Where everybody knows your name

One of my earliest memories of television is the theme show to the program “Cheers.” To this day I have not watched a single episode nor do I have any idea of what the basis of the actual show is (I’m told it’s a series about a group of friends who hang out at a bar called Cheers? I’m assuming this was an original concept back then….) The only real memory about the show that has always stayed with me is the line “where everybody knows your name…” I’ve always wanted to have a “place” like that whether it was a bar, a subway sandwich shop, or a cafeteria lunch line; basically just somewhere where I could go and the people running the establishment would greet me and say “Hey Ryan, the usual for ya’ today? Have a seat in your normal spot and Mary will be right with ya!” Since I’m not much of a drinker, playing out this fantasy at an actual bar was out of the question, and in my attempts to fool the Subway free sandwich redemption program I frequented a many different Subway establishments growing up, thus not allowing anyone to “know my name” too well. I guess the closest I came to this dream of mine was the cafeteria lunch line in school. In all honesty, my preferential treatment by the usually Hispanic lunch ladies was partly because of my lame attempts at practicing Spanish with them and partly due to the fact that I would purposefully bat my long eye lashes to try and get a bigger portion. Needless to say, they never really knew my name.

This all changed when I arrived in Togo. Now for the most part, nobody knows my name here and for all they know it could actually be “Anasara, Yovo Yovo,” the phrase/song that I am perpetually serenaded/harassed with every time I leave my house. But for the select few that I’ve established relationships with, I am known as Omide, which is also my actual Iranian middle name. Since I looked vaguely middle-eastern to people upon arrival at post in Togo, and the fact that the vast majority of people that live in my town are Muslim, everyone just assumed I already had a Muslim name. It worked out well for me, I guess, not having to take on another name, but everywhere I go now (for the most part) people call out my real name, Omide.

One of my favorite places to go in my city/giant village is a restaurant called Fou Fou Bar Bon Coin.

They have THE best Fou Fou I’ve ever had in Togo and they make a variety of different sauces daily to accompany this dish. Now I’m sure you’re all wondering what Fou Fou is, but worry not as I will explain. The thing I like most about Bar Bon Coin, however, is not just the FouFou, but the fact that every time I enter the restaurant I’m greeted in local language by a chorus of women who run the establishment – and they ALL know my name!

After the obligatory salutations in Kotokoli, the local language in my town, I take my usual seat on the terrace next to the hand-washing station (in case you’re wondering, no I didn’t teach them how to build this handwashing station, but I do preach the benefits of handwashing at every chance that I get being the good health volunteer that I am….) The same “mahmahs” who prepare the food are also the waitresses and they know exactly what to bring me without me even having to ask! Usually I just say “Comme d’habitude s’il vous plaît,” which is French for “the usual, please.” I always order: 200CFA of Foufou, which is basically boiled ingame pounded into oblivion until it reaches the consistency somewhere in between mashed potatoes and pizza dough, 200CFA of sesame/tomato/palm oil sauce with chunks of fried wagash, a local cheese made from cow’s milk by a nomadic tribe called the Fulani or Puhl. All this along with my refreshing “Sport Actif” (think a cross between the soda Squirt and Fresca) comes out to around 700CFA (~ 1.25 USD.) It’s the best lunch deal in town and I take advantage of it as often as I can. When I “crave” things now, this is what I crave. Okay, maybe that’s an exaggeration as I would go to probably any length for a turkey sandwich, but you get the picture.

I've seen up to five women pounding foufou at the same time. The sound it makes is rhythmic and almost soothing.

There are numerous sauces and things that one puts in their respective sauces. Leafs, powders, meat chunks, wagash, etc. M sauce lady know exactly how much pepper powder I like in my sauce. :)

This is what pounded igname looks like. It doesn't really taste like anything, but is used to pick up the sauce with your hands.

The final result! Dipping the fufu in the sauce using your hands and then swallowing whole is the only way to do it, apparently. I have to chew my foufou. Togolese people think I'm weird.

If I had to describe wagash I'd say it's a cross between mozerella and tofu. It's painted with a red dye on the outside to make it last longer.

My friend Moctar and I met here for lunch today to catch up since it had been practically all summer that we hadn’t seen each other. Even he remarked at how all of the women knew who I was – a fact that I was quite proud of. Hooray for cultural integration and for finally finding a place in this world where “someone knows my name!” Who knew I’d have to come to Togo to find it.

Moctar and I. He was originally a work homologue/good friend at post, but now he works for the Peace Corps!

I hope you enjoyed reading this blog post. It’s just another little part of my life here that I wanted to share with loved ones at home. And don’t worry, I’m learning how to make this dish so I can prepare it for you all at home.

Poundin' foufou, like a boss.

P.S. – Check out this live action film of the women pounding the foufou. It’s A LOT harder than it looks, trust me. If only they would let me “help out” at the restaurant more, I would have some killer arms by the end of the year…

Camp UNITE

Camp UNITE (pronounced you-knee-tay) is an educational summer camp that equips young Togolese with the life skills they need to overcome the challenges of growing-up in a developing nation.  Many young people in Togo lack essential knowledge about health, gender equity, and the importance of education.  Others are facing the difficulties of adolescence familiar to young people around the world.  Camp UNITE has created a curriculum designed to give campers essential facts about health, wellness and education, but also the teamwork, communication, and leadership skills needed to put their knowledge into practice. (Source: www.unitefoundation.org)

Okay, so that first paragraph was copied directly from the website, but it’s an impeccable description of camp if I do say so myself. Instead of writing about my experience at this camp, I’ve decided to try and do a photo-blog (internet connection permitting) documenting my week as a camp UNITE counselor. Just to preface, I was one of the two male counselors for the group of female students. Along with 6 Togolese and 5 other American counselors, we coordinated our week of camp for 40 Togolese girls. These girls came from all over the country and represented approximately 18 different ethnic groups! As counselors, we were each responsible for our building during the week as well as running the educational sessions and challenges during the week. It was an exhausting experience, but I would do it again in a heartbeat!

“UNITE’s theme is ‘Les jeunesses sont l’aveir du Togo’ which translates to ‘The youth are the future of Togo!”

“The primary theme of the camp, in addition to unifying the nation, is called “Modele du Pont” aka “The bridge model.” The goal is to teach the life skills required to succeed in life given that you already have the required knowledge. Some of these skills include: self confidence, responsibility, independence, and communication. Each activity at camp was designed with the ultimate goal of equipping these youth with the building blocks on the path towards a healthy life. Acknowledging that failure and obstacles are also a part of life, a fictional character named Paggi was created to represent these obstacles. More on him later….”

