Update: Two Months in Kabou

Sorry for the long, long delay. I've spent a lot of time in Kabou and have now recently had internet again for the first time in three weeks.

Things are going well and work is starting to pick up as I'm becoming more integrated and meeting more members of the community. At the micro-finance bank, we have submitted a report to the main office calling for recommendations to improve the security and marketing of the office. Also, we've started evaluating expenses and income by filling out monthly reports. Within the next few weeks, we hope to start meetings with local groups. Otherwise, I'm looking to work with the local radio station and schools.

I know that you all want to read for in-depth stories about my life here, but my time on the internet is a little pressed. I've been keeping a written journal and I'll try to get some more cultural things on the blog.

In other news, the elections are over as well as rainy season... New volunteers in Education and Natural Resources have also arrived, but they won't finish training until December.

one month at post

I have just completed my first month at post and things are moving along. I've spent most of my time at my counterpart's micro-finance office. We've implemented a monthly report system and we're working on an analysis report to send to the bank's main office for recommended improvements.  Within the next month, we hope to have started trainings with local professional organizations to talk about a bank's services, the benefits of savings, and basic money management skills. Some group leaders have shown a lot of interest...

 

Other than that, I've been trying to meet people around the village, study the local language, while also reading a lot of books. Apparently I've read 12 in Togo so far!

 

Thanks to Ashley and Steph who sent some awesome packages!  CD's, Twix bars, magazines, etc.. (Letters and emails are great, too)

First week at post

Just a quick update:

 

I'm in Kara for a couple days to access the internet and visit my counterpart organization's main office. Things are going well in Kabou and I've been meeting with a variety of local officials and leaders.

 

During the week, I observed a few meetings by my site-mate's Gender Equity Committee, which was holding talks with local professional groups about the importance of equality and what it really means. My work may begin with business skills seminars with the clients of my counterpart's microfinance bank.

 

Other than that, I'm trying to make my house a home. I've already dropped a nearly 100 bucks on new furniture and I just ordered a coffee table and a cabinet to hold my food. The local carpenters do a pretty good job and its great quality for the money...

Photos Online

I have just uploaded a lot of photos from training at picasaweb.google.com/david.ganske 

I'm an official Volunteer!

Well its official, I am swearing-in this week in Lomé to start my two years as a Peace Corps volunteer in Togo.

 

We are all in the capital this week for the "swear-in" festivities. Today, we did some paperwork, but tomorrow will be the official ceremony and some of our host families will be attending. My host mother and her son will be coming from Agou to see the event!

 

The Peace Corps gave us quite a bit of money to get our houses furnished and get started at posts as volunteers. The next few days will be nice as we relax, party, and enjoy the rest of our time together as a training group.

My first online photo!

Here is my first photo from Togo. This was taken in late June during our climb up Mt. Agou.

I will add more photos this week.

Tomegbe to Akoumawou

Walking a quick one kilometer from my host family's compound to the Peace Corps training center and back might not initially seem like an eventful process, but each trip is encapsulated by the endless salutations and greetings among everyone on the street. Its no wonder that locals will be so late to meetings and events because they stop to discuss the latest status of each person's home, family, children, work, and journey.

 

In local custom, everyone greets each other at all times of the day and of course multiple times even for the same person. It is expected to say something to every passerby. One is immediately intrigued by the Togolese friendliness and hospitality as some will offer food as well.

 

Just this morning, I walked by a girl who was standing on her front doorstep, yet off the road. I didn't acknowledge her due to her distance from the road and the fact that she was already in another conversation. Assuming that she did not expect a greeting due to her position off the path, I neglected to give her a " bonjour" or "ndi" in local Ewe. After I passed, she yelled, "David! Il faut saluer!" or "You have to greet!" I guess there is no excuse for missing someone…

 

On the way toward the training center in Akoumawou, I am expected to greet each person going the opposite direction with "wezolo" or "welcome" in Ewe. Keep in mind that Tomegbe and Akoumawou are two entirely separate villages about 1 km apart. To top that, I even pass through another third village during that 15 minute walk. On the way back home, I'm expected to say " abakabalo" or "come back quickly" to those leaving the village. Each way in and out of Tomegbe, I'm greeted accordingly as well by the other villagers.

