What will be, will be.
I was listening to a Togolese radio station and this phrase
popped up in one of the songs… And it stuck.
Desk Update:
All money is now in the hands of the menusier (carpenter) and
we have a hand written confirmation with official stamps to prove it.
Projected date of delivery of desks is this Wednesday…
African time? So most likely next Monday.
I checked in today and saw that a good deal of the desks were complete. I took pics, asked a few questions and then
was on my way.
School “Jardin”:
So far, all the cement bricks were made, then a base of
cement was poured (like a cement pit lining), followed by wooden posts (also
cemented in), and metal squares on each corner (that will also be filled with
cement). Unfortunately we were one bag
short and couldn’t get the president of the Parent-Teachers association to come
to a meeting for two weeks (we also had other items on the agenda- such as
prepping for the soccer program). Right
when we got the one last bag, our mason went to Ghana. So now we wait for him to come back to finish
the corner pillars, mount the fence and the door. I may just start planting before he’s
finished because I’m getting impatient and weary of the rainy season floods. Also, the original dimensions were 10x10,
but we had to change it to 8x8 because of all the cement needed. I just wanted a simple garden and now it’s
turned into an indestructible cement garden.
At least it will stand up against all the animals and children!
Teaching:
This past Thursday was MY LAST DAY ENGLISH TEACHING in Togo!
I guess it will feel more real when we finished exams, grading and report cards
go out. We started exams today but I
don’t have “surveillance” duty until Wednesday so I took a much deserved “me”
day in Dapaong to go through email, update the blog, and maybe work on future
RPCV Larba a bit?
I feel like the last days of teaching just flew by so
quickly… I wanted to get through more chapters and review more but I can only
do so much! And one day school just didn’t happen because it started pouring
rain early and didn’t end until right before lunch. I ended up giving an extra quiz the last week
too because the midterm grades were so poor.
My fingers are crossed for decent exam grades…
Also, on a positive note that started with a negative note…
I was grading midterms and was almost in tears over the horrible grades. Then I came upon the test of one male student
that actually did make me tear up. I
have had this student since last year and his handwriting is literally the
worst I have ever come across… It’s so bad that I had to threaten to give him a
zero if he didn’t try better on the next test.
Well guess what? He tried so hard to write better that his writing was
going through his paper… And his grade was better! He normally gets a 5-7 out
of 20, and this time he got a 9.5! *Proud and priceless teacher moment*. I normally only give stickers to students who
pass (10/20), but I gave him one too for his effort.
Clubs:
ScientiFIQUE: We had our last meeting of the school year,
complete with popcorn and juice (just a little added bonus for their hard work
and putting up with me). The girls that
were selected to do the Volcano presentations did so and we finally made the
model volcano “erupt”! I put liquid soap in the mix so the eruption lasted
longer than expected. I also chose to
use juice powder instead of food dye because if the students want to replicate
the experiment to show people, I wanted to use resources available to them (and
food dye can probably only be found for super expensive in Lome). I then showed them the seeds that were
donated to me through Gretchen, and had my host brother Boris run through some
stuff he learned at camp Eco-Action last year that is relevant to our garden
project. Hopefully some of the members
will be available to help with the garden over the summer, but at the very
least I always have Boris (Mamba).
Clumbes De La Paix: Meeting postponed until after exam
week. With end of the year
review/tutoring, the soccer program and other holidays/fetes, we just didn’t
have time to get our last meeting in.
But we are going to invite the students to come back with they like to
do a last session on sexual harassment.
I photocopied this document I think will be useful to them and the
community. If they do come, they will be
greeted with popcorn and juice also…!
Women’s Group:
The paperwork to become an official government-recognized
group is complete! We have a meeting next week to get everyone’s signatures and
then it’s official. I hope to get the
ladies official shirts before I leave… We shall see how the funds look for
broke volunteer Larba before I speak too quickly on that. It’s 2,000 CFA per shirt and there’s 15 women
plus 2 “managers”. Maybe we can
“cotiser” (raise) money together?
They are still making liquid soap and reaping a pretty
decent benefit, collectively. I made and
copied a count sheet for the soap sales.
I hope that will help to keep records when I am gone.
There’s a WWEC (Women’s Conference) luncheon coming up this
Friday, that I plan to attend with the woman that I sent this past March. They hope to get followup feedback and also
just to treat them to a nice lunch at a place most of them would never eat (due
to expenses). I like the idea and can’t
wait to dine with them.
Easter:
So apparently when you are invited to a “fete”
(party/celebration), especially one with where the person wrote out invitations
and sealed an envelope, you are supposed to show up and give money. Djato and I were invited to 2 parties on
Easter and were broke… But we made it work.
