World AIDS Day 2006


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Africa » Togo
December 5th 2006
Published: December 5th 2006
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Hi all,

Sorry for the long delay, I've experienced some technical difficulties and after writing a long entry just before Thanksgiving and lost the whole thing before I could publish. So let me fill you in...

Basically this month has been one of the busiest of my life, between work in my village, traveling for meetings, and of course a nice but oh-so-short Thanksgiving vacation.

World AIDS Day was a resounding success and all the preparation and hard workpaid off! We had well over 200 participants in the parade, and the crowd multiplied to oer 1000 for the soccer games and speeches, sketches, demos, etc., all AIDS-related. Some of the personal highlights for me:

-- Watching the girls' match between 2 primary school teams, and referreed by a woman. Africa is a man's world, unfortunately, but the women are incredibly strong, athletic, and compassionate. They just grow up in a culture that eleates men and puts women in front of a fire cooking for most of the day. Even the girls that go to school must then go home and cook and clean for the entire family. Well, these young girls played amazingly well and I was happy to proide them a moment of glory in front of hundreds of spectators. Also, the speech by the Sage Femme of the public hospital, or basically the well-respected head mid-wife, was another important moment for women in our event.

--The parade to kick off the day was probably the most effective in terms of educating the public and putting AIDS awareness at the forefront of the event. We marched through the town singing and chanting about HIV/AIDS and picked up children and adults as we went. When we passed in front of the busy weekly market, I felt like I was really doing my job of getting the message out.

--Both the soccer matches were very entertaining, although next time I'd like to find more ways to incorporate our serious message into the festivities. The men's match was extremely close and came down to a goal in the last seconds. The pride and sense of community generated at this moment was incredibly apparent, and certainly a nice side-effect of the day.

--Finally, I got so much positive feedback from participants from all walks of life that I feel bossted into my next endeavor, whatever it may be. I made lots of friends and contacts and built several bridges into future projects. I have to thank my partner Georges Baka; he did an amazing job and he anticipated our every need so that the day went smoothly. I was more of the yellow intern (literally) but now I feel like I've graduated and can plan events more confidently in the future, although I will always draw on the local resources, material and more importantly human.

So where does that leave me now? For one, finishing up the final report, and exhausted and ready for a break for the holidays. I've got an exciting month ahead full of travels; a long conference; and of course Christmas!

But I'm also gonna put more energy into my gardening club, which is organized and energized but has not yet broken earth because of some administrative difficulties with the school (this was the entire focus of my lost entry, so forgive me if I don't go into detail; suffice it to say that working with adults here, even when they've given their "word," is endlessly more frustrating than working with youth). We hope to start planting by January and we'e taken advantage of the delay by writing statutes and by-laws, seeking some funding for seeds and supplies, and getting organized.

Besides that, I'm thinking of planning a tranining session for local NGOs to learn about strategic planning, and I hope to do it WITHOUT exernal financing. I want people to realize that they can accomplish things without looking to Europe and the US for money. And of course these very NGOs are the people approaching me now with projects, always with money on their mind. There is a dollar sign constantly painted on my forehead, but I have to figure out how to work around it.

So that's the news, my first big project completed. I can sit back and take a deep breath and reflect now. I'm happy and comfortable in my home and village, and I'm making lots of Togolese friends which is helping me integrate into the community. La vie est belle!

Steve

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