Only a week late, my days here are now genuinely numbered; not that they haven't been numbered from the very beginning but now it's less than 30, it's starting to finally kick in that it's nearly coming to an end. The closer I get to the 31st, the less I want to leave here and the more determined I am to certainly come back as soon as I can. The current plan is to spend my year out here; which would mean arriving summer 2014 which is only 2 years away... All at once not very, and very, long... Anyway, that's enough of that!
Last week I went to Kara to see the traditional coming-of-age ceremony of the Kabyè people. This is basically wrestling, but in a field with no protection and there are usually 4 or 5 fights going on at the same time. As a young man you have to go through the ceremony 3 times, and the better you do, the better your chances of getting a good wife are. Apparently! The villages compete against each other, and the whole thing lasts for a week. I went to see the finals, and indeed also got to see the final of all the finals which was fantastic and had SO many people there! Went to the final in Sarakawa, very important historically for the Gnassingbé family as the village was built around where the aeroplane crash happened (previous President survived many dangerous and life-threatening incidents, including a plan crash in I think the 80s) so that was cool. Saw the man himself "Faurevi" and was actually the only yovo there which was nice for a change. Such a contrast between that small one and the final at Lassa the day after - probably about 50 times more people! President came in his helicopter both times though, and both times landed about 5 metres away from the crowd, so clearly showing no preference at all... Anyway, that was an enjoyable weekend, and made a friend on the coach to boot - plus her daughter of only 2 who is ADORABLE.
Haven't said that at the end of June we went with Projects to a village to do a kind of raising awareness/sort of thing day. Talked to them about lots of medical things, such as oral hygiene and washing properly, as well as how to avoid malaria, and then the Human Rights volunteers had to talk to them about children's rights. Tough topic, as to be frank, here they don't really have any. Children are very much the bottom of the pile. And that's how it's been for so long that when we come along and preach that it should be different, understandably we're not always taken very seriously. I've noticed since being here that the Togolese in general often don't look obviously interested in talks/presentations etc so it can be hard to judge the reaction but this time our audience was in general, decidedly and unashamedly bored/confused/sceptical to various degrees and in various combinations. But we did our best, and to be honest, the ideal outcome would be an entire cultural shift; something which is unlikely to happen very quickly or very soon. We can only hope that some day it will get there.
Apart from all that, work is going along fine and doing some interesting stuff, like equality of pay and sexual harrassment. Plus stuff to improve the monitoring done around the electoral period. All very exciting! Because it's summer now, we've had a massive influx of young volunteers coming for one month slots and so one week I walked into the office and didn't know any of the 15 people there! New experience for me haha. So we've had lots of comings and goings and not a few problems too but now we're into August we haven't got so many new arrivals. Although a girl arrived in my house the other day who is very nice - and talks 19 to the dozen, genuinely! Politics wise there are also some developments like a new First Minister and governmental cabinet so that's very interesting to follow too. Olympics are not really causing a big storm here, even though it's quite often shown on the tv no one really seems to be very interested! But I heard this morning that Britain are doing very well on the medal front so go Britain!
Hope you're all well, will be seeing you a lot sooner than it seems I'm sure
x
Sunday, 5 August 2012
Wednesday, 25 July 2012
A Huge Apology
Just to say I am really really sorry for not having written for so long and this is only a one-liner as well BUT...
I WILL write something looooong on Sunday afternoon. And that's a promise :)
x
I WILL write something looooong on Sunday afternoon. And that's a promise :)
x
Wednesday, 20 June 2012
FOOD
So apparently it's very important to write about the food here so that you all get an idea of how it works. When I was thinking about what to say I realised that actually it's quite complicated so hope it's comprehensible! Plus I don't know most names in English, and sometimes not even in French! Will put the French in italics and the African into italics AND bold to make it simple :)
Staples: manioc, inyam, maize, rice, couscous, sweet potatoes
Meats: pintade, agouti, chicken, beef, goat
Fish: dried fish, doeviVeg: épinard, gboma, yovo gboma, ademe, vovou, haricotsOther bits and pieces which I like and can remember at this moment in time: akpono, botoquin, gateaux, atitoe, mangue indigene
Ok. The rice and couscous are for richer families, and although manioc, inyam and sweet potato are officially interchangeable, only manioc can really be considered a properly base element as the others are expensive. Eg, at the end of its season 5 inyam can be only found at 1500CFA whereas the manioc can be as little as 800-1000CFA again for 5. Real potatoes are also available but they are v expensive and I'm pretty sure are imported so not the most common foodstuff.
