Bonjour tout le monde!
Happy 4th of July to everyone! I hope y’all are having an enjoyable Independence Day back in the US. It’s weird to think that a national holiday back in the States is just another day here in Togo. I hope y’all are enjoying the warm weather, the BBQs, the parades and the fireworks tonight. Us here in Togo unfortunately don’t get any of those things (well sorta). However, what we do get is the day off from training! Woohoo! And this is exciting because after stage (Peace Corps Pre-Service training) apparently we only get Togolese holidays off as opposed to getting American holidays off. So yea, since we got the day off, a bunch of my stage-mates and I decided to venture over to Kpalimé, the nearest “big” city near our training site, to use the internet and buy some yovo supplies for our 4th of July Extravaganza tonight. Apparently I was unofficially appointed social director of the CHAP (health) volunteers so I was given the task of coordinating today’s festivities which includes a field day of kickball, capture the flag and ultimate Frisbee followed by an “American” dinner of hot dogs, fries, beans, guacamole, chips & salsa. We also wanted to invite the SEDers (business volunteers) over to Nyogbo for the 4th, so that further complicated all our logistics. Anyways, we’ll see how everything turns out…
So yea, back to the main reason why you read this blog: me! Yes, I am alive and doing just fine. I’ve had some good days and some bad days and I’ll try and get you updated on what’s been going on the past three weeks since I last posted. I apologize for the lull but we have basically no internet access here in Agou-Nyogbo and internet access is not much better in Agou-Koumawou, the SED training site. I’m hoping things will be better when I get to post (which I’ll tell you more about in a bit since I FINALLY know where I’ll be posted for the next 2 years…). Kpalimé is the nearest city with “decent” (decent for Togo that is; very shitty by US standards) internet access so I had to wait till I had an extended amount of time to spend before I could post. Okay so I apologize for a) how disorganized this post is going to be but the past three weeks have been a blur and a LOT has happened and b) how long this post is since like I said, a lot has happened, and there is SOO much that I want to talk about. I will do my best to be as brief but descriptive as possible because I really want you to have a good idea of what I’m going through. I guess let’s start at the beginning…
Agou Nyogbo
Agou-Nyogbo, the CHAP training village, is situated on the northeastern side of Mt. Agou, not only the tallest mountain in Togo at an elevation of 986m but also one of the highest points in central West Africa. Part of the Agou prefecture in the Plateau region of Togo, Agou-Nyogbo is to be my home for remaining 7 weeks of training. Ever since we arrived three weeks ago, I can’t shake how much Nyogbo reminds me of Bhogavi, my dad’s village in India. Nyogbo is a farming village with a single paved road running through the middle along with several arterial dirt roads. Although there are few businesses or boutiques in our village there is a large private hospital which brings a good amount of people into the village. Nyogbo is very pretty. There is a lot of greenery and it definitely lives up to its reputation as one of the prettiest places in Togo...
It’s rainy season as I mentioned in a previous post and with that means sporadic downpours every day. We don’t exactly get the weather channel here to warn us so that makes getting caught in the rain a super fun experience. Although the rain does bring temporary relief from the Togolese heat, the downside is that rainy season coincides with malaria season since mosquitoes breed and thrive in the small pools of water that are left behind after each storm that passes through. So although I am appreciative of the “cool” air, I am not appreciative of the plethora of mosquitoes that have feasted on my blood and left me itchy all over my body. My whole body is covered in mosquito bites. Its pretty lovely.
One quick last note before I switch topics but the sky here in Nyogbo is incredible. Last night the sky was the clearest I’ve ever seen it. There was not a cloud in sight so the stars were out in all their brilliant glory. It was literally like looking up at the ceiling of a planetarium; but this was no planetarium, this was the real thing. The stars were so bright that as Taylor & I were leaving Afrikiko (the local buvette that all us CHAPers hang out at to chill…I’ll tell you more about the Yovo Support Group later) decided that we just had to take a moment to enjoy the sky. We had a full 360° unobstructed view and I even saw a shooting star! It was pretty unreal. I’ve only seen the sky this clear twice in my life, once in Bhogavi and once in Parati, Brasil (remember that night on the beach Jess?) and even those moments don’t compare to the clarity and range of last night…
Ma famille-hôte
My host family is amazing. I have a host father, a host mother and two host siblings, a younger brother and older sister (but my host sister is married and lives in Gabon so I haven’t met her). I’m one of the luckier volunteers in my village as my host family has electricity (although its pretty inconsistent as electricity usually is throughout Togo), a tap for water and a refrigerator! I know that a fridge doesn’t seem like a pretty big deal but they are very expensive and it means that I get cold water, a luxury in the hot weather. But yea, my host family rocks. My father is a farmer and my mom used to be a nurse but now she’s a housewife. However she makes the most amazing beignets every morning to sell and she always saves two for me for my breakfast. Yum! My younger brother Kofi is 21 and goes to school in Kpalimé but since it’s summer vacation he’s back in Nyogbo and hangs out with me which is great.
