Serenity

Homeward Bound

2010-09-19T09:28:00.000-07:00

Okay so the title is inaccurate because I actually am home. As I mentioned many months ago while I was in Togo I had gotten it into my head that I would go home in July. Now as many of you know, once I get something in my head its hard to get it out. So I moved to Ghana trying to keep an open mind about how long I would stay (and allow my situation to define it more than some preconceived notion) but still with July at the back of my mind. When I got to Ghana, although my situation had improved my work at PPAG still wasn't fulfilling, so I saw no reason to change my mind about July. So I set a flight for the end of July and then promptly freaked out about it. I had such vague plans about coming home that as soon as I actually set a date I felt like I had no more time. That alone wasn't enough to make me change the flight, but then in June I started working at DIF. All of a sudden I had exactly what I was looking for and leaving in July would cut me off right in the middle of my project. Now I was working in schools, whose term ended at the end of July and wouldn't start up again for another month and a half to two months. While I wanted to stay longer, hanging around for two months waiting for the schools to open again with no other real job function wasn't really cost effective. So I moved my flight to August (thank goodness for flexible tickets).

Of course I still didn't say anything largely because I had changed my mind multiple times in the past and I didn't want to let anyone down by announcing a date and not sticking to it. So long story short, I kept that flight and came back home in August. Coming home was easier this time, I knew what to expect of readjustment and culture shock. Of course I had a few funny culture shock moments like starting to cry hysterically after having a political discussion (let's just say the prevalence of the tea partiers in American politics scares the daylights out of me) or waiting a half hour for a sandwich at the deli not noticing that 10 people who came in behind me had already left with their food (because that's just how long you wait for food in Ghana), etc.

Right now I have a temporary job at Girl Scouts Heart of the Hudson, what's beyond that I'm not sure. If travel once again becomes part of the plan I may resurrect this blog but for now I'm putting it to rest. Thank you to everyone who followed it and me throughout this experience. I hope that it helped you to stay connected to me even thought I was far away. And I hope that it illuminated more about Africa for all of you and showed that it isn't just a pit of war, poverty and suffering like the American media makes it out to be. The Africa I see is vibrant and challenging. Yes, there is suffering but I feel that it is outweighed by endless potential and hope. For many people I met this hope is epitomized in President Obama, who is a folk hero because he represents the heights that Africans (and descendants of Africans) can rise to. I hope that in my lifetime we will recognize more of this great potential, instead of war, poverty and death. I plan to spend my life helping make this potential reality and I hope that you all will join me in whatever big or small ways you can.

Back to Togo

2010-08-29T09:09:00.000-07:00

After traveling all the way into Northern Ghana we crossed into Togo and traveled back down the country. I was happy to get back to Togo, to visit friends and my host family and to see Togo again with different eyes. Here are some of the highlights:

In Northern Togo we visited cliff caves. Getting to the caves was challenging and frustrating, largely because of all of the people who were trying to take advantage of us along the way. But when we finally got there the trip was definitely worth it. The view was amazing and the caves themselves were very cool:

After we visited the caves we traveled south and really only stopped to spend time in Lome. I got to see my host family again, my host father and I:

Melissa's Picture from Ghana

2010-08-12T12:49:00.000-07:00

We were able to get so close the the elephants!

On top of the safari jeep:

An old mosque in Larabanga:

My friends Melissa and the crocodile:

Our taxi that broke down on the side of the road:

African Crocodiles, Cars and Customs

2010-08-01T07:57:00.000-07:00

Ah, once again I’ve been out of communication for too long. Suffice it to say that my last week of work was very busy and stressful and then I was doing some more traveling. The current school term ended on July 16th so Melissa and I decided to go on a trip during the two free weeks she has had before leaving. We traveled to the north of Ghana then crossed into Togo and came back down through Togo. We had already gone to most of the places of interest in Southern Ghana so our trip started with a 13 hour bus ride up to Tamale, a city in north eastern Ghana. The next day, after having arrived in Tamale at 10pm we were up at 3:30am to catch the “4am” bus to Mole National Park. “4am is in quotations because of course the bus didn’t leave until 5:30am, frustrating when you’ve been up since 3. This bus took us out to a village called Larabanga, the home of a very old and interesting mosque where we caught a taxi for the few remaining kilometers to the park. The park has plenty of antelope, monkeys and elephants and we spent the next two days just hanging out there, going on safari walks and lounging at the pool. Honestly, the game viewing was so so compared to the parks in East Africa but after almost 24 hours of traveling it was nice just to hang out and not be on a bus. It was also the first time I’ve been in a pool ages!

A monkey eating stolen banku at Mole National Park

An NGO advertisement in Larabanga. "You can get AIDS from sharing a toothbrush." This is the bane of my existence here. No wonder all my students think you can get HIV/AIDS from kissing.

From Mole we went back to Tamale and visited two other towns, Bolgatanga and Paga. Most of these places don’t have much interesting to offer to tourist but in Paga they have crocodile ponds. When we arrived in Paga we were greeted by a man who runs a small museum, which is essentially a model of an ancient village. After we finished touring the village the man turned to us and said “Now you will buy a chicken.” “…What?” Obviously much confusion followed this because why would I want to buy a chicken? What would I do with a chicken? Apparently the chickens are used as bait to lure out the crocodiles so we dutifully bought a chicken and went out to the crocodile ponds. The guide lured the croc out and let us hold its tail and take pictures with it. And then I did the stupidest thing I’ve ever done. In the advertisements for the ponds you always see pictures of people sitting on the crocodiles and since we were already allowed to touch the croc on its tail I apparently saw no reason why I shouldn’t reach down and touch the crocodile on its back. As soon as I did the croc swings around and takes a swipe at me. I must of jumped 5 feet in the air screaming “Oh @#$*.” Luckily I managed to keep my leg out of the croc’s mouth and escaped with only a few scratches from where its teeth grazed me. Funnily enough our guide wasn’t really perturbed by this he just kind of laughed and said “No, you shouldn’t touch the females.” In any event, I left Paga with full use of my leg and the croc was happy with its extra helping of chicken for the day.

That same day we were heading to Togo and had lots of car trouble. One of the buses we were in had a loose metal bar on the roof which kept swinging down and hitting me on the head. Every time this happen my neighbor would chuckle and say “Oh sorry! African cars!” The next car we got on was the worst wreck of a car I’ve ever been on, and that’s saying a lot since most of the cars and buses here are in bad shape. It was so bad that it broke down twice and we all had to pile out of the car while the driver tinkered with the engine. Being a drive here also necessitates being a mechanic, otherwise you would always be stranded. Anyway, we finally arrived at the border and were greeted by six Ghanaian customs officials. They all swarmed us, took turns passing around our passports and starting asking a million questions. Now this all made me nervous because I was worried that they were going to try to hassle us to get a bribe. But after a few minutes of this I realized that it wasn’t that they were trying to give us a hard time, they were just excited that we were there! We were crossing at a small town in Northern Ghana so they can’t see a lot of Americans going through there.

More about our time in Togo to come. I don’t have many pictures but as soon as I get them from Melissa I will post them!

Feel Free

2010-08-01T05:37:00.000-07:00

I realized that I haven’t updated all of you on my work at DIF recently and it has been going really well. For the most part I teach. Melissa and I have 11 classes per week with upper primary and junior high school students. We mostly teach sexual and reproductive health but also delve into life planning skills and other general health topics. I’m really enjoying teaching, the students in general are inquisitive and excited about us being there. One of the challenges is speaking in a way that they can understand. It takes a lot of patience and repetition to make sure that the kids are absorbing everything. Another challenge is that we teach different materials on different days. It’s hard to keep everything straight, which class has done what, etc. Our schedule changes pretty frequently too, classes get moved, teacher’s have conferences and suddenly an already complicated schedule gets even more complicated.

We teach at four schools which is nice because they are all different and so it’s a different experience with the students. We teach at two public schools where the kids are rowdier and less attentive. The school classrooms are huge, filthy and dark, with roofs that leak when it rains. They are always mostly open air, few have windows or doors so noise travels very far. Some days it feels like I’m constantly screaming just to get the kids to hear me. Then we teach at one private school which had shutters for windows and doors and has no holes in the roof. The students are very bright, respectful and attentive and they always have a million questions. My favorite school by far is the all girl’s school. It’s a public school but the students have to specially qualify to get in so it is also a higher caliber than the other public schools we work in. I love working at the girl’s school because of the atmosphere. In most of our classes when we’re talking about sexual and reproductive health the girls stay absolutely silent. In the girls school it’s completely different, the girls are active, engaged and have lots of questions. We have great discussions on all of the topics and the girls are comfortable enough with us to ask some very personal questions on issues they are having. I enjoy all of my classes but the ones at the all girl’s school are best.

Teachers at the Central Mosque schools giving us gifts

With the girls at St. Mary's

Work can sometimes be frustrating because organization and project planning is seriously lacking. My coworkers will suddenly realize that some deadline is approaching or some reports are due and there is a ton of work that needs to be done very quickly. It’s frustrating because usually when this happens they turn to us to fix it. Not only that but they will turn to us and say, “Forget about everything you are doing because this is more important.” This happens at least once a week. I get annoyed because they are constantly throwing different projects at us, the way they approach it is demeaning to the day to day work the volunteers do and their priorities change in a instant so it’s impossible to keep up with what is ‘most important” at any particular point in time. Plus if I actually did just drop everything I was doing to start something new I would never keep any of my commitments or finish a project. Last week was the last week of the school term, and thus Melissa and my last sessions at all of the schools. But had we not fought with DIF about the importance of going we probably wouldn’t have seen half of our classes last week.

At DIF I have one very amusing coworker named Godfred. He is a bizarre man whose job seems to be running errands for the Director and showing the volunteers around. Godfred and I didn’t get off to a good start. I unknowingly threw the gauntlet when I supported and defended Melissa in refusing his advances. After that Melissa and I were always kind of a block and I think he felt offended by that. In any case, Godfred and I have been on touchy ground since my arrival. I also have a very no nonsense attitude towards work. After 5 months of struggling at my placements there was no way I was going to tolerate any shenanigans in this new position. And that attitude shows in the fact that I don’t put up with his meddling. At one point Godfred made a comment to Melissa about how “Lauren always feels free.” Translation: “Lauren is a troublemaker.” I’m embracing this new image of me, I don’t know that I’ve ever been described as a troublemaker before!

DIF Staff:

Peer Education Training

P.S. Mom I hope this satisfies your desire for pictures of me, I'm literally in every one!

This is Africa You Know

2010-07-09T09:28:00.000-07:00

Last Thursday was a holiday in Ghana so we made use of the long weekend and took a trip. We went to Kumasi, the second largest city in Ghana and the seat of the Ashanti Kingdom. The Ashanti are the largest ethnic group in Ghana and Kumasi has a lot of cultural sites and museums about the people. It took us about six hours to get there, all the way on paved road which was really nice. Traveling here is generally the same. You leave early, you get on a bus, wait for it to fill up then finally get going. Usually when you’re leaving a city you hit some traffic but in general the roads are mostly one lane so most of the trip is spent stuck behind one big truck or another that’s making its way slowly up the road. If you’re in a trotro (as opposed to a greyhound type bus) you will probably stop, or at least slow down, in many towns along the way. In all of these towns and along the side of the road there are women selling things. Water, soda, fruit, bread, kebabs, hard boiled eggs, anything and everything you could eat on the run. When the bus slows or stops they rush the windows shoving their foodstuffs in your face. Usually there is one stop (depending on how far you are traveling) where you can actually get off the bus. If you need to go to the bathroom you ask around and are shown to the local latrine. I’ve done a bit of traveling in all of my experiences in Africa and this is always generally the same. But this time, I was dozing on the bus when we stopped and when I opened my eyes I didn’t see a bunch of frenzied women trying to shove food in my face but a calm parking lot and a large building with a ‘Rest Stop” sign on it. I was amazed! I haven’t seen anything like it in all of my travels here. There was a restaurant, a bar, a number of snack shops and a restroom! A real restroom with toilets that actually flush! It was one of the few moments I’ve had here where I let myself be a tourist by ogling and taking pictures.

