Adventures in Togo

Last but not least

2011-10-24T16:43:00.007-04:00

Hey everyone!!

It's hard to believe I've been back in America over a year. For those of you who have witnessed and helped with my re-integration, thanks for your interest in my experience, patience and understanding! For those of you I have yet to see, I hope our paths cross soon!

Although I am back on US soil, a part of me will always stay in Togo. After coming home, the urge to continue to help my Pagala community was still going strong. As most of you know, I spent a lot of time forming Village Savings and Loans groups in my village. I had been inspired to do this after reading "Banker to the Poor" about Muhammad Yunus' Nobel Peace Prize-winning efforts instituting microfinance at a grassroots level in developing nations. The groups I worked with were highly successful, inspiring and sustainable.

After seeing the success of these groups, I felt compelled to take it to the next level. While living in Pagala I had noticed a sad trend. Students who were children of teachers, government officials and other "well-off" professions were able to go to university after completing high school whereas their less privileged counterparts could not.. The child of an average subsistence farmer cannot afford the luxury of sending their children to university-- a mere couple hundred dollars a year.

With these students and power of the savings and loans groups in mind, I formed an organization called "Sukuvi". In a nutshell, Sukuvi will provide students with low-interest loans to continue their education at the University in the capital city of Lome. Some of the women's groups I formed (and some new ones, too) are now extending loans to local students (after an interview and acceptance process) and will provide students with 20% of the loan they are asking for. Sukuvi lenders will be providing the other 80%. I'm looking for lenders for the 2011-2012 school year. If you'd like to make a loan, please check out my very rudimentary website and make a loan today!

There's a lot more I could say on this subject, but I'll let you check out the website and ask questions as they arise!!

And now, for some updates. Since I've been back everyone has been asking me about the library. As you probably remember, the library I built in Pagala was one of my largest and most time-consuming projects. It would not have been possible without your support (financial or otherwise) so I wanted to share some before and after pictures for you to check out!! And yes, they named it after me...but it was not my idea!!

This is the outside of the library before a new roof and a coat of paint. This type of building is normally used to store grain.

This is the outside of the library with some aesthetic and functional improvements.

Here you can see the solar panel mounted on the roof. This was installed so that the librarian (pictured) could operate a side business of charging cell phones and earn income from his work at the library.

This is the inside of the library the first day we broke down the door. Some students volunteered to clean and sort books which were then painstakingly categorized and labeled individually. The inside of the room received a new floor, a new roof and a fresh coat of paint.

Here is a picture of the initial clean up process.

With initial donations from local bureau members, shelves were built and the organization began. Unfortunately, it was hot season and the days were longgggg!

Final product! All books are numbered, fresh paint, spruced up shelves and desks for students!

I used chalkboard paint on the wall to create writing surfaces, librarian desk, student desks and anatomy drawings as well as world and country maps (not pictured).

The library bureau during our "opening ceremony". The sign was designed by another volunteer, Emerson Easley.

To see even more pictures, check out this album.

2010-05-04T04:45:00.008-04:00

DeaFriends and Family,

Sorry I’ve been out of touch for so long. I’ve found myself very busy in my village and, as a result, haven’t come to our capital city (the only place with fast enough internet to post a blog) in a while. I hope you have all had a good 2010 thus far.

I’m in Lomè preparing for my Close of Service (COS) conference. I’ll be spending a few days at a hotel (with running hot water) outside the city, on the beach, with volunteers who began their service with me in June 2008. As Peace Corps is a government agency, there will be plenty of paperwork and scary words like “resumè” and “health insurance” thrown in throughout the week. I’m not exactly looking forward to it but it will be great to catch up with friends, some of whom I haven’t seen in over a year.

When I left my village for the conference I told my village friends and family I had to come to the conference to learn how to be American again. Even though that’s not the purpose of the conference, it’s true. I need to re-learn some English, be reminded that I can’t pee in the road or eat with my hands (among other things). Be patient with me when I come home!

Speaking of homecoming, I’m hoping to come back to Boston in mid-September, around the 20th. Because I’m bringing my dog Fenway home I’m taking a direct flight from Accra, Ghana to NYC. It’s going to be quite a wake up call for me and the pup. For a girl who has been craving pizza and bagels though, it’s probably the perfect place to touch down. I’m worried, however, about Fenway’s adjustment to America. He is used to running free, killing ducks and living a very laid-back “villageois” life. What’s he going to do with glass windows, a vacuum cleaner and the occasional fire alarm? Every day will be an adventure.

I, myself, am excited about the new adventures to be had at home (especially ones that involve cheese) but leaving will be bittersweet. After two years I have people in my village that I consider my family and friends and it will be hard to say goodbye. Here are some pictures of the people I spend most of my time with:

Top to Bottom:

Photo 1: Irenèe Dirboga, a high school student in Pagala. He is the President of my Peer Educator group and a motivated individual. He helps me with many of my projects, professional and otherwise. He translates at meetings for me, tends to my garden and watches my pets when I'm away.

Photo 2: Maman and Papa Adanou. My unofficial host family, the Adanous adopted me into their family. I eat meals with them, work on projects with them and am always welcomed into their house without question. When someone asks Maman about me she says "god gave me 2 boys and 2 girls. One of them came out white but that was god's decision."

Photo 3: To the right is my best friend and confidant in village, Hortense, and her son Melki. Hortense has lived in several African countries and understands how difficult my life can be as an outsider. She is the closest thing I have ever had to a sister.

In addition to my waning grasp of the English language, my once extraordinary life has become ordinary to me. I struggled for a while to write this blog post because I wasn’t sure what would interest my friends. Is it interesting that I killed my own turkey for thanksgiving (See PHOTOS) or that people call me “Obama!” just because I’m American? I think I wrote about this before, but two years later people are still asking to buy my dog. (Probably for eating although some just comment about how good-looking he is. It’s gone to his head a little bit in my opinion, but take a look at this handsome wild African jackal.):

Unfortunately my cat, Wrigley, passed away around Christmastime while I was in Ghana on vacation. My friend in village who was watching my house and feeding the cat noticed he hadn’t eaten anything in a couple of days and went looking for him. He found him in my neighbor’s kitchen and buried him in my yard. I was touched that no one ate him and he now has a peaceful resting place that I can see from my window.