“Each building chose an identity (my building was Les Etoiles du Togo, or the “stars of Togo”) and the girls were also split up into 4 activity groups so that they would get the chance to interact with many other campers. One of UNITE’s primary goals is to unify a sometimes fragmented society due to the amount of diverse ethnic groups. A theme we clarified on the first day of camp was that Togo can not succeed with out the aid of everyone from every region as to encourage the campers to work together and learn about each other.”

“In addition to the education sessions on gender equality, sexual harassment, HIV/AIDS, child trafficking, business skills, and self confidence, the campers all participated in challenges geared towards promoting teamwork and communication – skills that are sorely underrepresented in the Togolese school system."

"In this photo me and my co-facilitator Malika running our session about HIV/AIDS. Our primary focus was getting the campers to understand the technical information about HIV and what it means since they don’t really learn about it in school and ultimately ways to curtail its propagation in Togolese society. Malika is a 3^rd year sociology student at the University of Kara, another large city in Togo.”

“Paggi is a character at camp who pretends to be a mad sorcerer/village demon. He represents the obstacles we all face which keep us from living a healthy life. He would ask the girls questions about what they learned and why they thought it was important in a radically different way than they are used to in school. Many of the girls were terrified of him on the first day, but by the end of the week no one was afraid of speaking to him. Paggi was unveiled at the end of the camp as a previous camper for 4 years ago who is a university student now studying law in Lomé.”

“Togolese love to act out scenarios and it is one of the best ways of engaging a group of individuals, no mater what the age. During my HIV/AIDS session, we had two sketches: one depicting the way HIV leads AIDS and another talking about the effects of discrimination and stigmatization on people living with HIV.”

“Paggi would shuffle around from group to group trying to discourage the campers from achieving the tasks/challenges. The ultimate goal was to get the campers to stand up for themselves in the face of adversity – something they all learned to do by the end of the camp. It was amazing seeing girls who came in incredibly shy and reserved end the week as some of the most jubilant and outspoken campers.”

“During the session of child trafficking we had a guest speaker come in from a nearby village who had been trafficked as a child to a nearby country for 1 year. She spoke about her hardships and some of the awful things she saw and experience. For me this was a fascinating session as I had only ever had experience with testimonies or memoirs about the subject. Listening to this woman speak was captivating for everyone in the audience.”

“Sex-ed is severely lacking in the Togolese education system. In fact, most people have NO idea who their bodies work or why even some of the most basic things like puberty happen. One of the most popular sessions was the sex-ed session where participants had the opportunity to walk through an actual “vagina” to see how the entire process worked. They were also given the opportunity to ask questions in a safe and supportive environment related to sexual health and development from a clinician.”

“No sexual health talk is complete without the classic condom demonstration. Many people here know the fundamentals of using a condom, but with an army of wooden penises we were able to give all the participants the opportunity to practice putting on condoms. I also showed the campers how it is possible to stretch a latex condom over a fully extended forearm – a trick that went over very well I might add.”

“The challenges built upon themselves in a way that mirrored the growing bonds between the campers. In order to promote better communication, teamwork, and leadership, the challenge activities were designed to have the campers work together to solve a task. Here they are trying to move a bucket full of water without touching it. it’s a lot harder than it looks here!”

“Of course, no summer camp can be complete without games and songs. We did plenty of that during the course of the week, breaking out every so often in song was just another day in the life at Camp UNITE.”

“Another challenge where the girls had to move themselves from one side of a net to another without touching the string. This was the last challenge and in many ways is like the “trust fall” activity. My team succeeded with flying colors despite the deterring presence of Paggi!”

“Again, songs and dances were standard fare at Camp UNITE. I’m still humming them to myself a week later…”

“Je suis jenue, je suis l’avenir du Togo – I am young, I am the future of Togo!”

“On the last day of camp we had a parade where we went out into the community and practiced our skills. The campers came up with skits and dances demonstrating what they had learned throughout the week in terms of technical skills and cross-cultural information. The motivation behind this was to encourage the campers to return to their villages and become youth leaders – sharing the information they learned at camp to develop their communities. This was one of my favorite parts of camp, as you can tell!”

My building “Les Etoiles du Togo!”

“Me and one of my favorite counterparts, Sibabi. He was one of the primary Togolese counterparts/organizers for the project and I’m lucky enough to have him as a primary work partner at post. He is an awesome guy!”

On the last night of camp, we had a candlelight ceremony where all of the girl were given a chance to talk about their experiences at camp and how it affected them. Listening to girls open up and express some of their innermost feelings of not feeling self-worth until coming to camp or not realizing how much potential they had to become anything they wanted in life was an amazing, and tear-jerking, experience. One girl even said how she wasn’t going to continue school until she came to UNITE and learned about how much she was capable of if she really tried. It was a beautiful end to the week and I was really touched to see the effects of just one week of camp on these girls. Seeing the fruits of your labor is not really common in Togo as much of the work we lacks the concrete/immediate feedback we may desire. Nevertheless, I am confident that this camp makes a difference for Togolese kids by giving them a unique experience where they feel special, powerful, and important. I strongly believe in teaching youth in order to achieve national development and I can’t wait to be a part of this camp again next year!

13 Months

It's hard to fully describe what this experience fully means to me. At about 13 months in, about halfway for those of you at home keeping count, I'm feeling at peace with my service as well as a mixture of excitement and anxiety for what the next 13 months will bring.  I'm already starting to feel the squeeze of time limitations in planning out what I want the next 13 months to look like. However, at the current moment I am feeling very reflective, trying very hard to elucidate the tangible lessons I've learned, the changes I've undergone, and how I have grown. (I'm also doing this in a public forum to keep me honest in some ways - my sincerest hope is not coming off as trite.) I guess is my goal in doing this is to see how far I've come in order to help me decide where to go next. 

Today I'm writing for a few people: my friends and family back home as always, myself (at least I try to make it somewhat therapeutic - and very often, it can be.) and the new group of volunteers that are coming to Togo by the off chance that they see this entry. I'm not sure what I would say to the Ryan of June 2o11, the month I started this adventure, but I often think back to my tearful departure in the Dallas/Ft. Worth airport the morning I left the states for Philadelphia. I think what I was most afraid of was the uncertainty. The uncertainty that comes along with taking the next steps in life. I imagine that everyone goes through it in one way or another, and perhaps more than once. I just happened to experience it like running into a glass door - in saying goodbye to my friends and family it just hit me. It became very real very quickly that I would not be seeing the majority of them again for two years, and all of my support systems that I was so used to having in the states would have to change/evolve upon arrival in Togo. In the very beginning, focusing on what I was intrinsically good at and a simply mantra "breathe and put one foot in front of the other" helped me dramatically. A lot of my anxiety came from my perceived lack of preparation for the experience. With my very basic understanding of French and my slightly overweight bags (in which I hardly packed anything of real use), I felt that I wasn't fully prepared to take on the challenge - in ANY way. In retrospect, I'm not sure anyone can be, prepared for this specific experience I mean. I think what got me through the first few moments in Togo was a combination of  pure, naïve optimism, the simple fact that 2 years is not a lifetime, and that I had very little expectation of what would be waiting for me on the dark continent (this was aided by the fact that there was relatively very little literature about Togo to be read while I was in the US. Believe me, I looked.) I was also grateful to be around people who were going through similar experiences: leaving home, making an arguable life-altering commitment, and trying to stay positive and open minded about the upcoming experience. These people, I have come to learn, are some of the best people I have ever met. I value each and every one of my "stage mates" for who they are and what I've learned from them. In return, I think I may have taught them a few things too, but we still have a ways to go, and I'm looking forward to the continued growth. 

