le travail du SIDA

the work we do in our communities as peace corps volunteers in togo is supposed to be defined by whatever sector we are in. be it girls' education and empowerment, health, business, or natural resource. in reality, the lines between the four are so blurred that a health volunteer could very well look more like a business volunteer, a natural resource volunteer could look more like an education volunteer, etc. in the end, a volunteer is a volunteer is a volunteer. cross sectoral work is encouraged which is great since it broadens work opportunities for everyone.

recently i feel like i've done more work in the health/AIDS realm than anything else. it started in october when i did a bike tour called AIDS ride. we started in notsé (you should look at a togo map at this point), went east to tohoun, up to akparé, then took a car to atakpamé. i believe the total distance we rode our bikes was just around 100K. the riding was not nearly as difficult as i had anticipated it to be. it was broken up by about 20 to 30K a day, with the longest leg being no longer than 16K. generally we would wake up, ride to a school or public location, do an AIDS sensibilization, ride to the next village, do another AIDS sensibilization, ride to the place we were going to sleep (either a dispensaire or school), and repeat the next day. my group mostly did the sensibilizations at schools which i really liked because we could do the whole thing in french without having to translate it. and for the most part the audience would be more engaged. about a week before this bike tour i really considered dropping out for a number of different reasons but in the end i was so happy i got to do it. it was interesting to see the level of awareness different group had in regards to HIV/AIDS and the kinds of questions we were able to answer. as far as pretty much living outside for a whole week... it turned out to be not as bad as I had thought it was going to be. i've never done much out in nature living (when i've gone camping we normally choose sites with real bathrooms, not really roughing it), but i gained a new appreciation for sleeping under the stars and showering in a shower made out of palm tree branches. i'm looking forward to doing it again next year.

i did a training back in september to start working with an HIV/AIDS organization in atakpamé called CREJe. they work with families infected or affected by HIV/AIDS and provide them with all kinds of support. every saturday they organize activities for kids 6ish to 15ish. on the second saturday of every month is called CLUB Espoir and the day is organized and run by a different pcv. we start the day around 9 with games and some kind of sport. then we go into the educatinal session (tomorrow we talk about good decision making). next we do some kind of art activity and end with lunch. it's a really good time. i love playing with the kids and we have a great team organiwing and leading all the activities. getting to work with this ngo makes me really excited to continue this kind of work in the states. not necessarily having to do with HIV/AIDS but with community youth in an urban setting.

the work i did in mpoti during the month of november revolved around an event me and alicia helped organize for world aids day. we worked with some of the red cross volunteers in her village, my village, and the village between ours to plan an all-day event to raise HIV/AIDS awareness. here was the original plan of how that whole thing was to go: we were going to start the day with parades from tchifama (alicia's village) and mpoti (my village) to tadjan. in tadjan, skits would tehn be presented by different groups from each of the three villages. we were then going to go into a mass sensibilization on HIV/AIDS, covering the defenition of HIV and AIDS, the modes of transmission, ways to prevent it, do a condom and femidom demonstration, talk about stigmatization, and end with questions from the public. after a lunch break, we were going to endthe day with a soccer game between tadjan and tchifama. sounds like a nice, simple plan, right? well, LONG story short, things didnt really go according to plan. we ended up starting late, cutting the sensibilization short, getting plenty stressed, and having the soccor game end ubruptly after only 20 miutes because of some conflicts on the field. even though the day came close to being a complete disaster at points, i'm glad we did it. it got people talking and asking questions, and even if just a handful of people change certain decisions they make, it will have been totally worth the stress. and i'm just thankful i had alicia there to tag team it with me. i'm not sure i would have survived otherwise. next year world aids day will look a little (ou bien a whole lot) different.

new pictures!

i didn't get a chance to upload as many as i would have liked but i got some up.

quick update

i haven't been doing a very good job at keeping this things updated lately and goodness knows i have a lot i'd like to share. i made a quick trip to atakpamé with a few goals and one of them was to write and post updates. well i got the first part done but with everything else i had to do i won't have the chance to type and post them now. but i just wanted to take a moment to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving and a good beginning of the holiday season. i know it can be a stressful time but my prayer is that this year people are able to draw nearer to the raison d'etre of the holidays. if that makes sense.

one thing i would like to put out there before next time though... there have been a few CEG students that have requested to be put into contact with people from the states. if anyone has an interest in doing this in some way or have an idea of ways i could set something up please let me know!

i'll do my best to do a better update in the next couple weeks and to post new pictures too. thank you all for your continued thoughts and prayers.

so it is

hello world. today i am in lome to do the welcome week orientation stuff for the new group of GEE and NRM volunteers coming in. THAT means i've been in togo for just about a year. right now a few days short of that. how does that feel? it's kind of mixed emotions. on the one hand i think "a year already? that was quick." but then in the same breath (as much breath as there is in a thought), i think "woah. i've been out of america for a long time." as i reflect on my experiences the past twelve months, i become more confident that this is really where i am meant to be at this point in my life, despite the doubts that tend to creep in every now and then. i've met such incredible and diverse people. i've become more in touch with my own strengths and shortcomings as a person. i've been forced to do a lot of self reflection and widen my world view. all sorts of philisophical mumbo jumbo. but the thing is that all those things people say about crazy opportunities like this are so true. but it's not until you experience it for yourself do you ever really internalize what all those words mean. the imagination does great and unique things for us, but there's nothing like real life, first hand experience. so what do i suggest? move to togo and live here for two years. OR just go somewhere different and spend a significant amount of time there. whether that's a few miles away or a few countries away. just go somewhere where you don't feel comfortable. where you have to ask questions so you don't look and feel like an idiot. where you have to push the limits of your patience. get to know people that don't think like you and learn from them. there is ALWAYS something to learn. don't miss the opportunity. and always thank God at the end of the day for it.

i wish i was better at writing and could better describe my life right now. but because i've never been a particularly articulate person (believe it or not...), i would never be able to give it justice. i try though. and right now i'm going to just keep in simple and just share some of the highlights from the past monthish. voila.