On a happier note, I was fortunate enough to see my family on a safari in Tanzania in September. Everything was amazing! It was great to see a different side of Africa, spend time with my family and eat delicious food. The hot showers were also a plus!

I’ve also been fortunate to have some time to travel around West Africa. I have been to all the countries surrounding Togo (Ghana, Burkina Faso and Benin). I have been to Ghana several times and it continues to blow my mind. It’s so close in distance to Togo but the difference is night and day. It’s nice to go there to escape and feel a little pampered (they have a movie theatre!) but it’s always nice to come home where everyone knows your name.

As for the projects that have been keeping me busy in my village, here are some headlines:

Village Soccer Tournament: In April, my cluster mates (the volunteers who live within a 60K radius of me) and I organized soccer tournaments in my village and two surrounding villages. The tournament took place on a long weekend and we organized a Peace Corps volunteer team to play against the village teams. At the half time, volunteers and local students spoke on the importance of public hygiene and potable water.

Above: My clustermate Ben's cleats after our FIRST game!

Below: The Peer Educators of Pagala after the match

Above: The Peace Corps soccer team (including my friend Irenèe who played for our team)

Below: The Peer Educators doing a skit. The student in red is imitating a fly.

Below: Team PROPRE warming up before the game

Above: In the heat of the game (in more ways than one)

Above: The opposing team in one of the villages

Above: The Peace Corps team and the Pagala team (in red)
Above: PC volunteer Sekou jumping on Irenèe after his goal

Above: Irenee and me acting tough before a game

World Aids’ Day: For those of you unaware, December 1st is World Aids’ day. This year my peer educator group organized skits and talking points to disseminate information at all of the local schools. We marched through the village and although it was a hectic day with lots of noisy student audience members, it was a success. Below are pictures of the group marching with our banner, posed in front of our banner, acting out skits and doing a condom demonstration.

Village Savings and Loan Groups: I continue to work with several womens’ groups. I do business classes, savings and loans groups and combinations of both with them. This has been a great experience for me. I love being surrounded by women, making them laugh and watching them make positive changes in their lives by saving, taking loans and making investments into their businesses. The two pictures on the top are a group of women conserving tomatoes. The picture on the bottom is a meeting with a Village Savings and Loan group.

Schools: I have also continued to work in the school systems. I work with the English club every week, aide a student-run peer educator group and taught a 10 week business class for middle school students.

Above: Working with the Peer Educators and working with high school students on English and math.

Above: Middle school students receiving their certificates after a ten week "Junior Achievement" course.

Library Project:

First I would like to say a giant THANK YOU to all of you who have donated money and books to the library of Pagala. This project would not be possible without you.

For those of you I haven’t spoken to in a while, here is some information on the project that has taken up the most of my time this year:

When I first got to my village, a lot of things were shocking and sad to me, among them, the lack of reading material (even textbooks) for students. "Is there a library here?" I asked. I was told there was, at one of the two middle schools. I decided to visit and found sacks of grain stored among books (novels and textbooks among them). The dust and debris confirmed that no one had entered the room in a long time. I started asking around and found that even when there are libraries in villages, they are generally closed (all the time) because the person in charge doesn't want the books ruined. I was also told that it would be impossible to find a volunteer librarian. Discouraged but undeterred, I kept asking around throughout the past year and a half without much success.

The English teacher at my high school, a friend and work colleague, told me he collected money from students interested in reading books and when he had enough money he would go to Lomè and buy books and loan them out of his house. I, too, began sharing my books with students in this way.

About 9 months ago I learned that the first volunteer in my village (over 10 years ago) had received funding and had built a library furnished with thousands of books and even some generator-powered computers. A week after the volunteer left, the man left in charge stole everything (or so we believed) and left. He hasn't been seen since.

Miraculously, the English teacher and I discovered that the thief had left some books in a village storage shed (normally used to store grain). The door was blocked and in order to get the chief's permission to break it down we needed a plan. I formed a bureau of my favorite and most trusted people in village (6 men and 4 women (including myself)). At our first meeting we came up with a proposal to present to the chief. If he would allow us to knock down the door, we would clean the books and building and open the library. We would start small and hopefully expand in books and open hours.

After breaking down the door, we discovered hundreds of books, many that had been ruined by years of neglect. Some had survived rain, termites, bats, mice, etc. for 10 years! We enlisted the help of 10 high school students (and the bureau) and cleaned the library and books. Every villager that passed offered to help or gave words of encouragement. Even the adults that were cleaning books couldn't resist looking at the treasures inside the pages. It was an exciting day. The outside of the library

Above and Below: What we discovered inside

The books outside, before cleaning

Above and Below: Students clearing the land around the library and cleaning books

Above: Students scrounging for scraps of books we threw away

Our bureau members have been donating money as necessary to build bookshelves, which is necessary to keep the books from deteriorating further. There are other repairs to made, however, including a new roof, cement repairs on the floor and wall, painting of the room, etc. We are also hoping to build a small outdoor seating area where kids can read and study (Togolese homes are generally so loud kids can't concentrate well enough to study). We are also hoping to install solar panels with which to charge cell phones so the librarian can be paid enough to keep the library open all week.

If any of you would like to donate money to this project, feel free to mail a check to mother:

Lucinda Lagasse
381 Dutton Road
Sudbury, MA 01776

If you have any questions, you may want to get in touch with her (l.lagasse@comcast.net) since I’m not generally accessible.

While we have many books for younger children, we are lacking novels for young adults and adults. As children study French, English and German at school, they are interested in books in all of these languages. We don't have dictionaries in any of these languages. If youwould prefer to send used (or new) books directly to me that would also be great.

My address* is:
Emily Lagasse
BP 55
Pagala, Togo

*Please note: This is a new address!!!

With the help of your donations and the national library association the library is coming along well and we're getting ready for our grand opening, hopefully at the end of this month.