Overall Kumasi is a nice place. It’s more temperate, it gets just as hot as Accra in the day but at night it gets cool, like a spring morning. The city was laid back and calmer than Accra, except in the center where the main market and bus station overlap each other in one large and chaotic circle. We visited museums, palaces and shrines all giving information on Ashanti Kings, culture and history. The first day we explored the city and watched the last Ghana game. It was very sad when Ghana lost. The next day we went out of the city to visit a number of villages in the area that are famous for making crafts. We visited one village where they stamp fabrics to make prints. We were given a demonstration and then given a few strips of cloth to print for ourselves. Here are pictures of me stamping and of my cloth. Each stamp has a different meaning, for instance the concentric circles is the symbol of the king and the star represents the star of Ghana.

The scarf I'm wearing is Kente cloth, they give it to you at the beginning in the hope that you will buy it.

After the stamping village we also visited a village where they weave cloth. It was really cool to see the loom and see how fact the workers could produce something. Finally after that we went to Lake Bosotwi. It was beautiful and peaceful, I wish we could have stayed there but we only had a little bit of time.

At one point in the trip I was walking and jammed my foot into a rock that was protruding from the sidewalk. Generally walking here is like an obstacle course, there are very few stretches of flat road and you usually have to navigate through holes, over garbage, piles of rock, etc. So minor cuts, bruises and scrapes are a normal part of life. Usually when a Ghanaian person witnesses you hurting yourself in some way they go “Oh! Sorry!” This happens a lot to me when I bump my head trying to get out of a trotro. This time when I jammed my foot an onlooker shouted “Oh! Sorry! This is Africa you know!” I had to laugh, as I sarcastically thought to myself “Africa? Really? I never knew!”

World Cup Fever

2010-06-29T13:05:00.000-07:00

Hopefully all of you are aware that the World Cup has been going on for the last few weeks. It’s been really crazy here, everyone has been very captivated by it, especially since Ghana is playing. It keeps us busy too, there is always a game going on, always something to do. The atmosphere here when Ghana plays is absolutely amazing. Everyone is literally on the edge of their seats. When Ghana makes a goal attempt you would have thought they actually made a goal and when they actually score… everyone goes mad. No matter where you go to watch the game it’s completely crowded and no one in the country would dare miss it, whether they watch it on TV or listen to it on the radio. I found the first round confusing, at first because I didn’t know how the scoring worked and secondly because I couldn’t remember who has scored what against who. Some of my friends here have amazing memories when it comes to that and could report the stats in their entirety. Now the first round has ended and it’s single elimination and much simpler that way. Ghana won its first game, tied its second and lost its third. Despite the fact that they lost their third game they made it into the round of 16. And I tell you, you’ve never seen people so happy about a loss. Largely because it didn’t matter that they’d lost, they were still going to move forward.

Many of you many know that Ghana played the US on Saturday night and won. When I first heard that Ghana was going to the play the US I said to myself, “Of course I’m supporting Ghana!” The people here are so excited about Ghana chances, the mood here is absolutely amazing and it means so much to them. Few Americans get so excited about football (and yes its football, if I start calling it soccer again it will just confuse me). But when I got to the game I couldn’t bring myself to root against the US. I was rooting for Ghana and I really wanted Ghana to win, but I didn’t want the US to lose. I guess I would have been happy either way but I am very happy for Ghana. I’m not sure that they have any chance of winning their next game against Uruguay but they’ve had a great run and anything can happen… right?

Reflections on Home

2010-06-29T12:29:00.000-07:00

A few weekends ago I volunteered at an even UNICEF had in a refugee settlement near Accra. Ikando has a connection with them and they invited some of us to help out. The community is called a refugee settlement now as opposed to a refugee camp. Usually refugee camps do become settlements, people cannot return home or choose not to return home because the situation is still too dangerous, because they’ve lost everything, etc. This settlement is composed of Liberians who came to Ghana in the 1980s. There are now not only one generation of refugees who have been born in Ghana but two. We did a program with a group of kids gathered from all of the different schools in the settlement. The program was meant to help them think about home and what is home to them. Despite the fact that all of the kids had been born in and lived their entire lives in Ghana many of them still think about Liberia as home. So the program was designed to help the kids think about what is home, what they like about Ghana and what they feel they are missing by not being in Liberia. We brought a ton of art supplies and had the kids make pictures of home. A lot of the kids were amazing artists and they seemed to have a really good time doing it. We were supposed to do a tour of the settlement afterwards but the activities ended up taking too long. I was disappointed but it was a great opportunity anyway.

Oops I Forgot

2010-06-22T11:16:00.000-07:00

One of the things I wanted to describe to all of you about Ada was how many traveling difficulties we had. I know that I had describe some of them in Togo but I thought I’d give a Ghanaian example as well. We had been told by someone we knew that we could get a tro-tro (bus) to Ada from a bus station called Kaneshie (and no that’s probably not spelled correctly) which is fairly close to where we live. Meaning that depending on your luck you could take one or two different trotros to get there. So we leave, there are six of us so we split up, and the trotro I get into ends up bringing us nowhere near where they said it was going. Which also happens fairly often, they change their routes on rim, because it raining, because there is traffic, because we feel like it, etc. We ended up at a completely different bus station and when we asked the driver where we could get a bus actually going to Kaneshie and he told us to follow him. So we followed him on a long and circuitous route through the station, dodging huge puddles and large mud pits every second step until we got to the next bus. This one is going to the right place and we get to Kaneshie and meet up with the others at the appointed spot. Now we’re at the correct bus station and we have to find the right bus. So we dive into the chaos and start asking all the different drivers and mates (assistants who collect money) who are standing around to direct us to the right now. Now the way this usually goes is that you ask them “Where is the bus to Ada?” they squint up into the sky and finally say “That way” and point in a direction. You walk a few buses down and ask the next guy the same thing, get the same response and hope that you’re getting closer. It’s kind of playing marco polo. You do this until you finally reach a guy who can point out the actual car, you confirm with the mate, who usually is standing near it and then get in. In this case the first few times we tried to ask for Ada they didn’t seem to know what we were saying. Instead of squinting at the sky and pointing we got blank looks. Finally someone said “oh! Oda! Yes, yes, it’s that way…” And we say “oh okay! Oda…” not pronouncing things correctly is normal so you roll with the punches, try and pronounce it right the next time, and keep moving. Except in this case it turned out that Oda was actually a different place. We were about to pay the mate when I caught sight of a sign in the window that actually spelled it as “Oda” and realized that it was actually a completely different place.

So… we were back to square one. Finally someone dug their guidebook out of their bag and pointed the town out on the map. “oh! Ada Kasseh! … There are not trotros for that here, you have to go to Tema station.” So we walk around showing the map to a few other people who all confirm that we need to go to Tema station. So we go all the way to the other side of Kaneshi station, find a trotro going to Tema station and wait for it to fill up. Finally we get to Tema station and the game begins again. “Ada? That way!” “Ada? No you have to go to xy and z station.” FINALLY, we get someone who actually knows where the bus is and we follow him across the station, across the street and down the road to a smaller bus station where the driver confirms that he is going to Ada. So we all get on, we pay, and we wait. And we wait. We waited for a hour and a half before the trotro filled up and left the station. By then it had been four hours since we had left the house.

The trotro ride was uneventful. About two hours later the driver pulled over to the side of a road in the town and said “You’re getting out here right?” This is Ada? Right… okay let’s get out. As we get out we’re rushed by food vendors and taxi drivers who are hoping to make a quick buck from us. We don’t really know where we are in relation to where our hotel is so out comes the map again. After a 15 minute conversation with the taxi drivers they realize that we’re not going to pay their outrageous prices and we get one who gives us a decent one. We get to the smaller town down the road and we call the hotel, they are supposed to send a boat to pick us up. “Which beach are you at?” “Umm…?” After an intense discussion of landmarks we hand the phone off to a local person who tells the hotel where we are. Finally, we get in the boat and arrive at our hotel and spend the next 24 hours in amazingly beautiful, calm, peaceful place… Until we have to the start the whole process over to get back to Accra.

Leaving PPAG

2010-06-20T04:04:00.001-07:00

In the past few blog posts I know that I have aired some of my frustrations with my internship with PPAG. My issues were largely that I just had nothing to do; that I hadn't really found ways to get myself involved with activities and that I didn't feel like the people there were always helpful with integrating me into their programs. In the mean time there are two volunteers at the house who work at an organization called Integrated Development in Focus, which does work with health awareness and education. I knew that one of the girls was overwhelmed with everything they expected of her so I asked her about coming to work with them. She spoke to her boss and three days later I started my first day! The transition was very quick, which was astonishing here but was largely because I didn't have to wait on any Ghanaians to get anything done. The people at PPAG seemed disappointed but understood. I mean what could they say? I had no responsibilities, no projects to hand over so what was the difference?

I've been at DIF for about a week and a half now and it's been good. I've interviewed TB patients on their experiences with DIF volunteers, written a grant proposal, participated in a training of peer educators for a new TB program and accompanied my friend Melissa for all of her teaching sessions. On Thursday I was introduced to my school where I;ll be teaching 6 classes. The classes are about a hour each and we cover everything from nutrition to HIV/AIDS and other infectious diseases to self esteem building and good decision making. I'm really excited to get this time in the classroom. I've been enjoying helping Melissa out and I can't wait to have my own classes. Teaching is always something I've enjoyed and is something I always keep in the back of my mind as a career path so I'm looking forward to having the opportunity to be a formal teacher, to be completely in control of my own class, write my own lesson plans, etc.

DIF has also exposed me to a couple different cultural things, the people there love to expose us to new things, new foods, customs, etc. Last week I went to both a tribal ceremony and a wedding ceremony with them which were both really interesting. The tribal ceremony was the ending to a month of silence. It is tradition for the tribe to plant its crops and then be quiet for a month to let them grow in peace. People aren't supposed to have parties, weddings, funerals or anything during this time. Even a lot of bars didn't play music. The ceremony we went to was the ending of the ban on music. There were a lot of chiefs there, priestesses and everyone was very excited. The ceremony was long and disorganized
but the excitement was infectious. The whole ceremony we were just waiting for the moment when they would lift the ban because we knew that everyone would freak out. In fact the agenda had a time scheduled in for "General Dancing and Merriness."

