WWEC- A lesson in planning

Wow. The Women’s Wellness & Empowerment Conference (WWEC) was really something.  By far the busiest week I’ve had in Togo.  Last Wednesday our team of 10 PCV’s and 3 national WWEC PCV organizers gathered to discuss the 4 day long conference.  I was overwhelmed, stressed and anxious.  I learned a strong lesson in planning – and I love to plan.  You see, I was in charge of leading 3 sessions on business topics, two with Rebekah, one by myself and my Togolese instructors (three women who attended last year’s conference),  helping with a session on self-confidence, one on goal setting, and one by myself on nutrition.  Then, I had two morning sessions of yoga.  This is a lot and unfortunately I underestimated the amount of time needed to plan.  In America, I could whip out these sessions no problem- with a few minutes of prep, a few minutes to throw a powerpoint together, and I could always rely on the knowledge off the top of my head.  Well, Togo works differently and I needed a concrete plan for each session, ranging from 30-90 min with flip charts (working on going green next year) and spots for the Togolese instructors to help and have an input.  What made this even more challenging was co-leading a session and thus having to strategize with my fellow PCV. Oh and then put it all in French! WHEW! Let’s just say Wednesday was not my finest day.  Luckily I pulled it together and after a long night of flip charts and discussing, I put the last pieces together Thursday morning and was ready for the participants to arrive Thursday afternoon.

From there it was go-go-go.  Thursday night we had an opening ceremony with the past participants testimonies and then after dinner a candle light ceremony.  One of the Togolese instructors, Madame Amina led this session and it was amazing.  She talked about how women are the heart of the family, the world and we have the opportunity to grow and learn at this conference and improve our lives, families, and our world.  Even cooler, she used a word in local language that summed all that up- and you could see it click with the women. 

The event was held at Hotel Central in Sokode, a hotel with hot running water, air conditioning and a restaurant.  It’s a real hotel J The idea was for this to be a vacation for the women, who ranged in age from 28-55.  We hoped they would feel pampered as for some of them this was their first time away from home and definitely the first time enjoying the aforementioned luxuries.  Ironically, throughout the week when I had to go to a women’s room I noticed the air was not on which made me wonder if they were even using it or the hot water.  Hm.  Also, our regional coordinators planned all the meals – to be complete with veggies and fruit and meat – a rare thing to have in each meal here.  We ate well. I ate myself sick a few days.  But the women- they wanted to know where their pate (pronounced pot) was.  This is the staple of Togolese diet- ground corn flour boiled and made into a paste like substance that they eat with a variety of sauces.  Ah- forcing a round peg into a square hole?  An interesting lesson in western vs local culture and values. Selfishly, myself and the other PCV’s were in heaven; taking multiple showers, turning the AC on high, eating ourselves silly.  In fact, our AC worked so well it took us until the 4^th night to be able to sleep through the night without having to turn it off because we were too cold. Funny how your body adapts.  Rebekah took pictures of us bundled up in all of the clothes we had; my heaviest dresses on top of me in the bed for warmth. It was wonderful and made the few days after the conference tough in readjusting to the ‘real world.’

Back to the conference.  Yoga was held on the tennis courts at 6 am and I led the women through basic breathing exercises and then some basic yoga poses.  Then, Jes one of our national PCV coordinators followed with a talk about stress. Demonstrating the difference between physical stress (going to the farm every day, cooking, cleaning, taking care of the children) by having a women carry lots of things and run back and forth.  Then I stood on a chair and filled a bucket on top of a woman’s head with water as Jes explained mental stress. Each time she listed off something stressful (kids sick, husband not helping, no money, daughter pregnant, a death, a marriage) I added water to the bucket to signify the weight on your head.  It was so cool and you could see the women totally getting this new concept.  We then connected how simple breathing and yoga is a good way to deal with this stress.  An awesome way to start the conference.

Melissa, a girls education PCV, and I lead the opening session on self-confidence, another new concept.  We did a skit of a husband belittling his wife over this and that and the wife not responding at all.  Then we had the women write down negative things they hear in their life. Then we had them tear up the papers and throw them in the trash.  “Today,” we said, “will be the start of positive and encouraging things in our lives, and it starts with us.” We then went on to talk about all the things we liked about ourselves and all the things we can do.  The women were quiet and but we knew they were comprehending as they finished the exercise about positive things about themselves beautifully. 