Present day (as you can see we're also lacking tables and chairs!)

Camp Informatique:

My boyfriend, Drew, is also fundraising for a computer camp he is running in June. If any of you would like to read more or donate, go to this site: Click HERE

Two high school students from my high school with directly benefit from this great program and I encourage you to give what you can, even if it’s only 5 dollars.

To help you put a name to the face, here's a picture of Drew cooking with my host mother on Thanksgiving:

Thanks again to all of you have stayed in touch and made my life and experiences here richer! Thank you for all of your love and support.

See you SOON!!!

Emily

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times...

2009-02-09T02:31:00.020-05:00

As you know, I like to keep my blog entries upbeat and humorous; however, I’m going to start this one off with a more upsetting part of my life here in Togo.

Growing up, I heard countless times from friends, family and media how fortunate I was to be an American woman. I was told as an American woman I was provided many liberties and opportunities that women in other countries were not afforded. Although I had believed all of this information, it wasn’t until I got here that this information resonated. When Togolese girls I consider sisters and Togolese women I consider kindred sprits tell me about the hardships they face as women, it breaks my heart. I see young teenage girls pregnant with babies, unaware of how they became pregnant. I hear stories from my female lycee friends (who can barely pay for school fees because their families don’t think it’s worthwhile sending them to school) of how male teachers force them to sleep with them. I see wives beaten and mistreated and given minimal respect by men.

I lay in bed at night racking my brain for answers. I can’t save these women. I can’t punish these men. How can I give these women an ounce of the self-esteem, self-respect and courage I have so taken for granted? It’s something so innate that I didn’t even realize it was there, let alone realize what a gift it was to be raised by a family and a society where I was valued so highly.

I have been talking with some of the lycee girls about starting a girls’ club. In this club I will talk to these girls about how their bodies work (no one ever talks to them about this), how they get pregnant and, most importantly, it will be a safe place where they can talk together about the challenges they face and the pressures they feel. I’m hoping with a little bit of encouragement, these girls will grow into women who will be confident and strong. When these girls give birth to baby girls in the future, my hope is they will pass on this special gift of knowledge.

It’s important to mention that there are some girls I know here who are an exception to the rule. One of my best friends in village, a 14 year old named Alice, is bright, driven and unabashedly hard working. She got her first semester ranking shortly before I came to Lome and is second in her class and first in English! I’d like to think I had a little to do with the English ranking but she would be successful whether I worked with her or not. She’s a star. When I spend time with Alice it refreshes me and encourages me to work with other girls in our village. I see it is possible to be a strong and confident Togolese female despite the odds. That’s enough to keep me going, no matter how discouraged I may get some days.

If you have young girls in your life in America please don’t underestimate the value of how you are raising them. They may not ever be able to fully appreciate the gifts you are giving but I have seen that it really makes a difference.

In addition to the girls club I am getting together, I have started a girls’ basketball team. We started with about 8 to 10 girls and I’ve had more and more girls come every week. Some girls even stop me on the road and ask me if I’m the white person who has the girls’ basketball team, and, if so, can they come? The girls are definitely getting better, which is exciting to see. We had a rough start as they had never held a basketball, seen a basketball game and had no idea of the rules. We have a lot of trouble with traveling on our team but they have fun. They giggle so much sometimes they fall over. I think back on my days playing basketball and how the coaches were so strict and competitive. That’s not really my coaching style, however, so these girls get a little wild sometimes, which makes me really happy!

***I’d like to thank all of the friends and family who sent me basketballs and basketball equipment all the way from America. Everything is getting good use and is appreciated by many!!!***

I’ve also been playing basketball with the established boys’ basketball team in Pagala. At first I was somewhat of a spectacle but now that I’m a regular we’ve all become good friends. We are such good friends that when I score, everyone cheers, no matter which team I’m playing for. The boys on the team play fairly well considering they have never seen a real basketball game, never heard of Michael Jordan and are wearing size 2 Reebok women’s spandex shorts circa 1995.

I can’t help but laugh at these teenage boys that show up, bodies toned and muscular from manual labor, wearing pink addidas girls’ shorts and Capri pants they got from the dead yovo market. (You may recall from an earlier post that the dead yovo market is where all of the donated clothes from the US and Europe end up. You search massive piles on the floor at various markets and street corners in Togo and pay less than 25 cents per piece. The clothes are referred to as "dead yovo" because Togolese can't believe that anyone living would give their clothes away.) Here, all clothes are considered unisex and sometimes I see men wearing things and think “hey, I used to have a shirt like that in middle school”. I have a theory as to why girls’ clothes are so popular with the men here (and I think my mother will back me up on this): Men in America never give up clothes. Friday casual clothes become gardening clothes. Old gardening clothes become painting clothes, etc. Clothes in mens’ closets in America find new uses until the cloth is so far shredded it can be used for nothing except cleaning rags. Thus, men in Togo cannot find dead yovo clothes for men easily. Instead, what they do find in markets throughout Togo are clothes in styles deemed "out of style" by the girls and women of America. Hence, an entire basketball team of men dressed in girls' clothing. They seem to be unaware of the fact that they are wearing girls' clothing. If they do know perhaps the associated stylishness of wearing something from the west may trump the fact that it's from The Limited.

On the basketball court in America, we use certain slang terms to communicate with our team members. Some examples: “Sweet shot!” or “Heads up!” The boys on my team have two phrases which I find endearing. The first is “jolie!” which translates to “pretty”. They say this when someone makes a really beautiful shot or pass. The second is “cadeau!” which means “gift”. They use “cadeau” if someone has a fast break and/or an open shot at the basket.

After getting run up and down the court with these boys (their technical skills may not be perfected but they can run up and down the court faster than any team I’ve ever played on), we all walk home together as they take turns holding my dog’s leash. I laugh as they turn down the road towards various quartiers where they live after complimenting each other on a pretty game, wearing clothes previously found in teenage girls’ closets and to top it all off, they’re holding hands. (Men and women never hold hands in public here but it is very common to see people of the same gender holding hands). As wonderful as the camaraderie between the boys is, I can’t help but smile at the differences between their team and the boys’ basketball team from my high school.