Local Accra Chiefs:

Arrival of More Chiefs:

Processional:

Lifting of the Ban:

Drummers: (Technically the ban was traditionally on drumming but has now been expanded to all music):

Pulling a Disappearing Act

2010-06-20T02:55:00.000-07:00

I'm sorry that I've been in contact lately, both here and in email. Life has been really busy and I haven't been in the internet in two weeks! It's great to not be on the internet a lot because that's the way most people here live but it also means I'm in less contact with all of you which isn't great. Anyway, long story short is that I have a lot to update you all on, travels, job changes, ceremonies I've attended and of course... the World Cup. Hopefully I'll get all of this posted in the next few days.

A few weekends ago we took a trip to Ada Foah. It's a small village on the coast in between Accra and the Togolese border. It was funny taking the trip back there and living somewhat my trip from Togo to Accra. Ada Foah is a village on a peninsula in between Lake Volta and the ocean. Lake Volta is the largest man made lake in the world and was made by damming the Volta River. This dam now provides about 80 percent of Ghana's electricity, although climate change and less rainfall is threatening that energy source. History lesson aside the place was amazing! We stayed at a "beach camp" which was basically a series of huts on a thin strip of beach in between the lake an the ocean. It was very peaceful and was a great break from the busy and polluted city. We also took a boat trip around the Lake and some of the islands there. We stopped at one when they produce rum, which let me tell you feels great on the stomach at 2 in the afternoon. Anyway, here are some pictures of Ada and of some sights from the tro tro (bus) on the way to it.

Kakum National Park

2010-06-04T11:28:00.000-07:00

On Tuesday I took a trip to Kakum National Park with the “Sistas” club of the youth center. The club is made up of girls in junior and senior high here and it’s basically just supposed to be an open forum where the girls can be themselves and get support. They had been planning this trip for months. PPAG provided a van to take us there so we all crammed in bringing along cases of water, soda and packed lunches as well. Kakum is a rainforest park and its main attraction is a canopy walk. The walk is basically a bunch of rope bridges tied together attaching to little decks built in to the trees. The rope swings and bends as you walk along it so it’s a very intimidating experience, especially if you are afraid of heights. A couple of the girls refused to go out on it and I couldn’t really blame them. I am afraid of heights so I was really proud of myself for staying calm for the whole time. The sad thing is that you are so focused on holding on to the rope and where to place your feet next that you forget to enjoy the view, to look around you and see the world at the top of the canopy. After the first two walkways (of five) I realized that and was able to try to focus on actually looking around and not just on holding onto the rope for dear life.

The trip was also a great opportunity for me to get to know some of the girls and their situations. They all have really big dreams but what I don’t have a read on is how likely they are to achieve those dreams. I mean these girls are already in secondary school, in Togo that was an accomplishment alone. What are their chances of graduation from high school, of passing their exams, of being accepted into university? A lot of the girls seem to graduate from high school but then don’t have a next step lined up. A lot of them aren’t accepted to university or they aren’t sure what they want to do in university or technical school, they don’t have the money for it, etc. Then in the mean time they get pregnant or married, get caught up in other things, or their parents get sick of supporting them and then never make it back to their schooling. All of the girls seem really determined but so many of them are dependent on people who could just drop them at any time. That seems to be the biggest danger for them. Parents or guardians can no longer afford school fees, they live with their sister and their brother-in-law has had enough of putting a roof over their heads, etc. Then they end up forced into menial work where they make a pittance or into prostitution. You hear a lot about prostitution here, it appears that it is very common for girls who have to drop out of school for one reason or another to end up as prostitutes. They think that there isn’t anything else for them. It’s funny, I’m here because I want to help them achieve those dreams. I want them to have the same chances I’ve had but just the fact that I’m here puts a world of separation between them and I. The fact that I have the resources to travel and passport that gets me into almost any country in the world are just two more major divides between us. So many people here talk about the desire to travel to go to the States or Europe but few of them ever actually get to do it.

Anyway, the point is that we all had fun and it was a great day for me because I got to engage in a different way and learn more about the youth here and their situations. Here are some pictures.

Trying to See the Forest Through the Trees

2010-05-27T12:17:00.000-07:00

For the last week or so I’ve been kind of down. I feel like I’ve found ways to keep myself busy at work but the work isn’t fulfilling. Fulfilling work is the whole point of being here, to contribute, to do work I believe in. So hanging around watching movies in the rec room and working in my GRE book in the clinic is frustrating. Don’t get me wrong, I’m working for a great organization; I just can’t seem to plug in in places where I could really DO something real. I mean it isn’t like this work is paying the rent. I think that it is a common challenge in volunteer work here, any real needs the organization has will be fulfilled by staff. So as a volunteer, it can be very hard to find a place for yourself, a way to contribute. I hear the same thing from a lot of volunteers who come through. A lot of times the people here don’t seem to realize it. For instance, last weekend both the clinic and the youth center had events that they didn’t invite me to. I would have loved to go do HIV counseling and testing in one of Accra’s markets or have participated in an educational workshop with the youth center. Also, a lot of times when I am doing something my coworkers will say “No, No, let me do that.” I don’t seem to have moved past being a guest. And as a guest I am not expected to do work. ANYWAY, because I’ve been feeling down about all of this I decided to focus this blog post on some of the smaller but positive things happening in my life, ways I’ve succeeded in integrating, things I like and some of the smaller ways I feel like I’ve contributed.

Hissing. Whenever you encounter a new culture there are bound to be things about it that you don’t like. One of the things that rubbed me the wrong way from day one was the way people call each other here. They use hissing and kissing noises. Okay, rubbed the wrong way is an understatement. When I first arrived in Togo people hissing at me really pissed me off. At first I would refuse to respond to people, “Don’t hiss at me! I’m not a dog!” I would think in my head. In general it was people just trying to get your attention to talk to you, to draw you into their shop, etc. Most of the time I spend out walking on the street I am being called out to in some way. But sometimes the hissing turned out to be important. The first time I went to the post office to pick up a package I heard someone hissing at me as I walked out, but I ignored it figuring it was nothing. It was the customs officer trying to get my attention because I hadn’t cleared the package with him. He was angry with me, he said “I was calling you and you didn’t listen.” All the while I’m thinking “Bull, you didn’t call me you hissed at me and there were 20 other people in the room you could have been hissing at.” Over time I’ve gotten used to the hissing and realized that it could be a pretty effective tool in getting people’s attention. But I still refused to hiss myself. Until now, last week I hissed at someone for the first time. It was a pathetic attempt (people here can hiss so long and so loud- it’s unbelievable!) but I actually did it. Sometimes it’s hard to get over those little things and it certainly took me a long time to get over that one.

Laundry. As I’ve already explained, doing laundry here is a real chore. Washing by hand takes a lot of time and a lot of energy. And don’t even think about putting it off because then you’ll just spend your life trying to catch up with it all. I did laundry every day of my last week in Togo. When I started my attempts at cleaning my clothes and in particular wringing out my clothes, were pretty pathetic. The women in my compound used to come to my rescue often, probably because it was too painful for them to watch me try to ring out my sheets. They have a lot of strength and they have a very particular way they go about scrubbing, a certain hand motion that I tried to emulate but was never able to. After a while I just forgot about it and then, as I was doing my laundry a few days ago I looked down at my hands and realized I was doing the same motion. I just started doing it naturally without even realizing it.

Learning the language. Learning the language here is really amusing me, not because I think the language is easy to learn or because it’s funny in any way, I just find the words I’m learning hilarious. I can say how are you, I’m fine, yes, white person, black person, step back (to tell women to get off the scale), vagina, penis and when did you have your last period. Now naturally, I’ve learned these words either because they are shouted at me (how are you and white person), because I need them for work (step down and when did you have your last period) and because the high school students get a kick out of trying to make me say vagina and penis. That said, I’ve also been very impressed with the maturity in which people here talk about sex, especially since things like teen pregnancy, HIV and infertility are so stigmatized here. From what I remember about my reproductive health education experiences it was filled with awkwardness and snickers. Here there is none of that, even from the students receiving the education. It’s great. Maybe it’s because there is so much of an emphasis on sex ed to stem the spread of HIV. I’m not sure but the forum’s in which I’ve seen it discussed have been very open and comfortable.

Girl power. I think one of the biggest ways that I make an impact here without realizing it is in the example I am for the women here. Now I’m mortified just saying that, I’m not trying to say I’m amazing or anything. What I am saying is that I’m independent, educated and have been given every chance in the world. I am an example of what you can do when society values women. Some of the most common conversations I have with men here go something like this:

“Where are you from?” (That’s it, no salutation)
-“I’m from the States”
“What’s your name?”
-“Lauren”/Sometimes I lie/Sometimes I don’t even answer
-“Are you married?”
-“No”
-“Do you have a boyfriend?”
-“No”
-“So you’re here with your parents?”
-“No my parents are in the States.”

… And so on. The point being that the expectation is that there is man here somewhere taking care of me. If I don’t have a husband then my father, or at least a boyfriend, must be around looking out for me. That said, the fact alone that I’m here without a husband, boyfriend or Father being with me is huge. The facilitators at the youth center were very surprised to hear that I’ve already finished university. So I think that my presence here gives them an example of what women can do, what chances we are given and fight for in other parts of the world and what we can do when we’re given half the opportunity.

Cape Coast and Elmina

2010-05-26T11:07:00.000-07:00

The city of Cape Coast:

Fish market in Elmina:

Elmina Castle:

My House

2010-05-26T10:56:00.000-07:00

Front door: We only live in the downstairs of the house, a Ghanaian family lives upstairs.

I'm really not good at making up titles...

2010-05-17T12:15:00.000-07:00

Well I’m sitting here waiting for my pictures to load so I might as well update my posts as well. A week has gone by since I wrote the last post. I keep going up and down in my feelings on how things are going at PPAG. Some days (or even hours) I am discouraged and bored and others I am positive and determined to make the best of it. We’ve been exploring options at other organizations for me to work at in addition to PPAG but it doesn’t seem like anything is going to work out at this point. Work at the clinic is fine, there is a lot of down time but when there is work I feel useful. Maybe one woman comes in per day for counseling and that’s my favorite part, the part that makes me feel the most like I’m contributing to something positive. The rest just makes me feel useful in general, which with so much down time here is great for me. The situation at Young and Wise is pretty much the same except that all of the kids are back in school now so the center is empty until around 2:30. I’m very happy that all of the kids seem to be in school but it means that there really isn’t anything to do. School programs are supposed to be starting up soon so hopefully that will mean that I will get out and have something to do most afternoons a week. I have also decided to take on the library and as a project. It is horribly disorganized, they have no comprehensive list of what books they actually have and most of their books were published in the 1990s or earlier. I’m going to try and get them more organized, take stock of what they have, what they need and then I’m going to try and apply for funding to get some new materials. When I told the librarian that I wanted to make a comprehensive list of all of the books in the library with title and author (a concession on my part I thought we really should get copyright dates and descriptions of them as well) he just stared at me. Then he said, “But that’s tedious!” I thought that the whole situation was very funny because for me sitting around doing nothing is tedious, so I’m over the moon about going through every book in the library and getting that information. Not only will it keep me busy but it’s a huge task – so it’s going to keep me busy for a long time! Anyway, I think this is a way that I can contribute to Young and Wise in an area that they really have need and do something that I can actually accomplish as see real results of before I leave.