From this experience, I take away the concrete knowledge of something I already kind of knew I was really good at, which is relating to people. I love all my friends, and I feel like a large part of what I am today, what this current experience means to me, is the people I've shared it with. I'm going to continue focusing on my relationships, current and newly found. Living in Togo has also afforded me the opportunity of creating relationships with host country nationals. While I'm still learning exactly what a friendship means with a Togolese person, after 13 months I feel I have a much better idea than when I started, and at this point I don't think I could stay here another day if not for the amazing Togolese I've come to know. In fact, one of my biggest goals for the next 13 months is to continue expanding my relationships with those whom I've worked with and come to trust deeply. One of my initial goals, the goals they made us all right down on pieces of paper before we even got on the plane to come here, was to build meaningful relationships. I remember thinking to myself that I would feel accomplished when I felt I knew people here and that they knew me. There will continue to be challenges in this aspect of my work, language barriers, cultural barriers, etc. but again, I'm very much enjoying this part of the job.

Shifting gears, I think that the past 13 months have also given me a very good idea of what I'm not so good at as well. In the event that a future employer is reading this blog, I won't go into too many details, but for the most part, I truly believe that we learn as much from our mistakes as failures. And while I don't necessarily believe in regret, I believe very strongly in evaluating what mistakes teach us. This is a definite shift from the me before I came here. It's not that I didn't make mistakes before, but I don't think I appreciated them as much. Following this framework, I'm hard-pressed to come up with a "mistake" I feel I've made in the past 13 months. My service in Togo has allowed me to finally forgive myself for the mistakes I made before coming here, because I'm finally able to see them for what they are, experience. Letting go of the past has been a large part of what I have done in order to survive here. 

Certain aspects of my personality have been augmented and diminished here - largely due to the stresses of daily life. I feel my patience has expanded beyond even what I could imagine possible. I think the stress of a 10 hour uncomfortable bush taxi ride over an unimaginably awful road can give one this ability. I'm much less afraid of asking for what I want than before. Learning this has been a combination of dealing with other volunteers and the Togolese. Just knowing what you want, and not being a afraid to say it, has miraculous outcomes. Perhaps this experience has made me more honest with myself, which has in turn made me more honest with others, but either way, I think it's a change for the better. Togo has also desensitized me in a way to the lugubriousness of others. I can't say that seeing poverty on a daily basis doesn't mean anything to me, but I often had a hard time over-empathizing with people in the past - unable to separate my subjective and objective thoughts. The level of contentness with life among the Togolese also inspires one to appreciate everything they've been given/earned in life. I know families of 5 that live in a single room, I see kids everyday play with my garbage as if it's the most amazing toy in the world, and I witness people genuinely happy to be alive - all of which, if I'm being completely honest, were not things I saw often in the states. At the risk of sounding overly cliché, I'm going to stop myself there, but I will say that these past 13 months in Togo have largely contributed to my personal definition of happiness. 

Earlier I mentioned all the people I've had the pleasure of working with, both Togolese and American. Today, my dear site mate, one of the most amazing women I've ever met, returned to the United States after 13 months of service. We always joke about how fate brought us together and placed us in the same tiny country on the opposite side of the world in the same city 15 minutes away from each other - but the truth is, she was I'm not sure I could have done it without her. I've learned so much from you R and and I only hope that our shared experiences can continue "on the other side." See you in Disneyland! I love you!

Love love.

Before I forget, if a new volunteer does see this blog (and made it to the end, ha ha...) here is my list of essentials that may or may not be on the official packing list.

- a lot of quick dry underwear and towel (just trust me on this one)

- a sharp cooking knife

- external hard drive/high capacity thumbdrives

- a digital camera you LIKE using

- your favorite "products" 

- travel size toiletries/toiletry bag (you're going to be traveling a bit while you're in country too)

- there are these little pocket speakers that a lot of people have here that are rechargeable via USB and really quite loud, get one of you like music!

- extra headphones

- Togolese people get really into pictures from home, but more so pictures of places and things rather than people.

Adjustment redux

Greetings all! A lot has happened since my last update, mainly I went on VACATION. After 11 months, I left Togo and visited my family in Germany. My mom and brother were able to meet me there and together we had a fantastic two weeks just spending time together. The trip to Düsseldorf (the city close to where my family lives) was spectacular, and even though I had to travel to Accra, Ghana in order to fly directly to Germany, I was reveling in every minute of my voyage. I guess I'll give some of the highlights of my trip in chronological order:

• Ghana is a strange place. As soon as I crossed the border, EVERYTHING looked exactly the same expect people were speaking English with me. I was amazed by how much more developed it was than Togo, considering they were neighboring countries. I took an air-conditioned van all the way to the airport and had a chicken sandwich for lunch at the airport. It was a good start to my trip.
• The flight from Accra to Frankfurt was relatively uneventful, except for that I couldn't get over how extremely excited I was to be going back to the western world. I gobbled up everything the flight attendant brought with relish and I unashamedly stashed away packets of butter and cheese for later. It had been so long since I'd had some of these things that I think I got a little crazy.
• When I arrived in Frankfut I immediately went to eat breakfast at a restaurant my family and I often frequent when flying to Iran. They have a pretty good full breakfast and the restaurant overlooks the air field, which I love. I ended up ordering the largest breakfast available, eating all of it, and then subsequently getting a bit ill. I think my body was just not used to eating that amount of food in such a short amount of time. I had to rest for a bit before leaving for my connecting flight, but again, it was worth it.
• Seeing my family after so long was FANTASTIC! I really missed them and I while I was a bit overwhelmed at first to be around them every single minute of every day, I think I handled it well. We spent most of the trip just hanging out, visiting cool places, cooking, and catching up. I talked a bit about Togo and it was great having the opportunity to better explain a bit about the things I was doing in the Peace Corps.
• In terms of my observations while in Germany, I was often struck by the small things such as the way people in public reacted to each other. NOBODY in public really spoke with anyone else, which was strange for me coming from Togo where you are almost expected to greet everyone you walk past on the street. Also, the ease and convenience of travel really amazed me. Whether it was a car, train, or airplane, getting around in the western world is a billion times easier and safer than traveling anywhere in Togo. I do remember though a feeling of slight panic the first time we got on the autobahn, everyone was driving SO FAST. I had to close my eyes for a bit.
• Before I left Togo, I wrote a list of all the things I was hoping to eat while abroad, and I'm happy to report that I was able to cross of almost everything on my list. My main goals were to really eat as much cheese, strawberries, and chocholate as possible and my gracious family helped me achieve these lofty desires. I had cheese at every breakfast and my awesome aunt always had some yummy treats for after every meal. After my initial faux pas at the restaurant in the airport, I had to be careful not to eat more than I should. Apparently Togo has made my stomach more sensitive to everything. I guess that's what I get for living on a diet of mainly eggs, lentils, and rice. One thing I did notice in terms of food, was how much better the fruits tasted in Togo than in Germany. I mean, in Togo we don't have fruits like berries and grapes, so those tasted just fine, but things like mangos, pineapples, oranges, and avocados - I almost couldn't eat them in Germany because they tasted so much less like what they should actually taste like. I don't really remember how these things tasted in the US, but I'm almost positive they taste better in Togo. I'll definitely miss eating an abundance of delicious tropical fruit after I leave this country.
• Even though I had been to Germany plenty of times before this trip, it was the first time that we were going solely to visit Germany. Each time before, it's been in passing via a 10 hour or week long connection between Iran and the US. In many ways, it was the perfect vacation because I was able to get a short break from Togo but still not have to deal with all the readjustment of being back in the United States. People were still speaking a language I didn't understand, the foods were all slightly different, and the weather was 180 degrees different than both Togo and Texas (seriously, it did not get dark until around 10PM every night and it was nice and crisp every single day...)