Other news? I got a puppy! His name is Fenway. Are you beginning to see a theme with my pet names??

Fenway and big brother Wrigley have been getting along very well. They fight from time to time but I’ve decided the fights are about how they’re playing. Wrigley wishes Fenway played more like a cat and Fenway wishes Wrigley played more like a dog. They end up compromising and have a good time together.

When I brought Fenway home I imagined the conversation Wrigley and Fenway had upon meeting each other:

Wrigley: Oh, brother. A dog? Let me just say, for the record, that your name may be “dog” but I am the top dog around here.
Fenway: OK!
Wrigley: As far as rules for the house go, I’ll split the lizards with you 50/50 and if you’re nice, I’ll throw you a cockroach once in a while. You are not allowed, under any circumstances to catch and eat mice. That’s my job. It’s in my contract. Also, do not under any circumstances put a dead, bloody lizard on our mom’s lap. She really freaks out.
Fenway: Sounds great! I AM SO EXCITED TO BE HERE!
Wrigley: What’s wrong with your tail?
Fenway: I don’t know. I’m just really happy!!!
Wrigley: Ugh. Your one of those, are you? Well if you keep that up with your tail I’m just warning you I’m going to have to bat it around.
Fenway: That sounds like fun!
Wrigley: This Pollyanna act is kind of getting on my nerves. I’m going to go climb a tree now. Welcome to the family, kid. Oh, and FYI, just because I swat you in the face from time to time with no apparent reason, it doesn’t mean I don’t like you.
Fenway: I love you too!!!!
Wrigley: Ugh, gross. Bye.

They’re pretty silly together, I have to admit. One of the funniest times we share is when I train Fenway (sit, down, paw, etc.). Wrigley gets a whiff of those treats, sizes up what’s going on and thinks “shoot, if that’s what a cat’s got to do to get a piece of jerky, count me in”. They both walk alongside me. I say “sit”, they sit. They both get a treat. Then I say “down”, they lie down. They both get a treat. They are already very good but I think at the end of my service I will have the best trained pets on the planet. I’m thinking I’ll need to bring them back to the states with me so we can go on Letterman!

When I walk Fenway around in my village, people ask me a lot of questions, the most popular being “will you give me your dog?”. Keep in mind it’s not unusual for people to ask me for things they see me with (my shoes, my sunglasses, etc.), however, in this case, they are looking for dinner. My well rehearsed response is: “he’s not ready yet”. (Meaning: I’ll fatten him up for you first.) Don’t call PETA on me, it’s just a joke and they know it! “What is the cord for?” is another popular question. I also get a lot of people asking me what his name means. This requires a lengthy explanation about what baseball is, where Fenway Park is and why I picked that for a name. This puppy has already provided a lot of cultural exchange with my villagers!

I want to thank everyone who sent me letters and packages around the holidays. As you can imagine, it was difficult to be away from my family. Sensing that it would be difficult I had planned a trip to Ghana with my friends Kristina and Fabiola. We had a great time and were very distracted by all of the fun activities in Ghana! Maybe we’ve been gone from America too long, but it felt like we were back in the Western world. Ghana is so rich compared to Togo it felt like another planet.

Top activities included:

*Eating ice cream (at least once a day)

*Seeing a movie (IN A MOVIE THEATRE)!!!

*Going to an eco-friendly beach resort (when the guests were complaining about the cockroaches in the latrine, we just laughed)

*Visiting a MALL!

*Visiting with our host families

It’s been a good start to 2009. I wish you all the best!!!

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

2008-11-25T15:26:00.016-05:00

Happy Holidays everyone! I’m in Lome to celebrate Thanksgiving with some of my fellow volunteers and wanted to give you an update on life in Togo. I thought for this post I would take some time to answer your Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs).

FAQ #1: Have you had any more snake incidents?

Answer: Yes. Thank you for asking. As you may recall, I found a snakeskin in my shower room my first week at post. Since then, I have had two snake incidents, one involving a dead snake at the end of my “driveway” (someone had apparently gotten there before me with a stick). The other was a live snake found on my property.

I may be 25 years old, however, in that panicked moment I did the only thing I could think of. (Hint: it did not involve a stick.) I called my mother, of course. Between my sobs, my mother asked if I had a big stick around. “Could you SOUND anymore Togolese right now???” I wailed then quickly added “…could you Google it and see if it’s poisonous?”

I’ll tell you what; my mom did me one better by sending me an identification book for snakes of West Africa. I have since identified my neighbor to be a non-venomous West African sand snake (of the green headed variety).

It was during this same conversation that my mother gently pointed out that perhaps the abundance of mice chez moi was attracting all the snakes in my village to the available food source. Although still burned from her stick comment, I agreed. In addition to her sound logic, I was tired of cleaning up mouse droppings every morning. Thus, I went in search of a cat.

Due to the lack of Petcos around, I started my search by asking people I passed on the road if they had any cats for sale. After a week of “nos” and confused looks, I found a woman who had cats but asked me to clarify, “is it for eating?”

“No.”

“I have some cats that are ready for eating...”

“Thank you, but I am just looking for a baby cat that will catch mice.”

After thinking for a moment, the woman agreed to meet me by the road the next day and added a parting thought. “You know…after it catches your mice you should eat it.”

“Got it.”

And this, my friends, is my fierce hunter and best companion, Wrigley:

(Nicknames/Aliases: Lizard Breath, Wriggle-butt, and, my personal favorite, Rigatoni.)

When I called my parents to tell them about the new addition to our family, my mom was full of questions: “What does it eat? Where does it sleep? What color is it?” My father, worried for his Persians (rugs, not cats), had only one question: “It’s staying in Togo, right?”

There are two roles parents play in this world: The Bad Guy and The Softie. If you ever want to know which one you are, get a kitten. I always pictured myself in the bad guy role until I woke up with a kitten on my head and kitty drool on my face. Apparently, in this life, I have been cast as a softie.

