Christmas in Togo was a bit anticlimactic…which makes sense, since without lots of money, presents, feasts and generally excessive consumerism, what else do I know about the holiday season? However, several things are different here than usual. It makes me laugh, takes me by surprise and enrages me every time I drive by a white Santa Clause statue in the doorway of an African bank…strings of half lit, blinking lights hang across the Boulevard de 13 Fevrier in Lomé and adorn the central offices of Togotelecom. I suddenly notice the plastic Christmas trees in my friends’ rooms and in certain boutiques that have definitely been there all along…
The only day of vacation is Christmas Day itself. Everyone goes to church early in the morning and stays there for almost 5 hours, but this is not that far from what happens every Sunday…after being permitted to sleep until almost 9AM we congregated in Atsou’s roasting salon and ate fufu and drank whiskey mixed with a (very) cheap version of Bailey’s Irish cream.
Only in Togo can you sweat your way through lunch and not feel the slightest embarrassment. Because you are always less sweaty than the women that pounded that fufu for you – who also come to eat of course, paying little mind to the beads that slide down their chest and temples. As we eat we get even sweatier from the alcohol and spicy sauce. Why people who live in hot climates have adapted to eat hot and spicy sauces continues to be beyond me…
Everyone tells me that the partying continues from Christmas until New Years – it is both a conversation starter (“Et tu as bien feté? Mais oui! Ca continue eh?!” Snap Snap Laugh Laugh) and a form of encouragement, as everyone knows well that no one here has the finances to drink alcohol that many days in a row. Especially now…
When I was here last, the economic crisis had not yet hit very hard here. While Togo is somewhat shielded from the worst, because their economy has been so devastated it doesn’t depend that heavily on global credit and financial markets, people now refer to it as “La Crise.” Many people have mentioned to me that this year they will not be buying this or that, that business has been slow, that they could not afford to buy medicine for their child. The dogs at the house are emaciated and pant exhaustedly in the afternoon sun. I try to feed Bienvenue any scraps that I can find and told Inno that I was going to buy her a bowl for water, which he thought was uproariously funny.
It is also incredibly dusty in Togo right now. I have never seen it like this. Apparently it has not rained in almost 2 months. The roads are forever shrouded in hovering clouds of dust, that explode out of potholes and around rocks as they are crunched and pounded by hoodless trucks and taxis. I shower 3 times a day to remove the thin film of red dirt that collects on my face, arms and ankles. When I lean on tables I can feel the grit and when I wipe my hand on my pant leg it turns the color of the road. Everyone wipes their motos before sitting down (lest they get their carefully pressed trousers dirty…) and some taxi-moto drivers cover their mouths with pieces of cloth, but only a few. And the Harmattan winds have not even arrived yet! People tell me that perhaps when it rains, the winds will follow, but it is indeed “their time.”
The weather and climate is so intensely different than 3 months ago it is almost hard to fathom. The extremity of this place...In rainy season my showers felt cold and my laundry never dried – today it dries in less than 15 minutes and I can’t get enough of the cold water pouring over my face. The sun is so intense that people start to wilt after 1PM and it is almost impossible to sit indoors. Even the air blowing on me at this very minute, from the fan I have placed directly behind me and pointed straight at my head, is hot.
At 2AM on the day after Christmas I went to Lomé to get my 2 bags. I came back with one, my backpack. Although I am a fairly low-maintenance person, I really haven’t needed that much besides the bar of soap and toothbrush that I bought at the marché for 4 days…this kind of simplicity is not something I’ve ever truly experienced before. It took a missing bag to make me realize that no, I really don’t need my big bag of toiletries and multitude of changes of clothes. That said…it’s amazing what a little shampoo and a loofah can do for the soul :)
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
24 December - Friends and Philosophies
Sitting on the veranda (after I got my usual chiding for sitting in the sun) Maman Mathilde and I “cose.”
