoring outside my window and trampling my garden is slightly overwhelming. but, i lived with kelsi for a number of years, and she is probably the noise equivalent of at least a dozen togolese children, so it should not take too long to adjust.

besides, there is no such thing as quiet time in togo. the roosters here are incredibly confused and often start their crowing at 3am, long before the sun has begun to ascend. then, the sweeping begins between 4:30 and 5:00. every morning, the house, path, and dirt compound must all be swept. the scraping noise has become a most familiar alarm clock. this, in addition to the constantly audible chanting and drumming from the ceremonies of the innumerable religions practiced here, makes for a raucous environment. oh, and i almost forgot the goats. one of my favorite new games is “human kid or goat kid.” the object is to ascertain if the high-pitched shrieks are emanating from a human or from a goat. it is seriously the most difficult game i have ever played. if you ever find yourself in the vicinity of babies and goats, i urge you to give it a try.

now, as i mentioned, i will be heading up to tcifama on saturday. this is exciting and terrifying in equal measure. i am thrilled to see my house, visit the school, meet my community, cook for myself (or just live on street food, as i do not yet have a stove of any kind…) but meeting my homologue and conducting extended, professional conversations in french, well it will certainly be a challenge. i am sure to have much to share upon my return.

other highlights of the past few weeks:

- i began local language class. because my mind is not already cluttered with english, french, and the remains of my once proficient spanish. if i can get pictures up, i have one of some ewe (eh-vay) text. i cannot write it out because it incorporates some unusual characters. i understand how important learning local language is to my community integration, but I also understand how not having my head explode is integral to my health.

- i rode a moto. i cannot promise that i kept my eyes open, but i was as brave as i could be. we will all have moto privileges after swear-in, but a few of us lucky ones, due to remote post location, have them now. so, i am in possession of a super cool moto helmet that makes me look like a power ranger.

- i killed a cockroach. i know, i know. i ordinarily participate in the insect-relocation program, preferring the catch and release method to murder. but it was a really big cockroach, and it was walking towards my clothing storage area (meaning the place on the floor where i pile the handful of t-shirts that constitute my oh-so-extensive wardrobe) and, well, I have no real excuse, but i am publicizing this to assuage my guilt.

- i taught a class… in french. two, actually. we were placed in groups and instructed to design a lifeskills class – topics range from VIH/SIDA (HIV/AIDS), decision-making, communication skills… we chose gender equity. those who know me might say, “obviously,” but it was really a group decision. i swear. it went as well as could be expected. i was frustrated by the limitations of my language skills, but it was fun to be back in a classroom. though, i cannot really compare this to my previous classroom experiences. in DC, i had 22 seven and eight-year-olds. here, there was a class of 60+, ranging in age from about 10 to 17. the differences in the education system number far too many to recount at present, but i will share an anecdote to illustrate one.

for one of our activities, we did a “gender relay race.” a team of girls and a team of boys raced each other, passing off common items utilized in and around the house. the catch is that the boys had to run with those objects considered the responsibility of women and the girls worked with those used by men. the boys, therefore, had to run with a broom in one hand, a water bucket on their head, and a “baby” tied to their backs. The girls only had a coupe-coupe (machete). we used a water bottle in place of the baby and we brought in a real machete for demonstration purposes but planned on using a stick for the race. because, who would allow children to run in a schoolyard with what is, essentially, a dangerous weapon? right? wrong. the teachers convinced us that there was nothing wrong with using the actual coupe-coupe; kids use them at home all the time. imagine trying that in the states! we do not even trust children with scissors.

there is so much more; each day brings a new adventure and experience, but this is time-consuming and your attention spans are short. i want to leave a final thought for collective contemplation. we have finally received PC’s development initiative. they define development as “any process that promotes the dignity of a people and their capacity to improve their own lives.” they believe this should be accomplished through an asset-based approach, meaning one that emphasizes existing local resources, highlights previous successes, builds self-efficacy, encourages collaborative action and is conceived in response to needs assessment.

any thoughts about this or any other topic? write comments, ask questions, i will do what i can. and PLEASE write letters. i received my first letter the week before last, and it made my day (thank you SO much, linda!)

i think those three H’s comprise the bulk of my frequently asked questions, so i will begin there. life is good, i have not yet contracted guinea worm or river blindness and my host fam is fantastic. i just wanted to get that out of the way. details and anecdotes to follow...

i have been here for two weeks, though this realization shocked me, as it feels so long ago that i was saying my final goodbyes in philly.

