End of Stage!

I can't believe it, but I'm back in Lome after 11 weeks of training. Our stage group left our training villages early this morning. I think overall, most people were very ready to end training and head off on their own, but I personally had a really tough time leaving the village. I absolutely loved my host family, and I became good friends with a number of peers in the village, so it was really hard to say goodbye. I definitely plan on going back and visiting, but I won't be able to do so for a while. I'll actually be able to see my host mom once more tomorrow when she comes down with the other host moms to the swearing-in ceremony, so that makes me happy. All of the trainees signed a bunch of paperwork today, and then tomorrow we'll actually take the oath to become official volunteers. They say it's the same ceremony as the one for new ambassadors and civil servants, which I think is pretty cool since it makes it sound so official. All of the new volunteers will also give a small speech in the local language of their village, so mine is going to be in Kabye. The speeches will supposedly be broadcasted over the radio too , which is pretty neat - although potentially embarassing as well :)

The rest of the weekend in Lome will be free for shopping and stocking up on items that will be difficult to find anywhere else in Togo but which we will need at our sites. For me that means a lot of food items, miscellaneous kitchenware, paint for my house's walls, a new cell phone (with the hopes that it'll receive reception in at least some places in my village), and maybe, if I have enough money to do so, some art for decoration (although art tends to be way more expensive in larger cities). A lot of people will also be taking advantage of the large variety of restaurants that can be found in Lome as well as the relatively faster internet. Lome is great for having a lot more available resources but I personally am anxious to get back to the smaller village life as I greatly prefer the calmer atmosphere of life out "in the bush", as we say here.


my host mom and dad


me and my host mom on our last evening together


me and two of my good friends (taken the day I left)



the (amazing) language trainers [photo taken the day we left]

Post Visit

Well, I successfully made it through post visit! Truth be told, it was a very challenging week for the following reasons:
1.I was all alone; the majority of trainees were staying with the volunteers that they will be replacing in September, but my volunteer had left the post early due to medical reasons, so I was on my own in the new village.
2. Because my volunteer left early, she sold all her furniture, so except for a bed, which I was very grateful for, my place was completely empty. It really wasn't so bad except for the fact that it made cooking very difficult since I essentially had to cook on the floor.
3. Due to Peace Corps budget cuts and to a country-wide gas shortage, volunteers are no longer provided with gas stoves. So for those of us who were by ourselves, that meant a week cooking on a small charcoal stove. I really wasn't worried about it until I actually tried cooking on it the first couple times; it was just a lot harder to do than I anticipated. Cooking in general was difficult because my village didn't have a lot in the way of fresh fruits and vegetables, so I had trouble coming up with meal ideas. Oh, and I made myself sick one time from something I made for myself.
4. There was a huge language barrier for me. I was very grateful to be able to speak French, but my village is primarily a farmer's village, which means that not a lot of people are very well educated, which means that not a lot of people speak French. Not being able to communicate with the women and children was especially frustrating for me.
5. Everyone thought I was the volunteer who had returned after having left a year ago. I saw a picture of her, and we really don't look that similar, but with the same hair color and body structure, it was understandable how we could be confused. In any case, it was just kind of frustrating because I didn't feel like I had my true identity, especially since my homologue, who thought it was hilarious that they confused us, only corrected people about half of the time.
6. About halfway through the week, the daughter of my homologue stole some money from me. I was really frustrated by the incident since she had been so friendly and helpful to me during the week, and I had trusted her completely. It was really upsetting to me, and I couldn't confront her directly about it because I didn't have solid evidence, but the incident just taught me to be more on guard.
7. I discovered that I really disagree with the way my homologue (who is a midwife)interacts with women at the dispensaire (the only health facility in the area) where we work. She is one of 3 staff members there, and so she is always incredibly busy, which makes it understandable why she could be irritable sometimes, but I found it really upsetting how demeaning she was towards women who came into the clinic. I think a lot of it is a cultural thing that I still don't completely understand, but it was still disturbing. Again, the language barrier frsturated me because I couldn't contribute to the work being done with the women since I couldn't speak the local language.
8. Life was really slow. I just didn't know what to do with myself half the time. I read a lot, but the days went by very slowly, and it was hard to keep myself busy.
9. The people who live in the same compound as me were so sweet and wonderful, and I loved their little boys. My one problem with them was that they never respected my privacy and would come into my house whenever they pleased - even when the door was shut. That made it hard to feel like I had my own space.
10. My village is off of a very bad road, so it is isolated in the sense that not a lot of people go in and out of it. To give you an idea of what this meant: on Saturday, when I left, I waited by the side of the road for 5 hours before a car even passed through the village to take me out of it.