I'd say that coming back to Togo was also a highlight of the entire trip. I realized as I was driving from Ghana to Lomé that I was really looking forward to being back. As soon as I crossed the border, I was relieved to be speaking French again (a language that I have come to understand and speak quite well) and to be in a culture that I somewhat understood. Ghana was off-putting because I still had a hard time understanding what people were saying, even though they were speaking english. Upon returning, I was greeted by friends and a fair amount of work so it all made the transition easier. I realized that I actually missed my life in Togo. I missed my friends, my independence, and in many ways my work. I was glad to finally make it back up to Sokodé and be at home. Being back was also hard for a few reasons; I recently celebrated my one year anniversary of being in country and so it was a big reminder that my time here was limited and that I needed to get my goals and future plans in order. 

In terms of work, last week I ran a computer camp that I organized along with my site mate at my post. We invited 40 of the top 10th grade students in the region (2o boys and 2o girls) to come to Sokodé (the regional capital) for a 3 day camp about using computers. The theme of this year's camp was HIV/AIDS and so we incorporated different activities and lecture into the existing computer classes. This was one the most fun projects I've done since coming to Togo. Seeing kids who have never touched a computer before learn how to use the internet to research topics like antiretrovirals medications and their implications for the treatment of HIV was amazing. It was also fun to hang out with the students each night and get to know them. Togoelse high schoolers aren't really any different than high school students in the states. There all a bit awkward, goofy, and hormonal. I had to confiscate a few phones to keep people from texting during the sessions and entertaining them after the sessions meant doing a lot of silly renditions of popular Togolese dances and teaching them how to play twister. All in all, it was a really great time and it definitely got me excited about this summer during which I'll be a camp counselor at two Peace Corps camps. The first is a youth leadership camp for girls and boys called UNITE (Unification de la Nation: Initiative, Travail, Education) and after that is Camp Espoir which is targeted for kids living with HIV/AIDS. All our camps are held at a Peace Corps owned center in a village called Pagala and it's basically an American style sleep-away camp, but for Togolese. I'll be in and out of post for the next couple of weeks for camps and other activities, but I'm really excited for this summer!

I think that's all I really have for now. Until next time!!

Love love.

Reverse parade.

This Tuesday, Togo celebrated their annual labor day, a derivative of the French holiday "Première May," also known as "May day." It was a spectacular event talked up by everyone all over town (the ladies at the post, the fruit vendors, the man who owns the boutique by my house, and even the annoying moto taxi drivers), and everyone asked me almost the same question "Tu vas fêter bien?" (Translation: Are you going to party well?) The day started off with what I can only describe as the one of the few well organized large scale event I've ever seen in Togo (even though it started 2 hours late…); a parade through the town center all the way to the outskirts of the city to the Mayor's office. My trusty companion/side-kick/site-mate Rebekah and I made our way out early to our usual hang out spot, a café right by the main road that runs through town to await the much-anticipated parade. After a while of waiting, we started to doubt what everyone was telling us and scoffed at the idea of an actual organized parade. But then, in the distance I heard the unmistakable noise of brass instruments, being badly played I might add, and then saw the first group of Togoelse to walk by. We jumped up, threw a wad of cash at the waitress to cover the cost of our morning breakfast, and ran out to the main road to get a good view. In retrospect, we didn't really need to hurry, the parade was inching along at a glacial pace and we were the only real spectators. As is customary for our lives here in Togo, we were much more the focus of the parades' participants attention than they were for us. People were shouting and waving at us standing on the side of the road and taking pictures of us with their camera phones. I quickly coined the term "reverse parade" as it was most obviously an inverse of what an actual parade is. In many ways, I feel that everyday is a reverse parade, but that's a different qualm I have with living here – and not one I really care to discuss at length. Even still, it was quite an event as probably over a thousand people walked past carrying the banners of their respective organizations/companies. My favorite "float" was the water company who what cleverly created a closed loop water pump in the bed of the truck and had someone standing continuously pumping water into a cistern – it was pretty neat, I gotta say. Afterwards, we went back to my house, made some banana bread, and hung out. All in all, a pretty good "fête."

 

Things are going splendidly here in Togo and I must say that the past 3 months have been the most productive in terms of my work and integration. I attribute this to many things, but mainly a higher level of comfort I now have communicating in French. I've also been pushing a lot to get projects going and thanks to the relationships I've forged with my Togolese counterparts, I have had much success collaborating with some very capable people. In fact, I credit most of my success these past three months to them.

