ETHOS Togo Immersion hosted by hasheman137.

Adebaier
Topic: Immersion

Thank goodess Bro. Sylvain forgot his camera otherwise you'd all probably hav some pictures of me and Ted dancing Togolese style!!

This morning was the culmination of a week of preparation. The house is full of brothers and fathers of the Marianist community. Many from Lomé, others from nearby villages, others from Sotouboua, and still others from Ghana and Cote D'Ivoire. Three Noviciates were inaugerated into the Marianist community this morning. There was mass of about 300 people, then a big celebration for everyone. The brothers fed everyone!

In addition to this Kara was already a buzz for two other reasons. Les Evalas starts Monday. Les Evalas is the boys form of initiation. Guys around the ages of 20 - 26 wrestle in traditional form. Boys of all ages stage their own wrestling matches throughout as well, but unofficially. On Thursday the President will be in his home village of Pya (Pee-yuh) to watch the finals. We are going to see this as well as go see Les Evalas on other days throughout the week as well. So add this hype to the hype here at Chaminade and then throw in the fact that THE soccer player of Togo was in Kara yesterday playing in a match between two local teams.

His name is Adebaier(sp?) (Ah-day-bye-eur). Last time we were in Lomé I saw his house and it is huge and fancy. There's not a person here who doesn't know him. Ted and I went to the "stadium" yesterday just after the match started. IT WAS PACKED. Hardly even standing room. So our only option if we wanted to see what was going on, was to join the people who cwere balancing atop the 20 foot wall. We walked all around looking not only for a spot for two on the wall, but a way to climb up it. Finally we found a way and climbed up. It took a while to figure out how to balance on the narrow wall. The locals though it was pretty funny but were were just trying not to fall. The wall was about 7 inches thick, so standing, only about half my foot fit on it. We got  decent enough view though and were able to catch the two goals of the game. One was by Adebaier after a hand-ball penalty in the 18 yard box. The crowd, whether for one team or the other, went wild. It ended 1 to 1.

So the past week has been very busy and exciting...and troublesome. It seems flashdrives and hard disks are not compatable here, so all of my documents on my computer cannot be transfered to this computer. Its a headache. Especially because I have several friends who are asking me for my american music but I have no way of getting it to them. Ill keep playing around when i have time, but in the mean time I am rewriting some things like my french journal :/

But all in all, things are going well. ted and I have bought Sawdust, and we have clay and we have the price of cement. So our next step is to get the mixer and hire our friend to make the mould. Since Evalas is this coming week and many of our friends will be gone we may have to wait to build the stove for a couple days. We have recruited several students/friends to help us. We also have our design nearly all sorted out.

FINALLY!
Mood:  smelly
Topic: Immersion

This is the first time I've been able to log into my blog for a while. The internet connection is not hard line and is satellite so if a page has video(s) or a lot of content it fails to load. But either way I need to make this quick because it will start railing again soon and you konw what that means....

 Life in Kara is going well. It has been raining the past three days with 20-30 minute non-rain periods a couple times a day. This means the generator has been raunning almost non stop. We've been managing to stay pretty dry except for sunday after attending mass that we were invited to by a local friend Fransisca. We left on our bikes and it started raining. Ted almost got hit by a motorcycle crossing the road (a lot easier than you might imagine) then we sought shelter in Fransisca's friend's cabine before the heavy rain came crashing down.

Speaking of ted and motorcycles, he actually did get hit yesterday! He wasnt hurt and the bike only ended up costing 3 dollars (1,500 FCFAs) to fix. We came up to a round-a-bout and the traffic lights were out (because the electricity was out...) and we stopped because the cross traffic was coming strong. There were several others nearby who were stopped as well waiting for a chance to cross. SCREEEECH BOOM I look over and Ted is half on the ground and there's a motorcycle practically on top of his bike. The guy on the motorcycle stopped and we exchanged some words, but he was nice and made sure Theo was all right before I told him he could drive off. It wasnt until we started riding again that we noticed Teds back tire rim  was warped. We took it too our buddy who sold us the bikes just up the road and now its just a good story to tell. But, I should note, ted has had some really bad luck through out this trip when it comes to riding. He got a bad gash in his leg from the bike, his bike parts fall off at random times, and when we went to get our tires filled with air mine filled fine but his exploaded! Dont worry though...C'est l'Afrique.