I truly don't mean to list all of the above as complaints - just reasons why my visit was more challenging than relaxing. The truth is, it's not like any of the above can't be resolved; I ordered furniture from my village carpenters before I left so that it would all be ready for me when I go back; I've started learning Kabiye (the local language there) since coming back; I'm planning on bringing a gas stove back with me along with food items from Lome that I won't have access to once I get to my village; once I go back I'll have moto privilges, which means I'll be able to travel around on motos and won't have to wait for cars - which takes way longer; and thanks to my experience, now I know what rules I have to set from the beginning once I go back - especially with regards to my privacy. I also want to clarify that it's not like my week was horrible either; I did have a volunteer from a village just north of mine come visit me mid-week and she was incredibly sweet and helpful in showing me around the area a little bit and answering all of my questions. It was great to get to know her. I also came up with a ton of ideas for work I want to do in my village, so once I get back, I'll be getting straight to work with a lot of new project ideas that will keep me busy!

So to sum it all up, it was a hard but eye-opening week. I'm now just all the more motivated to get "integrated" when I go back!


Emily and I on our way to post visit (with a bottle of ketchup that her host mom randomly supplied her with before leaving and a fan for the charcoal stove)

Preparing for my first visit to Post

Greetings from Togo! It's hard to believe I'm in my seventh week here. Time seemed to pass so slowly at the very beginning but now, as I've adjusted to life here, it flies by!

Tomorrow all of the stagieres (trainees) will be heading off to visit our posts for one week! It's both exciting and a little scary for us at the same time; we will be completely on our own for the first time in Togo! Today we had a workshop during which we each got to meet our official homologue - the person with whom we'll be working most closely upon our arrival at site. My homologue is a 42 year old midwife who seems very confident and enthusiastic. I'm looking forward to getting to know her better; I'll have all the time in the world tomorrow when I pack all my stuff up in the car with her and drive up to my site. My good friend Emily and her homologue will also be in the same car as me since her site isn't far from mine, so it should be a fun car trip. This afternoon we're in a bigger village to do last minute shopping for things like cooking pots and food.


group picture of the CHAP volunteers and homologues

All of the stagieres got together for the 4th of July and made "American food". Somehow we found canned hot dogs in one of the bigger villages along with ketchup, which we used with bread rolls to make hot dogs. We also made fresh guacamole and mango salsa, though we were unsuccessful on our search for chips and had to use torn up bread instead (but it was still really good). We made french fries from scratch, which took a really long time, and one of the host moms creatively made chocolate frosting, into which we dipped beignets (which are kind of like doughnut holes). We all ate SO much. We attracted quite the crowd of kids as well; a few of us played soccer with them, and then we fed them all the leftover food, which they cleaned out. It was a really fun day!

I had a very fun birthday here in Togo too! All the stagieres from the CHAP and the SED programs made me really nice cards, and the formateurs (the trainers) sang me happy birthday in French and gave me a bouquet of wild flowers. I went over to Emily's house for lunch, where her mom had made me a feast. Her mom had also hired a photagrapher (few people own cameras themselves so they hire people to take and develop pictures on special occasions) to come and take pictures of us in pagnes (Togolese cloth) that she dressed us up in. We looked absolutely hideous and couldn't stop laughing, but her mom thought we looked great and was very pleased.