I lost my one housemate this week so I’m in the one house alone. It’s cool though because I have my own room and all of my own space. Any time I want company I just walk over to the other house where there are a lot of people. I feel bad for the others in the big house, there are 11 people living there now, it would probably be less of a commotion if they put some people in my house. That decision is up to Ikando and apparently they want to fill up the big house first. This past weekend I did some more traveling with some of the other volunteers. We went to Cape Coast again and then to Elmina, which is a smaller town 20km west of Cape Coast which boasts Africa’s oldest and largest castle. The trip worked out great for me because the group left early Saturday morning and explored Cape Coast while I was in French class. Then I joined them in the evening and we went to Elmina, where I hadn’t visited, the next day. After so much solo time in Togo it’s great to have people to do things with here, especially traveling. It’s more fun and a lot cheaper to travel with other people. Pictures of Elmina to come!

More Pictures

2010-05-17T10:59:00.000-07:00

Okay I know that I haven't been great about posting pictures... Well the truth is that I haven't been great at taking pictures. But now I'm going to try to rectify that. Pending craziness with my internet here are some more pictures:

My birthday in Togo... The two adults on the left are my host brother and sister the rest are apprentices.

Trotros (Essentially public transportation)

The front door of my house. We only live in the downstairs a Ghanaian family lives upstairs.

Okay I've been at this for about 2 hours and I've gotten three pictures up, scratch that 2 pictures up, so I'm going to call it a night. I promise to make another attempt to upload pictures soon.

Young and Wise

2010-05-17T10:43:00.000-07:00

So I wrote this post last week but never got around to posting it... Will update on the last week soon/maybe tonight.

This week I started working for the Planned Parenthood Association of Ghana (or PPAG - http://www.ppag-gh.org/). Starting there I was told that I could do my internship with the youth center and the clinic, both of which are attached to their main headquarters. After a couple trips down there and a lot of confusion about who I was and why I was sitting and waiting in reception I was finally introduced at the youth center at end of last week. When I got there the Coordinator again had no clue who I was or why I was there but seemed happy enough to see me. We decided that I would start this week because a new Coordinator was starting Monday and the center has been a little crazy in the transition. The center, called Young and Wise has a bunch of different functions. They have a library, an internet café and a main hall with a TV and a pool table. The library is always full, it’s the only one in the area and it regularly used by a number of people. The internet café offers internet time a lot cheaper than normal ones (50 Ghanaian cents as opposed to 1.50) and also offers classes in Microsoft office programs, and Corel as well as general typing and browsing. The main hall is just a general hang out, the tv is always on, usually playing very load music videos and kids of all ages swarm in to just watch, play pool or games of just generally hang out. There are 5 facilitators in the main hall who are supposed to oversee, interact and educate the kids who come in but they seem to be more of a youthful clique themselves. They spend most of their time chatting, dancing and playing pool. Since there isn’t much for me to do in the library or computer lab I spent most of my time in the main hall. During the first few days I was just trying to get to know people, get to know what they do etc, so for the most part I hung back to see how they normally function. The facilitator’s seem to do one activity with the kids per day so finally I just started to try to do things with the kids whenever I was around. I broke out my cards, taught them card games, tried to learn the games that they were playing, etc. At the end of the week I wasn’t too jazzed about the whole thing, there just seemed to be very little that I could actually participate in, and the things that I was supposed to be participating in never got off the ground. Looking forward I’m more positive, now that I know how everything works I can just work with two of the facilitators who are active and start up activities on my own. This week was also a little off at the center because of the change in leadership, I am hoping that in the future things will be better as the new coordinator gets on her feet.

On Thursday I was also introduced at the clinic. Right next door to the youth center the clinic is fairly small and mostly caters to women who come in for family planning. It’s perfect for me because that is exactly the same environment I was in in Togo, so I already have a background on how everything works. My role at the clinic is the same as it was in Togo as well. I help manage the flow of patients as they come in and out, finding their records, taking vitals, etc. Also when women come in for information we do counseling sessions on the contraceptive methods. Like the hospital in Togo though the work depends on who walks in the door. Maybe no one will come in for an hour and then 10 people will come in the next hour. The clinic is great, and I like the work but there is still a lot of down time. They are also a little more high tech here in Ghana. The scale actually works and instead of using a stethoscope and blood pressure cuff to get blood pressure they have the cuff attached to a machine which takes the vitals. Just one push of a button and you get blood pressure and pulse. It makes my job kind of boring, I don’t even get to keep in practice of taking blood pressure for real! Anyway, the situation at the clinic is ok and that is one that isn’t going to change. So for now I’m spending my mornings at the clinic and my afternoons at the health center. I’m feeling positive about trying to find a more constructive role there and am also still exploring the possibilities of a second internship with another organization.

Life at the Ikando house continues to go well. I have really been enjoying cooking for myself. It’s funny how something as small as deciding what and when I eat has such a huge impact on my days. The other volunteers come and go. Since I moved in three people have arrived and one has left and one more is leaving this week. The volunteers are from all over, right now there are 2 other Americans, a Canadian, an Italian, an Austrian, an Australian and finally a girl from Britain. It’s a fun mix of people, experiences and accents. I’m still trying to get to know everyone and am also trying to capitalize on the knowledge and experience of the volunteers who have been here for a while before they head out. Summer is supposed to be the busy season, where the houses fill up with volunteers so I’m sure even more people will be arriving in the weeks to come.

Contact Information - Ghana

2010-05-04T10:39:00.000-07:00

Alright, hopefully for the last time... Here is my contact information for Ghana:

Phone Number:
011 233 54 182 4517

Address:
Lauren Bobay
C/O Ikando Foundation
PMB 297
Accra-North, Ghana
West Africa
AirMail

Time Flies

2010-05-03T05:19:00.000-07:00

Well I’ve been in Ghana about a month now, which seems really crazy. Unlike my time in Togo the month I’ve spent in Ghana seems to have flown by. I’ve been very proud of myself, I’m someone who really needs to be busy, to have things to do. So the fact that I’ve gotten through this last month with no job or employment without going crazy is really good for me. Luckily my lack of employment won’t be continuing. I’m starting an internship this week at the Planned Parenthood Association of Ghana. They have a youth center which does in house education and trainings as well as outreach so I’m going to be working with them. Planned Parenthood also is opening a family planning clinic in my neighborhood, Nima, so once that gets going I’m going to try to work there one or two days a week. Plus, I’m going to have a pretty significant commute to PPAG so it would be nice to not have to trek out there every day.

Life at the Ikando volunteer house is good. All of the other volunteers have been very friendly and welcoming. Plus, a lot of them have been in Ghana for a while so they’re great resources on everything from good bars and restaurants, which ladies sell the best produce, what buses to take, basically all of your day to day needs. It’s funny to have a social life again. I think I’ve been out more here already than in me entire time in Togo. I got used to and got good at being alone, doing my own thing, keeping myself busy so now I find it funny to have people to do things with and to go places with. Don’t get me wrong, it’s great, but I’m just kind of laughing at myself for how much of a loner I had become. This weekend has been a holiday here so we went out to the beach for a night. It was to the same beach where I had spent a night when I first arrived in Ghana but this trip was a much better experience. I got hassled a lot less because I was with other people and let’s face it, being at the beach is about just hanging out and doing nothing, which is a lot more fun with other people.

On a more somber note one of the alarming trends I’ve been seeing when I’m out at night are child performers. And I’m not talking about them being out at 7 pm, they are out at performing at bars at 11. They to different acts, dancing, acrobatics, etc. The thing is that everyone around gives them money and I won’t and then I feel like a jerk. I don’t give money because that makes the whole thing profitable for them. There is some adult behind the whole act who is making money by having the kids strung out doing performances in the street late at night. Now I can’t know that if they stopped making the kids do that that they wouldn’t be forced to do something worse, but giving money would be condoning it. How could I do that? But I guess that’s the thing about being with other foreigners, what one foreigner does it becomes expected of all of the others.

Moving In

2010-04-25T08:26:00.000-07:00

Hey Everyone, I finally have some progress to report! I’ve been spending the last few weeks trying to find an internship and a place to live, but it’s been slow. A lot of people have been saying that they might have something, they need more time, etc. So I’ve always had option on the table, it’s just turning the possibility of those options into reality which seems to be the challenge. I don’t have a work situation nailed down yet, I’m hoping it will happen this week, but who knows! What I do have settled is where I’m living. One of the organization I contacted has two houses for their volunteers and despite the fact that I’m not volunteering with them they have agreed to let me rent space for the next 3 months. I moved in on Friday and the house I’m living in is very nice. It has all of the modern amenities… a fridge, a real shower, even air conditioning! There are supposedly 7 other volunteers who here and in another house down the road but I’ve only met one so far, the rest are on a trip. I’m living in the smaller house and Ix am third person to move in. The situations here seem to be pretty fluid, people move in and out based on their schedules. Both of the people who are currently living in my house are supposed to be moving out in May. So I’ve unpacked, gone grocery shopping and am really really enjoying the ability to cook for myself.

In the mean time I’m just trying to keep myself busy, exploring the city, reading, etc. I signed myself up for a French class at the Alliance Francaise here and had my first class Satuday morning. I’m happy with it so far, I think it’s going to be a good thing to keep me busy and keep me in practice. I’ve learned from the past, if you don’t use it, you lose it. So I’m going to really try to keep up with my French this time around. The first week here I kept having to remind myself to speak English. I would just automatically start speaking in French which obviously didn’t help me much here. Also, embarrassingly, I seemed to have picked up the habit of talking to myself under my breath in English, commentating so to speak on what’s going on. It doesn’t work so much now that people can understand what I’m grumbling to myself about. I’ll update when I have more news. I hope everyone is doing well!

Akwaaba

2010-04-14T09:15:00.000-07:00

My last few days in Togo went well. I was excited about Easter because it was my first real holiday in country, but there isn’t much to tell about it. They went to church like always (3 hour services!) and that was about it. The kids got bisap (hibiscus juice) and fanmilk (a West African version of the ice cream man, men push around cooler carts with ice cream inside) and the adults got soda and beer. The real surprise for me came on Monday night when the family surprised me with a birthday cake. I didn’t think that they had remembered my birthday and since I was away for it I didn’t remind them. Anyway, they sang “Happy Birthday” to me in English and the writing on the cake (also in English) said “Happy Bestday Laurene” which was really funny. All told it was a really nice surprise and a good ending to my time there.

I realized that there are two people who I haven’t written about that I’d like to mention now before I leave Togo behind. They are both workers in the bakery. The first is Francis, a Ghanaian who was working as a teacher training the new apprentices. Francis first approached me because he wanted help finding funding to start his own bakery. I tried to help him write emails and steer him in the right direction in terms of where he could find funding but we really didn’t get far. Francis was nice because he was someone I could speak English with and he would always give me the dirt on what was going on in the bakery and in the neighborhood.

The second person is the really important one. Her name is Christine and she is important because she is the one who fed me. Nominated to help me out largely because of her French skills she was the person who cooked dinner for me every night. We didn’t talk much, although I would always try to draw her into conversation, but she was always very kind to me and helped me out in any way she could. I also liked her because she is very spunky. She gives everyone sass and no matter what time of the day it is you can usually hear her voice resonating around the compound as she gives someone a hard time. She has a lot of energy and doesn’t take any nonsense from anyone. Here is a picture of her:

….