 

My first large project was the Men's Health and Wellness trainings that I organized throughout my city. The project was based on a philosophy called "Men as Partners" which focuses on educating men to see the inequalities between the genders and to empower them to make positive decisions to advance their well being and that of their communities. The program follows an "ecological model" which is really just a fancy way of saying that the activities encourages the participants to draw their own conclusions on different issues presented to them as problems in their society. Within the realm of gender equality/equity, sexual health/reproduction, violence, communication, and drug use, the 40 men that received the training were encouraged to re-examine the status quo and determine for themselves if their position in society as men could do anything to address the issues. In conjunction with the Red Cross, my two counterparts and I trained eight Red Cross volunteers in how to facilitate the MAP (Men as partners) sessions and over the course of two weeks we held four separate trainings, each within the communities lasting for 4 days each. I would say that I felt the project was most successful in that the participants seemed motivated to share the information with their communities, and to inform other men of their responsibilities in the Togolese patriarchal society to promote change. Participants at every training thanked me at the end for giving them a new way of looking at their lives and I was surprised by how strongly some men felt about the topics we discussed. One man at the end of the last training came up to me and told me that after the training, he felt that gender inequity in terms of access to education was the biggest obstacle to Togo's development. He said that because he loves his country he would send each of his 3 daughters to school and ensure that all of them finished high school. I was very taken aback by this statement mostly due to the fact that this same participant who indirectly supported the statement on the first day that "men are smarter than women." It was a fantastic first project and it gave me a lot of experience with working with HCNs (host country nationals), managing a budget (it was a USAID funded project), and working on developing capacities at the community level. Over the next three months, the men in each group (four total) will carry out activities within their community and in September I will be doing follow-up interviews to assess their progress and whether or not the MAP philosophy made any difference in their lives. In all honesty, I'm not sure if I'll see the tangible results of this project during my service, but when considering the steps of behavior change, and getting people to implement things they learn, I feel that almost all 40 men made remarkable strides.

 

Other fun work activities that I've been doing include working with 12 Togolese NGO representatives teaching them basic Microsoft Word during an 3 day NGO conference organized by fellow volunteers; sharing enriched porridge practices with the participants at a well-being fair organized by a fellow volunteer; continuing my work with a youth club and mothers club at an NGO that supports people living with/affected by HIV; and starting a moringa garden at the Red Cross office in my town. (Moringa is a tree known as the "miracle tree" all over Africa for having amazing properties such as a high protein/vitamin content in the leaves in addition to nearly 8 other uses. A big part of the Peace Corps does in Africa is teaching people how to grow and use this awesome plant.) Approaching the year mark in my service (I know, when did that happen?!) has been good for many reasons, but mainly because I feel that I have developed some solid relationships with Togoelse and Americans alike, pushed myself a little to do things I'm not 100% comfortable with, and because I've learned how to "live" here and make myself happy. The other day I made an amazing chicken pot pie and brownies using all local ingredients, and it was DELICIOUS. I am always missing my friends and family back home and sometimes I get down on myself for not communicating as much with them as I probably should, but I'm trying. I know these blogs don't come as regularly as they should, and I'm working on it.

 

I also wanted to give a quick shout-out to any incoming PCVs who may or may not be reading this blog since it's linked to the Peace Corps blog website (personally I couldn't get enough of volunteers' blogs before I came to country. I'm still awkwardly dropping facts that I read on peoples' blogs to them…it's a bit of awkward at times, ha ha!) This experience is an absolute roller coaster, so just be prepared for it to be awesome and ridiculously ridiculous (e.g. reverse parade, green oranges, etc.) all at the same time. Please don't worry about what to pack, just bring what will make you happy. With everything else, you can manage here. My prized possessions from home: non-stick saucepan and hair products. Eat a turkey sandwich for me before you come, please!

 

Love,

Ryan 

An average day

Among volunteers in the Peace Corps, it is a generally agreed upon
fact that no day is quite the same. Ask anyone and they will tell you
that every day brings different joys, frustrations, and
accomplishments. We all have different coping techniques since not
knowing a lot of what your day will bring can be quite stressful at
times (perhaps in the same way I'm sure Firefighters must feel about
their jobs…) For me, it's the stalwart sense of optimism that gets me
through, though I too have those days of despair and anxiety
association with the high stress of living in West Africa. That being
said, everyone's experience in the Peace Corps is immensely different.
Heck, my sitemate who lives 5K from me in the same city is having a
dramatically different Peace Corps experience. It all comes down to
who we are as people and what we want to get out of this experience.

I thought that it might be interesting for friends and family back
home to know what an average day is like for me living here in Togo,
so that is what this blog post is dedicated too.

Average day # 1

6h00: Wake up to the sound of the call to prayer coming from the
mosque in my back yard intermixed with the crows of roosters and
goats.

6h15: Hit the snooze button on my cell phone alarm for the third time
and rollover for 10 more minutes of sleep (some things never change
and I've become miraculously good at staying asleep amidst incredible
amounts of noise)

6h30: Jump out of bed, shower, and get dressed for the day. Take extra
time to apply sun screen to every exposed surface of my body including
the tops of my feet. (My chaco tan line is probably a permanent
fixture of my skin at this point.)

6h45: Whip up a quick breakfast of a boiled egg, oatmeal, bananas, and
coffee while reading a magazine or watching an episode of Friends on
the computer.

7h00: Race out the door on my bike to a meeting at a middle school 7
kilometers from my house. I'm supposed to be collecting nomination
forms for a leadership camp that the Peace Corps is doing in July for
middle school students. This is the 3rd time this week I've made the
trek out to the school, but hopefully the last because collecting
these forms is the last step in nominating kids for camp.

7h15: Arrive on time sweaty and thirsty at the school. End up waiting
for 45 minutes for the kids, teachers, and director to arrive even
though school is supposed to start at 7h30. Luckily I brought a book.

8h30: After collecting nominations and thanking all the students and
director, I ride my bike back into town for a meeting with my
homologue at the Red Cross. We're planning a Men's Health and Gender
Equity conference and need to discuss the selection of trainers and
plan out our schedule. We take a 15 minute prayer break in the middle
of our meeting, I play snake on my phone to pass the time.

9h30: Ride my bike to the workstation to print and e-mail documents
for a NGO workshop that I'm participating in. Will be teaching
participants about basic computer literacy. After I'm done at the
workstation, I break for a bag of cold water and maybe a couple of
slices of pineapple on the side of the road under a tree.

10h30: After finishing up at the workstation, I ride my bike back into
town to check on the post, send a letter, go to the bank, and pick up
some essentials from the market (vegetables, rice, eggs, toilet paper,
sugar, flour, etc.)

11h00: Accomplishing simple tasks at the post always takes longer than
expected – almost 30 minutes to buy a stamp and check the P.O. box. I
also run into a friend and we end up talking for a bit about his
program and what he's been up to lately.

11h45: Meet up with one of my sitemates for lunch at a café and talk
about a variety of topics ranging from our health, food we miss, work,
future travel plans, other volunteers, food we miss, and plans for the
rest of the week.

13h00: Go home to work on a presentation that will happen with a
fellow PCV in her village on family planning. Need to outline and plan
the order of the conversation and what posters we need to make in
advance.

14h30: At the hottest part of the day, it's hard to do anything other
than sit in front of a fan and read or watch TV. I end up taking a nap
after falling asleep reading Harry Potter in French.

15h30: Wake up to a text message from a volunteer passing through my
town who needs a place to stay for the night. I tell them they can
stay at my house since hotels can be expensive on our budgets.