 Every day there are stories like this (except less dangerous) and Ted and I created a list of things that would have been useful to know before coming.

Our perspectives are changing too. But thats a blog for another time.

 Some notable events:

We worked in the corn fields in Sotouboua from 8-Noon and walked away burned, sweatiest weve ever been in our lives, backs hurting, and 4 or 5 blisters each. The hired workers said we worked like champions though. We were given the kiddie hoes to use... Chook, the local drink was supplied to us once about 1 1/2 hour in. Its strong and still fermenting, but they drink it like water here and in fact if they had brought out water we wouldnt have been able to drink it...although honestly we probably would have.

Water is an issue. Ted and I sometimes drink it, but we generally feel the effects later (diaherrea). When available we drink the bottled water. It really isnt a big an issue, but its just always there in the back of your mind. If you're just conscientious of your habits, it is not difficult to avoid getting sick. It just takes certain precautions that if not habitual, are easy to forget...brushing teeth with bottled water, asking before a meal what youre eating and where its from...etc.

 Well...it's beginning to rain so I want to publish this post while I still have the chance!

A bientot! Thanks for all the support! If my computer ever works again there will be a lot of pictures going up! So stay tuned!

 

Mood:  lazy
Topic: Immersion

Wow.

a lot has happened, I will share: 

After arriving in Kara, I think it's safe to say we all had grand ideas despite habitually reassuring each other that we came with completely open minds. The first morning, Ted and I got up at 5am and ran. We have not run since. 

We worked diligently on converting an ODOT site assessment form into an ETHOS site assessment form. This would become the basis of our work here in Togo as well as serve as a guideline on how to effectively assess future ETHOS sites. We are not only paving the way here in Togo, but also for the ETHOS program to grow through means of a systematic guide to assessing new sites.

That night, the brothers included us in their annual dinner to celebrate the end of a good school year and the commencement of their 'vacation season’—A symbolic, one last get-together. We ate at the House of Congress. Each plate was about 4,000 FCFAs a piece not including drinks. Approx 450 FCFAs = $1 (This was an expensive meal).

In the subsequent days we took a few tours of Kara and the surrounding area. We met Leopold who is friends with Father Hugo and owns “Gallarie D’Art”. We met a couple other small shop owners and friends of the brothers. We met all the brothers and the priests. We met many of the sisters and Théo the cook. We met others as well. Bro. Max used his very persuasive influence to give us an inside peek at Kara. He smooth talked the guards at the gate into granting us access to Radio Kara (see video + pics); he helped us discover AED, the Peace Corps AIDs center in Kara. We went to the Brewery where all the variety of beers and sucre drinks are made—Fanta, Fanta Pamplamouse, Awooyo, Flag, Eku, Guiness, Castelle. We stopped at a local business called “Group of Young Welders”. We met a young guy working there who Teddy and I would later befriend. After all the touring was done, we had an official meeting with the brothers. We discussed everyone’s roles, everyone’s calendars, the founding of this new collaborative relationship and general subject matter over cold bottled coke and the faint murmur of a “futbol match” on the television in the background.

Down to business. We picked up a cell phone from a “Togo Cellulaire” booth, of which there are many, many. Two bikes as well. Teddy and I felt a sort of independence. With our new cell phone and the brothers’ eyes over my shoulders, I called and set up meetings with different contacts. Some were expecting us, but for many, our story had to be recounted…why we are here, what we are seeking, why it benefits them. Biking around Kara became Teddy and my new thing.

He likes to go fast haha. Real fast. Me, I prefer a leisurely pace. So we trade off and on. But the bikes really helped us get to know the town quickly. Maroc’s, the German owned supermarket (the prefix “super” not really applicable), the post office, the bank, the Young Welder’s place of business, the bridge, the river, the stadium (walled in soccer field), were opened up to us.

Brother Moses also took us on a bike ride. We rode West. We saw the president’s father’s house. We saw the village of well-diggers. We met his deceased brother’s family. We met Mary, his good friend at S.O.S (see video + pics). S.O.S is an orphanage and we promised her we’d come back. And we did, of course with some little gifts and candy and kids songs I had burned onto a CD.

