I am quite experienced at this point in my packing career...having eliminated all of the accesory accoutrements recommended in tourist guides and travel books, only carrying with me the basic items I have learned are actually useful to me in West Africa. Of course, most space in my baggages is occupied with gifts and goodies to impart upon my friends and family qui m'attendent.
It is both reassuring and stressful to know that I won't be traveling alone. Every time I make the trip halfway across the world on my own I relish the space from every single thing in my life, and simply enjoy my proud independence. This time around I will be a translator, a tour guide, an organizer and a mediator, balancing culture and work ethic, autonomy and dependence, delegating and ownership...
It is also quite a complex emotion to understand that 2+ years of project development and fundraising are about to materialize into SunPower Afrique's pilot project that will not only change lives in Togo, but create a tangible result of the potential of this organization.
Jon, Ron and I leave JFK at 10PM this Tuesday night (the 15th) and return on July 2nd. We will be in Lome one day before the container's arrival at the port, at which time we will accompany it to Kpalime. Two weeks of training and installation will ensue...battery maintenance and troubleshooting will be the crux of our training program (for which the manuals are not yet finalized and printed and I am starting to freak out a little bit...)
The 3 of us will be staying at Petit Suisse, like the old days :) Many things are different this time around, on every possible front. But I hope that I will always be the Yovo-avec-le-sang-Africain de Kpalime.
I have already invited the Director of the National Microfinance Committee and several of my "political" contacts to the system commissioning. Yes, I am excited. C'est un grand chose.
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