My host family house is awesome. Its over on the west side of Nyogbo right next to the private hospital. I have my own room as a part of the house and its huge, complete w/ double bed! And i know a lot of you are wondering about my bathroom facilities: i have an outdoor latrine that has a wooden box to “sit” on so yay to no squatting and i take bucket baths every morning in a four-walled room w no roof next to my outdoor latrine. The bathroom complex is about 10 yards from the main house. My host mom heats water for me every morning so luckily i get hot water baths every morning.
Training
There is SOO much to talk about training I might just have to dedicate a whole post later on to training (the actual language, cultural and technical training that is). But just a brief synopsis so you can get an idea of how I spend my days. It’s kinda like being in school again as we have “class” Monday through Saturday (with Saturday being a half-day). Class starts at 7:30 and goes till noon where we break for lunch and the Togolese version of a siesta (it’s SOO hot from 12-2pm). Then class begins again at 2:30 and goes till 5:30. Saturdays we only go from 7:30 to noon and sundays are our days off. We usually do 2 hour blocks of either language class, technical class or cultural class. Language classes are where we are put in small groups based on our French fluency to improve our French. There were originally 4 language classes and I was placed in the 3rd group since although I know some French, it’s pretty much non-existent. But then this past week they decided to move me up to the 2nd group since apparently my French was coming along thanks to my 1.5 semesters of French at Tech and my 10 years of Spanish (all the rules are pretty much the same so I was able to transfer a lot of my Spanish knowledge to my French learning). SO yea, French is definitely going to be my biggest challenge compared to the rest of what I’m dealing with. Technical classes are cool. We are doing a lot of hands on learning to get experience with the types of projects available to us at our sites. We spent the first week talking about Peace Corps philosophies and approaches to teaching a community. Our second week was spent talking about nutrition as malnutrition is a HUGE problem all over Togo, particularly infant malnutrition. Our third week we’ve talked a bit about HIV/AIDS and next week we’ll tackle malaria. We’re covering a lot of really interesting topics but we are only three weeks into training so I’ll talk more about our technical training towards the end of stage. One more quick note, all the CHAP volunteers get to learn about gardening! We’ve spent two technical sessions in the farm learning how to garden for nutritional enrichment purposes. We even learnt about this REALLY AWESOME plant called Moringa. It’s pretty much one of the most interesting plants as not only is it very durable all over the world but it’s also HIGHLY nutritious containing insane levels of vitamin A, calcium and other essential minerals & vitamins. But more on moringa at some other point. Cultural classes are going well and they are a lot of fun because we get to do them with the SEDers. It’s interesting to learn about Togolese culture and traditions and customs. We’ve learned how to greet elders and differences between Togolese & American definitions of relationships, professional and social. We’ll do a couple more fun cultural things soon so I’ll talk more about them later on as well.
So yea, this brings me to yesterday, something I do want to talk about as it was an extremely nerve-wracking day since we spent the whole day doing interviews with the CHAP APCD (associate Peace Corps director) Tchao and getting individual feedback on language/cultural/technical training. What this basically means is that I sat with Tchao and discussed where in country I wanted to go and what kinds of projects I wanted to work on. And it’s kinda funny because in the interview he originally told me he wanted me in Bassar because the HIV/AIDS organization there needed organizational development assistance with capacity building and strategic planning but when we all found out our posts yesterday evening I ended up with one of my first choices in post: Soutoubua! I am super excited about my post because not only will I get to work with an already established HIV/AIDS organization but I also have opportunities to work on gardening projects (w/ Moringa) with some NRM volunteers, peer education, health clubs in schools and also a potential CPC/nutrition project in a nearby village (I’ll go more into my site once I actually get there and see what is actually available for me to work on). I am a little sad because I was kinda hoping to be in the Kara region, but the one post that I really liked was way more perfect for my friend Taylor and Bassar, which is also in the Kara region, was a perfect post assignment for Taressa. So it all worked out. Btw, for those of you who don’t know where Soutoubua is, check it out on the Togo map. It’s in la Region Centrale and it’s a pretty big city since it’s a prefectural capital and on the Route Nationale. This means that I’ll have good cell phone reception, electricity and even good access to the internet (more on that later). I also heard that I have one of the nicer houses for PCVs and I even have a flushing toilet! Looks like I’m gonna be living Posh Corps starting September J
Stage
I have an amazing stage (well sans one volunteer but I don’t really want to get into that here; if you have questions, I’ll talk more about this person in a private setting). By that, I mean that I really like all the people who are going through training at the same time as me in both the CHAP group and the SED group. I’ve already made some incredible friendships and it’s sad to think that in a few months all of us are going to be split up across the country (although I’m incredibly lucky since one of my closest friends, Marcus, from the SED group is being posted to Soutoubua with me as an IT volunteer to help develop better internet access points in the city). It is interesting to look at the group dynamics of both groups. I love our CHAP group. We have 4 guys (we used to have 5 guys but one left two weeks ago and it really took an emotional toll on all of us) and 11 girls. We all get along great and I feel like we are a much more tight knit group than the SEDers (hey, y’all are welcome to debate this issue). We are all from different parts of the country (unfortunately no other volunteers from Georgia though) such as New York, Texas, Michigan, California, Indiana, Massachusetts, Washington and Pennsylvania but it’s so amazing to be surrounded by so many people who care so deeply and so passionately about health issues. We also have different backgrounds and interests. We have 2 doctors (1 medical doctor and 1 PhD doctor) and 2 others with master’s degrees. Some of us are very interested in nutrition work while myself and a few others are more interested in community health work. There are three other psychology majors and four other pre-medders which means I’m in good company. I was really worried but I found two other girls who are huge Paul Farmer fans and I’m slowly spreading the good word so that I can convert the rest of them into Paul Farmer advocates.