we landed in lomé after an extremely draining 24 hours. it was 18:30 but already dark. stepping off the plane, i was confronted by a slightly sulfuric smell, one reminiscent of fireworks. it was very warm, though not oppressively so, as i had expected. these are my only clear impressions of that first night. it was all very surreal.

we spent the next three days in the capital. i received a seemingly endless string of shots; we had a security briefing from one of the embassy’s marines; they impressed upon us the perils of malaria, bacteria, unfiltered water, vegetables that have not been bleached, breathing….

the current volunteers had a little welcome party for us. it has been interesting to hear the perspectives of people who have been in country for a year or more now. it makes me anxious to get to post and get started. it turns out that one of the volunteers and i share a mutual acquaintance. oh small, infinitesimally tiny, world. sometimes i think the Universe if laughing at me.

we left lomé on wednesday for tsevié, our training village. we could hear the drumming from down the “road” (red, sand thoroughfares pocked by ruts and rocks, lined by ill-clad children, vendors, chickens and goats…)

all of our families and many other community members had assembled at our tech house to greet us. the men played a wide variety of drums and percussion instruments as varied as a gourd filled with beans and adorned with countless buttons. the women, dressed in matching print outfits, called complets, sang and danced. we were pulled into their circle as we entered. my host sister, beauty, approached me. she is 17 and utterly amused by my pitiful attempt to mimic the local dance. in my defense, everyone looks ridiculous doing it – it is a bent-kneed, elbow-flapping, chicken dance. i am not exaggerating. i will be a hit at weddings when i return.

i am a spoiled, spoiled trainee. my family has electricity and running water and… a flush toilet! i know, i know… getting to post and dealing with a latrine and well is going to be such a rude awakening. i have opted to ignore the shower, and i bathe from my bucket like my family members. yes, they have a tiled shower stall with a fancy-looking shower head, but they just use it as a place to take bucket baths. they also do not usually bother with the toilet, using the outdoor latrine instead. and i would be remiss if i did not mention that i have also come upon various family members squatting against the walls of our compound. to each, his/her own.

but back to the baths. bucket bathing is exactly what it sounds. one fills a large bucket with water (cold, of course) and proceeds to dump it over one’s head with a plastic scoop. i am far from seeking sympathy here. it is so indescribably refreshing.

to add to reasons why i am the most spoiled trainee… all the neigh-sayers who were sure my vegetarianism would become a thing of the past… take note.

i have been placed with what may be the only vegetarian family in all of togo. well, that might be a bit of an overstatement. they are not really vegetarians; they regularly eat whole fish, heads included. but they are familiar with vegetarian cooking. allow me to interrupt myself again to mention that my brief time here has not magically rendered me a fluent french speaker. i still rely on wild gestures and exaggerated facial expressions to supplement my oh-so-limited vocabulary.

it has become a bit of a talent. cait, i spent a good deal of time yesterday attempting to mime “occupational therapy.” i think they were worried that i was having a seizure. generally, though, my point is made. i defy anyone to challenge me to a game of charades upon my return.

digression ended- back to business. so, with my limited conversational abilities and comprehension skills, i was able to ascertain that it is likely that someone related in some way to my host parents, possibly a son or brother or uncle, may or may not have begun practicing vegetarianism in 1972. either that, or they were talking about clouds. honestly, i am pretty clueless most of the time.

either way, my maman has cooked for a vegetarian before and is really good at it. togolese food is all about starch and sauce, so it is easy to substitute soy meat for the animal stuff and still feel like i am experiencing authentic fare. thus far i have eaten:

- fufu, pounded yams served as a lump the consistency of bread dough that is pulled apart and dipped into a sauce of tomato and soy meat

-patè blanche, a corn-flour blob served with spinach and soy meat

-patè rouge, a tomato and corn-flour blob served with soy meat

-watche, rice and beans with soy meat

-noodles with spicy sauce and soy meat

-ablo, sweet corn-based dumplings with sauce and soy meat

-koliko, fried yams served with a paste of the spiciest peppers i have ever encountered, and, oh yeah…. soy meat

yes, i am getting a lot of soy. and yes, this does reminding me of the summer i worked at that camp and was fed tofu three times a day. but this is so much better. it is all pretty delicious. my only food complaint is that they expect me to eat so much. heft is a sign of health, so they are trying to fatten me up. i will sit down to a meal and eat what would ordinarily constitute my entire daily food intake in the states, and my maman will click her tongue and sigh, “why don’t you eat?” i am not going to be able to fit into my clothes by the time i finish training. and again, rude awakening when i get to post and realize i have no idea how to cook for myself here.

