Finishing up week 7 of Stage...

Hello family and friends! Joe and I have just finished week 7 of our training, a week we spent visiting our post (the city of Tabligbo in the Maritime region). We have a compound that has a space for another family, but no one is currently living there, so it’s just us along with the dog and cat we inherited from the previous volunteer who lived here. It's nice to have pets again!

Training continues in Agou Nyogbo (for me) and Agou Koumawou (for Joe) for 3 more weeks. We’ve started a little bit of language training in Ewé, which we discovered this week will come in handy at post, since many people in Tabligbo speak a mixture of Ewé and French. Our French is improving a little, at least according to our language trainers, who rated us both as proficient enough to go to post during our mid-stage language test a couple of weeks ago. A subjective test, for certain, since they rated me as “Intermediate High,” and Joe as “Intermediate Mid.” (Those of you who know us know that’s completely impossible – I must have just been having a good test day!)

At the end of week 8, I have a project to do with three other trainees that involves teaching young girls in my village about AIDS and possibly starting a health club. The local president of the Red Cross is helping us and hopes to continue the club after we leave for post. Joe is currently business shadowing a seamstress in his village, and he’s supposed to make some recommendations about growing her business at the end of training. As a result of this experience, Joey has learned a new skill. He wants you all to know that he is now proficient in the art of the pedal sewing machine, and we promise to post a picture that a fellow trainee took of his experience when we can get it from her.

At the end of week 11, we’ll be heading back to Lomé for the swearing-in ceremony, and we’ll be back in Tabligbo at the end of August to settle in for good. Training is going by fast!

Our week-long visit in Tabligbo was spent learning where things are (like the Prefet, the police, the post office, the market, etc.), meeting a few notables, and drawing a map of our immediate area. We also met a couple of the volunteers who live nearby and came to welcome us. We also met two girls who teach the children of American missionaries who are living in Tabligbo until the end of this year. They made us chocolate chip cookies! It must be nice to have an oven, but we really can’t complain since we have running water and electricity, two things that many volunteers don’t have. We spent the week cooking on a charcoal stove (just like camping on the Au Sable – those were the days, weren’t they?!), but hope to buy a propane stove in Lomé after swear-in.

We spent a lot of time in the market on market day, which was a bit of an overwhelming experience. It was the biggest crowd of people I’ve seen yet in Togo! We successfully purchased a number of items, and managed to dispute the price (discuter le prix) a few times successfully as well.

We also got to know our homologues (the Togolese counterparts we’ve been assigned) and learned a little about what our work will be like in Tabligbo. These are just the possibilities so far, so things are bound to change once we get situated in village. One project that I’m going to work on is starting an organization for counseling people living with AIDS on health and nutrition. I also might work with one of the schools on teaching a health class. Joey has plans to work with a mechanics’ union, a women-owned and operated purse business, and a group of farmers on increasing productivity. We’ll let you know how those plans pan out in the coming months.

Thanks for the phone calls and the letters – we hope you all continue to stay in touch that way until we can get the Internet thing figured out. Hopefully, our letters home to you have been arriving without a problem. We’re sorry we haven’t been able to post much so far, but soon we’ll be in Tabligbo and may be able to get reliable Internet access and post more often. Bear with us!

Finally, happy birthday to Heather and Mommies (both of you!) from Togo! More information coming soon!