It’s funny to think how freaked out I was at the probability of me being the only guy in this year’s CHAP group. Last year the CHAP group was all females so I am really glad to have Mark & Mitch with me this year. They are super awesome and even though we are posted to very different parts of the country, I hope we remain good friends. Funny enough though, one of the volunteers who I have clicked with the most (in the CHAP group) is a girl from the West coast, Krissy. Her and I have a lot in common and keep each other entertained in class. I’m kinda sad she’s not posted super close to me but at least it gives me a reason to travel to visit her after swear-in. The rest of the girls are really cool too (you know I love all the CHAPers). Mom, you’ll be happy to know that I’ve had a few more marriage proposals while here in Togo. But only ‘cause the girls want to have an Indian wedding. So at least I’m marriable…
As for the other group I’ve made some good friends and some who I just don’t know that well. They have a lot more people who are kinda quiet. But that’s okay ‘cause we have 2 whole years to get to know each other better. I gotta give shout outs to some of my boys in the other group though who kept me sane in Philly and those first few days in Lome: Marcus, Mikey & Frankie. Frankie’s from Alabama so it’s nice to have another guy from the South to hang out with. Oh and random but Frankie was born in England so he also has dual-citizenship like me! Weird! Mikey is basically my Asian brother from another mother. He and I clicked in Philly and he and I have some pretty interesting philosophical conversations. Oh and he’s Catholic which is funny only because ever since Georgia Tech, I realized that most of my best friends are Catholic. Im really sad that Mikey and Frankie are getting posted to Maritime which is kinda far from my post. I wish they were closer. Oh well. And then there’s Marcus. It’s weird how well we get along and I’m super pumped about being in Soutoubua with him. Although it’ll be good I’m kinda scared at the kind of trouble we might get into being in the same city lol. Oh well, there is a lot more to talk about my stage-mates but more of this later…
Highs & Lows
“You will have your highest highs & your lowest lows…”
The Peace Corps is an emotional rollercoaster. Never in my life have I ever been so bi-polar, particularly within the span of a single day. I might start the day feeling great, then a few hours later during lunch something might bum me out or get me really frustrated, and then by dinner I’m feeling great again. Someone once said the aforementioned quote regarding the Peace Corps and they were right. When we are feeling good, it’s the best kind of good; when we are feeling sad, it’s pretty much the pits. The good triggers can be as simple as hearing something really funny someone said or just laughing at how ridiculous your life currently is. The bad triggers can range from not being able to make a phone call to not being able to understand anything your host family says to you. Back in the US, I remember reading a blog from a girl who served in Benin and in her blog she started to list at the end of each week a few highs of the week and a few lows of the week, just as a way to remind yourself that even though life can suck, it can also be good. I am going to try my hardest to do something similar as a great way to remind myself just how the smallest things can really make a difference in one’s day.
Week 3: (point of clarification: this was something I wrote this past weekend regarding the previous week)
Week 3: Lows
- Although I’ve been blessed with “good” health (good is a very relative health as good for Togo is not necessarily good for the US) so far in training, several of us have gotten really sick and it sucks to have good friends get really sick. But yea, the other night I had a slight fever and chills and I basically felt terrible and that combined with the hot weather led to a pretty bad night. ß it was only for one night and I’m much better now…
- I had the hardest time understanding my host father last Sunday. I thought I knew what he was asking me but it got pretty bad that he just had to ask me in English. It’s frustrating because I still can’t hear the subtle differences in the French language and learning French is going to be my biggest challenge in Togo. It sucks to not be understood and to not be able to communicate. It would be so much easier to learn French if EVERYONE spoke French but unless they are speaking to me, most of the villagers in Nyogbo speak Ewe, the local language so I’m not as immersed into French as I thought I would be.
- I haven’t checked my e-mail in 2 weeks which is a LONG time for me. Also I wasn’t able to talk to my mom before she left for India last week. I feel so disconnected with the world as I don’t even know what’s going on outside our bubble in Togo.
- We get to know our post sites next week which is a high but also a low because it means that everyone is going to be split up all across the country and some of my close friends might be a 5-10 hour bush taxi ride away. I’m trying to live in the moment and cherish my time with everyone while we are all still together but it still sucks to think that we can’t just ride 5 km to the next village to see a good friend from stage.
Week 3: Highs
- I got to weigh babies at a CPC, something that I have always wanted to do. It was so incredible to interact with the mothers & babies and assist in teaching them about healthier nutrition habits as malnutrition is a big problem in Togo.