So, manioc can be used as a vegetable or made into flour (garri). As I said technically it's interchangeable but in my family we tend to get the inyam to be used as a vegetable, but still use the garri. The inyam season runs from October to April or thereabouts, and in the meantime sweet potatoes are the substitute but work mainly fried.
As a vegetable: fufu - pounded inyam
cólico - fried, like roast potatoes
As flour (garri): bwi - kind of like porridge, but using flour in place of oats and no milk, but water and sugar, sometimes citronelle. Drunk most often as breakfast
djékoumé - a version of pate, but made with a tomato and onion jus in the mixture to turn it orange and change the texture
pino - another version of pate, more grainy and with a different taste
acheke - sort of like our couscous, a little bitter
ablo - flower-shaped parcels of something a bit like compressed rice, sweet
akpan - a very bizarre thing, sort of plasticky texture... But enjoyable nonetheless!
Garri is also eaten plain with sugar and sometimes arachides as gouter for little ones (and me).
The maize is dried and this is the main ingredient for the pate which is the most basic dish here. Between May and September fresh maize is also available with the rains.
akumé - the normal type of pate, very non-offensive, kind of like mashed potato
dokumé - fermented pate, can also be made into kom which is like a condensed version, most often served in maize leaf parcels with VERY strong piment
Two other common dishes are ayimolu and riz au gras. Ayimolu is the haricots with quite hard rice, and then riz au gras is a way of cooking rice with vegetables etc all mixed in together.
All of the above can be eaten with anything, although ablo and pino tend to go more often with fish, as does acheke. The most common complement is sauce, with or without meat etc.
Main sauces include: ademe, gombo, (yovo) gboma, vovou, graine, arachide, blanche.
Meat and fish can be used with any sauce, but ademe, gombo, and gboma tend to contain fish. The most common meat is chicken, pintade and agouti are more expensive. Fish is mostly dried as there is little fishing off the Lomé coast itself. Doevi are little fish which are often eaten whole, or crushed, and again dried.
Épinard, (yovo) gboma, vovou, and ademe are all spinach related veg. Gombo has a funny shape, sort of like cannisters and gives a stringy quality to its sauce.
Other things: botoquins - like the mixture for pancakes, but fried in balls
akpono - the sweet bread, mostly eaten at breakfast
atitoe - a fruit, very bizarre to describe... quite nice!
gateaux - small cakes, pastries, of all kinds, literally!
mangues indigenes - small mangoes, very stringy, that are sucked instead of bitten like other mangoes.
So that's what we eat, in terms of cultural context etc...
The Togolese often eat little for breakfast - bwi with bread if anything most of the time - and then eat a meal at 9-10am. This can be spaghetti, acheke, ayimolu etc, with sauce and piment. Then 12-2pm is eating time again, followed by supper between 7-8pm.
Food is very important - it's offered to a guest coming into the house, or you at least receive an offer of a drink. Inviting people to eat is not only a tradition, but a genuine request too. But when an elder invites a younger, it should never be accepted. Plus, if you invite someone else out to eat, either at your home or a restaurant, you foot the bill!
Staples: manioc, inyam, maize, rice, couscous, sweet potatoes
Meats: pintade, agouti, chicken, beef, goat
Fish: dried fish, doeviVeg: épinard, gboma, yovo gboma, ademe, vovou, haricotsOther bits and pieces which I like and can remember at this moment in time: akpono, botoquin, gateaux, atitoe, mangue indigene
Ok. The rice and couscous are for richer families, and although manioc, inyam and sweet potato are officially interchangeable, only manioc can really be considered a properly base element as the others are expensive. Eg, at the end of its season 5 inyam can be only found at 1500CFA whereas the manioc can be as little as 800-1000CFA again for 5. Real potatoes are also available but they are v expensive and I'm pretty sure are imported so not the most common foodstuff.
So, manioc can be used as a vegetable or made into flour (garri). As I said technically it's interchangeable but in my family we tend to get the inyam to be used as a vegetable, but still use the garri. The inyam season runs from October to April or thereabouts, and in the meantime sweet potatoes are the substitute but work mainly fried.