Coser (Ko-zay): to sit and chat. But it is more than just gossiping and talking, it is a way of passing the time, enjoying each others’ company and, for me, understanding the world around me. Togolese love to coser…they will cose for hours and hours and hours…to keep out of trouble, to keep from being bored, to simply take pleasure in their relationships with each other. Inno and his work friends cose about repayments and microcredit clients; Akpene and her ladies cose whose mother is sick and why men are such dogs; Me? I always want to cose about politics…but around election time, getting people to talk about opposition parties and corruption is like pulling teeth (However I do have some fairly unique relationships with people on the ground here and am slowly gleaning what I can about the atmosphere surrounding February’s presidential election…will write on that soon.)
Maman Mathilde and I talk about the French yovos in Kpalime and how they always (almost without exception, I will never understand…) walk the streets with the Rastamen…reinforcing stereotypes with every late night rendezvous and purchase of a djembe.
While I will always be a Yovo above anything else, I have true friends here that don’t just want my money or the social boost it gives them to lead me around town to buy artwork from their frères and soeurs. That know I will be back. That know I am different. I appreciate and respect my Togolese friends so much for this simple recognition and respect – and I in turn give them the same. Africa is complicated and people are at once incredibly transparent and extremely difficult to figure out, but one thing is universal I suppose: good folks are hard to find.
Last night, after fufu at Atsou’s, I went to a local bar with my FECECAV crew. Whenever I meet Yovos coming to Togo, whether for work or pleasure, they all want to know the same things: Where can I find the ex-pats? Where are the Yovo bars? Is it weird or real that either I don’t know or I stay away from these places as much as possible…I do all I can to separate myself from the European accents, the excessive drinking, the condescending , and even more upsetting, often subconscious, comments and looks…
I have written about this before, but every time I come back here and spend weeks on end without speaking to another Yovo I realize how abnormal that is…without any intention of sounding completely obnoxious, I prefer my Togolese friends, and am always surrounded by them. I am not here for some romantic or exotic experience, and this is wholly in line with my philosophy on international development, and hence, my projects and choices.
Peace Corps and Embassy jobs do not interest me…how can you put a timeline on how long you are willing to help people? After your service or contract you leave…with a full heart, a pat on your back, a bullet point on your resume, having built one clinic or temporarily assisted one farmers’ co-op. But where is the sustainability? Where is the genuinely-intentioned capacity building and giving the responsibility to Africans themselves, with some infusion of resources of course, to develop (NOT to their governments! Let me be very clear about this!) All of that said, I do not mean to cruelly devalue to work of Peace Corps volunteers, as I have known some great ones.
But without energy, liquidity and functioning telecommunications networks, this “development” seems so far out of reach. It is both wonderful and bizarre that I don’t get discouraged very often.
After energy, telecommunications is the next most important thing for economic development. Moov has still not returned, and TogoTelecom’s network is now so saturated that not only can you not get any calls though without redialing 10 times, but apparently Togocell has run out of new numbers…
But even in its absence, Togolese hearts still belong to Moov. Is it a sign of the population's tacit resistance to their corrupt state-run market. Everyone continues to talk about Moov’s free weekends and that “when Moov comes back” they will offer 5 free days of communication.
Coser (Ko-zay): to sit and chat. But it is more than just gossiping and talking, it is a way of passing the time, enjoying each others’ company and, for me, understanding the world around me. Togolese love to coser…they will cose for hours and hours and hours…to keep out of trouble, to keep from being bored, to simply take pleasure in their relationships with each other. Inno and his work friends cose about repayments and microcredit clients; Akpene and her ladies cose whose mother is sick and why men are such dogs; Me? I always want to cose about politics…but around election time, getting people to talk about opposition parties and corruption is like pulling teeth (However I do have some fairly unique relationships with people on the ground here and am slowly gleaning what I can about the atmosphere surrounding February’s presidential election…will write on that soon.)
Maman Mathilde and I talk about the French yovos in Kpalime and how they always (almost without exception, I will never understand…) walk the streets with the Rastamen…reinforcing stereotypes with every late night rendezvous and purchase of a djembe.