- FanMilk is always a highlight of my week. FanMilk is basically the Togolese version of an ice cream push-pop. There are lots of flavours and FanChoco is my favorite so far. It tastes just like eating frozen chocolate milk.
- A chicken walked into my latrine with me and watched me go to the bathroom. I know this is random but it cracked me up at how ridiculous of a situation this is because this would never happen to me in the US.
- After hanging out at Afrikiko for Emily’s “birthday party”, Marcus & I had a sleepover at my host family’s house. It’s like we are all in middle school again asking our parents, “Can XYZ spend the night?” It was fun to just hang out and to return the favour after I spent the night at his place in the other training site.
- Next week we will FINALLY know where we are going to be posted for the next two years. Although it is kind of a low as I mentioned above, it’s also a high to know what kind of work we have to look forward to.
- We had a movie night and watched “Zoolander” after which a couple of us had a walk-off that led to some interesting moments.
- I’ve gotten a bunch of my stage addicted to “How I Met Your Mother” and it’s amazing ‘cause now I can quote obscure lines from the show and people ACTUALLY know what I’m talking about. Suit up!
Mt. Agou
I have climbed the tallest mountain in Togo and lived to talk about it! No seriously, like I mentioned earlier, Nyogbo sits on the northeastern side of the mountain and the first Sunday after arriving in our village, 9 of us decided to climb the mountain and summit the peak, all 986m of it. I know it doesn’t sound like a lot but it took us 2.5 hours to climb to the top and including a break at the top our total roundtrip took about 6 hours. We left around 9am and didn’t return until 3 in the afternoon. We lucked out with beautiful weather and thanks to my amazing host brother Kofi and Mitch’s awesome host sister, we had two skilled guides to get us to the summit. On the way up we passed through two mountainside villages that have some amazing views of the valley below. Point of reference, the villages we passed were really small and pretty poor. The villages were basically mud/cement buildings with tin roofs but looking down from the top of one of the villages reminded me of the chapter in Mountains Beyond Mountains where Dr. Farmer brings Tracy Kidder to Cagne and I imagined that Cagne must look something like this. So yea, it was a tough climb but totally worth the hike. All the way up and down we had some incredible vantage points overlooking la Region Plateaux, definitely the greenest and most lush part of Togo. When we got to the top, the panoramic view of Togo was breathtaking. We even had the opportunity to spot Ghana in the distance (Mt. Agou is situated on the western side of Togo, about 40-50 km from the Ghanaian border). Although we got pretty sweaty and dirty and the hike was tough, our entire group bonded and it was great to just spend some time together outside of class and be one with Togo…(I took tons of pictures so when I get good internet access, I’ll upload)
So if you made it this far, congratulations! Thanks for reading about my experience in Togo so far. As I mentioned in my previous post from Lome, if there is anything specifically that you want me to talk about or discuss regarding Togo or the Peace Corps, let me know. Gotta fulfill the Peace Corps’ 3rd goal right? Before I leave y’all to go and eat lunch I wanted to make a quick request! PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE send me mail. I don’t have any needs for packages just yet (that will happen once I get to post) as I have or can get easily most of what I need right now, but letters from you would make my day (e-mails are great but like I said, internet access is shaky, particularly during my training period right now). I REALLY want to know what you are up to and I really want to know what’s going on in the world. Also I really want everyone’s mailing addresses and since I have all these stamps but no addresses I can’t mail anyone letters from Togo. I promise to send you a letter back if you write me J
I’ll end this post with some of my favorite quotes from stage…
“Man, I wish I was a chicken!” – Krissy
“J’ai accouché?” – Brittany
“I should have gone to South America” – me
“Did he say Mexicans?” “He said med-students!” – Taylor to Taressa
“I feel naked without it” “Looks like you’re gonna be naked for a long time…” – Brittany to Ray
“Are your needs being met?” – Maggie
“We’re about to have a lot of sex” – Alex
“Does anybody love me?” – Brittany
“The work there will be sex” – Tchao
“Does anybody need a hoe?” – Trisha
“Is it okay if I pull my pants down?” – Mitch
“Yay for happy hour with the village chief” - unknown
Okay, enjoy the fireworks! I miss you ALL terribly but know that I am safe and doing well for now. Till next time…
A bientôt,
- Nikhil
*important* quick note but for anyone who has tried to call or text me, I apologize for not receiving it. Nyogbo doesn’t have the best cell phone reception for some weird reason. You literally have to be standing in very specific spots in the village to get reception. Whenever I call Atlanta, I have to go to my friend Taylor’s house and stand in her front yard in this 1m x 1m square to get enough signal on my phone to make the phone call. If I don’t have signal, I won’t get any texts or phone calls. I promise this situation will improve when I get to post so for now, unless I call or text you, forget that I have a cell phone. Speaking of which, if you want me to call or text you, I need your phone numbers! So write me/e-mail me your numbers…