As a vegetable: fufu - pounded inyam
cólico - fried, like roast potatoes
As flour (garri): bwi - kind of like porridge, but using flour in place of oats and no milk, but water and sugar, sometimes citronelle. Drunk most often as breakfast
djékoumé - a version of pate, but made with a tomato and onion jus in the mixture to turn it orange and change the texture
pino - another version of pate, more grainy and with a different taste
acheke - sort of like our couscous, a little bitter
ablo - flower-shaped parcels of something a bit like compressed rice, sweet
akpan - a very bizarre thing, sort of plasticky texture... But enjoyable nonetheless!
Garri is also eaten plain with sugar and sometimes arachides as gouter for little ones (and me).
 |
| Akpan with poulet grillé et jus |
akumé - the normal type of pate, very non-offensive, kind of like mashed potato
dokumé - fermented pate, can also be made into kom which is like a condensed version, most often served in maize leaf parcels with VERY strong piment
 |
| Pate with sauce graine |
Two other common dishes are ayimolu and riz au gras. Ayimolu is the haricots with quite hard rice, and then riz au gras is a way of cooking rice with vegetables etc all mixed in together.
All of the above can be eaten with anything, although ablo and pino tend to go more often with fish, as does acheke. The most common complement is sauce, with or without meat etc.
Main sauces include: ademe, gombo, (yovo) gboma, vovou, graine, arachide, blanche.
Meat and fish can be used with any sauce, but ademe, gombo, and gboma tend to contain fish. The most common meat is chicken, pintade and agouti are more expensive. Fish is mostly dried as there is little fishing off the Lomé coast itself. Doevi are little fish which are often eaten whole, or crushed, and again dried.
Épinard, (yovo) gboma, vovou, and ademe are all spinach related veg. Gombo has a funny shape, sort of like cannisters and gives a stringy quality to its sauce.
Other things: botoquins - like the mixture for pancakes, but fried in balls
akpono - the sweet bread, mostly eaten at breakfast
atitoe - a fruit, very bizarre to describe... quite nice!
gateaux - small cakes, pastries, of all kinds, literally!
mangues indigenes - small mangoes, very stringy, that are sucked instead of bitten like other mangoes.
So that's what we eat, in terms of cultural context etc...
The Togolese often eat little for breakfast - bwi with bread if anything most of the time - and then eat a meal at 9-10am. This can be spaghetti, acheke, ayimolu etc, with sauce and piment. Then 12-2pm is eating time again, followed by supper between 7-8pm.
 |
| Zowoe |
Tuesday, 5 June 2012
Untitled.
It's been ages since I last wrote - and now we're no longer less than halfway through 2012 and halfway through my stay here, but almost halfway through 2012 and over halfway through my time here! Time does definitely fly here, don't know why but it seems to more than ever. Or perhaps I'm just getting old...
So the last thing I told you all was that Togo was being graced with the Presence - and so it was! Mummy came to pay us all a visit over here and I'm not sure if she finished by being more or less worried for me than before she came... It was a pretty exciting 6 days, as got to see Mama's village which I haven't up until now, as well as the market there which is fantastic. A real typical market, everything crowded up together and such smells, sights and sounds as to make your eyes water - either from nausea or delight! (In Mummy's case I'm not sure it wasn't nausea...) But we had a lovely 6 days, and I am very grateful that she was able to come out. She also took back to England with her a stack of things to help lighten the load in the summer - what else are mothers for?! Plus a stack of photos and videos if anyone wants to pop round for tea and a viewing - advance warning required though.
Apart from that, life goes on pretty much as usual, or unusual, here. CACIT is very interesting, though frustrating at times in terms of normal Togolese lack of organisation or real direction but you get used to dealing with it. I miss school a little because it was more familiar that this is plus I only worked mornings! But this will be familiar all too soon - 2 months and a week or so left and then that's it... Unfortunately, it's a bit delicate to talk about work too much on here because it's an NGO so isn't officially liked, and is technically officially disliked so will pipe down a little on that! Suffice it to say that it's Human Rights, so as the knowledge of personal rights and duties here is minimal among the majority our work isn't disappearing anywhere fast. Next time I'm going to give you a lesson on food here because although it's obviously an integral part (and even more so than just from necessity here) of day to day life, I find it very hard to actually describe so consequently needs a bit of thought! I had the same problem when trying to describe our diet to the children at school... Not sure if I'm already told you this story, but they were asking me if certain things grew in England and I was saying no, not naturally, so they asked me if the first time I'd eaten a mango was in Togo... Of course I had to say no and explain that they were imported into England. This then provoked a flurry of questions as to this, and that, and this - and by the end of the class, if anyone asked about anything new, they got the immediate response 'importé, importé'!!