 

In addition to the greetings for the comings and goings, the kids and adults quiz my slowly developing Ewe skills. Although my vocabulary is limited to about 8 – 10 different phrases, they don't get tired of hearing me respond over and over again. The same people will quiz me at least four times in one day. Sometimes I get tired of answering the same questions roughly 20 – 25 times (estimate) during each 15 minute walk, but it also perks me up and satisfies me to know that the community is enjoying my presence. At the very least, they are benefiting from the amusement of my struggles attempting Ewe…

 

So, I conducted a survey of exactly how many salutations occur on a single journey.  The result was that I lost count at roughly 50-60 greetings! If someone is riding a bike or driving a car, they really miss the friendliness of the neighbors. I guess more reason to go on foot…

 

The greetings really have made me feel accepted into the community. As cheers of "yovo" or "white person" get replaced by "fofo" or "brother", it really means a lot deep-down.

A Successful Post Visit

Sorry for the long delay since the last blog entry, but there hasn't been good internet access. If you haven't heard from me, I'm doing well!

 

This past week, I've been checking out where I'll be living for the next two years. Kabou is a nice little town with a weekly market and paved road access to Kara and to Ghana. The villagers are very friendly like most Togolese and seem very happy to have a business volunteer in the town. Another volunteer, Katie, showed me around a little bit and even made calzones for lunch!

 

The people in Kabou are mostly of the Bassar ethnic group, but there are many others in the village. Because of its location on a connector road to Ghana and Benin, there are many others including Nigerians. The majority of the population are Muslim with several mosques, while there are also Catholic, Baptist, Assembly of God, and animist religions.

 

My counterpart organization, ACM Microfinance, is very motivated and can't wait for my return. They are a new branch that offers savings and loans services and tontine collection to its customers.

 

To open an account, a customer must have 5000 CFA or $10, which is quite a lot. Most of the town can't afford an account. Of the 5000 CFA, 1000 pays for the account notebooks, 1000 goes as a non-refundable fee to the bank, and 3000 is the minimum balance. The accounts earn interest of 2-4% annually and they can borrow up to triple their savings at a rate around 17%. The structure works well for many of the people in Kabou, but after a week it already seems like the better off people are the ones using the service.

 

My work will start by implementing a training aspect to their business. They banking side of their service is already in place, but they want to offer money management and business skills education to their branch in Kabou. We have discussed offering weekly seminars for banking customers and monthly sensibilizations for the entire community.

 

Aside from work at ACM, the provisieur of the lycee and the director of the CEG (junior high) have expressed interest in working with me. The school year will begin mid-September and hopefully I can get started sometime around then with some sort of club or teaching.

 

The first few months I'll be trying to get to know as many people as possible and assess what I can and should do as a volunteer. There are several groups already in place that I hope to visit such as the Taxi-Moto Syndicate, trade associations for carpenters, tailers, etc., and also women's and girls' groups.

 

Overall post visit was exciting and I'm looking forward to returning and seeing my new furniture. I ordered a bed for 18000 CFA ($36) and a table 17000 CFA ($34). They will be handmade by local carpenters and ready when I return at the end of August.

 

Tonight we are in Kara to celebrate the arrival of new volunteers (my group) to the region. I've already received a great welcome from others in the Bassar cluster around Kabou who made me a Lemon Marangue Pie.. thank you Netta and Amy!

 

Tomorrow we'll head back to Agou and our host families to finish the last month of training. I better remember the bread for my host family :)

 

(It's custom to bring a loaf of bread when returning from a trip outside of town.)

 

By the way, I love phone calls! I don't have the best coverage in Agou, but when I'm back in Kabou I'll have full coverage...

Post Destination: Kabou

Once training is over, I'll be spending my two years as a Peace Corps volunteer in a small town called Kabou, located in the Kara region. I'm not sure exactly how long it will take me to get there from Agou, but it might be about 8-9 hours by bush taxi traveling north.