Happy 4th of July to everyone! I hope y’all are having an enjoyable Independence Day back in the US. It’s weird to think that a national holiday back in the States is just another day here in Togo. I hope y’all are enjoying the warm weather, the BBQs, the parades and the fireworks tonight. Us here in Togo unfortunately don’t get any of those things (well sorta). However, what we do get is the day off from training! Woohoo! And this is exciting because after stage (Peace Corps Pre-Service training) apparently we only get Togolese holidays off as opposed to getting American holidays off. So yea, since we got the day off, a bunch of my stage-mates and I decided to venture over to Kpalimé, the nearest “big” city near our training site, to use the internet and buy some yovo supplies for our 4th of July Extravaganza tonight. Apparently I was unofficially appointed social director of the CHAP (health) volunteers so I was given the task of coordinating today’s festivities which includes a field day of kickball, capture the flag and ultimate Frisbee followed by an “American” dinner of hot dogs, fries, beans, guacamole, chips & salsa. We also wanted to invite the SEDers (business volunteers) over to Nyogbo for the 4th, so that further complicated all our logistics. Anyways, we’ll see how everything turns out…
So yea, back to the main reason why you read this blog: me! Yes, I am alive and doing just fine. I’ve had some good days and some bad days and I’ll try and get you updated on what’s been going on the past three weeks since I last posted. I apologize for the lull but we have basically no internet access here in Agou-Nyogbo and internet access is not much better in Agou-Koumawou, the SED training site. I’m hoping things will be better when I get to post (which I’ll tell you more about in a bit since I FINALLY know where I’ll be posted for the next 2 years…). Kpalimé is the nearest city with “decent” (decent for Togo that is; very shitty by US standards) internet access so I had to wait till I had an extended amount of time to spend before I could post. Okay so I apologize for a) how disorganized this post is going to be but the past three weeks have been a blur and a LOT has happened and b) how long this post is since like I said, a lot has happened, and there is SOO much that I want to talk about. I will do my best to be as brief but descriptive as possible because I really want you to have a good idea of what I’m going through. I guess let’s start at the beginning…
Agou Nyogbo
Agou-Nyogbo, the CHAP training village, is situated on the northeastern side of Mt. Agou, not only the tallest mountain in Togo at an elevation of 986m but also one of the highest points in central West Africa. Part of the Agou prefecture in the Plateau region of Togo, Agou-Nyogbo is to be my home for remaining 7 weeks of training. Ever since we arrived three weeks ago, I can’t shake how much Nyogbo reminds me of Bhogavi, my dad’s village in India. Nyogbo is a farming village with a single paved road running through the middle along with several arterial dirt roads. Although there are few businesses or boutiques in our village there is a large private hospital which brings a good amount of people into the village. Nyogbo is very pretty. There is a lot of greenery and it definitely lives up to its reputation as one of the prettiest places in Togo...
It’s rainy season as I mentioned in a previous post and with that means sporadic downpours every day. We don’t exactly get the weather channel here to warn us so that makes getting caught in the rain a super fun experience. Although the rain does bring temporary relief from the Togolese heat, the downside is that rainy season coincides with malaria season since mosquitoes breed and thrive in the small pools of water that are left behind after each storm that passes through. So although I am appreciative of the “cool” air, I am not appreciative of the plethora of mosquitoes that have feasted on my blood and left me itchy all over my body. My whole body is covered in mosquito bites. Its pretty lovely.
One quick last note before I switch topics but the sky here in Nyogbo is incredible. Last night the sky was the clearest I’ve ever seen it. There was not a cloud in sight so the stars were out in all their brilliant glory. It was literally like looking up at the ceiling of a planetarium; but this was no planetarium, this was the real thing. The stars were so bright that as Taylor & I were leaving Afrikiko (the local buvette that all us CHAPers hang out at to chill…I’ll tell you more about the Yovo Support Group later) decided that we just had to take a moment to enjoy the sky. We had a full 360° unobstructed view and I even saw a shooting star! It was pretty unreal. I’ve only seen the sky this clear twice in my life, once in Bhogavi and once in Parati, Brasil (remember that night on the beach Jess?) and even those moments don’t compare to the clarity and range of last night…
Ma famille-hôte
My host family is amazing. I have a host father, a host mother and two host siblings, a younger brother and older sister (but my host sister is married and lives in Gabon so I haven’t met her). I’m one of the luckier volunteers in my village as my host family has electricity (although its pretty inconsistent as electricity usually is throughout Togo), a tap for water and a refrigerator! I know that a fridge doesn’t seem like a pretty big deal but they are very expensive and it means that I get cold water, a luxury in the hot weather. But yea, my host family rocks. My father is a farmer and my mom used to be a nurse but now she’s a housewife. However she makes the most amazing beignets every morning to sell and she always saves two for me for my breakfast. Yum! My younger brother Kofi is 21 and goes to school in Kpalimé but since it’s summer vacation he’s back in Nyogbo and hangs out with me which is great.
My host family house is awesome. Its over on the west side of Nyogbo right next to the private hospital. I have my own room as a part of the house and its huge, complete w/ double bed! And i know a lot of you are wondering about my bathroom facilities: i have an outdoor latrine that has a wooden box to “sit” on so yay to no squatting and i take bucket baths every morning in a four-walled room w no roof next to my outdoor latrine. The bathroom complex is about 10 yards from the main house. My host mom heats water for me every morning so luckily i get hot water baths every morning.