Then, as I sat in the back room, helping prep for the next session I listened as Jes and Amina led a session on Women’s Rights.  I smiled as I heard their different ideas of rights and thought of my own mother’s voice and the response she would give me when I was a child and demanding something she just HAD to do for me.  “All I have to do is die and pay taxes,” she would say. And this is the gist of what the women came to (although very few people pay taxes in Togo as so much work is unregistered).  They don’t HAVE to have children, they don’t HAVE to be the sole person in charge of the children; it’s suppose to be a team effort.  Another moving moment knowing some real thinking and change was going on in these 18 women’s minds and hearts.

A really cool afternoon session was about women’s sexual reproductive health and Madame Amina (who is a trained midwife) drew a big uterus/fallopian tube/ovary/ vagina diagram in chalk right on the conference room tile floor.  Amazing when she asked how it works and which part is which how many women had no idea.  It was so cool to watch her walk through (literally) the process to explain how pregnancy, monthly cycle works.  Later, one of the women’s reported favorite sessions was on Family Planning and the advantages it brings for the woman, baby, family, and all of Togo.  

That night we had a natural beauty night for the women.  Melissa and I gave facials using different concoctions made from local things (orange juice, honey, salt, etc) while PCV’s gave manicures and pedicures.  It was so neat to be able to serve these women.  After facials I soon found myself on the floor scrubbing and massaging feet.  I don’t mind feet and I quite enjoyed watching the women relaxing and enjoy being taken care of.  Most feet weren’t too nasty (as I expected) but one bigger mama had some massive feet. Swollen, cracked, heavy and thick -it was nuts.  She was a bit embarrassed but I encouraged her to use shea butter (which they sell in the market here) for the cracks and cuts and to elevate her feet at night for the swelling.

Exhausted, I collapsed around 11 only to wake a few hours late to be ready for yoga.  Bring on the coffee.  Thankfully, my energy and passion came through as I gave one of the first sessions of the day on nutrition.  The women know and understand nutrition so after I had them split into groups and play a little game about making a ‘complete’ meal (not just pate and tomato sauce) with produce and protein, I really tried to get to the heart of WHY so many families don’t practice good nutrition.  Is it money, ignorance, what? I explained how when a child only eats carbs (pate or yams –a very common meal for lunch) or fried dough their brain doesn’t fully develop and tried to stress the need for variety.  I gave the real example of my host family; how my family has the money to buy vegetables and the means (my mom goes to Sokode twice a week) but yet the only vegetables the family eats besides tomatoes and onions are the left over cabbage I give them.  Ultimately, I told them they have to choose to make nutrition a priority for their families.

Rebekah and I led two more sessions about a feasibility study (selling a product or service so that you actually make a profit) and then a longer session about planning, budgeting and saving.  Both went really well and the latter was one of the women’s favorites.  After they learned how to make a garden in a sack (if they don’t have the land close) to grow staple, simple vegetables I led a panel of the Togolese instructors financial examples.  Each shared their methods of saving, budgeting and how their lives have changed because of it.  I felt like a talk show host.  Thankfully, through all of these sessions I wasn’t nervous or self conscious with my French at all.  Most of these women haven’t been educated past middle school, so their French isn’t that strong either and so it worked.  Having other PCV’s in the room to help when I got stuck on a word or didn’t understand a response was key too. We ended that night with another candle ceremony where the women went around and said what they learned and will take away from the conference.  Later, the women gave traditional dances in their various ethnicity backgrounds.  Amazing to watch how women who have never met each other all know the dance of the Kabye women for example and to watch their pride in their culture. We did the Macarana for them-ha! 

Sunday morning we concluded with how to be a female role model and each woman set a long term goal and objectives to reach their goals in spreading their knowledge with their communities.  Needless to say, this was a very powerful few days.  Exhausting and exhilarating I didn’t really do much but sleep and rest Sunday afternoon and Monday.  A truly incredible and rewarding week; for the women and their futures, for me as a women and as a PCV.