I am happy to report that Wrigley now sleeps outside and guards me from mice and lizards. Here is a picture of his first capture. (I’m such a proud momma.)

He hasn’t caught any mice, but he hasn’t had to. Sensing his fierce hunting capabilities, the mice left as soon as I got him.

FAQ #2: What does your house look like?

Answer: Like this:

FAQ #3: How hot is it?

Answer: Hot enough that Wrigley sleeps like this:

It's hot. After spending a night in a shared bed with my friend Kristina, I mentioned the next morning that our movements throughout the night made me feel like a rotisserie chicken. Due to the extreme heat and lack of circulation we had to constantly keep turning to help keep cool. We're not even in the hottest season yet, folks.

FAQ #4: What kind of work are you doing?

Answer: I have a lot of projects started and lots more ideas, but I’ll give you some of the more major ones for now:

A) Aids Ride: Volunteers in all regions (and some of our Togolese counterparts) of Togo spent a week in October biking through remote villages (about 50K a day) doing presentations and skits on HIV/AIDS. Everywhere we went, we created quite a commotion (and hopefully educated some people along the way). Here are some pictures:

B) University Club/English Club: I have been participating with the local English Club of the Lycee (High School) in my village. When I speak in English, the class erupts into laughter because they are not used to hearing American English.

I am also starting my own club at the Lycee with students that are interested in applying to universities in the United States. Our club will practice English, study for the SAT and TOFEL, save for the exams and eventually (hopefully) practice for visa interviews!

C) Red Cross: There’s a group of women in my village that are affiliated with the Red Cross and meet once a week. They help the community by doing small health talks within Pagala and urge mothers to get their babies vaccinated. I have been going to their meetings every week and will help with their organization and execution of their village outreach. They’ve also asked if I can do some business talks with them outside of our meetings which I’m looking forward to.

D) Village Savings & Loans: As start-up costs associated with bank accounts (or even microfinance accounts) are too expensive for most Togolese to open, I am looking to form groups of women to collectively save their money. I would also like the groups to become a source of support and encouragement for expanding businesses. [Side note: in order to meet more women to form these groups I have been going to my village’s baby weighing each week which has been a lot of fun!]

E) Clubs for Kids: Once a month I go to my regional capital of Atakpame and work with an established NGO that supports families infected and affected by HIV/AIDS. Peace Corps Volunteers affiliated with the NGO come to Atakpame to work with the kids on different life skills (income generating activities, nutrition, decision making, etc.). We play games, do some lessons and have a great time.

I have expanded on this idea in my village as well as there is an NGO that supports orphans by sending them to school. One of my cluster mates and are going to start holding a monthly club based on the NGO in Atakpame and work with these kids as well.

F) Honey & Bees: The Peace Corps Center where our annual meetings are held (in-service trainings, camps, etc.) has a bunch of bee hives that are used to show the Natural Resource Management volunteers (and their counterparts) how to keep bees for honey (and sometimes wax). I will be collaborating with some Togolese counterparts already producing honey and some other volunteers to see if we can get production up on the hives enough to create a small business for the village.

That's all the news I have for now. Hope everyone has a healthy and happy holiday season!

Which Comes First: The Rooster Or The Call To Prayer?

2008-09-20T09:24:00.006-04:00

Hey Everyone,

I’m getting into the swing of things in Pagala. I spent my first couple of weeks settling into my new house, cleaning and unpacking. After living in Agou with my host family (see below), I was looking forward to having my own space that was private and quiet.

Well, I was right about the privacy part but VERY wrong about the quiet part. As I mentioned before, sleep in Agou (even with earplugs) was very difficult due to the church bells, roosters, goats, crickets, frogs, etc. (There is even one early morning bird here that sounds like an alarm clock.) The fact that my host mother never slept (day or night) also didn’t help. My host father always kept the radio on at full volume (throughout the night) and, ironically, slept the most out of anyone in our house.

Funny side story: One night I got up at 2 AM to use the latrine and due to the total darkness, my host mother and I, both wandering across the courtyard, scared the crap out of each other. (For me, fortunately, not literally.)

“What are you doing?” She asked.

I wanted to say, in only the tone a child can use with her mother, “well, MOM, due to my fast pace toward the latrine at 2 AM, I’m about to go get sick!!!” …But, sadly, French is not my strength when I’m about to be violently ill. Instead, I repeated what she said. “What are YOU doing?”

My host mother shook her head, laughed, and responded, simply, “Oh, Emily…” What I can infer from that interaction is that I was supposed to know she didn’t sleep…EVER. I wanted to tell her she might have better luck if she broke my host father’s radio but my aforementioned problem prevented me from discussing this further with her.

Here's a picture of my host parents and two of my host sisters:

But, I digress. As I was saying, Agou was a noisy place. As you may recall, I had a mouse friend living in my ceiling in Agou. Well, I must have made a good impression on him because he called all his friends in Pagala to welcome me. I found, after a few days of pulling my hair out, that the only way to keep food safe was to put anything edibe (including crayons) in a metal casserole and put a brick on the lid. Thankfully, these formerly well-fed mice are quieter than their Agou pals.

One noise that has been added to the mix, however, is the call to prayer. My house in Pagala is flanked by two mosques. In general, I think Muslims pray five times a day. To announce prayer time at the mosque, they broadcast a message.

You know when you were little you would take the empty wrapping paper tube and put on a deep voice and make a pretend announcement? Well, that’s what call to prayer in Pagala sounds like. It sounds like a five year old is calling all the Muslims of Pagala to payer, in Arabic, through a wrapping paper tube. One time, I swear I heard him say “Mommmmma, what’s for dinner?” Either that or he said “Allllllllah, what’s for dinner?” I couldn’t be too sure.

Now, the interesting thing is that these two mosques have their call to prayer about fifteen minutes apart. My theory on why they do this is because there’s only one guy in Pagala who speaks Arabic and he has to run from one mosque to the other. Due to the fact that call to prayer can start as early as 2 AM (we’re in Ramadan right now), I’m often finding myself cursing under my mosquito net secretly hoping this guy will get lost on his way to the next mosque, providing me with enough time to fall back asleep before the next round at 5 AM.

