13 April 2013
Disclaimer: The following, and anything written herein this blog, is my personal opinion and incite and in no way reflects the opinions and/or standards of the Peace Corps or the American Government.
Et la Durée?
It’s been awhile, sorry! I’ve been busy, had a mini-(spring)vacation with some friends, been sick, and have had some technical difficulties…
I can’t remember where I read/heard this quote but for some reason it has stuck with me:
“You go to school to learn how to learn.”
à Creative thinking vs. repetition/memorizationß
To me this is specifically relevant and interesting after teaching for almost a whole school year in Western Africa. I find myself constantly comparing the American school system to that of the Togolese, and thanking my lucky stars that I grew up an American citizen. We aren’t perfect and have our protests and problems too, but I feel spoiled and privileged compared to the students here. In a class of 125 students, with temperatures over 100*F, no school books (just class notes written in your notebooks), and malnourishment, I wonder how these kids learn at all; and how the teachers can teach under these conditions while being more underpaid than any other country in West Africa. Apparently Togo is the only country in all of West Africa to not increase government paid employees (teachers, doctors, etc) in the last 30 years. And that my friends is why Larba’s job has been difficult lately; the teachers have been striking, “Grève”ing, and thus not teaching more and more. The Government keeps saying it’s going to give in just to get them to go back and teach but then when the teachers go back, the government fails to commit. And so just the other day, the students ofDapaong were protesting the teacher’s protest. I was so proud! They just want to learn and have the knowledge and capabilities to take their exams and succeed. School is supposed to end soon, with finals being the week of May 13-17, but the outlook is unclear. Before, on Greve days, I was able to still teach and do clubs with the other “volunteer” teachers, but now even the kids have stopped coming. I just talked to one of the teachers from my school today and as far as he knows, we are Greve-ing Monday and until they get what they want. So Miss Larba may not teach until September? At least I still have my women’s group.
*NOTE: “Volunteer” teachers are those here that aren’t paid by the Government. The Government only gives an allowance for each school to have a certain number of paid employees. Volunteer teachers are paid using the school fees that the students give at the beginning of each school year (and some don’t pay until the end- the director is still hounding some students to get their parents to pay). Once they accumulate [an uncertain amount of] hours of teaching, they can be placed usually in another village as a paid employee [or recognized teacher].
CLUBS/ACTIVITIES:
Odyssey of the Mind:
Going well! The kids really love it and are getting better with the creative thinking aspect. The competition is May 18th, and I hope they are ready and excited to go down to Kara to compete against the other Togolese students! We just introduced the “long-term problem” the other day and I’m interested to see the students’’’ ideas at our next meeting. I have had them do an egg-drop, a card castle, team-maze, category game, and create and preform a song of protest. They always start out so shy, it’s cute but also kind of frustrating. I hope they open up more by the 18th!
Women’s Group:
After a successful first sale of our liquid soap, I bought two more kits for them to make and sell. They get a kick out of the process and feel really accomplished whenever they hand money over to me. And they are doing great with re-paying their microloan as well. They are super conscientious about repayment. They, however, have been slacking on showing up on time for our most recent meetings. I’ve had to cancel two because of their tardiness. We have scheduled our next meeting for Wednesday, and they’ve told me that they will be early, not on time; we’ll see.
HEALTH:
Amoeba’s, bacteria and heat rash, oh my! I came back from vaca in Kpalimé and felt awful. I was having trouble finishing any meal, was cramping, and super tired. Turns out that the meds they gave me before didn’t fix my problem. So I was given new and improved meds… and super strong…. For the week of taking them, I was virtually zombified. I was on 2 pills, one of which can also be used for victims of Anthrax. But the clinic and the PCMO’s have been super sweet and cooperative. Flore, the newest med unit doctor in Lomé, has called to check on my every few days. The last phone call I complained of a new heat rash (which I’ve never had in my life before taking these new meds- so I thought it may be an allergic reaction) and I was told to clean myself more and use baby-powder. Thanks med unit, thanks.