Training
There is SOO much to talk about training I might just have to dedicate a whole post later on to training (the actual language, cultural and technical training that is). But just a brief synopsis so you can get an idea of how I spend my days. It’s kinda like being in school again as we have “class” Monday through Saturday (with Saturday being a half-day). Class starts at 7:30 and goes till noon where we break for lunch and the Togolese version of a siesta (it’s SOO hot from 12-2pm). Then class begins again at 2:30 and goes till 5:30. Saturdays we only go from 7:30 to noon and sundays are our days off. We usually do 2 hour blocks of either language class, technical class or cultural class. Language classes are where we are put in small groups based on our French fluency to improve our French. There were originally 4 language classes and I was placed in the 3rd group since although I know some French, it’s pretty much non-existent. But then this past week they decided to move me up to the 2nd group since apparently my French was coming along thanks to my 1.5 semesters of French at Tech and my 10 years of Spanish (all the rules are pretty much the same so I was able to transfer a lot of my Spanish knowledge to my French learning). SO yea, French is definitely going to be my biggest challenge compared to the rest of what I’m dealing with. Technical classes are cool. We are doing a lot of hands on learning to get experience with the types of projects available to us at our sites. We spent the first week talking about Peace Corps philosophies and approaches to teaching a community. Our second week was spent talking about nutrition as malnutrition is a HUGE problem all over Togo, particularly infant malnutrition. Our third week we’ve talked a bit about HIV/AIDS and next week we’ll tackle malaria. We’re covering a lot of really interesting topics but we are only three weeks into training so I’ll talk more about our technical training towards the end of stage. One more quick note, all the CHAP volunteers get to learn about gardening! We’ve spent two technical sessions in the farm learning how to garden for nutritional enrichment purposes. We even learnt about this REALLY AWESOME plant called Moringa. It’s pretty much one of the most interesting plants as not only is it very durable all over the world but it’s also HIGHLY nutritious containing insane levels of vitamin A, calcium and other essential minerals & vitamins. But more on moringa at some other point. Cultural classes are going well and they are a lot of fun because we get to do them with the SEDers. It’s interesting to learn about Togolese culture and traditions and customs. We’ve learned how to greet elders and differences between Togolese & American definitions of relationships, professional and social. We’ll do a couple more fun cultural things soon so I’ll talk more about them later on as well.
So yea, this brings me to yesterday, something I do want to talk about as it was an extremely nerve-wracking day since we spent the whole day doing interviews with the CHAP APCD (associate Peace Corps director) Tchao and getting individual feedback on language/cultural/technical training. What this basically means is that I sat with Tchao and discussed where in country I wanted to go and what kinds of projects I wanted to work on. And it’s kinda funny because in the interview he originally told me he wanted me in Bassar because the HIV/AIDS organization there needed organizational development assistance with capacity building and strategic planning but when we all found out our posts yesterday evening I ended up with one of my first choices in post: Soutoubua! I am super excited about my post because not only will I get to work with an already established HIV/AIDS organization but I also have opportunities to work on gardening projects (w/ Moringa) with some NRM volunteers, peer education, health clubs in schools and also a potential CPC/nutrition project in a nearby village (I’ll go more into my site once I actually get there and see what is actually available for me to work on). I am a little sad because I was kinda hoping to be in the Kara region, but the one post that I really liked was way more perfect for my friend Taylor and Bassar, which is also in the Kara region, was a perfect post assignment for Taressa. So it all worked out. Btw, for those of you who don’t know where Soutoubua is, check it out on the Togo map. It’s in la Region Centrale and it’s a pretty big city since it’s a prefectural capital and on the Route Nationale. This means that I’ll have good cell phone reception, electricity and even good access to the internet (more on that later). I also heard that I have one of the nicer houses for PCVs and I even have a flushing toilet! Looks like I’m gonna be living Posh Corps starting September J
Stage
I have an amazing stage (well sans one volunteer but I don’t really want to get into that here; if you have questions, I’ll talk more about this person in a private setting). By that, I mean that I really like all the people who are going through training at the same time as me in both the CHAP group and the SED group. I’ve already made some incredible friendships and it’s sad to think that in a few months all of us are going to be split up across the country (although I’m incredibly lucky since one of my closest friends, Marcus, from the SED group is being posted to Soutoubua with me as an IT volunteer to help develop better internet access points in the city). It is interesting to look at the group dynamics of both groups. I love our CHAP group. We have 4 guys (we used to have 5 guys but one left two weeks ago and it really took an emotional toll on all of us) and 11 girls. We all get along great and I feel like we are a much more tight knit group than the SEDers (hey, y’all are welcome to debate this issue). We are all from different parts of the country (unfortunately no other volunteers from Georgia though) such as New York, Texas, Michigan, California, Indiana, Massachusetts, Washington and Pennsylvania but it’s so amazing to be surrounded by so many people who care so deeply and so passionately about health issues. We also have different backgrounds and interests. We have 2 doctors (1 medical doctor and 1 PhD doctor) and 2 others with master’s degrees. Some of us are very interested in nutrition work while myself and a few others are more interested in community health work. There are three other psychology majors and four other pre-medders which means I’m in good company. I was really worried but I found two other girls who are huge Paul Farmer fans and I’m slowly spreading the good word so that I can convert the rest of them into Paul Farmer advocates.