Now for Ghana. Akwaaba means ‘welcome’ in a local language, Ashanti I believe. I’ve been here for a week now and things have been going well. I don’t have a job or a place to live but I’ve been exploring Accra and have been going a little traveling. I left Togo last Tuesday. I headed out with a friend from the Peace Corps and two of her Togolese partners. They were heading to Accra to pick up some materials for a library project and I was able to tag along with them. They were immensely helpful, I had a lot of stuff to juggle and they helped me with it all. The Lome is literally on the border with Ghana so getting to the border was a simple taxi ride from the house. I was very impressed, Ghana’s customs system is electronic. They typed all of my data into the computer and took a picture of me which they loaded right into my profile. Very high tech! Well… compared to Togo.

The ride from the border to Accra was about 4 hours. At first it didn’t really seem like Ghana was that different from Togo. A lot of the villages we passed looked just like Togo’s villages, especially close to the border. However the closer we got to Accra the more different things looked. For one thing about a half hour outside of Accra we passed a large industrial area, warehouses, factories, etc. It was like nothing I’ve seen in Togo. Then Accra itself is a world away from Lome. When I first told the Americans I knew in Togo that I was moving to Ghana they said “Oh you’ll like it, it’s like America.” Really? Why? “They have a mall and overpasses.” At the time I thought that was an amusing response but they were dead on. When we got to the outskirts I was thinking “Wow! A four lane highway!” (Compared to Togo’s National highway which is two lanes all the way up the country). “Now it’s a six lane highway! Look at that overpass!” Accra and the area surrounding it is very built up, and has good infrastructure (although traffic is still a nightmare so it obviously needs improvement) which is a big difference from Lome. Everything here looks newer or at least in better care. There are a lot of shiny office buildings, gas stations, fast food chains (not American ones), etc. That was the first thing I noticed. It also reminds me a lot of Nairobi. The dichotomy of slums, broken down buildings and piles of trash next to shiny new buildings, fancy stores, etc. A lot of the chains here are the same ones that are in Nairobi too.

So for my first few days I explored the city a bit, visited the mall, went to register at the embassy and tried to get my bearings. This weekend I headed to Cape Coast, the former capital of Ghana under the British. It was nice to get out of Accra so soon and really see more of the country. It’s something that I didn’t do right away in Togo. Cape Coast was a quiet city, it’s biggest attraction was the castle, which was used as a slave port. After Cape Coast I came back towards Accra and spent a day at the beach. I was really looking forward to the beach but I found it disappointing. The fun and comforts of the beach were equaled by the annoyances. Namely, lots of local men who either try to sell things to you or just try to talk to you/hit on you. I couldn’t stand on the beach or the in water longer than three minutes without someone coming up to me. And let me tell you, they aren’t easy to get rid of. The second issue at the beach was all of the garbage. The beach and water was full out it, you couldn’t stand in the water without plastic bags (or other garbage) getting caught on you every time the waves came in and out. It made the environmentalist in me want to run up and down the beach picking up every last piece of garbage. After my first foray onto the beach I preferred to spend my time watching the waves come in and out from the deck of the hotel I was staying at…Very relaxing and without the annoyances of the beach.

Cape Coast Castle:

I came back from the beach on Monday and now I am still just hanging out, trying to relax and explore Accra. One of the programs I’ve contacted, Linking Cultures, has been working really hard to find me a placement and a place to live. I’ve been filling out applications and trying to follow up with orgs. Nothing is set so far but I’m optimistic that we’ll be able to find something soon. Anyway, that’s the update so far. I’ll be sure to let you all know when I have something more permanent worked out!

Travels in Togo

2010-04-03T04:49:00.001-07:00

Hey Everyone! First of all thanks for all of the birthday wishes! I returned yesterday from traveling around Togo for a few days. I visited two cities, Kara and Sokode. They are two of the larger cities in Togo, Sokode is about half way up the country and Kara is about 2 hours north of that. I went traveling with an aim to see more of the country so I didn’t necessarily seek out tourist sites (the few that there are) but just tried to explore the cities and see the different character of Togo outside of Lome. So while there I explored the markets, any other sites that my guide book mentioned and generally just tried to walk around and soak it all in. I also did a little more shopping (things are cheaper outside of Lome) in particular for gifts for a few people here in the house that have helped me out a lot. I stayed in hotels which were generally pretty cheap, even the night I opted for an air conditioned room (which I froze in!).

Really my favorite parts of the trip were when I was in movement; staring out the windows and watching the world pass by, in spite of the different struggles that transportation posed. My guidebook has a warning in the beginning of the Togo sections which reads “Getting around requires the patience of a saint and the determination of a fighter”. And it’s true. Well, you don’t need the patience of a saint and the determination of a fighter to actually travel here it’s that if you don’t you’re going to be one irate, frustrated ball of stress for the entire time. The first leg of my trip I bought a bus ticket with a regular company. It was great! The bus left on time, I got my own seat all to myself and we made it to Kara in good time!! Not to mention there was really no difference in the price of the bus ticket and what I would have paid for a bush taxi. The main forms of transportation for a Togolese person are taxis and minibuses. To take a taxi or minibus you have to go to one of the few places they congregate in each city, find one going to your destination, wait for it to fill up and then you can get going. This in itself can take hours. When I was trying to leave Sokode on Thursday I left my hotel around 10:45 and took a 10 minute walk to the gare (station). I waited there about a half hour but all of the buses were full and no one else was waiting so I moved on. Another 10 minute walk to the second place in the city where you are supposed to be able to catch taxis but no luck, there were none there. The people there told me to go down to the road block just south of town where some taxis coming from the north try to pick up one or two more people on their way down country. I’d seen my bus do that the day before so I figured “why not?” So I trekked out to the road block and waited there for a while. I finally got on a bus around 12:15 but we didn’t leave for about another half hour as the driver and his assistants adjusted all of the different cargo they had on the roof to fit the new additions (my backpack being one of them). Now the reason I was so excited about having my own seat on the bus on the way up is because taxis and minibuses usually cram as many people in as they possibly can. A three person seat in a van will usually hold 4 or 5 people so it’s a tight squeeze. On one of my trips I was in a "3 person seat” with 3 other adults and 2 children. These drivers also drop people off at more places so there is a constant flux of people getting off and getting on. This makes the trip even slower because people need to get their cargo that’s on the roof and then the driver tries to find more people to fill their spaces in every town they pass. And all of that isn’t even considering the heat inside the vehicles themselves and the quality of the roads. So all told it’s an absolute mess! In general I expected it to be a mess and I think that I weathered it pretty well. I’m glad that I got to explore more of the country before I leave, it’s important to me that I’ve seen more than just the capital city.

I will be leaving for Ghana on Monday or Tuesday. My program there isn’t all figured out so I’ll be staying in a hotel at first while I try to nail down a program. I might do some more traveling as well but I want to get to Accra and get the lay of the land first.

ASMENE

2010-03-28T08:24:00.000-07:00

So I’m not really succeeding at posting every week. I had every intention of posting last week but a new volunteer arrived “unexpectedly” (i.e. my host father confused the dates) and she ended up staying with me. So instead of updating my blog last Sunday I was showing her around. Anyway, I’m nearing the end of my time here in Togo and I spent the last two weeks at an NGO (non-governmental organization) called ASMENE. Now I realize that sometimes I speak a lot in acronyms, there are a ton of them in international development, so I’m going to make an effort to explain the ones I do use. Here is Wikipedia’s definition of a NGO:

Now, ASMENE mean Association for the health of the mother, newborn and enfant in French. And they work in everything from treating HIV patients, to coordinating education campaigns on family planning and reproductive health. They also have a new project where they are trying to help other NGOs strengthen their governance and transparency. Everyone there was very friendly and welcoming. It’s a small organization with about 10 employees. From their main office they mostly coordinate and supervise, so there wasn’t a lot that I could observe or contribute to. I mostly hung out, helping when and where I could, tagging along on trips out of the office to supervise training sessions, to pick up report sheets etc. It was nice because going out to visit the programs with them helped me to see more of Lome. The useful things I helped with were mostly helping them check their calculations on reports and helping the nurse reorganize her file system. I also spent a lot of time helping one of the employees translate his CV into English, etc. I enjoyed even the little boring office tasks because they made me feel useful. If I had more time to spend with them I think I could find a real project to work on. A lot of their work is in ebbs and flows based on when projects are funded. Right now they are kind of in a lull in between projects so it was quiet around the office. They kept telling me that I came at the wrong time and was missing the good stuff. Overall I had a decent time there and it was a good diversion for my last two weeks.

My time at ASMENE also gave me a chance to reflect on my French. In the beginning I stressed a lot about communicating and I struggled to adjust to the accents here. After a while I stopped concentrating on it and left it alone. The time I spent at ASMENE showed me how much I have actually improved. A lot of the workers at ASMENE were surprised at my command of the language, they aren’t used to English speakers being able to speak the language. Understanding more helps me learn more too. When I encounter a new term I can usually use the context to figure out what it means. There was a lot of new vocabulary I came across and ASMENE and I was able to pick it up fairly quickly. While Ghana should be good for me because communication will be a lot easier in English I am also going to miss using and practicing my French.

For my last week in Togo I’m going to be doing some traveling in the north of the country. Then the Monday after Easter I will be moving to Ghana! I have decided to change programs, my organizations program in Ghana wasn’t what I wanted, and I am still exploring placements with a couple of different organizations. I’ll probably do some traveling in Ghana for my first week while I wait for program to come together.

Decisions

2010-03-14T08:12:00.000-07:00

I’ve made no secret of the fact that I’ve been struggling here. While I have tried to be real about my situation I also made an effort to not be ho-hum about it all of the time. Every day brings new opportunities and I’ve been trying to give life here my best shot. Honestly struggling was an expected phase of my time here. You don’t just move to Togo and have a party and the challenge of moving, adapting to another language and culture is part of the draw. A lot of people keep asking me, “Are you ok?” and I would generally answer “Yes, I’m going to figure this out.” Now that’s not a resounding yes, but it’s what I could do with the situation. I guess what I’m trying to say is that yes I’ve been struggling but that was expected and I try to keep a positive attitude and make do with my situation.

My work situation at the hospital was difficult from the start largely because there was little that I could do. As such I spent most of my time doing nothing but watching the goings on and becoming more and more disturbed by the low standards of care and the apathy of those giving the care. I hoped that moving out of the Emergency Room would help but I found the conditions in Gynecology to be just as bad. At that point I had been at the hospital for a month and was quickly running out of steam. Staying at the hospital in that capacity was out of the question. That was when I requested to be moved from the hospital and began to research other options for myself. That was also the time I found the Family Planning office. At Family Planning I found two conscientious and caring midwives, a sterile exam room and something I could actually do in counseling women on contraceptive methods. It wasn’t a great situation, but it was one where I could actually be useful and go home at night content that the women who came were treated with respect and given good care. It wasn’t a great situation because while I had some function I was still mostly idle and it the office was only open for half days, leaving me with lots of down time. And I’m not really good at down time, I need to be busy.