At the post office, Malcolm and I bought some stamps for collecting. He bought more than I did, and several of the post office employees thought we were crazy. Buying so many and not even going to use them?! Our interaction with proprietors and upper managers and generally with everyone we meet is done in back rooms or their office. It is much more personal than in the states. In the States I have encountered, many times, difficulty trying to access figures of authority in organizations. That is one great thing I have come to appreciate about Togo. They don’t bury you in layers. You don’t have to battle your way through mounds of bureaucracy. The US would do well to relearn this. I think of Mr. Sam Walton as I write this.

We also met with M. Baba of University of Kara. This was the single biggest linguistic challenge up to this point. I felt the pressure of the professional atmosphere and the translation process was very sequential. Malcolm would talk. I would translate. M. Baba would respond. I would translate. Then the process would start over. Sometimes it would reverse. Sometimes I would be working the process forwards and backwards at the same time. This was the first of many sessions as a translator to come.

We met with M. Ayia of the Agricultural Company. President Kadafe’s visit to Kara made traveling much more difficult as there were many roadblocks and increased security. All this time we worked on refining our Site Assessment document when not out meeting and corresponding with Universities, NGOs and local businesses.

On our second Sunday, we hiked up the nearby mountains. They call them mountains but they’re really just BIG hills. There we met with a Yovo named Essesoloman. This is a name given to him by the villagers which means “God’s Love” in the local language of Kabiere. I have picked up some greetings and passing phrases in Kabiere. He is a linguist whose aim is to simplify the written form of Kabiere. We met with him to pry a little bit of wisdom from his 20+ years experience of living here. Also, to find out if he knew of any organizations working on projects similar to our intended. In the village we also attended mass. It was exactly what I had hoped it would be. Mass started late because the priest had finished his sermon in the valley late due to a few unexpected baptisms. But he walked up the mountain in his white cassock in no time and after recovering his breath a little, it began. Teddy, Malcolm, me, and Eric a Marianist novice and our leader sat in the back row surrounded in front and on the sides by children twisted in their seats to look at the Yovos. Wide eyed and mouths agape, a few of the more courageous came up to us, shook our hands in the traditional Togolese manner then said “BYE-BYE”…eager to show off their English skill. Song and dance and celebration were the themes of the next 3 hours.

I had to cancel our rendez-vous with Bouoti, a first year student who we’d made friends with because after descending we were tired and were more than happy to indulge in the Togolese/European “repos” after lunch time—the equivalent of South America’s “siestas”. We met up with him and his friend two days later though. Together we took to the market to haggle over soccer balls. I ended up getting one for 3,500 FCFAs. 

Bro. Moses took us one day to Cocedri, the Marianist run NGO in Sotouboua. This was our second visit. Moses’ sister in law and her two kids Constantine and Jeremy went with us. Here we were explained the business. The simple yet revolutionary idea behind it is Autonomy. I don’t believe this can be found in any other Togolese owned and operated organization in Togo. I am very impressed b their accomplishments, vision and goals. I am sure collaboration can be set up between UD Ethos and Cocedri. In fact, as I write this I am in Lome to see Malcolm off and when Théo and I return to Kara, we are going to stop in Sotouboua at Cocedri for a few days to explore further what projects are available and what kind of engineering students it would take to tackle these projects.

Having gotten contact information of Peace Corps volunteers from Brownie Lee in Lome we contacted them and arranged to have lunch at Maroc’s. That day we also got in touch with a local business that sells solar powered lamps. Played a little soccer in the evening and went out that night with two Peace Corps girls as our guides. Again on Thursday we met with M. Baba and he took us to meet with the Vice President of the university. I brought many gifts courtesy of so many of YOU that wherever we go, I am able to hand out a little something or another. The young kids especially like these things. And I think they benefit the most.

 

This is plenty to read for the time being, and I want to post this before the internet goes out again. So I leave it at…

 

….to be continued.

Time flies...and so too does Malcolm
Topic: Immersion
Internet is working for the first time in 5 days but only in a couple minute bursts, so I will copy what I wrote in Word and paste it here.