It’s funny to think how freaked out I was at the probability of me being the only guy in this year’s CHAP group. Last year the CHAP group was all females so I am really glad to have Mark & Mitch with me this year. They are super awesome and even though we are posted to very different parts of the country, I hope we remain good friends. Funny enough though, one of the volunteers who I have clicked with the most (in the CHAP group) is a girl from the West coast, Krissy. Her and I have a lot in common and keep each other entertained in class. I’m kinda sad she’s not posted super close to me but at least it gives me a reason to travel to visit her after swear-in. The rest of the girls are really cool too (you know I love all the CHAPers). Mom, you’ll be happy to know that I’ve had a few more marriage proposals while here in Togo. But only ‘cause the girls want to have an Indian wedding. So at least I’m marriable…
As for the other group I’ve made some good friends and some who I just don’t know that well. They have a lot more people who are kinda quiet. But that’s okay ‘cause we have 2 whole years to get to know each other better. I gotta give shout outs to some of my boys in the other group though who kept me sane in Philly and those first few days in Lome: Marcus, Mikey & Frankie. Frankie’s from Alabama so it’s nice to have another guy from the South to hang out with. Oh and random but Frankie was born in England so he also has dual-citizenship like me! Weird! Mikey is basically my Asian brother from another mother. He and I clicked in Philly and he and I have some pretty interesting philosophical conversations. Oh and he’s Catholic which is funny only because ever since Georgia Tech, I realized that most of my best friends are Catholic. Im really sad that Mikey and Frankie are getting posted to Maritime which is kinda far from my post. I wish they were closer. Oh well. And then there’s Marcus. It’s weird how well we get along and I’m super pumped about being in Soutoubua with him. Although it’ll be good I’m kinda scared at the kind of trouble we might get into being in the same city lol. Oh well, there is a lot more to talk about my stage-mates but more of this later…
Highs & Lows
“You will have your highest highs & your lowest lows…”
The Peace Corps is an emotional rollercoaster. Never in my life have I ever been so bi-polar, particularly within the span of a single day. I might start the day feeling great, then a few hours later during lunch something might bum me out or get me really frustrated, and then by dinner I’m feeling great again. Someone once said the aforementioned quote regarding the Peace Corps and they were right. When we are feeling good, it’s the best kind of good; when we are feeling sad, it’s pretty much the pits. The good triggers can be as simple as hearing something really funny someone said or just laughing at how ridiculous your life currently is. The bad triggers can range from not being able to make a phone call to not being able to understand anything your host family says to you. Back in the US, I remember reading a blog from a girl who served in Benin and in her blog she started to list at the end of each week a few highs of the week and a few lows of the week, just as a way to remind yourself that even though life can suck, it can also be good. I am going to try my hardest to do something similar as a great way to remind myself just how the smallest things can really make a difference in one’s day.
Week 3: (point of clarification: this was something I wrote this past weekend regarding the previous week)
Week 3: Lows
- Although I’ve been blessed with “good” health (good is a very relative health as good for Togo is not necessarily good for the US) so far in training, several of us have gotten really sick and it sucks to have good friends get really sick. But yea, the other night I had a slight fever and chills and I basically felt terrible and that combined with the hot weather led to a pretty bad night. ß it was only for one night and I’m much better now…
- I had the hardest time understanding my host father last Sunday. I thought I knew what he was asking me but it got pretty bad that he just had to ask me in English. It’s frustrating because I still can’t hear the subtle differences in the French language and learning French is going to be my biggest challenge in Togo. It sucks to not be understood and to not be able to communicate. It would be so much easier to learn French if EVERYONE spoke French but unless they are speaking to me, most of the villagers in Nyogbo speak Ewe, the local language so I’m not as immersed into French as I thought I would be.
- I haven’t checked my e-mail in 2 weeks which is a LONG time for me. Also I wasn’t able to talk to my mom before she left for India last week. I feel so disconnected with the world as I don’t even know what’s going on outside our bubble in Togo.
- We get to know our post sites next week which is a high but also a low because it means that everyone is going to be split up all across the country and some of my close friends might be a 5-10 hour bush taxi ride away. I’m trying to live in the moment and cherish my time with everyone while we are all still together but it still sucks to think that we can’t just ride 5 km to the next village to see a good friend from stage.
Week 3: Highs
- I got to weigh babies at a CPC, something that I have always wanted to do. It was so incredible to interact with the mothers & babies and assist in teaching them about healthier nutrition habits as malnutrition is a big problem in Togo.
- FanMilk is always a highlight of my week. FanMilk is basically the Togolese version of an ice cream push-pop. There are lots of flavours and FanChoco is my favorite so far. It tastes just like eating frozen chocolate milk.
- A chicken walked into my latrine with me and watched me go to the bathroom. I know this is random but it cracked me up at how ridiculous of a situation this is because this would never happen to me in the US.