As I waited I worked in Family Planning, I researched other organizations and I haunted my host father and the program coordinator about changing organizations. And I waited. As I was waiting I tried to continue to work on relationships here, with both Togolese people and foreigners, some worked out and some didn’t. Truth be told getting to know Togolese people has been hard. Togolese men seem only to care that I am a young white woman and their focus is always on hitting on me and talking about how they want to marry a white woman. Or how they would leave their wives to marry a white woman. Almost every man I met at the hospital would joke about me marrying him. In the beginning this always made me angry. All they saw in me was that I was a potential wife; that was my only value and it was the only reason to talk to me. And any interaction with a man would be seen as encouragement to him, encouragement which I did not want to give. So basically getting to know any of the men here is complicated and frustrating. Now I have found some exceptions, men who have been friendly and helpful without pushing for more, but overall I’ve found it’s very difficult to get to know men here without them having expectations of more. As for the women, they have been very hard to get to know. The men will come right up to you and start a conversation but with women its like pulling teeth. Like my host sister for example, I would try to ask her questions, talk to her, and she would respond politely and that was all. I could never build more of a relationship with her. I found it was the same with most of the woman at the hospital, I would ask questions and they would answer, try to talk to them but not much would ever come of it. The exception again I found in Family Planning and I became friendly with some of the interns there, but unfortunately they finished their internships and left Lome. So I’ve been struggling to get to know people and have more of a social life here.

At home my host family takes good care of me but I have very little interaction with the people here. Most of the workers don’t speak French so I’m friendly with them but I can’t really talk to them. My host Mother also doesn’t speak French and as I described before, I was never really able to make any headway with my host sister. My host father and brother are friendly and talk to me when they are around but they are busy and are rarely around. That leaves the little girls, thank goodness for them. They keep me busy, I can’t tell you how many hours of dress up (with my jewelry) and slapjack I’ve played. But seeing as they are 2 and 7 the conversations are lacking a bit.

For a while I thought that if my work situation was better that I would be ok here. If only I could find somewhere I could be useful and really contribute. Slowly I realized that that probably wasn’t going to be the case. While work isn’t completely fulfilling it’s been the nights and weekends that have been the hardest for me. I’m a very independent person and I like to be alone, but I am alone far too much here. When I made this realization that’s when I made my decision. Togo isn’t going to work out for me.

I’d been thinking about leaving Togo for a long time. I tried to apply myself here and make my situation better. At the same time I was also wondering how long I would last and what I needed to do to make sure I turned over every stone. While I was unhappy, making the decision to leave was not going to be an easy one. I’m stubborn so the decision was not going to be made lightly. But once it was made the next question was what was I going to do? From the beginning the program coordinator in South Africa has been talking to me about Ghana. Ghana is more developed and English speaking so he probably thought it would be a better fit for me. Togo is off the beaten path when it comes to volunteers. When I first asked him to change my internship Simon again reminded me that I could always move to Ghana. My first reaction was very negative. Moving again? It sounded exhausting. To pack up all of my things, tackle a new city, a new culture, new foods, languages, I was just getting settled in Togo, why would I want to go through it all again? But as time went on the idea of Ghana grew on me. Being able to work in English would probably make me more useful, I’ve heard a lot of good experiences about the place, I needed a change and maybe there would be more volunteers there. So I decided to move to Ghana.

My visa here in Togo is up in the first week of April so that’s when I’ll move. I’m still waiting for the details on the program in Ghana, so I’m not sure about what my life there is going to look like. And of course, I knew when I made my decision two weeks ago that they would probably work on a new internship for me in the meantime. That’s just how the world works right? So I’m going to spend two weeks at this new organization, do some traveling around Togo and then head out to Ghana.
OH! PS. It takes mail about 2 weeks to get to me here so at this point you probably shouldn’t send anything to my Togo address because I probably won’t get it before I leave. I will update my contact information for Ghana when I know it!

Post Elections

2010-03-09T07:13:00.000-08:00

So the elections are over, although I’m sure the reactions to them will continue for some time. The incumbent was declared the winner, opposition cried foul, election observers equivocate, they didn’t see anything bad but that doesn’t mean it didn’t happen. There have been protests here in Lome (there is supposed to be a big one today) and I’ve been steering clear of them. I spent most the weekend at the house, staying out of the way and trying to keep myself amused. Lots of reading. Yesterday I went back to work and I thought it would be a relief but it wasn’t. It was frustrating. After being cooped up in the house I was looking forward to doing something, to being productive. Then I got to work again and I remember that that’s not generally how it goes.

Yesterday my host father and I finally met with another organization and I will start working there next week. It’s a small NGO (a non-profit) called ASEMENE that works with women’s issues, particularly HIV. However they have recently started working with good governance in NGOs and seem to be focusing on trying to help other NGOs strengthen their organizations. I like the Director, he seems to have a good head on his shoulders, but I’m not sure that this would be the organization I would choose for myself. Especially since the focus seems to not be on health issues. The Director seemed to indicate that he would prefer I worked with their NGO program. So we’ll see. I’m feeling both hopeful and pessimistic about it. Either way it will be good to finally get out of the hospital and get some experience in a different sphere here in Togo.

Elections

2010-03-03T07:19:00.000-08:00

So while I was thinking about how I didn’t want to write another, “nothing to report” blog post I realised that I’ve never really described what I do in the Family Planning office. So here it goes… Basically the responsibility of the interns in family planning is patient flow. Women come in and we figure out what they have come for and get them going on whatever that is. Women come in for three different things. 1. They come in for information on contraceptive methods or gyn sends them over to get information on contraceptive methods 2. They have chosen a method and have come to get started on it. 3. They are currently using a contraceptive method and come back for more supplies and a check up. So if the women are there for information I either do the counseling (if they speak French) and if not I find someone who can do the education in a language they understand. If the women are there to begin a method I get them a booklet (health records here are all kept in little booklets called “carnets” that the patients keep themselves) and get them started on their paperwork. Finally, if the women have come in for a check-up I take their blood pressure, weight and find out if they are having any issues. Then I send them along to one of the midwives. Some days the office is overwhelmed with women, some days there are none. Some days there are other interns and then this work, which I generally accomplish easily on my own with plenty of down time, is divided between us. So that’s my life in family planning in a nutshell.

I didn’t post an update this weekend because I went out of Lome to visit some Peace Corps volunteers in a city just north of Lome. I went up on Friday night and came back on Sunday. It was a great break from my life here and a relief to be around other Americans for a while. I hope to be doing more traveling around Togo very soon.

This week is election week here in Togo, a presidential election in fact. It’s been very interesting to see the build up and I’m excited to be here for it the actual election, unlike in Kenya when I left just before it. Hopefully the election will go on without too much excitement. The incumbent is expected to win, he has a lot of resources and a lot of support (at least here in Lome). Even if he didn’t, the opposition is too splintered to have a real chance at defeating him. If they could get together behind one candidate they would have a chance. Anyway, that will be Thursday and we'll see how it goes.

Nothing to Report

2010-02-21T09:14:00.000-08:00

Not much to report on this week, things are the same as always. After talking to my host father and Simon this week I’m feeling like we’re all finally on the same page so hopefully that means that I can make some progress with connecting with other organizations. I don’t really have much to say this week but I’m afraid that if I stop blogging regularly that I’ll stop all together, so I’m going to try to at least have a little something to say every week so it keeps me in the mode.

A lot of people have been asking about what I eat here. Well… A LOT OF BREAD. The bakery here makes mostly plain bread what they call “butter bread, sugar bread and salty bread.” I usually eat bread for breakfast and sometimes if I have enough left over I’ll eat it for lunch. The first few weeks I was just eating bread plain, which is what they do. At some point I asked my host father whether or not they ever put anything on their bread, he seemed confused by the question. But not long after that a jar of jelly showed up at breakfast for me so that has been spicing up breakfast for me. At lunch I’ll eat my left over bread and fruit or sometimes I buy food, usually rice, from the vendors across the street from the hospital. Dinner is usually my biggest meal of the day and is usually cooked vegetables over rice, potatoes or couscous. I don’t know why couscous is big here but I have it at least once or twice a week. Protein is harder to come by but my family always tries to get me a little of it whether in the shape of a hard-boiled egg on the side of the plate or in the ever present fish which seems to be a part of every meal. One Saturday they gave me a scrambled egg with fish in it. Every once in a while I find a few small pieces of meat in my food. I’m pretty sure its goat meat, but I’ve never asked. They definitely tried to ease me into the food here. Two types of real Togolese food (other than things like rice and beans) are pate and fufu. Basically I would describe them as sticky mush. You eat them with your hands with different sauces and usually either meat or fish. I prefer pate which is made out of maize and almost has a sourdoughy taste to it. Fufu is made out of yams, I’ve gotten used to it but I can’t say that I like it. Every once in a while they buy a bag of frozen fries and we all have fries with our meals. My favorite/most comforting meal here is just a scrambled egg and fries; they’ve given that to me once or twice for dinner. Here they have a spicy sauce they basically put on everything. It’s okay on rice but I’m astounded by the fact that they put it on spaghetti… it’s just wrong! Also, it’s a red sauce, so it almost looks like regular sauce… and then you take a bite. I had a hard adjustment to the food; it just all seemed so different in the beginning. Also, I’m the type of person who loses their appetite in the heat. So the first few weeks before I adjusted to the heat I was never really hungry and I was just forcing down food.

The kitchen here is tiny, just a sink and two oil burners on a table. There are so many people here there seem to be a number of different places people cook and eat. The only challenge is that all of the pots, plates and even food rotates as people need them, so you never know where anything is. It took me a few weeks just to figure out the places they usually keep the soap so that I could at least wash my own dishes. Last week one of the apprentices came home with a box of macaroni and cheese that she gave to me, it sat on my table for a little while taunting me until I finally made it. It was the first time I cooked here. I only needed two ingredients (butter and milk) and for the life of me I couldn’t find them. In the end they found me a bowl of margarine from the huge tubs of it they use for the bakery and a can of condensed milk. The macaroni was really comforting, if not for the overpowering taste of the margarine.

Happy Valentine’s Day

2010-02-14T06:52:00.000-08:00

Happy Valentine’s Day everyone! I hope that everyone is surviving the snow ok. The “snow apocalypse” in DC even made the news here! Unfortunately I don’t have much to report on this week. Things are the same as always. I’m still in family planning and becoming more and more useful. I actually did some of the counseling sessions this week decently in French! I was so excited! This coming week is supposed to be some kind of event for us. I don’t really have details but apparently they are giving out all of the supplies for free! Consultations and procedures in family planning are free but once they choose a method they have to pay for the medications/supplies. So at the very least we should be busy with women coming in for the free materials, if they advertised it correctly. All of the methods are actually really cheap by our standards but that doesn’t mean that they are affordable for people here.

I’m still looking into working for other organizations, my host father and the program coordinator in South Africa keep saying they are contacting them, but they seem to be disagreeing on who is heading that up. My host father says that Simon is and Simon says that my host father is. Either way, Simon’s wife had a baby this week and my host father was sick (infection in his hand - ended up at the hospital in the middle of the night on Thursday!) so I understand them being distracted. I’m hoping that we can all get refocused in the next week or so.

I wish that I had more to report on but life is pretty boring around here. I have a lot of time on my hands so I’m trying to invent ways to keep myself busy. I do a lot of playing with my host sisters. You know it’s funny, I can’t decide if I think the girls are very well taken care or not. Here children are a lot more independent a lot sooner and have a lot more responsibilities. The whole “it takes a village” thing really applies here. No matter where the girls are someone is watching them, the whole compound and community know them and watch out for them. They roam where they want to and no matter where they are someone has an eye on them. Still, they are also exposed to a lot more. Blessing (7) sometimes helps out in the bakery and I’ve seen then let her try to pull pans out of the oven (the large bakery ovens). They both seem to be the errand runners here and expected to help out wherever they can (even Sami who is 2). I’ve also never seen one of them get hurt despite all of the things they are involved with that American kids would never be allowed near. For instance, Sami always seems to be perched on some edge, on the couch, on the side of the stairs, etc and no one worries and I’ve never seen her fall. Anyway, I guess I just find the difference in takes on child rearing interesting. Hopefully this week will be more interesting and I won’t have to bore you all with all of these observations!