i have only been allowed to help with the cooking a few times. to start, i was only permitted to fan the charcoal in our clay stove with the braided straw fan, though recently i graduated to stirring. i am not allowed to do much of the work around here. they have a “domestique,” a young girl who may be a distant relation whose parents cannot support her, or she may be an orphan, or she may be trafficked from a nearby country. all are fairly common and never discussed.

alright, internet is SLOW and expensive, and even though i pre-typed most of this on a friend's computer, it is taking forever to get together, so i will wrap this up. i love you all very much, and i have been thinking about all of you. i have a phone now:

011 228 746 11 86

noblecom.com has good phone cards, and you can text through skype. for the less phone-enthusiastic, i would love love LOVE to write/receive letters.

Karalin Sprague, PCT

Corps de la Paix, Togo

B.P. 3194

Lomé, Togo

West Africa

leave me comments, send me emails... i want to hear updates. i cannot always respond right away, but i will always get around to it eventually.

so, i am in philadelphia, and i have just submitted my final paperwork. i am officially a peace corps trainee. i have made it through the trying application process, managed to pack my life and survived some very difficult goodbyes. i do not have much time; my orientation starts shortly. I just wanted to post some last information regarding my assignment.

the next time you hear from me, i will be in togo! i love you all, and appreciate the support that has been showered upon me. au revoir!

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Housing and Site Location

Volunteers in Togo are provided housing as part of the community’s contribution to their work. Most Togo Volunteers live in villages in a two or three-room house, most likely in a compound with a Togolese family. Some Volunteer houses have tin roofs; a few have straw roofs. It is unlikely that you will have running water or electricity although they are more common in larger city posts. Water sources in villages can be traditional wells, bore-holes equipped with pumps, cisterns, and natural water sources—in some cases, rivers. Whatever your source of drinking water, you will have to treat it before use.

Food and Diet

Your diet will consist of locally grown foods or a combination of local and imported tinned foods. A typical Togolese meal is a carbohydrate base (rice, yams, pâte (boiled corn meal or flour) or fufu (pounded white yams), accompanied by a variety of hot, spicy sauces. Rice and beans, usually eaten at breakfast, is another common meal. Meat is available throughout Togo but it is expensive; fresh fish is only available in larger towns.

Fruits and vegetables are seasonal, occasionally making it difficult for vegetarians to adhere to a sound diet, especially in the more remote areas. Some Volunteers plant vegetable gardens to supplement their diet. If not, you can find most of your food in the nearest cities or weekly markets. Smaller villages often provide only basic food supplies. You may need to travel to larger towns for vegetables and specific items, especially during dry season

Transportation

Togo’s main national highway runs the length of the country. Most of the road is in good condition, but some parts are in poor repair. There are several other sections of paved road, some in good condition, others not. Most of the local roads in Togo are sand or dirt—very dusty in the dry season, very muddy in the rainy season.

When traveling around the country, you will use varying types of transportation. Lomé has many private taxis. Taxis also travel frequently between Lomé and the larger towns in the interior. This taxi travel tends to be fairly irregular and uncomfortable, but always interesting.

You will be given an all-terrain bicycle and helmet for your transportation needs at your site. Failure to wear a helmet can result in administrative separation from the Peace Corps.

Use of motorcycles by Peace Corps Volunteers is generally prohibited. However, there is a new transportation policy in Togo, allowing a few specific Volunteers in isolated posts to ride as passengers on motorcycles while traveling to their sites. These Volunteers must wear motorcycle helmets, provided by Peace Corps. More details on this policy will be provided upon arrival in Togo.

Distance from the villages to the prefectoral and regional capitals could be anywhere from 10 to 60 kilometers. While some Volunteers like biking these distances, others prefer taking local public transportation, such as bush taxis, to the nearest mail point, bank, or shopping location. There is a regular weekly Express Mail Service (EMS) between Lomé and several mail points throughout Togo for Volunteers. Besides EMS, Volunteers in some cities have their own post office boxes, individually, or as a group.

The bottom line, and unfortunately the reality of life in Togo, is that travel is inherently more risky here than what one would experience using public transportation in the United States. Peace Corps Volunteers find that their bikes are sufficient for most work-related travel. In addition, Volunteers are clustered so that most are within a bike ride of another Volunteer. It is usually necessary, however, to use local transport (e.g., bush taxis) when traveling long distances. By and large, the vehicles (usually mini-buses or Toyota station wagons) are old and poorly maintained, and it is unlikely that many of the drivers will win safe-driving awards anytime soon!

