Half Way There!!

It’s now early October; the leaves should be changing at home and here in Togo rainy season is winding down and soon it will be time for harmattan once again. This also marks the half way point in my service. A year ago, it seemed like I had an infinite amount of time ahead of me in the Peace Corps, but recently time has started to really pick up and in about a year from now, I’ll be heading back to the U.S. to actually live, not just visit. The past year has been full of extreme ups and downs. I’d be lying if I said it was easy or that I transitioned smoothly to feeling at home here. I’ve been frustrated, homesick, impatient, and often times disappointed in myself. I could write a blog all about the negative things: various sicknesses, gross latrines, pests I’ve had to kill, uncomfortable heat, squished bush taxi rides, feeling out of place, harassment from men, and more. However, despite the negatives, Peace Corps has also come with lots of high points. It’s been a challenge, but that’s why I came in the first place, and, after a little over a year, I can genuinely say I’m happy I came and that being a Peace Corps Volunteer in Togo is really a pretty cool job. So, in the spirit of positivity, I’m going to list some of the high points from the first half of my service here in Togo.

1. Girls’s Empowerment Projects: Although I’m not officially a “Girl’s Education and Empowerment” volunteer, I’ve become involved in projects within the GEE sector. I already wrote a whole blog about Camp Etoiles du Nord, the life skills and career development camp we held for middle school girls in Mango, but it really was one of the best things I did this past year. The same month as camp, I also organized a conference for the scholars of the Pathways program, which provides scholarships to female students in Togo. The conference was very similar to camp, with the main difference being that each scholar brought a mentor with her. The mentors attended sessions to help them plan out how they would effectively help their scholar and ensure that she continued to do well in school. Like at the camp in Mango, we also had model women come to speak at the conference and again I really enjoyed spending time with motivated professional Togolese women. If you want to see pictures from the conference and get more information about Pathways (and maybe donate!!), you can look at their website: www.pathwaystogo.org

2. Working with returned camp participants: During the summer, Peace Corps volunteers hold multiple national camps and volunteers are asked to send youth from their villages to the camps. I sent a couple students to a life skills camp and they came back incredibly excited and motivated to do trainings in Magna on what they learned. The students are Mossi, whose 18, and Alexis, whose 15, and I’ve really enjoyed working with them since they returned from Camp UNITE. They’re on board with many Peace Corps ideas (gender equity, the importance of education, etc) and I’m able to have good conversations with them about the problems facing Magna. They’ve conducted a few trainings already and they have been helping the girls from my village (Lafimatou and Alimatou), who went to Camp Etoiles du Nord and who are slightly younger and more shy, to participate in trainings and gain confidence with public speaking.



3. My host family: I continue to love my host family. My host dad is always ready to chat whenever I’m bored and although I have difficulty communicating with his two wives, who don’t speak French, I still feel comfortable around them and we can laugh at things together. For example, although slightly horrified, I laughed alongside my host moms when a couple weeks ago my host brother was chasing my 2 year old host sister around the compound with a machete and pretending he was going to cut off her thumb if she didn’t stop sucking it. This might be considered child abuse at home, but here it was just playful fun that left the whole family, minus the little girl (Zakia) who was a bit traumatized, laughing hysterically.

4. Jeeves: Jeeves, my wonderful dog, continues to be a highlight. When I’m in Magna, he follows me everywhere. We go on walks and runs together and everyone in my village now knows him by name. Having a dog to keep you company is really great here and takes the sting out of many lonely moments. My host family also likes him, as much as Togolese people can like a dog, and when I’m not around, Jeeves follows my host dad around instead.



5. Peace Corps friends: In Togo, there are about 100 volunteers, and, as you might imagine, many of us become really close. I have some really, really great friends here in Togo and that helps to make everything better. We’re all going through this crazy experience together and with friends it’s easier to see the comedic value of even the most frustrating situations.

6. Visitors: I’ve had two visitors since arriving in Togo. Nick came in February and just two days ago my Dad left after a two week visit. Having visitors, although a bit stressful, is great. To start, at least with my Dad’s recent visit, I got to eat out at some of Togo’s fine dining, stay in a nicer quality of hotel (aka with hot water and air conditioning), and rent out cars for travel so as to avoid waiting around and being squished with 8 people in a 5-seat car. It’s also great for people from home to see my life here and meet the people. My host family was ecstatic when both Nick and my Dad came. Dad brought Boston-themed hats and shirts for my host family so now everyone is walking around representing either BU, the Bruins, the Red Sox, or the Celtics. It’s interesting also to see Togo through fresh eyes. When you live here, you get used to things, and stop noticing a lot of what is strange, different, and even difficult compared to life in the U.S. It’s good to be reminded of what is interesting, but also hard to be reminded of what about life really is difficult here, because it can make you homesick.



With my real Dad and host Dad!

7. The Accra Half-marathon: Anyone who knows me from back home knows that I was never really a runner. Therefore, I was just as surprised as many of my friends when I decided to train for the half-marathon in Accra, Ghana. However, as a Peace Corps volunteer, I definitely had enough free time to train and I wanted a personal goal to aim for since work goals can be so hard to accomplish here. Therefore, last April, I decided to go for it and train. 2 weeks ago, after months of training on dirt roads, early in the morning to beat the heat, and with several breaks due to sickness or travel, myself and 19 other volunteers and friends of volunteers ran either the full or half marathon. It was definitely a West African marathon: hot, disorganized, and ridiculous. It started late, many water stations ran out of water, there were no bathrooms at the starting line or along the course, the streets weren’t closed so we were literally running through traffic, and we also had to run through several active markets, bustling with people. However, I managed to run the whole thing and at the finish line Dad was waiting for me. Despite some really painful moments, it was a great experience and I definitely want to try running a nice, organized, American half-marathon during a cool part of the year.



8. Freedom: As a Peace Corps volunteer, you have a lot of freedom to design your own schedule. With the exception of a few trainings scattered throughout your service, there is no structure set for you. Coming from America, where strict schedules, planned out days, and structure reigns, this can be very disconcerting at first. However, once you get used to it, it can be really nice. Each day is up to me. I decide what work to do and when to do it. If I want to read a good book all day on a Wednesday, I can. If I want to take a nap from 3-4pm on a Thursday, that’s fine. If I’m feeling antsy and want to go for a bike ride at 9am on a Monday, I can do that too. With all the freedom, it’s easy to feel misguided and uprooted, but once you start to get involved in projects, you set your own guidance and you begin to feel less aimless and more appreciative of the freedom.

So, there it is, a summary of some of the high points of my first year. I did work on other projects and do other enjoyable things, but those listed are what stand out the most right now. I know the second half of my service is going to go by at a much faster rate than the first and I already have an idea of the projects that I’ll be doing in the coming year. For example, I’ll be continuing work with Pathways, we will run Camp Etoiles du Nord next year, and I’m currently waiting for the funds to come in for a well project that was approved and that will take place next year. Of course, what I’m most excited for right now is my 3 week trip home in December. I’m so happy that I’ll be able to spend Christmas at home, experience some snow and cold weather, enjoy the amenities and comforts of America, and, most of all, see many of the people I love back in the States.