While I will always be a Yovo above anything else, I have true friends here that don’t just want my money or the social boost it gives them to lead me around town to buy artwork from their frères and soeurs. That know I will be back. That know I am different. I appreciate and respect my Togolese friends so much for this simple recognition and respect – and I in turn give them the same. Africa is complicated and people are at once incredibly transparent and extremely difficult to figure out, but one thing is universal I suppose: good folks are hard to find.
Last night, after fufu at Atsou’s, I went to a local bar with my FECECAV crew. Whenever I meet Yovos coming to Togo, whether for work or pleasure, they all want to know the same things: Where can I find the ex-pats? Where are the Yovo bars? Is it weird or real that either I don’t know or I stay away from these places as much as possible…I do all I can to separate myself from the European accents, the excessive drinking, the condescending , and even more upsetting, often subconscious, comments and looks…
I have written about this before, but every time I come back here and spend weeks on end without speaking to another Yovo I realize how abnormal that is…without any intention of sounding completely obnoxious, I prefer my Togolese friends, and am always surrounded by them. I am not here for some romantic or exotic experience, and this is wholly in line with my philosophy on international development, and hence, my projects and choices.
Peace Corps and Embassy jobs do not interest me…how can you put a timeline on how long you are willing to help people? After your service or contract you leave…with a full heart, a pat on your back, a bullet point on your resume, having built one clinic or temporarily assisted one farmers’ co-op. But where is the sustainability? Where is the genuinely-intentioned capacity building and giving the responsibility to Africans themselves, with some infusion of resources of course, to develop (NOT to their governments! Let me be very clear about this!) All of that said, I do not mean to cruelly devalue to work of Peace Corps volunteers, as I have known some great ones.
But without energy, liquidity and functioning telecommunications networks, this “development” seems so far out of reach. It is both wonderful and bizarre that I don’t get discouraged very often.
After energy, telecommunications is the next most important thing for economic development. Moov has still not returned, and TogoTelecom’s network is now so saturated that not only can you not get any calls though without redialing 10 times, but apparently Togocell has run out of new numbers…
But even in its absence, Togolese hearts still belong to Moov. Is it a sign of the population's tacit resistance to their corrupt state-run market. Everyone continues to talk about Moov’s free weekends and that “when Moov comes back” they will offer 5 free days of communication.
22-23 December - L'Arrive
After a rainy day spent being a tourist in Casablanca (which made me almost as uncomfortable as that city itself…I don’t know what it is, but considering I’ve never been more thatn 50km from the airport, I will withhold judgement on Morrocco…) I was overcome with my now customary sense of pride and exhilaration when the low-lying tin roofs and pockets of LEDs of Lome came into sight. The plane’s windows fogged with thick, humid air. Temperature on the ground 26 degrees celcius. At midnight.
I got through customs quickly, but my glee soon dissipated when neither my solar panels nor my backpack appeared on the chugging baggage belt…not all that surprising but frustrating nonetheless…not having one’s toiletries in Togo isn’t quite the same as not having them in Florida…
Upon arriving in the baggage room my hurried American sense of accountability gave way to my African sense of patience. I waited while the sleepy eyed woman sweating behind the counter chatted in Ewe with the 15 frères in front of me, then eventually took my turn as she explained that perhaps my bags would arrive on the next flight…on Saturday…my skinny jeans immediate felt even sweatier at the thought of having to wear them for 4 days...
If it had just been the panels that didn’t arrive I would have lost all hope…but since it was both, I took the handwritten receipt, looking longingly at the JFK electronic tracking numbers I saved (for some reason…)
“Madame Mapwo” (I want to see) said the grinning attendant of my carry-on bag as I tried to exit the terminal, but when I responded cheerfully that it was just equipment for an NGO project in Kpalime, and thanked her in Ewe, she clapped and let me pass, to find Inno, Atsou and Jules waiting for me on the other side of the frosted glass.
Unfortauntely we couldn’t find fufu at 1AM, but we did stop for a Flag before speeding towards Kpalime in the rented car they had pooled together money to bring for my bags…dommage that there were no bags, but I love my friends.