Days of Training

Hello from Togo! It has been a very busy couple of weeks and I am only now getting access to internet, although it is a very slow connection and I am getting charged by the minute. Internet has proved to be a lot less accessible than I imagined so snail mail seems to be the best way to stay in contact! Receiving letters absolutely makes my day!




So for the past 4 weeks I have been in intensive language and cultural training with the 15 other CHAP trainees in a small village in southern Togo. I will be here until the very end of August at which point we will all get sworn in as volunteers and then disperse to our posts, which are various villages all across Togo! We just got assigned our specific individual villages yesterday which was really exciting! I was very pleased with my assignment; I will be working in a very small village north of the city of Atakpame, primarily working with nutrition and HIV/AIDS education. In a couple weeks we will each be visiting our respective sites for one week to get an idea of what it will be like. I can't wait! It will be our first time all on our own - cooking and getting around and everything.


my training village


the village at sunset

In the meantime I have been living with a very wonderful host family. My host parents are on the elderly side (my Dad is 84 years old and my mom is 61 although you'd never be able to tell) but they go to all extremes to watch out for me. Sometimes it's hard to be watched over all the time when I'm used to being independent, but I really can't complain because they are so good to me – and my mom is an amazing Togolese cook! They have 8 kids (although my Dad has a total of 21 kids from previous marriages too!) who are all fully grown, but one of their sons lives in our compound with his wife and 5 year old son and 2 year old daughter. At first his kids were terrified of me but now they run into my arms every time I get home, which I absolutely love of course. My other older brothers and sisters visit every once and a while on weekends and I get along with all of them really well. They are really protective of me and call me their little sister. The other day one of my brothers took me on a walk to the next village and along the way, taught me about all the different trees that grow wild along the side of the road; he is an agriculturalist so he knew absolutely everything! He even found me a ripe cacao fruit (where chocolate comes from) and cracked it open so I could taste it.


my host family's compound


my "sister-in-law" and her two adorable kids


my mom and a neighbor pounding fufu (a local favorite food made out of yams)


my mom sweeping our compound


my sister-in-law giving her daughter a bath (I laughed every single time I watched this)

I really feel as if my integration process has been going well. I have become adjusted to taking cold bucket showers, to using (even insect infested) latrines, to having lizards crawl out of my suitcases, to having to purify every bit of water we want to consume (which is NOT as simple as using a BRITA filter) to being called YOVO everywhere I go – a lot of things that were hard to deal with at first but which now hardly phase me. My French has continued to progress very well and I have even started learning the local language of Ewe. I feel very blessed to be able to communicate to the extent that I can (I have so much respect for the Trainees who are trying to learn French from scratch because it makes the integration process so much more challenging than it already is) because I have been able to develop friendships with a number of people in the village as a result.

Every day Monday through Saturday we have class from 7:30 until 5:30 with a 2 hour lunch break in between. We are trained in everything from language to health information (such as HIV/AIDS information) to how to repair the incredible mountain bikes we got from Peace Corps to how to start our own gardens from scratch (last weekend we learned how to make compost from animal manure, dry and wet leaves, soil and sticks)... etc. Sometimes we go on field trips to local hospitals and dispensaries too - which is quite the eye opening experience for Americans. We have also been able to practice giving baby weighing sessions and sessions training mothers how to make enriched porridge for their babies in our village here. I am having a fabulous time and am learning so much!


our tech house where we have most of our classes


tech class outside


My language trainer, Faustin


our first baby-weighing session


me and one of moms and babies who came to a session we led on how to make enriched porridge


me and my bike

Sundays are our day off; it's really nice to relax considering how intense the training is. Our first weekend here, a bunch of us climbed Mount Agou - the highest point in Togo!


nearing the top of Mount Agou

Sometimes it is really hard; it's especially hard to be the center of attention all the time. I'm sure everyone in my stage has had a breakdown at LEAST once. But I think that precisely because this is absolutely THE hardest thing any of us have every had to do before in our lives, it will also be the most rewarding.