- After hanging out at Afrikiko for Emily’s “birthday party”, Marcus & I had a sleepover at my host family’s house. It’s like we are all in middle school again asking our parents, “Can XYZ spend the night?” It was fun to just hang out and to return the favour after I spent the night at his place in the other training site.
- Next week we will FINALLY know where we are going to be posted for the next two years. Although it is kind of a low as I mentioned above, it’s also a high to know what kind of work we have to look forward to.
- We had a movie night and watched “Zoolander” after which a couple of us had a walk-off that led to some interesting moments.
- I’ve gotten a bunch of my stage addicted to “How I Met Your Mother” and it’s amazing ‘cause now I can quote obscure lines from the show and people ACTUALLY know what I’m talking about. Suit up!
Mt. Agou
I have climbed the tallest mountain in Togo and lived to talk about it! No seriously, like I mentioned earlier, Nyogbo sits on the northeastern side of the mountain and the first Sunday after arriving in our village, 9 of us decided to climb the mountain and summit the peak, all 986m of it. I know it doesn’t sound like a lot but it took us 2.5 hours to climb to the top and including a break at the top our total roundtrip took about 6 hours. We left around 9am and didn’t return until 3 in the afternoon. We lucked out with beautiful weather and thanks to my amazing host brother Kofi and Mitch’s awesome host sister, we had two skilled guides to get us to the summit. On the way up we passed through two mountainside villages that have some amazing views of the valley below. Point of reference, the villages we passed were really small and pretty poor. The villages were basically mud/cement buildings with tin roofs but looking down from the top of one of the villages reminded me of the chapter in Mountains Beyond Mountains where Dr. Farmer brings Tracy Kidder to Cagne and I imagined that Cagne must look something like this. So yea, it was a tough climb but totally worth the hike. All the way up and down we had some incredible vantage points overlooking la Region Plateaux, definitely the greenest and most lush part of Togo. When we got to the top, the panoramic view of Togo was breathtaking. We even had the opportunity to spot Ghana in the distance (Mt. Agou is situated on the western side of Togo, about 40-50 km from the Ghanaian border). Although we got pretty sweaty and dirty and the hike was tough, our entire group bonded and it was great to just spend some time together outside of class and be one with Togo…(I took tons of pictures so when I get good internet access, I’ll upload)
So if you made it this far, congratulations! Thanks for reading about my experience in Togo so far. As I mentioned in my previous post from Lome, if there is anything specifically that you want me to talk about or discuss regarding Togo or the Peace Corps, let me know. Gotta fulfill the Peace Corps’ 3rd goal right? Before I leave y’all to go and eat lunch I wanted to make a quick request! PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE send me mail. I don’t have any needs for packages just yet (that will happen once I get to post) as I have or can get easily most of what I need right now, but letters from you would make my day (e-mails are great but like I said, internet access is shaky, particularly during my training period right now). I REALLY want to know what you are up to and I really want to know what’s going on in the world. Also I really want everyone’s mailing addresses and since I have all these stamps but no addresses I can’t mail anyone letters from Togo. I promise to send you a letter back if you write me J
I’ll end this post with some of my favorite quotes from stage…
“Man, I wish I was a chicken!” – Krissy
“J’ai accouché?” – Brittany
“I should have gone to South America” – me
“Did he say Mexicans?” “He said med-students!” – Taylor to Taressa
“I feel naked without it” “Looks like you’re gonna be naked for a long time…” – Brittany to Ray
“Are your needs being met?” – Maggie
“We’re about to have a lot of sex” – Alex
“Does anybody love me?” – Brittany
“The work there will be sex” – Tchao
“Does anybody need a hoe?” – Trisha
“Is it okay if I pull my pants down?” – Mitch
“Yay for happy hour with the village chief” - unknown
Okay, enjoy the fireworks! I miss you ALL terribly but know that I am safe and doing well for now. Till next time…
A bientôt,
- Nikhil
*important* quick note but for anyone who has tried to call or text me, I apologize for not receiving it. Nyogbo doesn’t have the best cell phone reception for some weird reason. You literally have to be standing in very specific spots in the village to get reception. Whenever I call Atlanta, I have to go to my friend Taylor’s house and stand in her front yard in this 1m x 1m square to get enough signal on my phone to make the phone call. If I don’t have signal, I won’t get any texts or phone calls. I promise this situation will improve when I get to post so for now, unless I call or text you, forget that I have a cell phone. Speaking of which, if you want me to call or text you, I need your phone numbers! So write me/e-mail me your numbers…
2 comments:
yay you are alive! i love paul farmer, he's my hero...he makes me want to quit law school and go into health issues...and then i remember that i'm doing environmental law and the environment and health issues will be so closely intersected that i'll be helping anyway :) did you see him last year at emory's graduation? they even handed out free copies of mountains beyond mountains, which blew me away. as for marriage proposals...no! you're my fiancee! :P i was at delta sig last week and some young kid i didn't know came up to me and asked if i was the one you were "engaged" to, haha.
i'm glad you're safe and everything is ok! i hope to call you sometime, my number is (925)642-1163
thanks for keeping us updated! looking forward to seeing you over there...
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