Tourism in Togo

2010-02-07T06:40:00.000-08:00

This week was about the same. I stayed in family planning and am starting to feel useful there. As opposed to the other departments where I could do maybe 5-10% of what they do I can do maybe 50% of what they do in family planning. The midwives and other interns are very nice and have been teaching me the ropes. AND because it is so small and the midwives know what is what it is the most sterile department I’ve seen. Their exam room actually smells like chlorine instead of dirt and sweat and other stenches. And they take proper care of their equipment. When I was setting the room up one day I accidently put a pair of tongs on the counter. The tongs were used to get the other instruments out of their container and not actually used on people. In any other department this wouldn’t have been an issue or even the most major cleanliness problem but in FP the midwife was like “No put that down you can’t use that.” I was thinking “You are freaking amazing!” You actually care whether or not your equipment is sterile!!! I’m learning to do the education and advice portion in French. But the problem is that a lot of the women who come in don’t understand French. Some days are really busy and some days are dead so it goes back and forth. I’m still looking for other organizations and am hoping to visit some of them this week.

In other news this week another volunteer arrived from my program. His name is Yannik and he is German. He will be here for three months. I’ve seen him a couple times and he seems nice. At any rate it is good to have someone to do things with, so I’m not always going everywhere and doing everything alone. More volunteers were supposed to be arriving this month but all of that changed so we might not be getting any more people until the end of March.

Yesterday I took my first real trip out of Lome to go to Togoville, the first village of Togo. It was the location where the Germans met the King of Togo and made a deal with him to make their area a protectorate. On the way out of Lome I saw a lot of little hotels and some broken down abandoned ones too. Togo used to have more tourism than now (where there is almost none) and their tourist amenities are almost non-existent. I went to the Ministry of Tourism last week and to get a map of Lome and they couldn’t find one that wasn’t dirty or ripped. That is after I wandered around the almost empty complex for a while wondering where I was supposed to go because no one was around to help or ask. So anyway, going to Togoville is supposed to be one of the touristy things to do as a day trip outside of Lome. I went with my host brother Komlam and three of his friends. We went to the house where they used to keep slaves before they were sent out on ships. It was a completely unmarked building that was falling apart. Apparently it has been made a UNESCO World Heritage site and so money will be coming in to restore it. We got to jump down a trap door in the floor to see the space underneath the house where they used to keep the slaves. There really wasn’t much to see or do there. After that we went to the lake and took a boat across to the real village of Togoville. There we visited a one room museum of the royalty to Togo and met the prince. It was kind of awkward. After that I would have loved to explore the village more but we headed straight back to the boats and back to Lome. I always knew how little there was for tourists here but this trip really solidified those feelings. I don’t know whether its better or worse that they don’t have tourism. Tourism could bring in a lot of money for the country, if done right, but also can have a lot of damaging effects too.

Comedy of Errors

2010-01-31T07:01:00.001-08:00

So I’ve been here almost a month now. My French is passable; I can conduct everyday conversations and generally make myself understood. Whether or not I can understand people depends largely on how heavy their accent is and how fast they talk. But generally when people take the time to slow down I can understand them. Already there are some things I can’t kick. Even when I’m speaking English I say “Ah bon” essentially meaning “OK.” I know my way home, to work and to some places around the city. I know basic prices for taxis, water and other essentials so that I can bargain for them. And I’m still pushing at my edges. Learning prices for new things, trying to explore new areas etc. I finally got to the “tourism office” this week to get a map of Lome. My guidebook had one but it was only of city center and didn’t include most of the city so its usefulness is limited. I got a map, a bigger one, that includes the area where I work but not of where I live. So better than what I had. I was depressed by how much of the city I have yet to see. How much of the city I had no idea existed. And the areas I do know exist weren’t on the map! Fun fun.

On Monday I started working in Maternity. Now “Maternity” as they call it is really Gynecology and Obstetrics so basically anything and everything having to do with women’s and infant’s health issues. I spent time in labor and delivery, prenatal care, ecographie (I can’t think of the English word right now), and family planning. Ah! Ultrasound! Ecographie is an ultrasound! For the most part again there was nothing for me to do. I finally found work I could do in family planning. When women first come in they sit down and talk to them about all of their contraceptive options so if they speak French I can talk to them. There are two issues with this: 1. The fact that I could do this work only goes so far if people don’t show up for the education. The two days I spent in family planning we largely sat around and did nothing (not that this is different from any other department). 2. Family planning and all other consultations happen from 7am to 12pm so even if this did turn out to be a place I could stay it would only keep me busy for the morning and I would have to find something else to do with my afternoons. I will be staying in family planning this week to see if it will work out, if it doesn’t the hospital and I will be parting ways. I don’t know where else I can go yet but it’s something I hope to explore this week and next with the director of the program and my host father.

This week was funny because I had a number of things break on me. Last weekend my two year old host sister Samuela was playing in my bednet and ended up breaking the post on my bed that holds the net up. Thankfully she was fine but I have been without a mosquito net this week. (If you think this is surprising you should see the trail of disasters Sami leaves around here, they very accurately call her “turbulent”). The next thing to break was my fan which started making awful noises in the middle nights, it sounds like a dying animal. So if I want it on I have to weather the noise! Finally, the icing on the cake this week was getting locked out of my room yesterday. My room is in an open hallway basically everyone has access to so when I’m not around I keep the door locked. Yesterday when I came home and tried to unlock the door the part of the lock pushed out the other end of the door and fell, leaving the bolt in place and no way to unbolt it! Needless to say we had to wait for a locksmith. Luckily the locksmith turned out to be a jack of all trades who also repaired my bed so that I could put my mosquito net again. Of course, this morning the handle came off the door so I’m reassured that my problems are over.

Last night the American missionary I met at the hospital, Nicole, invited me to stay over at their house. She lives in a house with about 12 other missionaries most of whom are Italian. It was great to get out of the house for a night and have some more English speaking time. Plus, they can regular crates of medical supplies and food from Italy so good food!!! All told I am happy to have found a friend here. I’m working on Togolese friendships but those will take more time I’m sure.

Well ok, Blessing my host sister (7) was actually my first friend here. She is sweet and we play all of the time. I’ve been teaching her how to play cards. So far we have conquered Jacks, we’re working on Solitaire (there are a lot of rules in it for a 7 year old!) and I’m trying to teach her War. Which is difficult because I don’t seem to remember how to play War correctly, if someone could send me the rules that would be great! And I would love to teach Blessing some card tricks so if anyone knows any please pass them on! She is very adept, she is already shuffling the cards with skill!

Lorence

2010-01-24T05:47:00.000-08:00

Not much to update on this week. I’m still settling in and getting used to the ebbs and flows of life here. This week I spoke to a lot of people at the hospital about changing where I am working. I was hoping to switch this week but of course paperwork took precedence and I had to wait for them to work out all of the official and logistical things in the personnel office. I should be getting my paperwork on Monday and starting in a new place.

Honestly communication about this has been hard. I thought that I had spoken to everyone and we had agreed on what I was going to do. Then on Friday the head of the ER called me into his office and showed me my new paperwork (which he was given but I wasn’t!) and it wasn’t what I had asked for. I was hoping to do a tour of different departments in the hospital to see if I could fine one where I could be of use. Of course I planned to skip departments like surgery, where obviously I have very to contribute. I asked to spend 3 to 4 days in the different departments getting a feel for them. When I spoke to the head of personnel I thought that we had agreed on this. He preferred that I spend a week in each place which I was hesitant about but agreed to. My understanding was that after he fixed my paperwork I would be able to choose which department I wanted to try. The paperwork the head of the ER had had me staying in 6 different departments for two weeks each and included surgery and “reanimation” which is like intensive care. Both are departments I would have never chosen for myself because I just don’t think that there will be anything I can contribute. Anyway I have to see the head of personnel on Monday to pick up my paperwork so I am hoping to discuss some of this. I mean realistically, I’m not a doctor, I’m not a nurse. What is it that they expect me to do? What do they expect me to contribute? I was also upset that they had given the paperwork to the head of the ER before I was able to talk to him about it myself. Obviously I had requested to be moved out of his department and I wanted the chance to be professional about it, explain my reasoning and thank him for all of his assistance. I am hoping to speak to him again on Monday when I am more prepared about what to say and how it say it.

In general my language skills are coming along. Every day it gets better. I work at the hospital where everyone I work with had been to university so most of them speak a little English. Some of them speak to me in English and I respond in French, they are amused by that but I want to emphasize and practice my French. A lot of them ask me if I speak French. I always want to say “Well, seeing as you asked me that question IN FRENCH and I responded IN FRENCH I’m going to go with yes.” Another thing they do here is talk in the 3rd person a lot. “One will do this” and depending on the conversation that could mean “I will do this, “ “You will do this,” “We will do this,” etc. So you really have to be paying attention to and understanding the conversation in order to figure out what is going on. My host family comes from the Ewe tribe and they have been trying to convince me to learn Ewe. I told them that I might eventually but that I want to focus on my French. As a matter of fact my host mother and smallest host sister do not speak French, they only speak Ewe so it would be beneficial for me to learn. Another fun fact about my life here is their difficultly with my name. Lauren is a common French name so I assumed that they would know it. They don’t. Most people here call me Lorence/Lawrence which is a name they do have here. In the Ewe tribe people are named based on what day of the week they are born on (This is one of their names, they have many). We figured out that since I was born on a Monday my name is “Adjo.” I’m getting used to responding to that. It’s actually nice because my youngest host sister, Samuela, usually just calls me “yovo” (white person) I’ve been trying to teach her Lauren but now that they call me Adjo also, she picked that one up much easier.

In other news this week I met a few Americans which was really nice. Two groups of them, the first were PCVs (Peace Corps Volunteers) and the second were missionaries. It was really nice to be able to speak in English and decompress a little about life in Togo. It’s comforting to see some of the same reactions I have, some of the jokes about life here etc that make you feel like you aren’t alone.

This weekend I’m just hanging out and exploring some more. I’m hoping to finally get to the tourist office and get myself a map. I’ve been here almost three weeks and I just today finally figured out what road I live along so I think that the map is much needed. Below are some random pictures. A kind of cool pic that my host sister snapped, you can see me between her fingers and a picture of Lome from the beach.

Oops! Contact Information Again!

2010-01-24T05:45:00.000-08:00

Oops! I gave you the wrong contact information!