If you have any specific questions, please ask because it would help me know what you are all specifically interested in finding out. I would also encourage you to look at other blogs from my CHAP stage-mates on the Peace Corps blog page as others might be more successful than I am at uploading their blogs - and they might include more information.

Hope you are all well at home! You are constantly in my thoughts. Until next time!

My First Days in Africa!

I'm finally in Togo! It was crazy to get off the plane and realize that. I just kept thinking about how long I'd waited to come here and it was hard to believe I was finally here! The flights out here were brutal. We left Philadelphia Friday afternoon for our 7 hour flight for Paris, but I couldn't get a wink of sleep (largely because my seat for some reason didn't recline; Eric, I thought you'd find that ironic and funny). By the time we got to Charles de Gaulle airport, we were all exhausted, but we had a 4 hour layover until our next 6ish hour flight to Togo (I finally fell asleep on that flight). We arrived in Togo Saturday evening (just as the sun was setting) and had to wait in this small room in the tiny airport until all of our luggage was retrieved. We then all loaded onto these trucks that took us to our hostel, where we are and will be staying until this upcoming Wednesday, when we will be moving out to meet and live with our host families (for 3 months).
The last few days have been so busy and exhausting, but the Peace Corps staff has taken such good care of us! A local family cooks amazing food for us here at the hostel - and I don't think anyone's gotten sick yet because the cooking staff was specially trained on how to clean the food for us. I know some people were interested in what I'd be eating: for breakfast so far, I've had eggs with green and red peppers in it and pancakes with honey; for lunch we usually have some kind of salad and maybe couscous; and dinner is usually some kind of pasta with spicy sauce and some kind of meat (chicken or beef). It has all been really good. The Peace Corps staff has also been driving us everywhere - which is a real privilege because most people in Lome walk or ride their motos; very few people seem to drive. Sometimes I feel very self conscious about it when I see locals looking at us as we drive by. But we've met some current volunteers and they all say that we just get this special treatment during our staging to help us adjust, and after this, we're on our own! :) Everyone we've met in the village has been so nice; a lot of people welcome us when we walk by (and others just yell "Yovo!" meaning "foreigner/white" in a non-derogative way).

(below are pictures of the porch at our hostel, and of my bed and mosquito net [I don't even need a sheet over me to sleep here because it's so hot; I also wake up to roosters crowing every morning at 5 which is kind of neat)




Every day we've been getting shots to prepare us for life out in our villages. I've gotten 3 so far; my left arm is so sore I can barely lift it! We'll be getting more tomorrow too. Today we got training on how to handwash our own laundry, how to take bucket showers, and how to use the "latrines", or 'toilets', which will basically be pits in the ground (here at the hostel, we've had a flushable toilet, but we put all the used toilet paper in a bin on the side, which later gets burned). We learn a little bit more day by day, and it's all making me really excited to head out on our own! Yesterday we also took individual oral French exams; we will be placed into a French class that corresponds with our level in a couple days. Oh, AND we got assigned our bikes and helmets, which we will be getting delivered to our villages later this week (I CANNOT wait)! Tonight we had dinner at our country director's house here in Lome (our country director was one of the first Togo volunteers ever back in the 60s!) and we got to meet the Ambassador from the U.S. to Togo who is currently residing here in the city. It's all so cool and surreal.