Kabou is located within the Bassar prefecture where they speak the indigenous language of Bassar. I've already started learning basic salutations from one of our language instructors from the area.

My work as a PCV will be very flexible, but I will be focused in microfinance and youth development. My counterparts are located at a freshly started microfinance institution and one is a professor at the local lycée.

We'll be making post visits the week of July 21 and I'll get a better feel of the area. I can't wait to see my new home!

The long awaited blog from Togo

I must apologize for not having written onto my blog already since leaving the United States. At this point, I've been in Togo for roughly one month and everything is going great! The people have been very friendly, Peace Corps Togo staff have been very helpful, and we are learning A LOT.

I'm currently living with a host family in a small village of about 100 people called Agou Tomegbe, which is one of many villages that comprise Agou. The area is about 90 minutes from the capital of Lomé.

My host family consists of Eugene (56/m), Abravi (21/f), Dovene (12/f), Apo (15/m), Cherite (6/f), Andre (45/m), among others in the compound. These are the people that I interact with the most. We have a very large compound for the average Togolese family with three main buildings of about 3 rooms each, a kitchen area, a well, and walls separating us from the dirt road running through town. In total, it seems that 3-4 families (in the American sense) are living here together. Another trainee, also named David, lives just nearby. Having the same names has caused a lot of humor and confusion for the Togolese.

Everyday, I wake up at about 5:30 or when the roosters make life in the morning too miserable to sleep. Then, I use a two foot long broom made from palm leaves to sweet the dirt from my floor and the steps leading into my part of the house. By this time it is about 6:00 and Abravi usually brings me some type of oatmeal, bread, fruit, or tea combination. It's pretty good and I always enjoy a peaceful breakfast in my sitting area. She prepares all my food for me and it is overall pretty darn good – a lot better than expected. It rotates around different recipes with yams, cassava, rice, beans, tomatoes, chicken, fish, and fruit (mangoes, bananas, pineapples, avocados, guava, apples, oranges). This assortment may be somewhat unique to this area of Togo due to the amount of rains and access to fruits here.

Time for my shower :) My shower is actually outdoors and I use a bucket of water and a cup to get myself wet, lather, and rinse. It is one of my favorite parts of the day because the air is quite cool in the morning and I have a great view of Mt. Agou while I'm showering. Sometimes I even use water heated up on the stove!

My water comes from one of many sources: (1) rain collected into buckets from gutters, (2) the well in the compound by means of a rope and bucket, (3) the town pump, or (4) from the “Marigot” or the local stream. To have safe drinking water, I run it through my handy Peace Corps filter and bleach it afterwards. Some prefer to boil water first, but I think it isn't necessary and a waste of time and effort.

Once I'm ready for training, I hop on my Peace Corps issued TREK mountain bike. This thing is awesome! Fellow volunteers and I have done most of our exploring via bike and it's a great way to get daily exercise. At the training center, we have sessions on French, local languages, technical or business training, safety and security information, and health sessions. We also have excursions to local businesses and other towns. Another trainee and I have already begun shadowing a local carpenter to see how is business operates. We've also visited a palm oil factory, a microfinance organization, and had a visit from a local savings group.

In our free time, we hang out together as trainees, but most of our time is spent at home with our families. Its fun seeing their reaction to a male helping in the kitchen or pounding fou-fou (a local dish). The kids are especially great as they follow us around, show us games, play cards, and help us practice French.

Depending on my internet access, I hope to add specific stories and more information soon. Please keep sending letters with news and photos from home. Its great to hear what's happening!

I'm going to Togo!

The time has finally arrived and I will be embarking this Wednesday on my journey to Togo as a Small Business Development Peace Corps Volunteer.

 

The first three months of my time in Togo, I will be located near the town of Kpalmé, which is located about 50 km northwest of the capital of Lom é.

 

At this point, I only know that my living situation will be with a host family. I'm sure they will be heart-warming people and very hospitable, especially according to previous volunteers and those who have previously traveled to Africa.

 

Whenever I have internet, I will try and post recent updates on this blog and hopefully some photos.

 

Next time I write, I will be in Togo!!