Now as we all know from cartoons (or maybe just cornflake commercials), roosters crow at sunrise, right? Au contraire, mon frère. My very scientific roo-search proves otherwise.

FACT: Roosters crow throughout the day, often prompting me to yell, out loud, “You’re a little LATE!”

On more than one occasion when I have woken up to the early morning call to payer, roosters are already crowing. Which leads me to my next research topic: Which comes first- the rooster or the call to prayer? In a world with no alarm clocks do the roosters wake up the call to prayer guy or vice versa? Discuss.

Since we’re on the topic of sleep, (one of my favorite subjects), or lack thereof, it’s only fitting to share the story of how my new mattress came to be. When I was in Lome, I bought a mattress as there are none for sale in my village. The bed frame was left for me for the previous volunteer. By the time I made it to my post from Lome via bush taxi I was looking forward to a good night’s sleep chez moi. As we arrived at dusk, I took to setting up my new bed (#1 priority) right away in anticipation of the sweet dreams I was sure to have. As I unwrapped my mattress I discovered another problem (other than the mattress’ weight due to the absorption of water): the mattress was too big not only width-wise but length-wise as well. I made-do for the night but vowed to get the mattress fixed the next day. I rose early (thank you Mr. Wrapping paper tube) and rode my bike over to see my Togolese counterpart, Emmanuel.

After many salutations, I asked him if he knew someone who could cut my mattress. As it turns out, that happens to be Emmanuel’s trade. A few days later he sent an apprentice to measure the frame and take my mattress (via moto) to his shop. As most Togolese don’t sleep on mattresses, I was very clear with the apprentice (as I had already taken the measurements myself) that I needed a little room on all sides for my sheets and mosquito net. I showed the apprentice the measurements I had taken. He scoffed and took my mattress to the shop.
Two days later (after sleeping vrai Togoloese on the cement floor) my mattress returned. When I tried to place the mattress in its frame, it fit like a pair of skinny jeans does after a weekend of too many indulgences. It wasn’t pretty and, worse, it was still too big.

I sat down, feeling defeated. I cursed the gods. As I lay back for my one man pity party, I hit my head on something decidedly not a mattress part and yet decidedly something in my mattress. I decided to put my new Leatherman knife to use. I cut my mattress open to find...a MACHETE! After freaking out for a few minutes about the absurdity of the situation, I realized the gods had been on my side the whole time. I removed the rest of the mattress cover and proceeded to trim the mattress myself with said machete. Bon Travail, if I do say so myself.

After I was finished I did what any of you would do with a machete and a free afternoon. I whacked some weeds and then practiced my ninja moves.

I seem to have a knack for finding “surprises” inside things here. One time in Agou, I went to boil drinking water and as I began to fan the charcoal, something told me to open the lid. Inside was a fish swimming around.

“Mom! I called, “there’s a fish in here!”

“Hmmm…Your sister must have gotten the water from the river!”

I pulled the fish out with a cup and showed it to her and could see what was on her mind: Dinner.
It’s an animal, isn’t it?

Here’s a picture during my post visit to Pagala with the chief of my village.

If showing up at your assigned post for the next two years to be greeted by an OSU sweatshirt is not a good sign, I don’t know what is. I tried explaining to the chief that he was wearing a sweatshirt for my university in the United States but it was clear we wouldn’t be singing Hang On Sloopy together anytime soon.

You know all those clothes that you donate to Africa? Well those clothes are popular fashion here (think puffy sleeves, jellies and “Vote for Pedro” shirts). You can find “Dead Yovo” clothes, as they’re called, for sale on the street on every corner in Togo. The clothes are called “Dead Yovo” because Togolese can’t believe people that are alive would give away their clothes.

On my next visit to the chief, he wasn’t wearing an OSU sweatshirt, but he also wasn’t wearing a Michigan sweatshirt so I consider that a good sign. I greeted the chief, through his representative, in Ewe, the local language. As my chief speaks through a representative, the representative informed me we would be blessing my arrival and secure a healthy two years in Pagala. Then, out came a bottle of whiskey, enclosed in a box. Also enclosed in the box? A giant cockroach. I tried to keep in my laughs as I continued to move my eyes between the rep and the floor. (You’re not allowed to look the chief in the eye.) After we blessed my arrival with an 8 AM shot of whiskey, my chief asked (through his representative) if I knew any other Ewe words. I point at the ground and said the Ewe word for cockroach. After the chief stopped laughing, he reached out his hand and said directly: "Welcome to Pagala."

One word I don’t know in local language? Snake. Based on recent events, I have decided it is necessary to learn this word in ALL 10+ local languages. As I’m sure you can see where this is going, I will say this only once: If you are not interested to hear of my first snake encounter in Togo, I suggest you stop reading.

In general, I bathe twice a day here- once in the morning and once at night before I go to bed. My shower in Agou had no ceiling, providing beautiful views of Mount Agou at sunrise and many spotting of shooting stars at night. My shower in Pagala, however, had a roof. When I was visiting Pagala during my post visit, I thought to myself “this would be a good place for a snake to hide. It’s cool, damp and dark”. Because of this fear, my first week here I asked my counterpart if he could help me find a mason to take off the roof. Every time I brought this chore up, I got the reassuring, “sure, next time…” (This is a common response in Togo.)

My first week at post, I took an evening bucket bath (by candlelight) and went to sleep. I woke up and began my morning routine with a trip to the shower room. I was surprised to find evidence of a snake in the form of a snake skin. It was then that I decided the following:

1) A shower was not necessary that morning.

2) The roof needed to come off immediately.

I rushed over to Emmanuel’s on my bike and as soon as I said the word “snake” we took off on our bikes together to find a mason. Within two hours my ceiling was off all for the price of two US dollars. As Emmanuel was leaving, he handed me a giant stick and said, in a serious tone, “You should keep this in the shower room. If the snake comes back, just hit it with the stick.”

“hmmm…” I said, “If I see a snake again, maybe I could call you to help me?”

“Sure!” he replied. “Then we can eat snake together for dinner!”