I apologize that I haven't been able to write personal emails yet! I am only getting internet now because I'm borrowing someone's computer and am sitting on the top of the roof of our hostel where there is a very weak signal. I really have no idea when I'll be able to access internet next. It may be weeks - but I have no idea yet. I may be getting a cell phone in the next couple days in which case I might be able to get incoming calls for free, but it is still unclear if I'll even have reception in the area where I'll be staying beginning Wednesday night. I will do my best to keep in touch though! In the meantime, please send snail mail! I at least wanted to post information online that everyone could access for now. I miss you all so much but am also having a really exciting time! All of us trainees are becoming really close too, so it's kind of like I have my own family here!

AND I'M OFF

After a million trips to Target and a week of packing, somehow I fit all of my luggage (well not all - I ended up having to leave some things behind) into my two suitcases which weighed in perfectly at 80 lbs (the Peace Corps limit). Then after hyperventilating over whether or not I would make my flight while sitting in traffic on the freeway this morning at 6:30 AM, by the grace of the HOV 2-passenger lane, I made it to the airport just in time to realize that my plane had been delayed anyways. But, all worked out OK. After a tearful goodbye to my parents, I happened to spot another potential Peace Corps volunteer (who I recognized by witnessing her own tearful goodbye to her parents and by the Chaco's sandals and massive backpack) who I ended up meeting and chatting with at the terminal. Sharing the Peace Corps experience (even at these early stages) truly proved itself to be reason enough for instant bonding!
I am now in Philadelphia, where I will be attending orientation for the next 3 days. On Friday I will leave for Togo! From now until then, I will be getting to know the 28-ish other volunteers (serving in either Health or Business programs) who will be going to Togo as well. Everyone seems a little nervous but overall very excited!

Below is a picture of my training class on our last day of training in the States. (click on it to enlarge)

Letter for Family and Friends from the Peace Corps

Peace Corps recommended that I share the following letter with all my family and friends:

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

1. Irregular Communication. (Please see #3 for the mailing address to Peace Corps' office in Lomé the capital of Togo). The mail service in Togo is not as efficient as the U.S. Postal Service. Thus, it is important to be patient. It can take from three to four weeks for mail coming from Togo to arrive in the United States via the Togolese mail system. From a Volunteer’s post, mail might take up to one to two months to reach the United States depending upon how far the Volunteer is from the capital city, Lomé. Sometimes mail is hand carried to the States by a traveler and mailed through the U.S. postal system. This leg of the trip can take another several weeks as it is also dependent on the frequency of travelers to the U.S.
We suggest that in your first letters, you ask your Volunteer family member to give an estimate of how long it takes for him or her to receive your letters and then try to establish a predictable pattern of how often you will write to each other. Also try numbering your letters so that the Volunteer knows if he or she missed one. Postcards should be sent in envelopes--otherwise they may be found on the wall of the local post office.
Peace Corps Togo has established “The Lomé Limo” which runs up and down the country monthly, delivers mail, medical supplies, and sometimes volunteers or staff to central sites along the national road.
Volunteers often enjoy telling their “war” stories when they write home. Letters might describe recent illnesses, lack of good food, isolation, etc. While the subject matter is often good reading material, it is often misinterpreted on the home front. Please do not assume that if your family member gets sick that he or she has not been attended to. The city of Lomé has medical and dental facilities, and there is a Peace Corps Medical Officer there as well. Most Volunteers can reach Lomé in less than one day’s time. Many Volunteers also have access to a telephone so that they can call our Medical Office. In the event of a serious illness the Volunteer is sent to Lomé and is cared for by our Medical Unit. If the Volunteer requires medical care that is not available in Togo, he/she will be medically evacuated to South Africa or to the United States. Fortunately, such circumstances are very rare.
If for some reason your communication pattern is broken and you do not hear from your family member for at least one month, you should contact the Office of Special Services (OSS) at Peace Corps in Washington at 1-800-424-8580, extension 1470 (or direct: 202-692-1470). The OSS will then call the Peace Corps Director in Lomé, and ask her to check up on the Volunteer. Also, in the case of an emergency at home (death in the family, sudden illness, etc.), please do not hesitate to call OSS immediately, so that the Volunteer can be informed by a member of Peace Corps/Togo staff.