Peace Corps/Togo provides a shuttle bus service, the Lomé Limo, that runs from the north of the country to the capital and back once a month. Peace Corps encourages Volunteers to limit transport via bush taxi. When it is necessary to use bush taxis, you are encouraged to select what appears to be the safest vehicle available and to go with drivers whose driving habits are known and reasonable. When you find yourself in what you consider an unsafe situation (e.g., a driver traveling too fast despite having been asked to slow down), you should demand to be let out of the vehicle immediately. The best strategy, however, is to minimize travel via public transport and to avoid all nighttime travel.

Geography and Climate

Togo is a small country on the West African Coast. Only 50 kilometers wide in sections, it stretches 600 kilometers inland from the Gulf of Guinea to the savanna of Burkina Faso in the north. Situated between Ghana to the west and Benin to the east, it is roughly the size of West Virginia. Togo supports a diverse population of nearly 5 million and has more than 40 ethnic groups and languages.

Togo’s geography is mainly savanna-like, although some areas in the center of the country are fairly hilly. The rainy season lasts from June to September in the North and from May to October in the South. The rest of the year is dry and dominated by dry harmattan winds coming off the Sahara. Temperatures range from the seventies and eighties in the south, to the eighties and nineties in the north. In the months before the rains, the temperatures can be higher, reaching the low hundreds in the north.

Social Activities

Togolese are extremely social, and most social activities center around community events. Various ceremonies and fêtes are held throughout the year and Volunteer attendance is always well appreciated. In addition, Volunteers get together on different occasions, even if it is just for a regional meeting. Your social life will be as busy as you care to make it.

Professionalism, Dress, and Behavior

Togolese, like people everywhere, will make judgments about you in terms of how you act and how you dress. Dress in the West African context is a sign of respect and professionalism – one shows respect for colleagues by how they dress. While appropriate dress and behavior will be discussed during pre-service training, you will also take your cues from your colleagues once you are at your site. Togolese business attire—at least outside Lomé—tends to be more casual than in the United States. You will find, however, that your Togolese counterparts are invariably well groomed and wear pressed, clean clothing. Tight, form-fitting clothing for women or clothing exposing the stomach, back, or shoulders is almost never appropriate. The same is true for shorts for both men and women during professional meetings, be they in your village or in the regional capital.

Personal Safety

More information about the Peace Corps’ approach to safety is outlined in the Health Care and Safety chapter, but it is an important issue and cannot be over-emphasized. As stated in the Volunteer Handbook, becoming a Peace Corps Volunteer entails certain safety risks. Living and traveling in an unfamiliar environment (oftentimes alone), having a limited understanding of local language and culture, and being perceived as well-off are some of the factors that can put a Volunteer at risk. Many Volunteers experience varying degrees of unwanted attention and harassment. Petty thefts and burglaries are not uncommon, and incidents of physical and sexual assault do occur, although many Volunteers complete their 2 years of service without personal safety problems. The Peace Corps has established procedures and policies designed to help Volunteers reduce their risks and enhance their safety and security. These procedures and policies, in addition to safety training, will be provided once you arrive in Togo. At the same time, you are expected to take responsibility for your safety and well-being.

now, now, i understand your concern. i truly do. if i cannot keep regular correspondence with this blog while still firmly ensconced in the luxury of high speed wireless internet EVERYWHERE and use of my very own laptop, how can i be trusted to ever write while whirling about the land of unreliable dial-up that may well be hours away by bike? i can offer no steadfast guarantees, only the promise that i will do my very best.

as for the past few months, i have been fully immersed in my farewell tour. california was perfection. truly and completely. DC, while not so much a city as a group of people and a state of mind, was just what i needed. i have been constantly and completely surrounded by love. and now, well this part is not nearly as fun. if you have never tried to pack for two years with an 80 pound weight limit and the knowledge that you cannot just "run out to the store" to pick up something you forgot, i recommend it as a rainy day activity and a practice in minimalism. i know that 80 lbs sounds like a lot in theory, but when you start throwing in a hand-crank/solar-powered radio (such a cool new toy), teflon pans, dictionaries, lanterns, sheets, towels, knives, a hammock, an extra mosquito net, three months worth of toiletries, it suddenly becomes a much greater challenge.

but i live for a challenge...