16h00: Someone knocks on my door, it's my landlord and mason he hired
to come tile the bathroom in my house. He hasn't actually bought any
of the materials, but needs to measure the bathroom for a third time.
I'm not sure why but let them in and supervise as they do all of this.

16H30: After shooing my landlord out, I ride my bike up to another
NGOs office to talk to them about an idea I have for a market women's'
health group. The idea seems to go over well so after I flesh out more
of what the idea means to me, I'll go back and discuss it more with
them. Hopefully it's a project that catches on, but as with about 80%
of my ideas, it kinda fizzles out. But that's OKAY!

17h00: Volunteer arrives after a long/uncomfortable taxi ride and we
hang out for a bit before deciding to go to dinner at a local street
food stand.

19h00: After coming home, start working on editing a radio show that
another site mate has wrote and will hopefully perform together in the
next week.

20h30: Shower and get ready for bed.

21h00: Fall asleep either reading or watching an episode of some
random TV show. My favorite shows to watch to fall asleep are the
Planet Earth series, especially the ones about the ocean.

Average day # 2 (Not necessarily the next day, but just an example of
another "average day.")

7h00: Wake up under similar circumstances, shower, eat breakfast.

7h30: Watch a ridiculous amount of the TV show Mad Men, only breaking
to make a sandwich for lunch.

16h00: Decide that I should probably leave the house at least once, so
I walk down the street say hi to some friends.

17h00: After only an hour, I come back home and make dinner. While
dinner is finishing cooking, I do an exercise video (usually yoga or
cardio)

18h00: Eat dinner, shower, and continue watching TV.

20h00: By now I've finished almost an entire season. Slightly
embarrassed yet satisfied, I get ready for bed.

20h30: Phone call from America! Yay! Talk on the phone with a friend
for a bit before getting into bed.

So there you have it. Two very different, but very real days for me
here in Peace Corps Togo. I wouldn't say that I prefer having one type
of day to another, but I will say that without the days like the
second day, the days like the first wouldn't be possible. I guess what
I'm trying to say is that work can be incredibly exhausting,
frustrating, and in general just take a lot more effort than in the
United States. However, that is all part of this experience and it is
teaching me to appreciate the things that I do have that much more. I
wouldn't say that I'm happy ALL the time here, but I am happy most of
the time. Feeling yourself change as a person is a very surreal
feeling, but it's also refreshing to know that this experience is
giving you as much back as you are putting in. I'm learning to rely on
myself, work with others who see the world radically different than
me, and in general learning to accept my shortcomings and talents. I
miss my friends and family every day, but I have never been more
content with a decision as to join the Peace Corps.

From zero to sixty

I'm not sure when the exact moment was that I realized this, but after almost 6 months during which I felt I had little to do, I suddenly have a schedule booked until November. I mean, I know how it happened, obviously, but it's nice to feel like I'm finally getting into some meaningful programs/activities. Don't get me wrong, I did quite a bit during my first 4 months at post. Cultural integration is hard and especially when you're trying to speak in two new languages. However, I finally feel comfortable here in Togo and I rarely, if ever, have the "holy crap I'm in Africa" moments. (Well sometimes, but it's not a daily thing like it used to be.) Most of all, I have some fantastic work partners that I feel truly lucky to have met. I have met numerous volunteers who have described a lack of truly motivated and capable work partners at their sites and though it took a lot of effort to cultivate these relationships myself, I feel ready to work with my counterparts on a multitude of projects. Other things I'm thankful for/felt like I've accomplished are the relationships I've built with other volunteers. There are some truly awesome people that have chosen to serve in Togo and I love every opportunity I have to get to know them better. Overall, things are going well in Togo and while it hasn't been easy, it has been entirely worth it.

Since my last update, I've continued developing different project ideas with my counterparts, supervisors, and other volunteers. My first large-scale project that I'm really excited about is a gender equity workshop called "Men as Partners" or "Hommes Commes Partenaires" in French. It's a program targeted towards men in societies where they are the dominant/influential group in the decision making process of the family. It also has a large component focused on helping men arrive at their own conclusions on why/how gender inequalities exist. I will be conducting it with approximately 40 men from different neighborhoods around my city as well as 8 Togolese counterparts that will be training on how to run the workshops effectively. Essentially helping people build their own capacities by providing the guidance and information in the hopes that they utilize to a greater extent than if they were simply told what it was. Another exciting venture is a bi-monthly radio show that my two other site mates and I compose and perform at a local station about different topics such as health and gender equality. We've only done one so far on malaria, which went way better than I ever expected! Having never been on the radio before coming to Togo, I was kind of nervous about the whole "live broadcast" aspect of it all. Though the best part was when I was able to play any music I wanted during the intermissions of our hour long show, so of course I chose to play Lady Gaga and other celebrated female artists. I mean, it ties back to gender equality and all, right? Right?! Anyway, another large project that I'm involved with is Camp Espoir, which is an AIDS/HIV American-style sleep away camp for Togolese youth that will take place in August. It's an exciting opportunity to be playing such a large role as the programming coordinator, but I'm excited to adapt the camp to this year's new theme: The Olympics! Kids from all over the country get to come to a really sweet training center in the central region for a week of classic camp activities. For many of them, it's their first opportunity to meet other positive kids and hopefully to forget about their status for a little bit and just be like every other kid. I'm really hopeful that I'll have so great experiences to share after camp is over. However, before that comes, there is quite a bit of work to do in terms of planning and coordinating. It's all so exciting though! Yay summer camp!

In other news on the social scene, I just hosted the country's Valentine's Day party in my city for 30 or so volunteers. The romantic evening was set against the backdrop of a lovely bar located at a gas station in the middle of town (if you're scratching your head at that one trust me, it's as counter-intuitive as it seems…) and dinner was provided by none other than the "Street Food Queen." (We affectionately refer to this woman who always has the best street food as "the queen" because she is always so well dressed and is graceful under pressure. I've seen her prepare like 3 plates at once and the food is always delicious. AND I've never gotten sick from eating there, PLUS!) The night included plenty of merriment, dancing, and baked goods, courtesy of me and my pal Kate L. who came the day before to help out/hang out. Having volunteers over is always fun and as many of my friends could probably already guess, there was a mandatory Disney classic sing-a-long as well as a Bad Romance choreography session. All in all, the party went extremely well and I'm already thinking of what my next "event" will be.