My children started their real BEPC today and I've been having nightmares for them! I've spoken a little about the conditions in which they're expected to succeed, and my heart will be in my mouth until their results day which is fortunately soon. Sadly I can't see them this Thursday, but as soon as I know anything I'll be sure to let you all know too. Please cross your fingers for them - even across the sea it will help!
x
 |
| Doesn't matter if you're black or white... Groceries are still just as interesting!! |
 |
| At the CACIT office |
Apart from that, life goes on pretty much as usual, or unusual, here. CACIT is very interesting, though frustrating at times in terms of normal Togolese lack of organisation or real direction but you get used to dealing with it. I miss school a little because it was more familiar that this is plus I only worked mornings! But this will be familiar all too soon - 2 months and a week or so left and then that's it... Unfortunately, it's a bit delicate to talk about work too much on here because it's an NGO so isn't officially liked, and is technically officially disliked so will pipe down a little on that! Suffice it to say that it's Human Rights, so as the knowledge of personal rights and duties here is minimal among the majority our work isn't disappearing anywhere fast. Next time I'm going to give you a lesson on food here because although it's obviously an integral part (and even more so than just from necessity here) of day to day life, I find it very hard to actually describe so consequently needs a bit of thought! I had the same problem when trying to describe our diet to the children at school... Not sure if I'm already told you this story, but they were asking me if certain things grew in England and I was saying no, not naturally, so they asked me if the first time I'd eaten a mango was in Togo... Of course I had to say no and explain that they were imported into England. This then provoked a flurry of questions as to this, and that, and this - and by the end of the class, if anyone asked about anything new, they got the immediate response 'importé, importé'!!
My children started their real BEPC today and I've been having nightmares for them! I've spoken a little about the conditions in which they're expected to succeed, and my heart will be in my mouth until their results day which is fortunately soon. Sadly I can't see them this Thursday, but as soon as I know anything I'll be sure to let you all know too. Please cross your fingers for them - even across the sea it will help!
x
Friday, 18 May 2012
Au Mi-Chemin...
Sooo started at CACIT (Collectif des Associations Contre l'Impunité au Togo) on Monday, wrote a report Monday night on a talk the director had given at the univeristy on Monday morning, then on Tuesday was informed - "there's an open doors week at another organisation, and you 're going to manage that." !! Luckily, because we're in Togo, it's not until the beginning of June - but still!
Since then have been starting with promoting CACIT's communication - major aim is to get journalists, possibly international, properly involved with CACIT and not only writing articles about what we do, but being themselves Human Rights defenders. So, the YouTube clip below is an audio of an interview the director of CACIT did on the attack on a journalist involved in the demonstration on Independence Day here. Not a brilliant audio sadly, but it's better than nothing. The website of CACIT itself is www.cacit.org if you all want to look at that too! Below should also be the Facebook group so if anyone's got any spare time have a look round and read of all of that - Twitter account coming soon!
http://www.facebook.com/#!/profile.php?id=100002215617806
YouTube audio of the executive director of CACIT
Ok, publicity over. Apart from CACIT, haven't done much revolutionary since last weekend. Helene who was living with me has left, and a new boy has come in her place - half French half English who's also working at CACIT. Lucie, a volunteer who was here for 6 months, left yesterday which means that I'm now the oldest volunteer! (Not in age though, in age I'm almost the youngest...) The extra lessons on Thursdays are still going, and this week we did a little of the history of England - the Royal Family and a massive timeline stretching from 43AD the Roman invasion to today! Next time we're going to do some more detailed work, but wanted them to chose periods that interest them - however they know nothing of English history apart from what we did yesterday so not quite sure how that will work but we'll make it go somehow. Will try to put up as soon as I can a little thing we did a few weeks ago.
Basically, I wrote a couple of poems using the "I am" structure. This is a structure which helps children to approach poetry-writing in an easier way, and basically is a set of line-beginnings which they fill in as applicable to whoever they are describing.