I got through customs quickly, but my glee soon dissipated when neither my solar panels nor my backpack appeared on the chugging baggage belt…not all that surprising but frustrating nonetheless…not having one’s toiletries in Togo isn’t quite the same as not having them in Florida…
Upon arriving in the baggage room my hurried American sense of accountability gave way to my African sense of patience. I waited while the sleepy eyed woman sweating behind the counter chatted in Ewe with the 15 frères in front of me, then eventually took my turn as she explained that perhaps my bags would arrive on the next flight…on Saturday…my skinny jeans immediate felt even sweatier at the thought of having to wear them for 4 days...
If it had just been the panels that didn’t arrive I would have lost all hope…but since it was both, I took the handwritten receipt, looking longingly at the JFK electronic tracking numbers I saved (for some reason…)
“Madame Mapwo” (I want to see) said the grinning attendant of my carry-on bag as I tried to exit the terminal, but when I responded cheerfully that it was just equipment for an NGO project in Kpalime, and thanked her in Ewe, she clapped and let me pass, to find Inno, Atsou and Jules waiting for me on the other side of the frosted glass.
Unfortauntely we couldn’t find fufu at 1AM, but we did stop for a Flag before speeding towards Kpalime in the rented car they had pooled together money to bring for my bags…dommage that there were no bags, but I love my friends.
Monday, December 28, 2009
Trouble With the Blog in Paradise...I mean Africa...
Shocking I know...
I'm really not sure if it's the Microsoft Word circa 1985, the viruses or my USB but I can't seem to get my blogs to open...since I write them on my laptop and then use my precious (and expensive!) internet time for uploading, I have to doanload them and do a simple copy and paste. But we all know "simple" in Togo is un autre chose.
And believe me I have tried...yesterday I waited for the cyber café to open "in the afternoon," which finally happened at 4pm (it is amazing how patient I am here, as I've said before, no one who knows me and my work ethic would believe it) but to no avail. I have however written 3 blogs and will post them as soon as possible, as I am sure you're all chomping at the bit :)
All is well in Togo, I am eating fufu almost 3 times per day, my solar panels have finally arrived and I am trés contente.
Stay tuned...merry merry to everyone from Kpalimé.
Smoky, sweet air, 95 degrees, raw onions, humming motos and giggling toddlers, fingers snapping and tongues hissing...bliss...
I'm really not sure if it's the Microsoft Word circa 1985, the viruses or my USB but I can't seem to get my blogs to open...since I write them on my laptop and then use my precious (and expensive!) internet time for uploading, I have to doanload them and do a simple copy and paste. But we all know "simple" in Togo is un autre chose.
And believe me I have tried...yesterday I waited for the cyber café to open "in the afternoon," which finally happened at 4pm (it is amazing how patient I am here, as I've said before, no one who knows me and my work ethic would believe it) but to no avail. I have however written 3 blogs and will post them as soon as possible, as I am sure you're all chomping at the bit :)
All is well in Togo, I am eating fufu almost 3 times per day, my solar panels have finally arrived and I am trés contente.
Stay tuned...merry merry to everyone from Kpalimé.
Smoky, sweet air, 95 degrees, raw onions, humming motos and giggling toddlers, fingers snapping and tongues hissing...bliss...
Sunday, December 20, 2009
Snowed in NY...New Travel Dates Dec 22 - Jan 6
I suppose it could be worse...well it always could...but...
35 mile backup on the NJ Turnpike due to mass panic over a Northeaster, then over a foot of snow = Kira is not nearly as close to the equator as she should be right now...instead of Casablanca I am sitting in my sister's Brooklyn apartment trying to remain prepared (mentally and otherwise) for my trip. This entails not unpacking my jammed backpack because I want that t-shirt that is rolled up and stuffed in the bottom left corner, attempting not to overanalyze the reason I missed that plane and simply containing my dissapointment and frustration...I had this trip planned perfectly!!