In May, after a lot of my projects and other work commitments will be completed, I am going on a vacation with my mom and brother to Germany to visit my aunt and uncle and my cousins! I'm super pumped about it because as much as I love Togo, I really think I need a vacation. I also really miss my family and so it will be a nice two week break before my one-year mark rolls around (I know, to think it's almost been a year…it's crazy for me as well.) I've been to Germany a few times before, but I think aside from everything else like seeing my family and visiting in a country with reliable transportation, the thing I'm most excited for is ice cream. I know that's kind of silly, but hey, we all have our vices. Specifically mint chocolate chip ice-cream; Hägen-Daz is a German company, right? Okay, now I'm just rambling/drooling…

Even though it's been 8 months since I left the states I still think about my friends and family almost every day and even though I don't get the opportunity to communicate with them as much as I might like (such as my self-admitted disinterest to writing blogs) I still think about them often and want to know what is going on in their lives as well. Sometimes, it's extremely hard to relate to the lives of the Togolese (try as I might) in terms of the daily social activities, long term goals and basic cultural attributes, so it's nice to escape, if only even momentarily, into the life of someone that I know and can relate too. I guess what I'm saying is that I would much rather receive a letter describing a little bit about your life than a package with snacks (as much as I love snacks, my lack of self-control doesn't bode well for my waist-line.) Also, I find it much easier to respond to question than I do to writing open-ended about my Peace Corps experience. So get to writing folks! (e-mails are great, and you'll probably get a quicker response too!)

As always, love love.

You've got mail.

Greetings all! I've received quite a few questions on how one

can/should send packages to me in Togo. In all honestly, I've dragged

my feet a bit because I don't feel like I really "need" anything from

the states, and I would also people rather donate to the numerous

Peace Corps projects happening all over the world that could use

funding (including my own projects, eventually…) See link:

That being said, here is a list** of some things I feel would be

"nice" to have (in no particular order):

• Magazines (Newsweek, Time, Vanity Fair, People, Popular Science,
• Vogue France, GQ, Alcalde, etc.)
• Cotton t-shirts (size medium, V or crew neck) I like Gap brand!
• Pants (Jeans, khakis, linen, etc.) 32/32, standard or slim fit
• Trail Mix/Ajil/Plain Almonds
• Chicken/Tuna/Beef/Bacon Packets (in water, not oil)
• Cat toys, medicine, flea collars
• Crystal Light Packets (any flavor)
• New Media (Movies [DVDs/Flashdrives], Music, Books)
• Printed Pictures
• Greeting Cards/Letters
• Condiments (small packets or bottles. i.g, soy sauce, salsa, BBQ sauce, honey, relish, etc.)
• Cologne samples (YSL "L'Homme" preferred.)
• News Paper Clippings
• Dried Meats
• Tea Mixes (Sadaf, Green, Pomegranate, etc.)
• Dried Fruits
• Parmesan Cheese Powder
• Anything "quickdry" (underwear, towels, shirts, socks, etc.)
• Peanut M&Ms
• Hair Products (shampoo/conditioner, serum, wax, etc.)
• Cetaphil Soap Bars (Antibacterial version)
• Artisan Italian Soup Mixes
• Granola Bars
• Electric hair trimmer (battery powered would be best!)
• Cake Mixes ("Anything that just requires Milk, Eggs, or Oil added.")

** This list of items are merely suggestions, you can send anything

you want; The weirder the better! I recently received a self-therapy

checklist and it's actually pretty neat!

 

Now, let's discuss ways to send things to Togo! There are few ways to

do it, from what I've seen other volunteers receive. International

flat rate shipping via USPS is the most common way people receive

mail. UPS and DHL are costly and inefficient. USPS offers different

flat rate envelopes and boxes, the latter being much more expensive.

Also, any "box" that comes to our P.O. boxes at the post office cost

us about $2 to retrieve. It's not much, but it's easily avoidable by

sending the smaller "medium size" flat rate envelopes. These envelopes

can be filled with most things, and they only cost in-between $13 -

$18 USD to mail to Togo. The medium flat rate envelopes can hold

2-4lbs. The boxes come in various sizes as well, but can cost almost

three times as much. For example, my mother has sent me a few medium

sized flat rate boxes, each at around $45 USD each, and they each

weighed around 16-20lbs. In all honesty, I think after the standard

shipping boxes you can mail almost any size package to this country,

it just costs A LOT!

 

Letters and other documents can be sent quite cheaply as well at

around $2-8 USD. If all you are sending is magazines/letters, you can

ask the postal worker to mail it as "media mail," which often times

reduces the rate of postage. This only works for packages containing

ONLY media.

 

Again, my address is:
 
Ryan Omide Aghabozorg PCV

Corps de la Paix

B.P. 224, Sokodé

TOGO (West Africa)

 

The most important thing is that you write "Corps de la Paix" under my

name and also clearly write TOGO on the package. On more than one

occasion packages have gone to TONGA in Australia only to make it back

to Togo months after the person originally sent it. Also, I should

mention that I don't really know much about buying insurance for the

package. I've heard that it costs extra money when the package passes

through customs in Lomé, but I'm not entirely sure. When in doubt, do

not insure the package. I know that is disheartening and slightly

counterintuitive, but I've only heard of a few cases of packages being

lost or stolen in transit. It is common, however, for packages to be

opened upon arrival for inspection. More times than not, packages it

make it – eventually.

 

Here are some more general tips for mailing things to Togo:

•All liquids need to be made COMPLETELY spill proof. If something in

the packages leaks, the chances that I will never get it rise

astronomically.

•Writing phrases like "God Bless", "Allah Akbar", "Dieu Vous Blessez,"

etc. increases the chances of a packages safe delivery. I've also

heard that using red ink makes things look more "official" and less

likely to be intercepted/opened. Religious symbols are also a nice

touch.

•Sending flash drives or anything super valuable is often difficult

because packages do get opened and people definitely take things that

look valuable. Your best bet is to hide it in something inconspicuous.

For example, one of my friend's mother used to send her $100 bills in

tampon boxes. She would carefully open the tampon, remove the filler,

replace it with the cash, glue the package closed and place it back in

the original box. I'm not saying that is the best way to do things,

but being creative helps. When in doubt, think like a secret agent. Ha

ha! :P

Happy New Years!

Greetings everyone from Badou, Togo! I know it has been almost two
months since I posted a blog post, but as part of my new years
resolution, I am writing more. My goal is just to write, not
necessarily blogs or letters, just writing (that being said, hopefully
you can expect more blogs and letters from me about my life.) Today is
the last day of my holiday "mini-vacation" and tomorrow I will be
going back to my post in Sokodé. I spent the Christmas holiday in
Lomé, the capital of Togo with my friends Becky and Martin hanging out
and enjoying the small luxuries the capital city had to offer. Lomé is
a difficult place to be in for many reasons (it's polluted, expensive,
and slightly dangerous) but it is the only place in Togo where you can
experience small tastes of home.

On Christmas day my boss invited all the volunteers to his house for a
Hawaiian-themed Christmas party with a bunch of other ex-pats and
embassy workers. Becky and I were the only two volunteers that showed
up, but I still had a blast. I drank alcohol out of a pineapple for
the first time in my life (it was so delicious!), ate a roasted pig,
and gorged myself on ice cream and brownies. All-in-all, it was a good
Christmas (did I mention it was a pool party? Yes, yes it was.)

