Bonsoir, bonsoir! Long time, no write, I know… I’ve been really on the go, and I’m afraid it’s going to be like that for most of the summer. It started with the Women’s Wellness and Empowerment Conference in Kpalimé in late May, which was a huge success. The conference was organized by volunteers in the plateaux region, and next year they plan to hold a conference in each of the 5 regions. I attended as the Savannes rep, meaning next year I’ll be planning the conference for our region (with lots of other people, I’m sure! It looked like a ton of work). They hosted 30 women from villages all over the region and presented themes and sessions from all four program sectors here in PC Togo. The women ate it up. From nutrition to family planning to budgeting to container gardens, they loved every minute, although it was hard to tell who was having more fun: the participants or the PCVs. We all did yoga together every morning at 6:00… the first morning, my fellow regional reps and I were slow to get out of bed and arrived to yoga still pretty sleepy. But we were the only ones. The women were so excited and greeted us with huge smiles on their faces. And we realized: this is a huge vacation for them. For three days, they don’t have to wake up at 4:30 am to sweep the compound, make breakfast, wash and dress the kids, etc. Instead, as Madame Rose pointed out, they were served all of their meals by men. It was awesome to see what an impact each new session had on the participants, especially on topics like family planning, which is usually taboo. I left with such a renewed feeling of purpose… it’s not everyday that you see people loving work that you do. And even though my role was very small (I was more of an observer than facilitator), the energy surrounding the whole event was contagious.
On that awesome note, I left on another equally fantastic adventure: Molé National Park in Ghana. My friend from Mango and I trekked over to northern Ghana to see the game reserve in Molé… so fun. We saw elephants! And baboons, crocs, red monkeys, antelope, and warthogs. It was interesting seeing a part of Ghana that looked so much like our part of Togo, instead of the beach version of Ghana I saw on my last trip. It was kind of a hassle getting there… we crossed the border at Mango, but let’s just say there’s a reason that border crossing didn’t make the guide books. And, for the record, I thought Togo transportation was sketchy, but at least here we don’t make people stand in the aisle for a 5-hour long bus ride. Don’t worry, Mom, we had seats : ) We also hung out for a few days in Tamale, which is a very large city at the same latitude as somewhere between Kara and Mango. They were used to tourists in that town, and we took full advantage. We went swimming at the pool, ate meatball sub sandwiches, and went shopping in the touristy art market. But it was really nice coming back to Togo… I was relieved to know what I was doing again. I feel more comfortable speaking French than Ghanaian English, and in francs CFA I can tell when I’m getting ripped off, instead of having to guess and convert. We designated the day we got back in country as “I Love Togo Day,” so we loved our crowded bush taxi, our hotel room with the broken air conditioner, the moto taxis, and the bar-resto blasting Toofan while we mange-d cafeteriat spaghetti. It was just so familiar.
And my Togo loving has continued—I spent one week in village and then didn’t want to leave to go to the GAD (Gender and Development Committee) meeting. I usually miss things about Mogou when I leave, like Affaires and my Gamgam teacher and Toby, but I’ve never not wanted to leave before. Making strides.
