After passing through customs and receiving more vaccinations against various diseases, I set of from Lomé to the region of Agou in southern Togo—which served as the Peace Corps training site (stage is the local french word for "training")—along with the other Peace Corps newbies that I arrived with.
Driving down the road, a couple of hours outside of Lomé, our van was suddenly enveloped by a crowd of people. We turned down a small dirt road and parked. From within the crowd, a man continuously yelled “WELCOME! WELCOME! WELCOME!” from a megaphone as others tapped on bells and blew into wooden horns. We hesitantly got out of the van and crowded together with our backs to each other. The senior volunteer guiding us that week approached me and said that I would be girl to receive the flowers--the queen of the day. She led me to the front our group and instructed me to follow the man next to me.
Always surrounded by the noisy crowd that followed our van into town, our group walked less then 10 meters before I was met with a teenage girl, standing under a large mango tree and holding flowers. As she handed me the flowers, she strained a long speech in English--using every muscle in her mouth. I nodded as though I understand every word--through the chants and screaming instruments of the crowd. I turned slightly, a man began spilling shots of gin on the ground and repeating local prayers. After several prayers, I shook hands with the chief who stood behind the priest and then greeted several other village notables.
At the welcoming ceremony, we watched a series of speeches and a series of musical performances. Afterwards, we met our new host families that we would stay with for next three months. My family cried out my name and hugged me as soon as I met them. They carried all of my luggage for me to their house and then fed me as much food as I could eat.
2.10.07
Settling in: My new home in Togo
My first 3 months in Togo, I lived with a host family in the mountainous region of Agou for Peace Corps training. The area was beautiful and my host family was very welcoming, but I was anxious to get to my official post—where I would spend the next 2 years of my life, here in Togo.
Kãboli (alternatively spelled, Kambolé) is a moderately-large village for Togo, with a population of around 10,000. The village is less than 10 km from the border of Benin and then 80 km from the region's capital, Sokodé (the second largest city in Togo). The primary language spoken is Ana, a dialect of Yoruba, which finds its roots in Nigeria. Being a border-town with strong ties, the secondary languages spoken in Kãboli are both French and English. Most of the locals speak French because they went through the Togolese school system, but certain notables and frequent visitors from Nigeria only speak Ana and English. The public religions practiced here include an even mixture of Muslims and Christians (mostly Catholic, but some are members of the Assembly of God). Yet, all carry latent beliefs in the indigenous or animist religion. My friends and neighbors are very welcoming and I feel very much at home in my new village.
My new house has three rooms, a long front room and two back rooms. The front door leads out to the terrace, which then leads to the private, walled courtyard at the side of my house. Found in the courtyard are a latrine/shower area, a paillotte (similar to a gazebo), and the door leading to my compound. The compound is interspersed with mango trees and lined with two-room and one-room houses. My house not only stands out as the largest in the compound, but it is also the only painted house. It's a very conspicuous lifestyle—the only person with white skin living in village and the nicest house on the block. The compound is on the outskirts of the village, though, so the house serves as nice retreat from the eyes of village.
To assist me with my work and getting to know my new community, my official counterpart is named Foumalayo (one who goes searching for joy). She is a member of the local credit union and serves on their control committee. Working with the credit union will be my primary project. However, as a volunteer (and therefore not paid by them), I also have the opportunity to work more or less like a consultant with other organizations and people in the village who are interested in my help. For instance, I am looking forward to working with the newly-formed butcher association and possibly expanding the youth club at the local schools.
Kãboli (alternatively spelled, Kambolé) is a moderately-large village for Togo, with a population of around 10,000. The village is less than 10 km from the border of Benin and then 80 km from the region's capital, Sokodé (the second largest city in Togo). The primary language spoken is Ana, a dialect of Yoruba, which finds its roots in Nigeria. Being a border-town with strong ties, the secondary languages spoken in Kãboli are both French and English. Most of the locals speak French because they went through the Togolese school system, but certain notables and frequent visitors from Nigeria only speak Ana and English. The public religions practiced here include an even mixture of Muslims and Christians (mostly Catholic, but some are members of the Assembly of God). Yet, all carry latent beliefs in the indigenous or animist religion. My friends and neighbors are very welcoming and I feel very much at home in my new village.
My new house has three rooms, a long front room and two back rooms. The front door leads out to the terrace, which then leads to the private, walled courtyard at the side of my house. Found in the courtyard are a latrine/shower area, a paillotte (similar to a gazebo), and the door leading to my compound. The compound is interspersed with mango trees and lined with two-room and one-room houses. My house not only stands out as the largest in the compound, but it is also the only painted house. It's a very conspicuous lifestyle—the only person with white skin living in village and the nicest house on the block. The compound is on the outskirts of the village, though, so the house serves as nice retreat from the eyes of village.
To assist me with my work and getting to know my new community, my official counterpart is named Foumalayo (one who goes searching for joy). She is a member of the local credit union and serves on their control committee. Working with the credit union will be my primary project. However, as a volunteer (and therefore not paid by them), I also have the opportunity to work more or less like a consultant with other organizations and people in the village who are interested in my help. For instance, I am looking forward to working with the newly-formed butcher association and possibly expanding the youth club at the local schools.
Trial and tribulations: Missing cords
I have been very slow to post on my blog due to some minor complications: 1) I forgot the power cord to my laptop in the hotel where I was staying just before leaving for Togo; 2) You're lucky if you can visit more than 5 pages per hour with the connection in the Cyper Cafés. Now that I've received my power cord in the mail, I hope more can be expected from this blog. However, once receiving my power cord, I then realized that I forgot the cord connecting my digital camera to my laptop in order to download pictures. Petit à petit, en ...
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