So - my poem as a tourist started
"I am a stranger everywhere I go,
"I wonder where I will be tomorrow,
"I hear people talking in a language I don't understand..."
So I then asked them to write a poem in the same structure, only using 5 or 6 lines, describing themselves. Sadly, only one girl actually did it - I had a few others telling me they'd forgotten it, or left it at home, etc etc - but what she wrote was actually quite good considering, and I think it shows some potential. She added to it as well, to make it longer, so the next time I can get hold of her I'll try and get it so I can put it up on here and you can all read it. Hopefully some others are going to have a go too, so maybe I'll have more than one!
Exciting news for next week - a maternal visitation; as from Tuesday for 6 days, I will no longer be the only Snow in Togo! Will let you know how that all goes...! :)
x
Since then have been starting with promoting CACIT's communication - major aim is to get journalists, possibly international, properly involved with CACIT and not only writing articles about what we do, but being themselves Human Rights defenders. So, the YouTube clip below is an audio of an interview the director of CACIT did on the attack on a journalist involved in the demonstration on Independence Day here. Not a brilliant audio sadly, but it's better than nothing. The website of CACIT itself is www.cacit.org if you all want to look at that too! Below should also be the Facebook group so if anyone's got any spare time have a look round and read of all of that - Twitter account coming soon!
http://www.facebook.com/#!/profile.php?id=100002215617806
YouTube audio of the executive director of CACIT
Ok, publicity over. Apart from CACIT, haven't done much revolutionary since last weekend. Helene who was living with me has left, and a new boy has come in her place - half French half English who's also working at CACIT. Lucie, a volunteer who was here for 6 months, left yesterday which means that I'm now the oldest volunteer! (Not in age though, in age I'm almost the youngest...) The extra lessons on Thursdays are still going, and this week we did a little of the history of England - the Royal Family and a massive timeline stretching from 43AD the Roman invasion to today! Next time we're going to do some more detailed work, but wanted them to chose periods that interest them - however they know nothing of English history apart from what we did yesterday so not quite sure how that will work but we'll make it go somehow. Will try to put up as soon as I can a little thing we did a few weeks ago.
Basically, I wrote a couple of poems using the "I am" structure. This is a structure which helps children to approach poetry-writing in an easier way, and basically is a set of line-beginnings which they fill in as applicable to whoever they are describing.
So - my poem as a tourist started
"I am a stranger everywhere I go,
"I wonder where I will be tomorrow,
"I hear people talking in a language I don't understand..."
So I then asked them to write a poem in the same structure, only using 5 or 6 lines, describing themselves. Sadly, only one girl actually did it - I had a few others telling me they'd forgotten it, or left it at home, etc etc - but what she wrote was actually quite good considering, and I think it shows some potential. She added to it as well, to make it longer, so the next time I can get hold of her I'll try and get it so I can put it up on here and you can all read it. Hopefully some others are going to have a go too, so maybe I'll have more than one!
Exciting news for next week - a maternal visitation; as from Tuesday for 6 days, I will no longer be the only Snow in Togo! Will let you know how that all goes...! :)
x
Saturday, 12 May 2012
CEG ATTIKPA
Have been horribly bad, and this makes 11 days without writing - so sorry everyone!! Time literally has wings here, and it uses them frequently...
Since I last wrote a million and one things have happened, but most of them are boring and normal, so the most important are that I left CEG ATTIKPA :( and we carried out a 'humanitarian project' at school (ATTIKPA). What this last means basically is that we bought blackboard paint, repainted the blackboards, and bought and distributed school books to the children. The story is; there were two Canadian girls here and they didn't often come to meetings, but on Independence Day night, they came to Club 54 with us to have a drink and as we were going to the non-existent fireworks, one of them (Lisa) realised she'd left her moto helmet in the Club. She wasn't sure of the way back so I offered to go with her; on the way we were talking about our projects and she mentioned that she'd been looking for a school to help, as she'd had donations from home which were intended for a school, so she asked me what the problems were and how she could use the money. Of course, there are a million and one problems here, plus a few more so we had plenty to talk about! And it ended up that very kindly, she chose to help ATTIKPA! Unfortunately, this was one week before she left Togo. So we spent the next week running round and organising, which is a more difficult task than usual here... And finally, on Saturday 5th May, the PA volunteers painted all 28 blackboards of CEG ATTIKPA. And with such a great result! Before, blackboards were in a pretty dire state to say the least, and now they're great! The teachers were majorly pleased, one said it makes him want to write now, and that worked out really well indeed. Then the school books. Lisa had bought 600 because she wanted to just buy as many as possible, so we split them up between the 14 classes to make 43 per class, with 42 for the two 3és who are slightly smaller. We decided it should be done on merit, and I really wanted us to give out books to the top 10, maybe 20 in each class, for the two terms just gone (they class all the students of every class at the end of each term so all the information is already there somewhere, so wasn't providing extra work for anyone by saying that!!) and, only if they'd improved. However, it didn't quite turn out like that, and on Wednesday I spent my morning running round giving out all 43 books to each class, child by child. I guess lots have gained from it, but now there's no more incentive to work... Things can be tricky to organise when it involves donations and giving here at times, but am cooking up another plan for before I leave in August... Will keep you posted. And feel free to donate at any point if anyone so feels the need!! Honestly, a worthier cause doesn't come around every day.