Good part about looking and feeling like poop: people are nicer to you here and I got a few free moto rides (4 to be exact- no big deal). In a country where being sick can often mean death, people are super understanding and gentle with the ill.
FAM BAM:
I’ve been eating and hanging out more with my Togolese host family lately, and it’s been super nice. They like me just sitting there, god forbid I help them with something and give them a heart attack of delight. I helped re-make Mama Elise’s Tchuck making stove recently and now the head meat man (the guy who was also lead guy in the stove project) is much nicer to me. He gifted me some donkey meat the other day in market! The kids... are kids. I’ve been doing more games with them this past week since school hasn’t been in session. We’ve played hopscotch, rock-paper-scissors (this game needs a new name btw), dominoes (as gifted to me by Aunt Lynita), tic-tac-toe (using the dirt, rocks and small tree leaves), card games, and coloring (thanks to coloring books from gma- and construction paper from my sis Addie).
MOBA (local language):
I’m trying! And most recently I have been getting some compliments on my progression. Of course there are still awesome people that judge me because I’ve been in Tami all of almost 8 months and I am not fluent yet. There are also those that judge me before greeting me—and to those few, I usually brush them off, but sometimes I show off and ask them any question I know- relevant or not. I may go from good afternoon, how’s the work, and the wife, to: I want rice, you’re dirty and I’m going to the school… A select few people seem to get my humor sometimes.
We had another weekend of Peace Corps paid Moba lessons the last week of March, and it seemed to go well. I think the tutor is getting more comfortable with us (and our weird American ways) and we are slowly catching on to the Moba speaking thing. Our next Moba session is the last week of this month- maybe we’ll learn another cool song?
I was discussing the meaning of Moba names with my Director and homologue the other day and here are a few I had them write down:
“Tchorinteman”: Respect is good
“Kounkagnogou”: There is no medicine for death
“Dabontin”: Don’t tell me lies
Anything with “Yendou”: Has to do with God or the sun
BOOKS:
“Unpolished Gem,” by Alice Pung was a delightful read. The book is a unique memoir of the transition of three generations of Cambodian refugees living and assimilating in Australia. The story follows the lives and tribulations of the grandmother, mother and daughter (the author) and is not only filled with serious issues of cultural integration and societal faux pas but is also hilarious at the same time.
I am just about done with the latest read: “The Elegance of the Hedgehog,” by Muriel Barbery. It starts out a little slow and dense but I’m quite enjoying it now. There are some thoughtful anecdotes and insights on life from the prospective of both an older widowed hotel concierge and a young suicidal intellectual teen. Any book that criticizes Parisian culture has got my attention.
RANDOM:
I am not only an apprentice for clothes-mending and masonry but also now a veterinarian apprentice as well! I gave a sick baby sheep a de-worming shot the other day, with the help of his owner and Mohamed the Vet.
Rocko is getting better at accepting “baths”.
I bought concentrated citronella while in Kpalimé and used it to clean my latrine/shower area and to mop my floors inside and out. I also gave it to Mama Elise to clean the rest of the family compound too, and she was thrilled! It not only smells lovely but it’s supposedly anti-mosquito.
Madame Rose and PCV Aaron came to my village and we did some site development scouting in Tanlongue, a neighboring village about 14 km away. She was proud of my research but didn’t find it developed enough for an EGE PCV, so she’s recommending it for the EAFS (environment) program.
Last month we had our first rain since November! And it’s rained a few times since then. One day Tami even got hail—although no other Volunteer in my region had hail, just me (they think I’m making it up).
The “Chateau d’Eau” (water castle) is almost done! They say that in about a month Tami will have running water in 5 locations around the village. The men working there were quite friendly and welcoming and took the time to explain to me what they’ve done and the process of putting in a water system. I think most- if not all- the men are from other regions of Togo, which I found interesting. The project is Japanese Government run, and you’d think they would want to use local workforce, but I guess they contract through the bigger cities of Lomé and Kara.
