The run down

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Salut mes amis ! I know it’s been a while but believe me I’ve been impatiently waiting to reach out to you all as well, especially because of the encouraging feedback I’m getting from all over the world.

So what’s new? As usual I’ll start with my projects because my life does really center around my work, partly because I enjoy it so much. The gardening club is surely and slooooowly evolving to the point that I can leave village for more than a few days and trust them to keep watering. I know they are busier than high school students in the States, and with the same short attention spans, because they have to do a ton of housework and study all night on top of the gardening, but I keep emphasizing the MONEY they can make from gardening - not to mention the nutritional and educational value. For example, our treasurer, a very smart and motivated young woman, has to help her mom prepare the local beer, called chouck, every week to sell at the Saturday market so she is often absent from Friday evening meetings. There are all kinds of scheduling issues, but a core group of club members, led by the awesome president and the gardener from the local private hospital who comes to offer technical advice, have kept the garden alive. We did the direct seeding and planted the tomatoes, etc from the nurseries this week, and I bought 2 watering cans for the club to help motivate them to water. The primary school that shares a building with the high school (a new high school was begun but the money was stolen and the building was never finished) has even started their own garden next to ours and this has become a source of competition between the two groups throughout the village. People routinely come up to me and make fun of our flimsy home-made fence, saying that the primary school fence is much stronger. Of course the teachers can force the little ones to work in the garden during the Manual Labor time of the school day while ours is totally extracurricular. Also we emphasize our organic practices which are mostly unheard of in the area - NO chem. fertilizers or persticides, only natural ones like animal waste and local plants. Gabe has been an amazing help throughout; not only does he make up for my total lack of a green thumb, but he really loves gardening and the kids pick up on that. I’m waiting for the harvest when my marketing and sales interests can come into play. For the time being we will just continue with routine tasks like watering, compost, applying pesticides, weeding, etc, and we are negotiating a contract with the owners of the land and the water pump. In Africa written contracts are rare and people often get taken advantage of when the land owner, for instance, swoops in at the end and claims all of the profits for himself, so we’ll try to preclude that situation. Over all, I feel so comfortable around the club now, and I love seeing members around town and chatting with them; they are great young adults that are gonna be running the community some day.

The second all-consuming project was my seminar on strategic planning and I think that it was a huge success. I didn’t look for any external funding; instead participants paid about 2 dollars each to cover my costs and also to make them feel more invested and engaged in the project. We were able to assemble just over 20 people from local NGOs and youth clubs, with PLAN TOGO and FUCEC/COOPEC (a local microfinance and my homologues) as resource persons. I did a comprehensive power point on mission and vision statements, SWOT and stakeholder analyses, action plans and execution, budgeting, and monitoring and evaluations, and participants seemed to love getting a very different perspective on some of these familiar topics (and some of course totally unfamiliar). The hardest part for me was translating all of this information from English to French and building up my vocabulary to be able to talk about these topics in French for 2 full days. I tried to make the seminar as participatory as possible and group activities definitely provided the most fun and memorable moments from the seminar, particularly an icebreaker in which 10 people had to hold strings tied to a large metal ring to lift a ball in the air and carry it around without dropping it. The responses on the evaluation forms I handed out at the end were very positive and instructive, so I plan to improve the seminar and extend it with more relevant topics for future groups. My ultimate goal is to plan a week-long NGO training camp with diverse topics for orgs from throughout the region, but that’s a long-term goal. It was great to get these often distrustful groups working together and laughing. My only regret is that more gov-related orgs like local schools and Affaires Sociales did not show up to participate because I feel like all these topics are just as useful for public orgs as NGOs. A volunteer friend with impeccable French and hands-on experience with planning in a local NGO, Clarissa, was an amazing help throughout. We concluded the seminar on Valentine’s Day, so instead of certificates I handed out Valentines and candy hearts from a care package to thank the participants. Which reminds me: Happy Valentine’s Day!

OK I’m gonna keep truckin along with the updates. I obviously haven’t written in a while… So there’s an incredibly exciting project on the horizon, actually it’s been in sight for a while now but I haven’t wanted to jinx it (or my involvement with it) by going public. But considering that this blog has been nothing but positive for me, here goes…

I spent a working weekend in Lome recently (which has become like a wonderland for me and a great place to meet intelligent and curious young people from throughout West Africa) and randomly got thrown into an incredible project with PSI. As you know, my relationship with PSI has really developed since I helped organize World AIDS Day last year, and this trust as well as Peace Corps ties have gotten my foot in the door on a campaign to reach their new target audience: MSM, or Men who have sex with men. Let me explain. This campaign throws out the common (Western) perceptions of homosexuality that are limited to men who are openly gay and exclusively attracted to other men. In Africa, where traditional cultures are completely different from our Western/European heritage in the States, male-male relationships often cross boundaries that in America would make the two men “homosexual.” For example men often hold hands as they walk together and I’ve been kissed on the cheek by many African men who simply want to express their affection or gratitude to me. These amazingly complex issues of human sexuality are not exactly new to me; I’ve studied them in Madagascar, South Africa (where gay marriage is protected by the Constitution), and in Psychology courses at Columbia. But what is new is an above-ground campaign of this sort in West Africa, mostly because of the influence of Western religions like Christianity and Islam which have condemned “homosexual” practices. The campaign started out by targeting typically all-male institutions (army, police, prisons) with AIDS ed initiatives to halt the spread of the virus as a result of man-to-man sexual contact. This was much more benign and acceptable by Togolese authorities. However, the farsighted and energetic champion of the project, the PSI Togo Directrice Manya, refused to stop there. She won the support of her staff, even the staunchly religious Togolese male members, and the campaign has been extended to the gay and bisexual communities in West Africa with events and even gay couples on TV commercials! The most excting part has been the response from Africans, even within the gov. Rather than blocking the project, they have been allowing it to grow and even applauding some of the results! Case in point : the new project leader is a part-time pastor! It’s as if the traditionally toleration of homosexual practices has been lying dormant here and now with a little risk and effort this part of the world can become more accepting and tolerant than even our freedom-loving Western democracies! Of course, I’m getting way ahead of myself, and as Manya reiterated, the hardest times are yet to come as these groups formerly confined to the shadows become more visible to mainstream African society (and not just as a Western import or the acts of “crazy people”). Only time will tell, but I’m optimistic. As far as my role, it’s been mostly as observer so far. My friend Ben and I attended the most open gay even ever held in Togo, the opening of the Miss Gay Togo season (including men looking gorgeous in drag!) and we helped with the AIDS sensibilizations by playing trivia games to encourage safe sexual practices to attendees from all over the region. It was a huge success and although Manya is leaving soon she left a great team to carry the torch. I hope to get more involved in the planning and implementation of the project; it would make a great Masters thesis! Most encouraging of all, the event proved to me that the stigmas associated with homosexuality in the west do not permeate this culture. For example, attending a gay event, working on or championing a gay project, or having gay friends does not make you “gay” here, and homosexuality is not as often linked to HIV/AIDS although risks clearly exist (hence the campaign). I guess the positive changes in America concerning the position of gays in society have empowered me to write about this ground-breaking project, and I’m hoping for a strong showing of international support!