Me and alicia did two day camps in both her and my villages with primary school students. lesson learned: i love kids. i don't want to work with them in big numbers, for long periods of time, or in too-organized situations. but i love 'em just the same.

I helped out with a "take our daughters to work week" in which 30 girls from middle and high school came together to learn about work opportunities in togo and different important things like making goals, being nice, staying healthy, making good decisions, all that. i had a great time seeing the girls interact and the visible changes many of them went through. next year my friend danielle and i will be organizing the event, stay tuned, you will be hearing more about this in the upcoming months.

Like i said, i am helping out with this group of newbies, so i spent a few days back in agou to prepare for it. i LOVED getting to see my host family again. it's crazy how quickly those young'uns grow up. the little girl that i remember hanging out on my maman's back was not walking around and smiling at me and everything. next thing i know she's going to be applying for the university. being back in agou for more than a day and with people that i came in with also gave me a nostalgic feeling from the old days when we were just getting used to life here. and it's only been a year, oy.

after my time in agou i spent some time back in mpoti. it was a breakthrough time because i realized how at-home i feel there and how much my relationships have evolved. the things that used to bother me about people around me have almost become endearing. probably because i can more easily make my own frustrations known and draw my boundaries. it's sad how long it has taken me to get to this point. i still have a lot left to work on, but then again, i do still have another year here. the other day tanti was telling me how much she's going to cry when i leave next year. she's been telling me this for the past, maybe six months. i've tried to get it through her head that she's stuck with me for a while longer and the only tears she should be shedding are due to the fact that i need her help around the house so much. particularly now that i have to gas to cook with ... or food. i'm at the mercy of my neighbors for food for a while. i think it'll be a good experience. i like them and they like me. it'll work out.

that's me in a wordy nutshell right now. thanks for your continued thoughts and prayers.

peace and blessings to y'all!

other reasons why i'm still here

i went to the market the other day and spent a good hour or so drinking a few calabashes of tchouk ( you need to come visit me in togo to fully understand to magic that is the tchouk stand) and trying to explain to a few men why i never want to get married or have kids. whether or not that's true is irrelevant. i just thoroughly enjoyed the experience.

there's a little girl who comes by my house to just say hi and hang out from time to time. the other day she came over and we ate corn and painted our nails. it was fantastic.

i got caught in a rain storm while i was riding my bike home from alicia's. have you ever been caught in a rainstorm? you should try it some time.

peer edu-who?

i just got done with my first training in village for peer educators. the basic idea behind this is that you teach a group of whoevers in village a variety of information and hope that they will go out and share it with their peers. i think i mentioned this somewhere before. anyhow, my homologue and i gathered 15 students and one apprentice and went through an intense training the past three days. we covered lots of topics: self-confidence, puberty and adolescence, early pregnancy and abortions, gender equity, how to facilitate a discussion, how to give advice, sexual harrassment and rape, child trafficking, peer pressure, how to speak in front of groups, hiv and aids, and some i'm sure i'm forgetting at the moment. as hard as it was at times, i think it went really well. it helped to have toni, nori, and alicia (bless their souls) come and help me with some sessions. my homologue (bless his soul) means well so he was great to work with for the most part, but there were a few times that he did things that made the whole thing more frustrating. maybe i did the same, i don't know. but that's the price you pay for working with people i guess. i need to keep reminding myself that i cannot expect perfection from people. as perfect as i may be...ahem... i know not everyone works like i do. i also need to remind myself that i'm working with young people who have not been exposed to this information as much as i have and who have a whole different set of challenges they're dealing with, so i have to remain patient and hopeful. i may not see changes now, but these things take time.

this group of peer educators is going to be my main source of work in village and i am praying that it will stay solid. i'm not banking on it being a sustainable project (sustaina-what?) just yet, we'll just take it one meeting at a time.

bridge troubles

there are not many paved roads in togo. if i want to get to lomé from atakpamé (i would suggest maybe looking up a map of togo at this point) , i can either go down the route nationale or take the kpalimé road. well, a couple weeks ago a bridge on the route nationale collapsed. this really sucks for anyone traveling anywhere between atakpamé and lomé. not only is it more expensive now, but the kpalimé road is getting worn down pretty good. let me also say that the kpalimé road was not that great to begin with. we're talking major pot holes. and now with so many cars and big trucks going down it, not to mention it's rainy season, the road is looking a good deal worse than it was before. i haven't had to travel that far south yet, but from the stories i hear, i'm not really looking forward to the trip i'll be making in a couple weeks. reconstruction will come eventually, but they're going to wait until the rainy season ends. we'll see if that's true.