The other day I was sitting on my porch talking to the Science teacher about camp applications and Odyssey of the Mind planning, when a man with housing blueprints walks up and asks for our help. He has been contracted to be head mason on this new housing project in Ghana and the floor plans were in English and the dimensions weren’t descriptive enough. So, he needed our help to translate them into French and to make a new scale with dimensions of each individual room and wall. I felt needed and thankful, once again, for my American education because of how much easier it was for me to figure things out than for them.
Semaine Culturelle:
I still get complimented on my dancing skills. Semaine Culturelle, or Cultural week, is a worldwide event (I remember doing stuff in High School in the States) but here it’s kind of just another holiday where people get together and eat and drink (but hey, that’s most holidays anywhere). We had a “fete” at the school on that Thursday, where each class (grade) put money together and paid a woman to cook a dish. When I got to the school some of the kids were arguing about which class was going to get to feed me- the seniors won of course. So I ate, danced, then ate and drank, then danced again, then ate and drank again, then danced til I was exhausted. The parent committee made food for the Volunteer teachers and paid for a drink for each of us. Then the Director invited the clinic women and myself for another drink and some food that he made (himself). The next morning, the first thing that my brother said to me was: “Good Morning! I saw you dancing with the Director!” And to be frank, I was in a group of people with the director there and I didn’t even get a yard stick close to anyone- female or male; but I will let them live in their pool of small-village gossip. Good times.
Kpalimé:
MISSING IT ALREADY! My fellow Savannes Volunteers (Savamily) and I planned and executed a trip down south to one of the only [arguably THE only] tourist destinations in Togo for “Spring Break”. It’s really not that far away geographically but it’s so different and GREEN! Considering Savannes went 5 months without precipitation (it’s pretty much a desert) it was a breathe of fresh air [literally] to see foliage. I spent way more money there than I’d ever spend in a week up North but it was worth it. We swam in two different pools: Hotel Kristal (with a swim-up bar) and Hotel Geyser (simple but clean and private). We ate AMAZING food (as compared to Togolese Pate and rice that we’re used to): Pizza, hamburgers, Belgian Stroganoff, meatballs, and ice cream! The Belgian place, “Bon Vivant”, also had imported bottled Belgian beers! We took a trip to this coffee plantation/farm, Café Kuma, and had a nice moto ride up and down this mountain, free coffee sampling, and a tour around the grounds. On the way back down the mountain, we stopped on the side of the road to look at butterfly art and to get painted on (using natural tree bark paints), and again to look at and play in this waterfall. We also made our own “Batik” Panye (fabric), through a morning session at Chantal’s house (she’s a small business owner who’s worked with a few PCV’s in the past). We had wood-carved stencils that we dipped into wax and printed on white fabric. After that, they dyed the fabric and laid it to dry. The panye was then boiled in water to lift out the wax and dried again. It was kind of tedious but definitely a unique experience. We spent one night at this place called Africa Bar, making friends with Europeans and Rasta-men. And we also made it over to the College Des Arts to look at and pick up some local artwork/jewelry. The trip to and from was absolutely ridiculous and annoying (mostly because of the drivers and not the crappy road), but the time there was great.
!!!AND!!! ALYSSA MARIE HANLON IS COMING TO VISIT SOON!!! It’s official: Girl has gotten her shots, done the research and bought the tickets. She will be arriving at around 3:30am on May 21st… if all goes well! We plan to spend a week in Togo then head off to South Africa for a four day hike/safari trip =D But I’m having trouble with the new camera; so, fingers crossed I get it back up and running before the trip!
Well folks, that about wraps up all I can type for now without writing a lengthier novel of a blog post. Plus my memory sucks, so that’s all I can remember really. You’re welcome and until next time!
P.S. Love and miss those of you that I know and like =)
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Fatima with the water pump men:
Chubby baby lovin'
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