So that’s the work-related round up. The thing about work here is that is blends so smoothly into “life” that I guess you could say I love my job, with all the ups and downs thrown in. Next week I’m going to Ouagadougou (Waga), Burkina Faso, for an African Film Festival and I can’t wait. I’ve needed this kind of vacation, with no “work” ties, for a long time, and I have a passion for African film that extends back to an amazing course I took my senior year of college. It will also be my first trip up north and I’ll finally be able to appreciate the incredible cultural and geographical contrasts that characterize even this smallest of countries. Then when I get back, busy as always: PC conferences in March, my best friend and support system Norris coming for a visit in April (and we’ll be travelling through Ghana finally!), and working one-on-one with some of the NGOs that attended the seminar to continue their planning. With the help of an American school teacher, Ms. Sally, I will be also trying to get a pen pal project underway with letters that will mix French and English. The time is flying by. It’s already been 8 months since I’ve set foot on American soil!

In closing, let me try a whirlwind reply to some of my friend Stephanie’s questions... (I’ll come back to this too but running out of time at the internet café).
Best part of my day - definitely getting in bed, especially if I just showered. For that split second I’m actually clean (relatively) and I always fall asleep with the book still in my hands. It’s such a great feeling to be so mentally and physically tired every single night, not least of all because of all the speaking in French, biking or walking, and because I usually wake up so early. Hardest part? That first venture outside of my house or wherever I’m staying, trying to brace myself for that first child screaming YOVO!!!! Or that first convo in French. I am not a morning person and that is just unheard of in Africa. But if I get a little time to exercise, listen to BBC radio, eat breakfast, and clean up a little, I’m ready. Rushing in Africa is a futile exercise and will only slow you down, patience and aller doucement (blewu blewu) are key here. Homesickness and culture shock are so weirdly cyclical that you will never get a handle on them, you just never know when that nostalgia for Americana or that longing for a loved one will creep up and bite you. My approach: embrace and love the culture you are in, the people, langs, food, smells; dress, even if you have to lie to yourself at first. It will pay off and people will notice and appreciate it. And when you are bitten by the homesick bug, be honest with yourself and your feelings, give yourself a break (try to find a cheeseburger!), and then gradually slide back into the cultural pool of Togo. As far as being American and immersed in foreign languages, its an often strange dynamic because there are so many other Americans around you and their presences, lang, etc are often comforting and just what you need. I’m all about balance and moderation. Speaking English and chatting about Brangelina are kind of guilty pleasures to me that need to be balances with conversations in French about good sauces for fufu with Togolese friends. That immersion, especially in French and local languages, pays off when I find myself thinking, dreaming, even accidentally speaking to another American in French. But I realized here that I LOVE English and it will always be my mother tongue, the language I associate with who I am. But I need to be functional in French in Ewe, not just for my work but also to cultivate meaningful personal relationships. Sorry, one more, running out of time : Most exotic thing I’ve eaten? Hmm there was bush rat, some friends have eaten serpent, dog, cat, and rabbit, and I plan to when the opportunity comes up. But I eat pate or fufu as a staple every day and I LOVE them now, but when I look down at that mush it’s always exotic to me!

Thanks for reading. A bientot!

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Comments

[Daniel Kuey]

yes, delve into exploring...
... the culture you find yourself in, the town, the priorities of those around you, the food, the alternate attitudes and ways.... But it's good you have the open mind and out-going personality necessary be happy in the first place, and then secondly to be of service to those you are volunteering for. It takes a lot to survive in a foreign place for months on end. Some are forced to do it for years on end, such as my immigrant parents in the States. A key, as you seem to know already, is to appreciate (not necessarily to accept wholeheartedly) the people and their viewpoints to the degree you are comfortable with. And hopefully that will be enough for you and everyone around you. Fascinating account of AIDS, aspects of gay culture and attitudes there, teambuilding American-style, and relating your cultural heritage (for example, the Valentine's Day tradition) to any Togolese who want to assimilate a little something too. Africa, according to the news, seems to be imploding, yet there also seems to be a lot of hope there too. And certainly things the West can learn, or relearn. Anyway, I think you're a great example of America abroad. Most of us Americans are easily proud of people doing what you're doing. Keep up the great blog of Togolese life, give yourself some more breaks, and then go do some more! Alors, tiens bon, et bonne continuation.