“I’ll tell you what, Emmanuel, if you kill a snake in my house, consider it a gift.”

That night before bed, I went on snake patrol (as I have continued to do every night since). Now, if you ever feel the need to do snake patrol chez vous, I recommend the following course of action:

1) Carry a lantern AND a headlamp just in case one happens to go out midsearch.

2) Carry a bottle of insecticide (you never know what other creepy crawlies you may encounter).
3) Carry a big stick. (I'm not really sure what you would do with the stick but the Togolese seem to think big sticks are necessary.)

After checking for the potentially real monsters under my bed that evening, I tucked and re-tucked my mosquito net many times. As I lay in bed the jaws theme music began playing in my head. I was over-thinking every noise and every shadow provided by my lit candles. As I lay there, my final thought of the evening: We’re going to need a bigger stick.

Tales From Agou

2008-08-22T11:57:00.006-04:00

Hey Everyone,

Hard to believe I've been here over two months! A lot has happened since I last posted but I'll do my best to catch you up. The first few weeks here were a bit of a rollercoaster. A lot of things that I thought would be difficult (such as getting really sick) turned out not to be so hard and things that I didn't think would bother me (like people staring or yelling at me) can upset me enough to make me cry. By now I've found ways to cope with the things I found hard and am settling well into life here.

I’m in Lome (the capital of Togo) right now being “sworn in” as a new volunteer with the rest of my stage (all the American trainees I came here with). We’ve been having a lot of fun enjoying the showers (albeit it cold ones), electricity and ice cream! On Monday we will all depart for our respective posts throughout Togo. (Below is a picture of my friend Kristina and me at our swearing-in ceremony.)

My post is in a village named Pagala in the center of the country not too far from the Ghanian border. My house is really great! I have three big rooms and the previous volunteer made the place very homey. There’s no electricity or running water, however, I found during my post visit that dining by candlelight (even by yourself) adds a certain je ne sais quoi. I don’t have any specific jobs that I will be taking over; however, I have some ideas for projects based on my post visit and discussions with the previous volunteer. I’ll keep you posted on my work as it progresses.

As I mentioned in my last post, I had been living with a host family in a village in the town of Agou. Agou is about an hour northwest of Lome and close to the highest point in the country. There are beautiful views of Mount Agou and the weather is (thankfully) sometimes cooler due to the higher altitude (and the fact that it's rainy season). The roads are beautiful red clay and the scenery is really green and overgrown.

My host family in Agou was terrific! I am going to miss them a lot. We had a lot of fun together and laughed...A LOT. Mostly we laughed at my incompetence with using latrines, washing clothes by hand, pounding fufu, etc. Of course, as you would suspect, I have some funny stories to share about my family…

The first story I want to share will be most amusing to my friends at Seyfarth (who thought it was funny that I had never had a hot dog my whole life) and my family in Arizona (who I was with when I ate my first hot dog--one month before leaving for Togo). One night I came home from class and my host mom called me over with a mischievous look in her eye. She told me that my brother brought me a special present from Lome. I could tell she was really excited to show me what it was. She opened it up a black sachet, and, sure enough, it was hot dogs. I laughed so hard I think she thought that hot dogs were my favorite food. Since that day I received hot dogs at least once a day (sometimes twice). She cut them up in small pieces and fried them, put them in sauces, omlettes...you name it. Never did I imagine that I would go my whole life without eating hot dogs and then have all I could eat in Togo.

I have noticed here that Togolese who know one “yovo” (as we are called) think they know them all. Apparently one of the other yovos my family came in contact with somehow expressed their love for ketchup (which is not readily available in Togo). Somehow, my host mother got a hold of a bottle for me and presented it to me in the same fashion as the hot dogs. I expressed some enthusiasm although I wasn’t quite sure how I was supposed to eat it (as the hot dogs were usually in a sauce of some kind already). The bottle of ketchup showed up for every single meal (breakfast, lunch and dinner). When my host mother realized I wasn’t eating it, she asked me what I wanted to eat it with. I explained I would eat it with French fries or plantain chips. From that day forward I received French fries and/or plantain chips with lunch and dinner. As my post visit was approaching and the bottle of ketchup was dwindling, my host mother insisted I take the bottle with me to for my week long post visit. “I know you can’t live without it…” she said. I tried explaining that I was taking all of my luggage and traveling in a bush taxi and was worried about the bottle breaking, but to no avail. And hence, I schlepped the bottle of ketchup halfway up the country (and back) and didn’t open it once. (Below is a picture of me and my friend Kristina--a fellow Bostonian--on our way up to our posts for post visit. Note the ketchup bottle.)

The first day I got to Agou my host mom took me by the hand through our village and walked me to a boutique so I could show her some of the food I liked. I felt like she was parading me through our village and I could almost imagine her saying “look at our yovo! Isn’t she tall and…WHITE? She’s not quite as fat as we were hoping but we’ll get her nice and plump before she leaves here.” That same day we had a fete with our host families and broke bread (ou bien fufu) for the first time . I went up to the buffet to get some food with my family. My mom stood behind me and, after pinching my sides, declared, “Il faut manger! Il faut prendre encore!” (This translates, literally, to mean, “It’s necessary to eat! It’s necessary to take more!” Little did I know that these phrases would be repeated at every meal I sat down for with for the duration of my stay with my host family. Needless to say, I left Agou a little bigger than when I got there. My host mom was quite pleased with her good work. When I said goodbye to my host family, my host mother’s parting words were “Don’t forget to eat! You have to eat a lot, ok? Don’t forget!” I won’t forget to eat while I am here but I certainly won’t be eating any more hot dogs.

Another amusing story is related to being sick. (It's helpful if I can laugh about being sick here). Almost every time I went to the latrine (which is on the opposite end of the compound as my room), when I'd walk back through the courtyard my mom would yell “Emily, tu fais le caca?”. Which, can literally be translated as “did you make the poop?”. Keep in mind there are always assured to be many people around (and within hearing range) that all look at me in anticipation of my answer. Before I answered I always tried to give her my best “mom, you're EMBARASSING me” look but it didn’t stop her from asking.

