So life continues here in Togo, although the countdown to COS (close of service) has begun for our group that arrived in June 2008. The group that came in right before us is COS-ing over the next month, which will make us, as we say here, the plus âgé, and therefore the next to leave. With only about eight or nine months to go, we’ve started thinking about what we’d like to do with the remainder of our service.
First on the list is to finish up current projects, including the health clinic, which was fully funded last month. Although we received the Peace Corps contribution about a month ago, the groupement has had some financial trouble lately, and while the reasons for that are sketchy and convoluted at best, the president has assured me that the furniture is currently being made. To ensure that they provide the total amount for their local contribution, I’ve decided to wait until the furniture is installed before I start ordering the other supplies. I’m still hopeful that all the equipment and materials will be in place by the end of the year.
Secondly, the community garden. The leader of that project, our neighbor across the street, is keeping good records and has an order from a local marché mama for nine beds of lettuce for the Christmas season. We’ve asked him to start thinking about more long term goals for the garden, such as continuing to rent the land and the possibility of installing a well on the property.
Of our two sort of ongoing projects with the CVD, the first, the project to build latrines at six of the primary schools in Tabligbo, has reached an impasse because the technician who is writing up the project plan has asked to be paid for his work and the CVD has asked him to make the work on the plan part of the community contribution. With no solution to this problem in sight, we’ve considered trying to mediate a resolution, but are reluctant to take sides in the matter. The second project involves the supervision of the ordering and installation of new equipment at the local hospital, a project which was funded by a local NGO. As an advisor on the management committee for that project, I (and the other members of the committee) have been waiting for the NGO to send the check, which we’ve been assured is on the way. The hospital recently got a new head doctor, who the entire committee had a meeting with a couple of weeks ago to talk about our roles for the project. The new doctor has insisted that the alleged corruption of the previous administration is finished and that he’s excited to work with the committee and ensure transparency on all financial matters. Everybody seems to like him, so this could be the thing to hospital needs to turn itself around.
For the main projects, that’s pretty much all right now. Over the next few months, we have two other new projects that we’d like to get going. The first is to start a cultural exchange club at the high school, which would ideally involve me hooking up with the French teacher at our old high school and seeing if she has any students who would be interested in corresponding in French with some African high schoolers who want to learn about American culture. Currently, this project is just an idea, but I had a couple of high school kids visit last week, and their excitement at reading some old Time magazines that I showed them made me think the idea could be fun. Next time they come over, I’ll pitch it to them and see what they think, and in the meantime shoot an email off to the French teacher (could it be the same French teacher that was there when we graduated 13 years ago??) at old RHS to see what she thinks.
The other project is one Joe just started to expand the chicken and turkey farm that he’s been working with over the last several months. We thought we’d try one last funded project, and as the family that runs the farm has been doing really well with keeping up on their accounting lately, Joe thought he’d like to give a boost to their operation. The project will ultimately build bigger cages for the chickens, expand the walls of the farm, and build a well on the property (the family currently has to walk to a neighborhood pump to get their water). Also, the farm will be opening its doors to other local éleveurs who want to learn about the practice of chicken and turkey breeding, and will ultimately provide training and advice for how to start their own small élevage project. He just got a Peace Corps Partnership approved and posted on the Peace Corps web site, so if you’d like to help out with a small contribution, you can visit the www.peacecorps.gov, click “donate,” and do a search on Togo for volunteer projects.
Our last PCPP was funded so quickly by donors who were former Peace Corps volunteers (thank you all so much for your help! We hope you got the letter and pictures we sent you) that our family and friends didn’t really get a chance to contribute or even know about the request for contributions for the health clinic project before it was taken down off the Peace Corps web site, so hopefully you can all help out with this other project.
So, that’s enough about work! In recent non-work news, our cherished cat , Elliott von Tusky, lost his fancy gris gris collar a week or so ago, and came back the next morning after going out for the first time without it looking like he got into a fight either with a dog or a really pissed off chicken. He’s healing up fine now, and our friend made him a new collar, so he’s once again bien protégé against all forms of mishap, we hope. The coincidence makes you think that maybe gris gris works over here, you know?
In other non-work related news, we’re looking forward to celebrating Christmas in village this year. Last year’s volunteer party up north was fun, but we’ve decided to hang out in village this year and fête with our neighbors. After being served that plate of goat face last July (I seriously maintain that my plate was smiling at me), I’m a little leery about buying a goat to roast for the party, so maybe we’ll just stick with some chickens from our friend’s farm.
Sorry it’s been so long since we last wrote. We hope you’re all still keeping up with us and enjoying our little anecdotes. In deference to the gris gris that is currently protecting our cat, here’s a photo of the local fetish market on marché day. The other photo is the health clinic management committee that was elected along with a few members of the groupement outside the newly painted building. Have a Happy Thanksgiving, and we’ll write again soon!