now i have two weeks left to wrap up my goodbyes and eat as much dairy as i possibly can. i honestly wonder what i will do without cheese. i am heading down to philly on sept 15th, and orientation officially begins the 17th. after a full day of vaccinations (DT, meningitis, tphim, hep b 1, rabies, hep a 1, rabies 2, rabies 3 and hep b 2), i will be leaving on my jet plane that friday evening.

i promised a bit more information before i left, and i have failed miserably. i will share, however, a letter PC sent me. it is addressed to family and friends, and i am under the assumption that most of you fall into at least one of those categories. the most pertinent information contained herewithin is my address. PLEASE write me letters. PLEASE. once i learn more about animism, the indigenous, voodoo religion, i will send good spirits in the direction of anyone who plays pen pal. seriously, i am going to need all the love and support that you can muster. the address will remain the same throughout my entire service. in december, after (if?) i am sworn in as an official volunteer, the initials after my name change from PCT (peace corps trainee) to PCV (peace corp volunteer).

i love you all and will certainly be writing again before i go.

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Dear Families and Friends,

Greetings from the Togo Desk in Washington, D.C. It is with great pleasure that we welcome your family member to the Togo training program. Over the years we have received many questions from Volunteers and family members alike regarding travel plans, sending money, relaying messages and mail, etc. As we are unable to involve ourselves in the personal arrangements of Volunteers, we would like to offer you advice and assistance in advance by providing specific examples of situations and how we suggest they be handled.

1. Irregular Communication. (Please see #3 for the mailing address to Peace Corps' office in Lomé the capital of Togo). The mail service in Togo is not as efficient as the U.S. Postal Service. Thus, it is important to be patient. It can take from three to four weeks for mail coming from Togo to arrive in the United States via the Togolese mail system. From a Volunteer’s post, mail might take up to one to two months to reach the United States depending upon how far the Volunteer is from the capital city, Lomé. Sometimes mail is hand carried to the States by a traveler and mailed through the U.S. postal system. This leg of the trip can take another several weeks as it is also dependent on the frequency of travelers to the U.S.

We suggest that in your first letters, you ask your Volunteer family member to give an estimate of how long it takes for him or her to receive your letters and then try to establish a predictable pattern of how often you will write to each other. Also try numbering your letters so that the Volunteer knows if he or she missed one. Postcards should be sent in envelopes--otherwise they may be found on the wall of the local post office.

Peace Corps Togo has established “The Lomé Limo” which runs up and down the country monthly, delivers mail, medical supplies, and sometimes volunteers or staff to central sites along the national road.

Volunteers often enjoy telling their “war” stories when they write home. Letters might describe recent illnesses, lack of good food, isolation, etc. While the subject matter is often good reading material, it is often misinterpreted on the home front. Please do not assume that if your family member gets sick that he or she has not been attended to. The city of Lomé has medical and dental facilities, and there is a Peace Corps Medical Officer there as well. Most Volunteers can reach Lomé in less than one day’s time. Many Volunteers also have access to a telephone so that they can call our Medical Office. In the event of a serious illness the Volunteer is sent to Lomé and is cared for by our Medical Unit. If the Volunteer requires medical care that is not available in Togo, he/she will be medically evacuated to South Africa or to the United States. Fortunately, such circumstances are very rare.

If for some reason your communication pattern is broken and you do not hear from your family member for at least one month, you should contact the Office of Special Services (OSS) at Peace Corps in Washington at 1-800-424-8580, extension 1470 (or direct: 202-692-1470). The OSS Emergency number above is a duty phone that is responded to 24 hours a day. The OSS will then call the Peace Corps Director in Lomé, and ask her to check up on the Volunteer. Also, in the case of an emergency at home (death in the family, sudden illness, etc.), please do not hesitate to call OSS immediately, so that the Volunteer can be informed by a member of Peace Corps/Togo staff.

2. Telephone Calls. The telephone system in Lomé, Togo has fairly reliable service to the United States. In the interior of the country, where most of our Volunteers are located, the system is less reliable. Most Volunteers have access to a telephone in or nearby their site.

When dialing direct to Togo from the U.S., dial 011 (the international access code) + 228 (the country code) + the number. Volunteers generally set up phone calls with people in the U.S. in advance, and have the distant party call them, which is much less expensive than calling the U.S. from Togo. Many volunteers decide to purchase cellphones once they arrive in Togo, but they may not always have regular reception at their site.