Next flight to Lome is on Tuesday. And I will be on it. Better late than never. And I guess it WILL be kind of cool to show everyone in Togo photos of a foot of snow, the Dyker Heights Christmas light show and other winter wonderland-ness as the reason I was delayed a few days.
My next post will most likely be from a sweaty cyber cafe. I can't wait to get there. But I must admit, I did enjoy the snow.
35 mile backup on the NJ Turnpike due to mass panic over a Northeaster, then over a foot of snow = Kira is not nearly as close to the equator as she should be right now...instead of Casablanca I am sitting in my sister's Brooklyn apartment trying to remain prepared (mentally and otherwise) for my trip. This entails not unpacking my jammed backpack because I want that t-shirt that is rolled up and stuffed in the bottom left corner, attempting not to overanalyze the reason I missed that plane and simply containing my dissapointment and frustration...I had this trip planned perfectly!!
Next flight to Lome is on Tuesday. And I will be on it. Better late than never. And I guess it WILL be kind of cool to show everyone in Togo photos of a foot of snow, the Dyker Heights Christmas light show and other winter wonderland-ness as the reason I was delayed a few days.
My next post will most likely be from a sweaty cyber cafe. I can't wait to get there. But I must admit, I did enjoy the snow.
Friday, December 11, 2009
Thank You...and one week to the beautiful return...
I am in between.
One week ago I was running around frantically finalizing logistics for SunPower Afrique's benefit event. One week from now I will be on my way back to West Africa, greeting l'Harmattan, my FECECAV family and a so-close-to-the-pilot-project-we-can-taste-it excitement in Kpalime.
As I have noted before, it is strange to coexist in these two worlds, both working towards the same goal and equally critical spaces of influence, productivity and resources. Today, on December 11th, 2009, I am directly in the middle :)
I'm so lucky.
While I am taking this trip over the holidays to relax, take some deep breaths and revel in the African pace of life and work (18Dec - 3Jan) I will of course be busy while on the ground...everything is easier to accomplish face-to-face, without exorbitantly expensive phone calls and crackling connections, without language barriers and borders...
I will update kirawithoutborders while I am away, as per tradition. Thank you so much to everyone who attended our benefit last week, it was special to be surrounded and supported by such a wonderful group of people helping to make this all happen. Special thanks to my volunteers - without you the Celebration would not have been possible.
We are moving closer to the first Solar Loans and FECECAV's solar system...the word is OUT! SunPower Afrique is making moves. 2010 will be a big year.
One week ago I was running around frantically finalizing logistics for SunPower Afrique's benefit event. One week from now I will be on my way back to West Africa, greeting l'Harmattan, my FECECAV family and a so-close-to-the-pilot-project-we-can-taste-it excitement in Kpalime.
As I have noted before, it is strange to coexist in these two worlds, both working towards the same goal and equally critical spaces of influence, productivity and resources. Today, on December 11th, 2009, I am directly in the middle :)
I'm so lucky.
While I am taking this trip over the holidays to relax, take some deep breaths and revel in the African pace of life and work (18Dec - 3Jan) I will of course be busy while on the ground...everything is easier to accomplish face-to-face, without exorbitantly expensive phone calls and crackling connections, without language barriers and borders...
I will update kirawithoutborders while I am away, as per tradition. Thank you so much to everyone who attended our benefit last week, it was special to be surrounded and supported by such a wonderful group of people helping to make this all happen. Special thanks to my volunteers - without you the Celebration would not have been possible.
We are moving closer to the first Solar Loans and FECECAV's solar system...the word is OUT! SunPower Afrique is making moves. 2010 will be a big year.
Thursday, December 3, 2009
Celebration of Solar Energy & Microfinance Changing Lives - TOMORROW NIGHT!
Read the write-up from today's Main Line Times:
http://www.mainlinemedianews.com/articles/2009/12/04/main_line_times/life/doc4b1753dd7f40a131277600.txt
Hope to see you there!
Kira
http://www.mainlinemedianews.com/articles/2009/12/04/main_line_times/life/doc4b1753dd7f40a131277600.txt
Hope to see you there!
Kira
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