And then, yesterday (Friday 11th, coincidentally Bob Marley Day, which was celebrated with gusto everywhere here!) I finished my Project at ATTIKPA. Mixed emotions really; I live literally opposite the school and I'm still here in Togo so in a way I'm not leaving, and I'm totally free to hop over any time I want. But, it's not going to be every day. And I will miss the children: as rowdy and undisciplined and maddening as they can be, they're lovely. I'm continuing my Thursday afternoons, so I'll continue to see that group regularly, and most of the children live in the quartier so I see them around often, but it's not quite the same, and I know I won't see all of them. Equally though, I'm glad to be changing, to try something different, something new which hopefully I'll enjoy too. As a leaving present, the teachers gave me a proper African trouser complet, in red Batik material which is SO cool and SO comfy, if a little hot at midday!! Wore it out last night, though not sure I'd have the courage to wear it all at once in England, but can definitely wear it half and half as well. Brilliant!! One of the teachers also gave me a pair of the flipflops they make here, made by her little sister, and a group of 4é girls also gave me a pair which are really pretty. Going out for dinner with Mama tonight, so donning the complet plus Togo flipflops to go and eat probably pâte - native.
Two more exciting things, went to the most amazing concert last night - a group from Cameroon, just spectacular is really the only way to describe it! And... I got my hair braided...!!! I will try and put photos up for you, but as you've now realised, that means July at the earliest... The joys of a third world country's internet! Also had a few more afternoon classes, and the new Sarah (she's called Katrin and she's German and very nice, also looks a lot like Sarah...) came to see me this Thursday. Slightly scary, but she seemed to enjoy it so that's good! We've got two more lessons to go, approx, and then we're off England and onto more advanced topics which is exciting but little apprehensive of how that's going to go to start with. Will also put up here soon a poem which one of them wrote which I think actually shows really something.
Bises, x
Since I last wrote a million and one things have happened, but most of them are boring and normal, so the most important are that I left CEG ATTIKPA :( and we carried out a 'humanitarian project' at school (ATTIKPA). What this last means basically is that we bought blackboard paint, repainted the blackboards, and bought and distributed school books to the children. The story is; there were two Canadian girls here and they didn't often come to meetings, but on Independence Day night, they came to Club 54 with us to have a drink and as we were going to the non-existent fireworks, one of them (Lisa) realised she'd left her moto helmet in the Club. She wasn't sure of the way back so I offered to go with her; on the way we were talking about our projects and she mentioned that she'd been looking for a school to help, as she'd had donations from home which were intended for a school, so she asked me what the problems were and how she could use the money. Of course, there are a million and one problems here, plus a few more so we had plenty to talk about! And it ended up that very kindly, she chose to help ATTIKPA! Unfortunately, this was one week before she left Togo. So we spent the next week running round and organising, which is a more difficult task than usual here... And finally, on Saturday 5th May, the PA volunteers painted all 28 blackboards of CEG ATTIKPA. And with such a great result! Before, blackboards were in a pretty dire state to say the least, and now they're great! The teachers were majorly pleased, one said it makes him want to write now, and that worked out really well indeed. Then the school books. Lisa had bought 600 because she wanted to just buy as many as possible, so we split them up between the 14 classes to make 43 per class, with 42 for the two 3és who are slightly smaller. We decided it should be done on merit, and I really wanted us to give out books to the top 10, maybe 20 in each class, for the two terms just gone (they class all the students of every class at the end of each term so all the information is already there somewhere, so wasn't providing extra work for anyone by saying that!!) and, only if they'd improved. However, it didn't quite turn out like that, and on Wednesday I spent my morning running round giving out all 43 books to each class, child by child. I guess lots have gained from it, but now there's no more incentive to work... Things can be tricky to organise when it involves donations and giving here at times, but am cooking up another plan for before I leave in August... Will keep you posted. And feel free to donate at any point if anyone so feels the need!! Honestly, a worthier cause doesn't come around every day.