And we had a good time! He started out in pissy mood (mostly because it
was me forking out for the both of us- we each had separate envelopes) but it
got better as the day went on. The first
party was a Baptism party for the niece of the hairdresser who offered me free
hairstyles every month in exchange for a “metise” (mixed) baby before I
leave. The second was a baptism party
for the first daughter of my carpenter (for the desk project). Did I mention you also get served a giant
plate of food with tons of meat and beverages at each? We were over-full before
the first of three courses was finished at the carpenter’s party. Also Director Daniel (desk project co-captain)
met up with us at the carpenter’s party.
We then went over to visit PCV Chelsea because the 2nd fete
was in her village. I had no idea what
village we were heading to before hand, but when we got there people started
calling me “Yendoutien” (her local name).
Her family also happened to be throwing a baptism party! And she was
also hosting a PCV from down south. We
didn’t stay too long at the 3rd party because we were partied out by
that point, but it’s a courtesy to visit the PCV when you happen to stumble in
their village. After napping about 30
minutes at Djato’s house, we were called back out to a bar where one of Djato’s
sister’s wanted to buy us a beer. Aaaand
after that and a little Moba dancing with strangers, we really hit the
hay. Never spent Easter in this fashion,
but def a success I’d say.
“Premiere Mai” fete:
The morning was mellow because I didn’t get stuck cooking
for all the teachers this year. Then I
went around 2pm to eat, drink and hang out with all the teachers. There are always random people at the school
too, and someone always pays for a DJ, so the party is livelier. I got into an argument with Djato and he left
to go to Dapaong (but turned around because I made him…). Then some more beverages with friends and
dancing and then I crashed until I had to leave at 4am the next day…
Kara University program:
So my friend Margaret has been planning this program where
she brings 16 of the girls from her girls club to the University of Kara (about
2.5 hours away) to motivate them to stay in school, go further with their
education, and seek jobs crossing the gender norm barrier. And she called me the week before asking for
me to come and help… And even with all the ciaos I was going through with my
own plans, I made it there for 3 out of the 4 days. I had gotten virtually no sleep from the
Premier Mai celebration (I went to bed probably about 11pm and woke up at 4am
to moto from Tami to Dapaong to catch a bus to Kara), but I made it. I helped any way that I could and even led a
session on Sexual Harassment with Malika, one of the Togolese work partners
that I had the pleasure of working with previously at Camp Etoiles Du
Nord. Margaret also invited some awesome
local female role models to speak to the girls, including a female military officer. The girls giggled in delight as the officer
described how since she went to school and outranked some male personnel, she
was able to order them around and even punish them if they disrespected her or
her commands. There were also numerous
university students who motivated the girls, and one in particular came to the
hotel and showed the girls the AGR (income-generating activity) of jewelry
making. He showed examples, taught them
multiple techniques, and how to calculate profit (to actually earn money!). On the way back to Koumongou, the driver
surprised the girls and stopped at the outdoor market to show the girls another
side of Kara. Margaret texted me a few
days after thanking me and letting me know the impact of the sketch on sexual
harassment had on the girls, and also the difference in behavior between those
girls that went and those that didn’t.
MORE THAN A GAME:
After my class on my last day of teaching, I had a van show
up at my market, full of PCVs (4 to be exact) and balls (50 to be exact)! I had
been planning the meals for my guests since the week prior and specially
requested that Rachel (my 2nd and favorite host mom) be sent to Tami
to cook for us. I fronted the money and
while I was at school, she was buying chickens and rice and such to prepare for
the next three days. The first day of
formation was pretty mellow and most people were tired (especially the organizers
because they just spent over 4 weeks on the road doing this same program in
each region). The students showed up
early and were so well behaved that even I was surprised. The students also provided endless pump water
the whole time, and raised money to provide the guests with a drink each day of
the training. The second day went great
and there was more energy going around. And
the kids seem to really get into the activities and soccer matches. Also more PCVs and some of their
work-partners showed up. Every meal went
over well and Rachel was applauded (especially for her now-famous fried
chicken). On the 3rd day there
was a final soccer match, a ceremony with certificate and ball distribution,
photo ops, a final gifted beverage, and then we hit the road! They asked me if
I could ride down to Pagala (over half-way through the country) to pick up the
remaining balls and distribute them to the upper 3 regions (drop-offs in Sokode,
Kara, and Dapaong), and responded I would only do it if my boyfriend came along… So Djato and I took a little road trip and
the organizers were so grateful that they gifted my boyfriend a shirt and soccer
ball as well! Each of the 5 regions were sent 200 balls each and we carried
balls for 3 regions; each case had 10 balls, so we trucked around 60 boxes
yesterday. We got in last night and
after a shower, I realized that I left my memory USB (it’s actually not mine
either) in the vehicle that was on it’s way back down to Pagale! I called my boyfriend who was already on his
way to track down the drivers! He drove all the way to Tanjouare (about 25
minutes from Dapaong) and actually tracked down the car on his moto and brought
it back for me. And poor Djato had to
leave bright and early to be to work on time this morning… What a trooper!
