The comments and opinions expressed in this blog are my own and they do not represent the US Government, the Peace Corps, or the Government of Togo.

Friday, August 13, 2010

So, to answer the burning question in all of your minds: No. I did not fall off the face of the earth. I did, however, rudely neglect to keep my blog updated for the last several months. So sorry. I’ll try my best to update you all on what has been going on in my life without boring you to tears. Also, my computer is still having major problems (stupid viruses), so I have to write this pretty fast in an internet café. Please excuse my poor grammar and typos.

In the beginning of June, we held our computer camp! The boys came the first three days and the girls came the three days after that. Everything actually went really smoothly. The Togolese men we worked with on this project were so awesome and basically took the reins on the camp. This was really exciting to see because when Drew and I leave, the camp is sure to continue. It was really cool to see the students learning basic computer skills. I guess I never realized how much I know about computers until I saw these kids learn from scratch. Surprisingly, one of the most difficult things for them to learn was how to double click the mouse. Anyway, I think the students learned a lot which will help them in the university studies later. So thank you to everyone who donated money to the project. The students wrote thank you emails with their new computer skills which will be coming your way just as soon as Drew and I translate them.

The second half of June was spent helping with the planning of Camp Espoir. This is a national camp that happens annually in Togo for children who are infected or affected by HIV/AIDS. This year I was the coordinator for the Centrale Region of Togo, so I worked closely on the planning with EVT, the HIV/AIDS association in Sokode. The actual camp was held in Pagala in the middle of July. Fifty kids came from the Centrale and Plateaux regions of Togo for four days. Activities during the week ranged from sessions on hygene and puberty, to a carnival and a market where the kids could buy and sell things that they made. All in all, the week was so much fun. It was really great to meet all these wonderful kids and get to see them just have fun and take a break from their normally difficult lives.

So that’s it for camps. After Camp Espoir, I spent about a week at home recovering from the exhaustion of being a camp counselor three times this summer. I also got a chance to meet some of the new volunteers in my region who arrived in early June. It’s really exciting to see so many new faces in our volunteer community, but it’s also really sad to see the old ones leave. Anyway, about a week into my sleep coma, I had to go to Lome because I ruptured my ear drum. Never a dull moment here. It all happened within one day. I woke up and my ear kind of hurt, and five hours later I was crying and pacing my house from the pain. Several hours later my ear was bleeding so the medical officer decided to have me come down to see an ear specialist in Lome. I was pleased to find out that it was just a small tear in the ear drum and that it would heal just fine. So, now it’s several weeks later and I can hear again!

Last week I was in Lome again to have my ear checked and do some work for Leve-Toi Jeune Fille, the girls magazine I am working on with several other volunteers. I also got to hang out with the new group of volunteers after they swore in which was pretty exciting. This week I am finishing up some work for a project I am planning for October for men in Sokode, and then I’m off to sunny Lisbon on Saturday!!! To say that I am beyond excited would be an understatement. It’s all I can do to stay busy this week so I don’t go insane from the anticipation of seeing Jaclyn, Bretani, Paige, Kara, and Caroline. I. CAN’T. WAIT.

I think I’ll wrap this up with a story from a couple of weeks ago. So Heather is a volunteer that lives about 35 K from me in a town called Tchamba. She is just finishing her two years and about to go back to the states so I wanted to go see her before she left. Heather is a health volunteer so she works a lot with the maternity ward in Tchamba. She had mentioned to me that I could come spend the night in the hospital with her one night and wait for a baby to be delivered. I was very curious to see this so I agreed. So the day came and it was pretty rainy all morning. I was toying with the idea of biking to Tchamba but since it was raining I just decided to take a nap and go later in the day by motorcycle. Well I woke up around 3:00 and in a moment of spontaneity just decided to go ahead and bike. Let me just point out that the most I had biked to this point in Togo was probably about 7K, but I’m strong, so it’s no big deal, right? How hard could it be. So I just threw some stuff in a bag and took off. About 10K in, I decide that this may not have been my best idea ever. Not only was I already tired, I had to speed up to make it to Tchamba by dark (6:00). So about 10K later, I’m going slower than ever and my butt hurt so bad from the too tall seat on my bike, when this high school boy starts riding next to me and just staring at me. I become annoyed and ask him what he wants when he points out to me that my back tire is completely flat. Great. At least I was going so slow because my tire was flat, not because I am embarrassingly out of shape. So the rest of the way I got to stop every ten minutes to pump up the tire because, naturally, in my haste to leave my house I did not pack my tire patch kit. Anyway, I made it to Tchamba before dark by some miracle.

After a couple of hours of recovery, Heather and I went over to the hospital. And we wait. I was pretty exhausted from my bike adventure so I fell asleep for a while on one of the hospital beds. Then around 4:00AM I was woken up when a woman arrived ready to have a baby. I went into the delivery room to talk a little with the woman who is in charge of the maternity ward, and watch the events unfold. The room consisted of two beds for delivery, a drain in the floor, and a huge tub of bleach. The differences in the delivery rooms in America and in Togo are too many to even begin, but I was astounded by the simplicity of the room. It made me wonder how things are so complicated in the states and so uncomplicated here in Togo, and what is actually necessary.

So eventually the woman is ready to deliver, and SURPRISE, Heather is going to deliver the baby! I actually think I was more nervous to watch Heather deliver the baby than she was to actually do it. I did get a little uncomfortable when the woman in charge was telling me to take pictures of Heather in the middle of the delivery (just imagine this in America: two strangers in the room where you’re giving birth, one of them delivering your baby with no prior experience, and the other taking pictures…probably so many illegal things happening there) have to admit, some of it made me a little queasy and I may have added at least five years onto my biological clock, but all in all it was an incredible experience.

So other than that, life is going really well here. Time continues to speed up with every passing month which is scary. I can’t believe I have been here for almost a year. Weird. I still love hearing about everyone’s lives in America. I’m starting to look forward to coming home for Christmas which I’m sure will be here before I know it. Hope all is well with everyone, and I promise to try to be better with the blog!

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