And then, yesterday (Friday 11th, coincidentally Bob Marley Day, which was celebrated with gusto everywhere here!) I finished my Project at ATTIKPA. Mixed emotions really; I live literally opposite the school and I'm still here in Togo so in a way I'm not leaving, and I'm totally free to hop over any time I want. But, it's not going to be every day. And I will miss the children: as rowdy and undisciplined and maddening as they can be, they're lovely. I'm continuing my Thursday afternoons, so I'll continue to see that group regularly, and most of the children live in the quartier so I see them around often, but it's not quite the same, and I know I won't see all of them. Equally though, I'm glad to be changing, to try something different, something new which hopefully I'll enjoy too. As a leaving present, the teachers gave me a proper African trouser complet, in red Batik material which is SO cool and SO comfy, if a little hot at midday!! Wore it out last night, though not sure I'd have the courage to wear it all at once in England, but can definitely wear it half and half as well. Brilliant!! One of the teachers also gave me a pair of the flipflops they make here, made by her little sister, and a group of 4é girls also gave me a pair which are really pretty. Going out for dinner with Mama tonight, so donning the complet plus Togo flipflops to go and eat probably pâte - native.
Two more exciting things, went to the most amazing concert last night - a group from Cameroon, just spectacular is really the only way to describe it! And... I got my hair braided...!!! I will try and put photos up for you, but as you've now realised, that means July at the earliest... The joys of a third world country's internet! Also had a few more afternoon classes, and the new Sarah (she's called Katrin and she's German and very nice, also looks a lot like Sarah...) came to see me this Thursday. Slightly scary, but she seemed to enjoy it so that's good! We've got two more lessons to go, approx, and then we're off England and onto more advanced topics which is exciting but little apprehensive of how that's going to go to start with. Will also put up here soon a poem which one of them wrote which I think actually shows really something.
Bises, x
Monday, 30 April 2012
General Update
Haven't got a huge amount to say, but just thought I'd say something! Am also in the process of writing an article for Projects Abroad, which in typical Togolese style is around 4 and a half weeks overdue - how I've adapted to the lifestyle here!
Since I wrote last it's been Independence Day here and is nearly Labour Day, plus Sarah has left Projects which is not such happy news! Tomorrow we're heading to the beach with Projects to basically eat all day I think, and am going to pass by school beforehand as well. Again in true Togo style, the headmaster announced today that tomorrow (Labour Day) we would have a party at school, make lunch there, and everyone had to come up with a menu, plus give him their money to pay for it. Cue also very typical Togolese shock! So consequently, we taught no classes today but instead spent the time encouraging the men to give away their money and coming up with a menu which was feasible. In the end, we decided on an entrée of basically a kind of potato salad with cucumber, peas, tomatoes, onions, potatoes obv, mayonnaise, chili obv and some other bits and pieces; followed by none other than FUFU! With I think sauce ademe, but not sure. It really amused me this morning because noone could decide on what they wanted, and he went round asking every single teacher their opinion, so therefore there were way too many things to choose from! The money was also an issue, because it ended up being 4000CFA per person which is quite a lot really, and so not everybody had it, or was able to give it so they were ordered to go to the bank which is a solution but seems to forget that we're running a school here... and it's not like the children are even invited! Sadly, it sounds like lots of them don't have a day off tomorrow as all their mothers who are market sellers are taking the day off so it's the children who are working the stalls instead. But at least they get a break from school. It just amused me today how the whole thing was so diplomatic, and yet we didn't manage to get anything done! And, surprise surprise, it was the women who ended up doing ALL the organising, plus buying the food. (Btw, going to be working with Women's Rights from May at CACIT, something about which I am really passionate, especially here. Can you tell...?)