The Togo Desk in Washington, D.C. usually calls the Peace Corps office in Lomé at least once a week. However, these calls are reserved for business only and we cannot relay personal messages over the phone. If you have an urgent message, however, and have exhausted your other means (regarding travel plans, etc.), you can call the Desk, and the message will be relayed.

3. Sending Packages. Parents and Volunteers like to send and receive care packages through the mail. Unfortunately, sending packages can be a frustrating experience for all involved due the high incidence of theft and heavy customs taxes. You may want to send inexpensive items through the mail, but there is no guarantee that these items will arrive. We do not recommend that costly items be sent through the mail. Placing stickers and symbols of a religious nature on the outside of packages decreases the risk that they will be opened before delivery. Even though Volunteers sometimes choose to get local post office boxes, you may always use the following address to send letters and/or packages to your family member:

Karalin Sprague, PCT Corps de la Paix B.P. 3194 Lomé, Togo West Africa

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

Sending airplane tickets and/or cash is not recommended. Certain airlines will allow you to buy a prepaid ticket in the States; they will telex their Lomé office to have the ticket ready. Unfortunately, this system is not always reliable. Many airlines (e.g., KLM, Air France, Ghana Airways, Air Togo) fly into Lomé or Accra, but each has its own policy on pre-paid tickets. Please call the airline of your choice for more information. You could also send tickets via DHL as mentioned previously. However, Peace Corps will assume no liability in the event of a lost/stolen airline ticket.

4. E-mail. There is fairly reliable e-mail service in Togo with cyber cafes in most large towns. Connections can be very slow and time consuming as well as costly. E-mail, however, may become the preferred method of communication between you and your family member in Togo. Not all Volunteers have access to e-mail on a daily basis but they should be able to read and send messages at least once a month. As with other means of communication, do not be alarmed if you do not receive daily or weekly messages. Unless in Lomé at the office, Volunteers have to pay for internet time at cyber cafes and this can be a slow or expensive process depending on the connection at the café.

We hope this information is helpful to you during the time your family member is serving as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Togo. We understand how frustrating it is to communicate with your family member overseas and we appreciate your using this information as a guideline. Please feel free to contact us at the Togo Desk in Washington, DC, if you have further questions. Our phone number is (800) 424-8580, ext. 2326/2325, or locally at (202) 692-2326/2325.

i should be doing other things. i should, for example, be working on the aspiration statement that i am required to have finished last week. i should be filling out tedious paperwork regarding life insurance, school partnerships and privacy waivers. i should definitely be rosetta stone-ing.

instead, as i sit, sheltered from this wild thunderstorm on the balcony of a converted victorian castle in the middle of a natural preserve, overlooking lake mohonk and the shawangunk mountains (in this, my very favorite place on the east coast), i am inspired to write my first post, here on what may become my lifeline to this life i leave behind.

i am moving to togo. i am moving to togo. i am moving to togo.

having recently discovered that this information has not yet penetrated into the recesses of my cluttered brain to the area that differentiates between reality and my often outlandish plans, i have decided that i need to remind myself of this fact at least three times a day... out loud. so far, so good.

i am also encouraging myself to tell others about this, to further convince myself that this is indeed taking place. after nine months of applications, essays, interviews, doctor visits, vaccines, phone calls, complications and solutions, forgive me for hesitating to fully believe that it is happening.

but, that is the rumor. apparently, i am leaving september 16th, 2009 for what is sure to be my greatest adventure to date. for 27 months, i will be serving in togo as a girls' education and empowerment agent.

and what exactly does that entail? well, at this point, i can't give too many specifics. one of the greatest aspects of peace corps service is the flexibility given volunteers. we are assigned a primary work experience but are encouraged to take on whatever projects we deem necessary and viable.

i can say that i will be working on both formal and informal educational activities designed to address the importance of girls' education, gender equity, nutrition and reproductive health. basically, it's everything i love to ramble on about when i am pretending that other people are actually listening.

[this reminds me that there is a gender equity festival in fort greene on saturday, july 11th. anyone in the nyc area should really be there. really.]

and while i am already digressing, i just want to point out that there is a region in togo called kara. having been reminded of the alchemist recently, i am taking this as one of those signs that would be foolish to ignore. perhaps this is part of the universe conspiring to help me achieve what i want. perhaps. [read the book. you might really hate it, but you will be glad to have read it nonetheless.]

that is all i have in me right now. i will certainly be sharing more pertinent information regarding my program as the departure date approaches. for now, it is back to the practicalities of form-filling. super.

in the words of the literary genius and certified crazy-pants, kurt vonnegut,

and so on.