Savanes Bike Tour (FARN):
We had a meeting on the 26th of April to discuss
logistics, and now the next meeting is this Saturday to plan sessions! The tour
itself is happening the week after our COS conference, so the 2nd
and 3rd weeks of June. I’m
host at the second location so I have to start planning meals and water and
such.
GAD:
We are passing the torch! We had PCVs apply for positions
and we sent out acceptance emails after careful consideration. We have a meeting scheduled with the new
members on the morning of the 3rd of June, the day before training
starts for the COS conference. We hope
that the next team can really revamp GAD Togo and do some great programming in
the future! And I will continue to be a resource until my departure on August 7th…
And after if they really need it.
Dapaong House Manager:
After a brief time as co-house managers, Winter and I will
be passing the torch as well. The
afternoon after the bike tour meeting is a VAC (Volunteer Action Committee—the go-between
entre admin and PCVs) meeting and then a house meeting. We hope to discuss a few items on our agenda
and then hold a house manager election.
It doesn’t have to take effect right away but we wanted to at least make
a joint decision before stuff got crazy over summer break.
La Ti Da (aka the random/gossip section):
There are few things more therapeutic than bucket-washing
your underwear… It’s humbling, productive and satisfying…
I got pretty angry one day in the market. I was returning from purchasing my weekly
items (tomato paste, sardines, etc), and the president of the Parents from
Tami-Zongo Primary school stopped to chat with me. He inquired about the desks and I gave him
the update. I had literally just given
the remaining money to the carpenter the day before and was feeling
accomplished. And then he informed me
that some parents started to mock him and voice concerns about us. That it was taking too long and that we had “boofed”
the money ourselves. I quickly asked him
if I was included in this grouping of thieves, and wasn’t happy to hear the
reply of yes. So… I let him hear it… In
front of people in the market… And I know it wasn’t him per say that had the
thoughts but he was indeed the messenger and I wanted a message to be sent back
(and a few witnesses didn’t hurt either).
I let him know how much money was raised on my side in comparison, and
how it took them 3 months to raise it and they were complaining not even a
month of the carpenter actually starting the project. Most of all, I wanted him to let them know
that I wasn’t happy that people I was helping for free accused me of stealing,
when I have never actually ever been accused of thievery anytime or anywhere in
my life! The parents in my area specifically like to give all authority figures
a hard time, especially when it comes to money, because of past encounters with
corruption. But sometimes I think they
over-step boundaries. And this was one
of those times. I called up Director
Daniel and he showed up a bit later to talk it over with one of his teachers
present. I now understand the pain and
frustration of the directors in my village, when every time they want to meet
with the parents of the people they are helping to educate and they are
confronted with bitterness and accusations.
I’ve seen quite a few parents since then and to them, nothing has changed;
for the most part, they love me. I can
take a guess at the one parent who mocked and accused us (he does it to every
director at every parents meeting…)…
So there’s this old man… He gave me advice one day and truly
un-broke the broken Larba, so to speak.
I bought this random vegetable in my market because some woman told me
that it was like Moba mushrooms and they were delicious and easy to prepare. Come to find out that my neighbors (my
adopted host family since I’ve been distant with my actual fam) don’t know how
to prepare them and some old man sitting in her stand told me that if I didn’t
prepare them correctly that I could get mouth sores. It was getting dark and I hadn’t purchased
anything else to prepare and I knew Djato would be coming hungry because it was
his week to do the on-call shift; so I got nervous. Then the old man started to explain how to
cook them… I zoned out, lost in my own thoughts and then tried to just gift him
the Moba mushrooms. He refused and asked
me if I was “Peace Corps”… He told me as a “Peace Corps” you’re supposed to
experiment and experience things. And
instead of angering further as I probably normally would, I stopped and
listened. He had apparently worked with several
PCVs in the past from surrounding areas, dating all the back to the first ever
PCV in Tami, Ruby, back in the 80s (before I was born). He encouraged me to cook this strange
vegetable and also to reflect upon my recent behavior. I cooked the Moba mushrooms in a peanut sauce
(I felt so inspired that I pounded the peanuts myself) and served it over
rice. And now when I see the old man, he
calls out “Peace Corps” or “Larba” (if he remembers that day), and we both
smile.
So I’ve got some exam proctoring to do, papers to grade,
report cards to fill (average and rank calculations for 5ieme), my VRF (volunteer
report form) to complete, a luncheon to attend, a bike tour meeting, a garden
to finish, desks to be delivered, and a GAD meeting to plan … All before I head
down to Lomé on June 2nd.
And now to work on the old résumé… I’m only 25 but I hate
that word already (and sorry mom, I know you dislike the word hate).
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