06 June 2009

one year in togo

As of this weekend, I have officially been in Togo for a year! woah...

The newbies arrive tonight and I'm super excited about having some new people in country. It's funny because last year, I remember meeting all the volunteers who were about one year into their service and thinking "wow, I hope I'll be as cool as they are one year from now..." and I think I accomplished my goal. But we'll have to wait and see what the new stagiers really think about me and my ridiculosity...

So...I apologize for the lack of postings over the last few months. I've actually been really busy with work and travel and I haven't really had a clear moment to sit and collect my thoughts to put into writing. I've been meaning to write about several things. There was tony and larissa's f-wedding at the beginning of April. There was also my amazing vacation in Ghana I want to tell you about. In May I finished the first phase of my pilot project girl's club with a fete. Finally, I have several reflections on my life in Togo that I would like to share with you. All of this and more shall be revealed over the next few weeks (or at least that's the plan).

This summer is going to be intense, but in a good way. As I mentioned before, I was selected as one of the editors of Et La Sante? and this summer we have two issues to put out, one in June and one in September. I also mentioned that I am one of the regional coordinators for Camp Espoir and I am super pumped to play counselor for a week. Finally, a few weeks ago I got selected as a volunteer trainer for the new stagiers that are arriving tonight. It's sort of like being a FASET leader, except I don't have to be a tool. With those three activities, plus work stuff back in Sotouboua, I basically have a completely booked next three months. I feel bad about being away from post for so much time but at the same time, it's summer so schools are out and it's also rainy season so everyone's working in the champ so it's nearly impossible to do anything anyways. My plan is to finish this summer, do a quick vacation in Benin on the beach for a few days and then head back to Sotouboua, not leave for three months, and get shit done.

Backtracking, I started off my week long trip by heading to Notse to volunteer at Ashley & Danielle's Moringa Fete in Notse. It's kinda funny because last year I celebrated yams in Bassar and now I'm celebrating moringa in Norse. Anyways, I think I've talked about how awesome moringa olifeira is and all the cool things you can do from this "miracle tree" so I won't go into any more details but for the past year and a half Ashely and Danielle, two CHAP volunteers in and around Notse, have been trying to sensibilize their communities about Moringa. So in order to talk about the many benefits and ways to use moringa, they raised money to have a fete complete with a parade, radio announcements and carnival with moringa demonstrations. Me and about 15 other volunteers showed up to help man the booths and educate people about topics ranging from how to make moringa oil to a cooking demonstration with moringa leaves. Overall the event was a huge success and it was great to not only hang out with my fellow volunteers but to also see my health work in action.

So as you can tell, I'm writing to you from the lounge in the PC Bureau in Lome. I've been here all week for work and personal reasons. Workwise, Tchao asked Nacho and me to update the CHAP Toolkit for the new trainees so we've been working all week to add information on family planning, sexual/reproductive health, and HIV/AIDS. Personally, two good friends of mine left Togo (Fabiola terminated her service early and Tig ended her service) and I wanted to be in Lome to say goodbye. It sucks to start having close friends leaving country; these are people we've connected with on a certain level and now they are gone. Helen and Tig are the first ones from their stage to leave and they were some of the first ones to welcome us to Togo; luckily I still have many more weeks with other 2nd years that I am close to but come this September, they'll all be gone and my stage and the september stage will be the only ones left. Sadness...

Hmm...so the new stage gets in tonight and maybe we'll get to take them out tonight but if not, I'm excited about all the good food I can eat now that I've FINALLY been paid (took you long enough PC Washington!). Tomorrow night is the GAD fundraiser at Triskall and then the Regeants party to properly welcome the new trainees to Togo. I'll prob stick around on Monday to get somemore work done and then hopefully Tuesday it's back to post!

I'm off to go and make posters for the new tech house...

ciao!

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