Here is my correct phone number:
011 (228) 812 56 07

Also on my mailing address you should put BP instead of PO Box here it is again!
Lauren Bobay
C/O Yao Akakpo
B.P. 80066
Lome – Togo
West Africa
Par Avion / Airmail
011 (228) 812 56 07

Emergency Room and Korean Sailors

2010-01-16T09:26:00.000-08:00

I’ve now been here in Togo for a little over a week. I’m settling in and getting used to the routines of life here. When you first arrive everything is so new, it completely overwhelms your senses. No matter what you see, hear, touch, taste or smell it’s all different and new. Now I know what to expect for most of the days and that is comforting. Every day I get up at 5:30, shower, eat and get ready to go. It takes me less than five minutes to walk to the main road where I catch a moto-taxi or a shared taxi to the hospital where I work. My supervisor, George, works in Social Services so that is my base where I leave my things and go during breaks. At 12:00 here they have what they call “repos” basically it’s like siesta. Everything stops until 2:30 while people eat and rest. I spend repos with the women in the Social Services office who are very nice and who have been trying to take me under their wings. From 2:30 until 5 is the second half of the day. Usually after 5 I try to run a quick errand (ex: pick up water, or other supplies, go to the post office, etc.) and then head back home before 6 when the sun sets. After that I just hang around the house, try to help out (when they will let me), eat dinner, play with my host sisters, etc. Generally I go to sleep between 9:30 and 10:00 and lights out here seems to be at 10. The house is always hopping with people and activities. From about 10 at night to about 2 in the morning is the only time that it is quiet. Some the workers get up between two and three to start the fires and get the bakery going. The only day the bakery doesn’t run is on Sunday, but there is still work to do because they have to tend to the fires in the kilns.
Last week I spend my two days at the office in the social services department. It was interesting but there wasn’t much to do. They basically push paper. Once people are approved to receive aid they come to the office with their bills to have a reduced price calculated and approved. I spent those two days basically watching everything and trying to ask as many questions as possible. Monday I started work in the Emergency Room. It was decided on my first day by the head of personnel that that is where I should start for 3 months. It didn’t take me long to realize that working in the ER wasn’t going to be for me. The only thing that I can do there is take temperatures and blood pressure. Otherwise patients come in, get moved out, the nurses put in IVs and start medications and that’s it. If I could do injections and IVs I would probably have a lot more to do but it still not very interesting work. For the most part even the nurses sit around all day. I spoke to my host father about it on Tuesday and we agreed that I would finish out the week in the ER but that we would try to talk to George and the head of personnel about it at the end of the week. After talking with my host father, the program coordinator (in South Africa) and George we decided that I would spend a few days in each department, getting to know the hospital and seeing where there might be a place for me. Hopefully I will be starting in a different department on Monday. Work this week was horribly boring, I just sat around and watched everything going on. Yesterday was the best day, largely because I spent a few hours outside of the ER. There were 4 Korean men running around the hospital looking very confused and bugging everyone. Finally someone was trying to help them but couldn’t communicate with them. One of them spoke English so I was able to help translate between him and the doctors and nurses. As it turns out they were sailors, in Lome only until Sunday and one of them was having lung problems that they were trying to have checked out. Helping them out was the most worthwhile thing I’ve done here. It wasn’t much and in the end they weren’t able to accomplish much but their experience was better because I was there. They also weren’t Togolese, and they didn’t actually get anything done (because of time constraints as to when their ship was leaving) but still, it’s a start!
The weekends are challenging because it is a lot of open time that I don’t really know what to do with. Last weekend I went into “downtown” Lome to explore a bit. And I went again on Wednesday, which was a holiday so I had no work. Lome’s layout seems a bit convoluted to me but its fairly easy to reorient yourself, just find the beach! So I’ve been spending a lot of time walking around “downtown” and my are, just trying to get to know it. Last weekend I also went to church with my family. It was an experience! First of all it was three hours long. Second, they were very excited to have me there and put me in the spotlight multiple times. The pastor even spoke in English for a little while to me. Overall it was a very festive service, lots of singing and dancing but also mortifying. I haven’t decided if I’m going to go again tomorrow, hopefully since they’ve seen me before it they wouldn’t put me in the spotlight again. So this weekend I’m hoping to explore another area of Lome that I don’t know, hit up the tourist office for a better map of the city and check out the French Cultural Center. Hopefully between that and chores I’ll be busy. Washing my clothes alone tomorrow should take while (washing by hand in buckets doesn’t go that quickly! And let me tell you, white lab coats are not easy to keep clean here!). This afternoon I’m going with my host father as he makes his deliveries so that should be fun as well. Hope you all are doing well, will update again soon!

First Impressions

2010-01-10T05:50:00.000-08:00

First of all I want to thank all of you for all of your emails! It’s really been heartwarming to get all of your notes and updates and it means to world to me! I’m sorry if I haven’t responded to you individually, it’s something I’m going to continue to work on!

Now… DISCLAIMER! What is about to follow is a foreigners first thoughts and impressions on a strange, country, culture and language. I can’t vouch for its accuracy, only that it has passed through my mind. Also, I reserve the right to completely change my mind about it, etc etc multiple times between now and when I come home! Anyway, here it is:

My host family is the Akapo family. As far as I can tell there are 6 or 7 of them. My host father, mother four definite children and one might be child. They have one son who is in University, a daughter in high school, a daughter in elementary school (she’s around 7 I would guess) and a daughter who is 2 or 3. Honestly it’s all very confusing and until a few hours ago I wasn’t even sure who my host mother was. About 20 people live here in the building. They run a bakery downstairs and all of the apprentices and workers live here. All of the girls are always around the family quarters cooking, cleaning, etc so I’m slowly learning who is who. Downstairs in the bakery and the girls rooms, part of it is open air. Then upstairs on the other side (not connected to the family’s section) is the men’s section. I live upstairs on the other side with the family. As far as I can tell my host brother and I are the only ones with our own rooms. Here is a picture of my room, it’s nice and basic and one of the view from outside my window and my two little host sisters:

My host father is very nice and helpful. But he’s not always around and I was never properly or officially introduced to anyone else so that’s why I’m sort of muddling through figuring out who is who. My little host sisters are very cute and I’ve spent some good bonding time with them on the floor playing. My host brother is nice, mostly leaves me to my business, but has been driving me around a lot on the back of his motorcycle. All of the others are nice, answer me if I ask a direct questions and that’s about it. I can’t seem to draw them into conversation. I’ve found that one of the best ways to get to them is just to ask, “How can I help?” The first night I helped do laundry (out of buckets) and I try to help cook and clean to the best of my ability. It’s hard for me because I am the type to hang back and observe, and let people come to me. But here I need to be the one who puts myself out there. I spend a lot of time just hanging out in the living room waiting to see if someone will come in and if I will be successful at starting a conversation with them if they do. I am making progress which is encouraging. The family doesn’t eat together all at once so there isn’t really any core family time. At first I didn’t know why they would just deliver my meals, I thought I was being excluded from the family meal. It’s a relief to know that that isn’t the case. Also, because the business is in the house they are always running around to and from it. I haven’t really gone far into the bakery yet, I don’t want to disturb anyone or interrupt. Every time I go down there they watch me like a hawk and try to herd me back upstairs.

I started going to the hospital on Thursday. My supervisor/counterpart is George. He works in the Social Services office so I’ve just been shadowing him. He gave me a tour of the hospital and I’ve spent a lot of time in the social services office just hanging out and observing. George runs lots of errands so I end up tagging along after him meeting a ton of different people and seeing all of the different parts of the hospital. On Monday I start work for 3 months in the Emergency Room (or their equivalent of it) I was placed there when they heard that I am an EMT. I’m nervous about it but the worst thing that can happen is that it doesn’t work out and I move on to something else. I’m learning so much already. I just hope that I can have a constructive role where I can actually help instead of just observing and learning myself. The hospital in general is what I was prepared for. I’m glad that I saw some clinics in Kenya so that I had some idea about what it was going to be. It’s horrifying, to be honest. Especially the surgical department. Everything is dirty, I haven’t seen one sink in the entire complex and everywhere you go there are people lying everywhere on the floor, on rusty gurneys, all of it. I wouldn’t want anyone I know or love to be within 5 thousand miles of this place when they need medical attention. I don’t want anyone to be there but I wonder if it’s a lesser evil than having no hospital at all. Social Services Office:

The language is a constant struggle but I get better with it every day. The accent and usage is completely different plus I was way out of practice with my French so it’s a challenge.

That’s all for now, will update again soon! Miss you all!

Contact Information

2010-01-10T05:49:00.000-08:00

Contact Information:

Phone Number: 00228-812-5607

Mailing address!
Lauren Bobay c/o Yao Akapo
PO Box 80066
Lome, Togo
West Africa
Par Avion.

I’m not completely certain of this though so let’s stick with letters until I can confirm that I’m actually receiving stuff there!

First Day

2010-01-06T08:24:00.001-08:00

Wow, let's just say that I never expected to find myself at the internet this fast. But after running around all morning with my host father Ive been sitting around unpacking for the rest of the day and wanted to get out. This made my host father nervous and he had someone escort me to the cybercafe, which is where he assumed i was headed. Really, I was just wanting to explore. In these types of moments sitting around is not my strongsuit.

Anyway, I left Monday night and flew Royal Air Maroc through Casablanca. The trip was uneventful, if a little long (I arrived here at about 1:30 in the morning today). I had a 12 hour layover in Casablanca where the airline put me up in a hotel. Part of me really wanted to go running around as much as I could but the sensible part of me won and I got a shower and a couple more hours of sleep! Now in general I adore British Airways and nothing else can really compete. But I have to say that my experience with Royal Air Maroc was very good.

After arriving here I met my host father Yael (sp?) Akapo and he drove us home through the deserted streets of Lome. My host family owns a bakery which is in the house and they started work at about 3 am this morning. After getting up at 5:30 (really there was no sense in trying anymore) I took my first bucket shower and got moving. We went to the hospital, where I met my supervisor (I start tomorrow). The bank, the beach, the supermarket, the post office and the American Embassy, all by 11:30. Of course we couldn't settle what we wanted in half of those places so I'll have to make trips back this week. That's about it for now. Will update again soon!

Welcome!

2010-01-02T12:23:00.000-08:00

Hello Everyone!

Welcome to my blog! The first thing that I’d like to say is that I am not a blog person. I’m doing this reluctantly because it just seems like it will be the easiest way for me to keep in touch with all of you. Leaving all my thoughts open to anyone who can use the web seems like a bit much for me. But this way my messages, pictures, everything are centralized in one place. The cost of this (for me at least) is that if I’m not sending you all mass emails then you will not respond to them to update me on your lives! So I need you all to stop here and promise me that you will email me! Yes, I mean it! Please say “Lauren, I promise to email you regularly despite the fact that you will not be sending out mass emails.” Perfect, thank you!

Now, I know that from my last time abroad that there seems to be a general feeling that my life must be so interesting and challenging that the everyday happenings of your life must be boring, and not worth bothering me about. NOT TRUE! I want to and love to hear about work, classes, and the jerk that cut you off on the highway this morning. So please, please, please keep me informed about your life!

Ok, now that all of that is settled on to describing what I’ll be up to. I’m heading to a small francophone country called Togo in Western Africa:

I’ll be living in the capital, Lome, for at least six months. At the end of those six months I’ll decide whether I want to stay, there or go somewhere else. The plan is to stay for a year but anything is possible. In Lome I’ll be living with a host family, the Akapo family, who are bakers and run a bakery out of their home. I should have my own room and running water and electricity, or so I’m told. I’ll be interning at the central hospital in Lome. For the first few weeks I will be exploring the different departments and will ultimately choose where I want to work/where I feel I can contribute for myself. I’m leaving the States on Monday, January 4^th and should arrive in Lome late Tuesday night, early Wednesday. In the mean time I will have a day to spend in Casablanca, Morocco which I’m pretty excited about! That’s about it for now, wish me luck!