I have to tell you, however, my host mom was really concerned about my comfort, health and happiness. In the room where I took my bucket baths, there were GIANT cockroaches. I didn't say anything about it for the first few weeks I was there (although I admit I showered with one eye open for a while). When I finally asked her about the cockroaches, she said “oh, no problem. If they're in there, you just tell your mom and I will come take care of it.” So, sure enough, one night when I went to go bucket bathe, there were two cockroaches. “Mom?” I said, “There are two cockroaches in here”. No problem, she said. She grabs a little broom, smacked them off the wall and crushed them with her bare feet. Let me tell you, friends, you have not lived until you have seen your African momma kill cockroaches the size of your first with her bare feet. “There you go” she said, “You don't have to be scared anymore”.

My host mom thought I was scared of a lot of things here (and, in reality, it has taken a little bit of time to adjust to some of the spiders, bugs and rodents). In Agou, I had a mouse that lived in my ceiling that made A LOT of noise at night. I slept with earplugs in anyway (the goats and roosters always woke me up otherwise) but the mouse was so loud that it woke me up regardless. At first, I kept a battery of shoes next to my bed and would just chuck them at the ceiling when he would make noise. I told my mom about the problem and she just kind of laughed and asked me if I was scared. “Don't worry,” she said, “they're not in YOUR room, they're in the room next to yours.” Oh, ok then. At any rate, it continued to be a problem for me (despite getting better with the aim of my shoes). One night my mom came to my room and said she had a present for me. She had solved my mouse problem (since our cats had yet to catch my mouse). She hands me a big stick and says “this will work better than your shoes, I think”. Good call, mom.

Also, I should mention that the odds of my mouse being caught would have been better if my family hadn’t eaten some of our cats while I was there. When I arrived, we had five “pet” cats. By pets I mean that we let them poop in our courtyard and eat our mice (except for the one in my ceiling, apparently). I noticed after a month or so that there were only two cats around. “What happened to the other cats?” I asked my mom. “Oh, we ate them…” I didn’t have the nerve to ask if I had eaten one but chances are, if I did, I probably mistook it for a hot dog. Apparently I wasn’t very good at disguising my look of horror because my mom asked if we ate cats in America. “No” I meekly replied. “Well, it’s an animal, isn’t it?” She has a point, I guess.

Hope you have enjoyed these stories. There are so many wonderful and humorous things I would like to share but I’ll have to save them for a future blog post! Closest internet from my post is a 3 hour bush taxi ride so I can’t promise very regular blog updates. I will keep in touch as best I can! My address is noted on my first blog post should you want to write me a letter (I will get mail more frequently than I can check email). I also have a cell phone which seems to work fairly well. My Togo cell # is 938.52.29. To call (or text me) just dial 011228 and then the phone number. I don't have voicemail but if you would like to set up a time to talk feel free to text me!

I'll keep you posted! Miss you guys! Eat some pizza and think of me!!!!

I have also posted a picture below of my host mom helping me get dressed in a traditional togolese complet (my sister is in the background).

Emily

Bienvenue a Togo!

2008-06-09T17:48:00.000-04:00

Well Friends,

I wanted to send you all a quick hello to let you know that I have arrived in Togo safely. We traveled to Lome (Togo's capital) after a few days of training in Philly. The Peace Corps has been taking AMAZING care of us-- even going as far as changing money for us and picking up some items we may need. The food has been great and no one has gotten sick...so far.

On Wednesday we travel to Agou where we will be staying with host families while receiving training on language and culture from the Peace Corps staff. After some information today about how to take bucket showers and pee in a latrine (or worse), we're ready to go! In case you were wondering, the proper way to pee in a latrine is to tap the lid first to scare away any creatures that may be living in there (lizards, roaches, etc.).

I'm really looking forward to meeting my host family and working on my french with them at home. I had a french language placement test the other day and though my french is somewhat rusty, I think I did alright. The instructor began by asking me questions about my family. He didn't believe me when I said I was an only child. He said, "surely many must have died in infancy". Unfortunately my french was not good enough to explain that one but I figure there will be more opportunity in the future.

That's all for now. I'll write when I can!

Emily

Au Revoir, Mes Amis!

2008-05-29T10:35:00.014-04:00

Friends and Family,

Welcome to my blog!

As you know, I have been working towards my Peace Corps placement for over a year now. In the past year I have gotten a lot of questions from all of you. A lot of the discussions went like this:

Friend: Peace Corps! That's cool. Will you live in a city?
Me: I won't really know until I get there and get my placement. It's likely that I'll be living in some sort of simple hut.

Friend: ...Will you have electricity or running water?
Me: I won't really know until I get there, but...probably not...

Friend: What will you eat?
Me: Mostly vegetables...
Friend: That's cool.
Me: ...That I grow myself...
Friend: ...Oh...

Friend: So...exactly how crazy are you???

There was a time when I may have defended myself, however, as I start packing my mosquito encased hammock (which I will be sleeping in), my SPF 75 sunblock and my field guides to poisonous snakes, I'm wondering if I didn't give you guys enough credit.

Another popular question (which I am also unable to answer) is how much I will be able to stay in touch with everyone. I should have email access, however, I'm not sure how often that will be. I also have an address that you can send mail to.

Here is the address, should you be in the neighborhood (visitors are encouraged!):

Emily Lagasse, PCV
Corps de la Paix
B.P. 3194
Lomé, Togo
West Africa

I will post to this blog as often as I can (which will probably not be that often) to update you on my life in Togo. I will send everyone an email letting you know when I have posted something new.

I hope we are able to keep in touch over the next two years although I know it will be more difficult than usual. I wish I could be with you for all of the weddings, new jobs and exciting changes everyone is going through. Although I may not be able to call or write often please know that I will be thinking of you. Of course, when I get back, I look forward to catching up with you on all of your adventures (preferably with a glass of ice water in an air conditioned building).

Until my next post... A Bientot!

Emily

PS: If you do decide to visit, let me know far enough in advance so that I can grow enough food for both of us!