So that's tomorrow! Independence Day was a bit bizarre really, went to the beach as that was supposed to be the place to be, but actually ended up in a fast food restaurant which I used to really like and have now kind of gone off (will explain more in a minute) because we were warned off the beach. In fact, there was a demonstration linked to CACIT who I will be working with next, because it was Independence Day, but it was repressed by the soldiers so there was some violence. Really wanted to kind of watch, or at least see something, but we did see a whole train of motos with people dressed in yellow which was something! Was saying I've gone off the restaurant, because it's just too Westernized, and you get the feeling when you walk in that you're not in Togo any more. And at first, that was not always a total relief, but a change, and now I don't like it at all. It just feels fake and false, and I kind of despise the people you meet there who turn up in their massive great cars and you can tell that they don't really live here at all. And it makes me really... cross, sad, all sorts of emotions really. So then on Friday night we went to Club 54 where there's always great music, and there were supposed to be fireworks after the big concert in the Independence Square but sadly they didn't happen.
Then Saturday night, Sarah left Projects Abroad and we had a big party and dinner to send her off with! It was really nice, but really sad; she'll be truly missed here in so many ways.
Just had a really interesting discussion just now about the ageing population in Europe and what we should do about it. We've come to the conclusion that we should send some of the young people here to Europe, and exchange them with some of the old people so that the populations balance out and see how it goes. Can see that working really well!!
Since I wrote last it's been Independence Day here and is nearly Labour Day, plus Sarah has left Projects which is not such happy news! Tomorrow we're heading to the beach with Projects to basically eat all day I think, and am going to pass by school beforehand as well. Again in true Togo style, the headmaster announced today that tomorrow (Labour Day) we would have a party at school, make lunch there, and everyone had to come up with a menu, plus give him their money to pay for it. Cue also very typical Togolese shock! So consequently, we taught no classes today but instead spent the time encouraging the men to give away their money and coming up with a menu which was feasible. In the end, we decided on an entrée of basically a kind of potato salad with cucumber, peas, tomatoes, onions, potatoes obv, mayonnaise, chili obv and some other bits and pieces; followed by none other than FUFU! With I think sauce ademe, but not sure. It really amused me this morning because noone could decide on what they wanted, and he went round asking every single teacher their opinion, so therefore there were way too many things to choose from! The money was also an issue, because it ended up being 4000CFA per person which is quite a lot really, and so not everybody had it, or was able to give it so they were ordered to go to the bank which is a solution but seems to forget that we're running a school here... and it's not like the children are even invited! Sadly, it sounds like lots of them don't have a day off tomorrow as all their mothers who are market sellers are taking the day off so it's the children who are working the stalls instead. But at least they get a break from school. It just amused me today how the whole thing was so diplomatic, and yet we didn't manage to get anything done! And, surprise surprise, it was the women who ended up doing ALL the organising, plus buying the food. (Btw, going to be working with Women's Rights from May at CACIT, something about which I am really passionate, especially here. Can you tell...?)
So that's tomorrow! Independence Day was a bit bizarre really, went to the beach as that was supposed to be the place to be, but actually ended up in a fast food restaurant which I used to really like and have now kind of gone off (will explain more in a minute) because we were warned off the beach. In fact, there was a demonstration linked to CACIT who I will be working with next, because it was Independence Day, but it was repressed by the soldiers so there was some violence. Really wanted to kind of watch, or at least see something, but we did see a whole train of motos with people dressed in yellow which was something! Was saying I've gone off the restaurant, because it's just too Westernized, and you get the feeling when you walk in that you're not in Togo any more. And at first, that was not always a total relief, but a change, and now I don't like it at all. It just feels fake and false, and I kind of despise the people you meet there who turn up in their massive great cars and you can tell that they don't really live here at all. And it makes me really... cross, sad, all sorts of emotions really. So then on Friday night we went to Club 54 where there's always great music, and there were supposed to be fireworks after the big concert in the Independence Square but sadly they didn't happen.
Then Saturday night, Sarah left Projects Abroad and we had a big party and dinner to send her off with! It was really nice, but really sad; she'll be truly missed here in so many ways.
Just had a really interesting discussion just now about the ageing population in Europe and what we should do about it. We've come to the conclusion that we should send some of the young people here to Europe, and exchange them with some of the old people so that the populations balance out and see how it goes. Can see that working really well!!
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