2. Telephone Calls. The telephone system in Togo has fairly reliable service to the United States. In the interior of the country, where most of our Volunteers are located, the system is less reliable. Most Volunteers have access to a telephone in or nearby their site.
When dialing direct to Togo from the U.S., dial 011 (the international access code) + 228 (the country code) + the number. Volunteers generally set up phone calls with people in the U.S. in advance, and have the distant party call them, which is much less expensive than calling the U.S. from Togo. Many volunteers decide to purchase cellphones once they arrive in Togo, but they may not always have regular reception at their site.
The Togo Desk in Washington, D.C. usually calls the Peace Corps office in Lomé at least once a week. However, these calls are reserved for business only and we cannot relay personal messages over the phone. If you have an urgent message, however, and have exhausted your other means (regarding travel plans, etc.), you can call the Desk, and the message will be relayed.

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

Kristina Jacobsen, PCV
Corps de la Paix
B.P. 3194
Lomé, Togo
West Africa

It is recommended that packages be sent in padded envelopes if possible, as boxes tend to be taxed more frequently. Packages can be sent via surface mail (2-3 weeks arrival time) or by ship (4-6 months). The difference in cost can be a factor in deciding which method to utilize. For lightweight but important items (e.g. airline tickets), DHL (an express mail service) does operate in Lomé, but costs are very expensive. If you choose to send items through DHL, you must address the package to the Country Director, s/c Corps de la Paix, 48 Rue de Rossignols, Quartier Kodjoviakopé, Lomé, Togo. The telephone number for the Peace Corps office in Togo is (228) 221-0614, should DHL need this information. If you send the item to the Country Director, no liability can be assumed. For more information about DHL, please call their toll free number, 1-800-CALL-DHL, or visit their web site at www.dhl.com. Please be aware that there is a customs fee for all DHL packages sent to Volunteers. For each DHL package, the Volunteer will be taxed 10,000 CFA (roughly US$20).
Sending airplane tickets and/or cash is not recommended. Certain airlines will allow you to buy a prepaid ticket in the States; they will telex their Lomé office to have the ticket ready. Unfortunately, this system is not always reliable. Many airlines (e.g., KLM, Air France, Ghana Airways, Air Togo) fly into Lomé or Accra, but each has its own policy on pre-paid tickets. Please call the airline of your choice for more information. You could also send tickets via DHL as mentioned previously. However, Peace Corps will assume no liability in the event of a lost/stolen airline ticket.
Trying to send cash or airline tickets is very risky and is discouraged. If your Volunteer family member requests money from you, it is his/her responsibility to arrange receipt of it. Some Volunteers use Western Union, which has an office in Lomé. Volunteers will also be aware of people visiting the States and can request that they call his/her family when they arrive in the States should airline tickets need to be sent back to Togo.

4. E-mail. There is fairly reliable e-mail service in Togo with cyber cafes in most large towns. Connections can be very slow and time consuming as well as costly. E-mail, however, may become the preferred method of communication between you and your family member in Togo. Not all Volunteers have access to e-mail on a daily basis but they should be able to read and send messages at least once a month. As with other means of communication, do not be alarmed if you do not receive daily or weekly messages. Unless in Lomé at the office, Volunteers have to pay for internet time at cyber cafes and this can be a slow or expensive process depending on the connection at the café.
We hope this information is helpful to you during the time your family member is serving as
a Peace Corps Volunteer in Togo. We understand how frustrating it is to communicate with your family member overseas and we appreciate your using this information as a guideline. Please feel free to contact us at the Togo Desk in Washington, DC, if you have further questions. Our phone number is (800) 424-8580, ext. 2326/2307, or locally at (202) 692-2326/2307.

Sincerely,
Jennifer Brown, Country Desk Officer
Ryan Derni, Country Desk Assistant