For the next two days Becky, Martin, and I spent our days hanging out
at the beach and eating dinner at good restaurants. The only "good"
beach in Togo is a private beach called Coco Beach. It is kind of hard
to get too since you have to drive through the over-crowded port of
Lomé, but once you're there it's like another world. We swam in a
clean pool and frolicked on the semi-clean beach – it was a nice break
from the torrid humidity of Lomé. In the evenings, we sampled the best
cuisine Lomé has to offer, which isn't much per say, but there is some
good Lebanese food to be found, as well as decent pizza. Another perk
of being in Lomé is using the internet! Our Peace Corps office has a
volunteer lounge with a bunch of books and wifi! I mean, we are
talking about dial-up/slow DSL speeds, but none-the-less I was able to
skype with my mom and brother and some other friends. It was so great
to see them after 7 months!

The next day, I went with my friend Kate to visit our friend Veronica
in her village of Kovié. I really like visiting my friends in small
villages because it gives me the chance to experience that side of
this Peace Corps experience. Hanging out in village has it perks, but
my favorite part is that people are actually somewhat interested in
who you are and where you come from. At my post, in Sokodé, I'm always
just "another yovo (foreigner)" which is partly due to the fact that
there are a lot of other white people running around the city. Well,
not a lot, but enough. And also, living in a city means that people
don't feel the same sense of large community as you do in village.
Anyways, it was just fun to hang out and walk around the village
scaring little kids and practicing local languages. The best part is
though when walking around a village and realizing that this is your
job, just to be there. I have a pretty awesome job. Oh, Veronica, Kate
and myself also played a really cool game called "Settelers of Katan!"
I am slightly obsessed with it now. I also hear there is a travel
sized edition? *hint hint*

After two days in Kovié, Veronica and I headed up to Badou to visit
our friend Vanessa. Badou is a small city nestled in the mountains of
the plateau region of Togo. They export a lot of the countries coffee
and cocoa from this region and it's just a beautiful place to be. On
the last day of the year, we hiked up to seek the Akola falls, which
was just breath taking. I realized that it had been quite some time
since I simply marveled at something…and boy, did I marvel. The
45-minute hike itself to the falls was quite nice because it was
through a tropical jungle littered with birds and butterflies. I was
really hoping to see a monkey, but our guide said that they had been
poached away from the area almost 20 years ago. We ended up spending
the entire afternoon hanging out in the falls, taking pictures, eating
lunch, and chatting with our guide. It was one of the best days I've
had in Togo thus far.

The rest of our time in Badou was spent fêting, and by fêting, I MEAN
fêting (side note: fêter means to party in French.) In order to greet
the new year properly, we made a fabulous dinner of bean burgers and
pineapple upside down cake, cracked open a nice box of wine, and
listened to some good music. This was my first New Years away from
home and I would definitely consider it a success. The best part is
though, that for the Togolese, the party continues for at least 3
days. We were invited for so many lunches and dinners and
"just-because" meals I've already lost count. All I can say with
absolute certainty is that I am going to need a dietary vacation after
3 days full of starch and carbs. *blegh* Togolese food is growing on
me though, fufu especially. While it has a funny name, fufu is a
typical West African style dish of pounded ingame, manioc, taro, or
potato with a spicy tomato based sauce. There are many variations of
the sauce with some being based on okra, sesame, or just simply palm
oil, and the protein involved can vary as well. I think my favorite
dish in this country is ingame (kinda like a sweet potato) fufu with
spicy peanut sauce and wagash. Wagash is probably also one of my
favorite things here. It is a fermented cheese made from cow's milk
that vaguely resembles mozzarella. My friend Lizzy learned how to make
it from her Fulani friends (the Fulani are a nomadic tribe that live
throughout West Africa. They are colorful and obviously have a rich
cultural makeup, but they are often stigmatized in Togolese society
for "harboring" diseases and not learning the official language.)
Anyway, wagash is delicious, even though it has a funny name.

Tomorrow I will be heading back to Sokodé, after being gone for a week
and half. I miss my cat and my house and my volunteer friends in my
cluster, which in my opinion is a good sign. I consider Sokodé to be
home now and while it took me quite some time to feel comfortable
there, I finally do. I feel confident that this will be a defining
year for me both personally and in terms of my career. I am going back
to some solid partnerships (well, at least I hope they are solid) that
I've developed over the past 5 months with various NGOs in Togo. ATBEF
(L'Association Togolaise pour le Bien-être Familiale aka Planned
Parenthood) is going to be my primary work partner with whom I will
continue doing presentations and workshops on various health topics. I
also hope to be trained on how to do HIV/AIDS counseling for youth who
come in to do testing. Espoir Vie Togo (EVT) is another NGO who I will
hopefully work with to plan my regions Camp Espoir, of which I am the
national programming intern. Camp Espoir is an American sleep-away
camp for Togolese children infected and affected by HIV/AIDS and EVT
is my primary counterpart for work with this population. Other
projects I am starting up include a health club with some middle
school students at the school my old site mate Katy Kientz built as
well as a weekly life skills class for a group of vocational students
(apprentices) who work for tailors and hairdressers. In January we
also have a Peace Corps training called "Project Development and
Management" which means that all the volunteers from my training class
will get another chance to get together, hang out, swap stories, and
maybe learn a thing or two in the process. This training will also be
held with a Togolese counterpart of our choice. I am bringing my
official homologue from the Red Cross because I think both of us are
still a little unsure of what it means to work together. The Red Cross
Togo is a massive organization with solid funding and staffing, so I
am still trying to figure out what the best way is to work with them.
All in all January promises to be a great month! I am excited to see
what this year will bring!

I've also resolved to read more this year since the massive amount of
down time in the Peace Corps lends itself well towards becoming a
well-read individual, something which I have yet to fully capitalize
on. I am currently finishing up the Girl With The Dragon Tattoo series
and I am starting Reading Lolita in Tehran, (something I have always
wanted to read) The Brief and Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, and
Mountains Beyond Mountains. I'm not sure if these are pre-requisite
books to becoming a "well-read" individual, but it's a start.  I'm
always open to suggestions!

I hope everyone has enjoyed their holiday season and with a New Year
upon us I am continually reminded of the importance of not only our
daily choices but also our attitude towards the outcomes based on our
choices. I am living in Africa and enjoying (almost) every second of
it, and while everything happens for a reason, I am so happy with my
decision to come here. (That is my story and I am sticking to it, ha
ha! Please feel free to remind me when I complain about how hot it is
here, or the lack of infrastructure, etc.) I want to wish everyone
back home a Happy New Years and I love you all very much!

Love love.