Say that three
times fast. Lately, that’s been the story here; nearly all of my runs have been
accompanied by at least some form of precipitation. But is this girl
complaining? NO WAY! The harder it pours, the happier I am. In training for the upcoming half marathon in
Accra, Ghana at the end of September, and I did my first ten-miler in Togo last
week in Pagala after my final week of Camp Espoir. It poured all day and drizzled throughout the
whole run but I was pleasantly greeted by a full rainbow as I turned around and
made my way back. I ran backwards for a while to take in the awesome golden and
fuchsia sunset. I literally ran under the rainbow and back to the center.
Enough about
weather and exercise. I spent the last
three weeks in Pagala, again, as we finished up the last weeks of Camp Espoir
and I helped out as a counselor for another camp Peace Corps sponsors. A camp based on creating young leaders for
Togo, Camp UNITE brings some of Togo’s top students to the center in Pagala and
loads them up with information and enthusiasm to take back to their
communities. It was a moving week for me
as well as I had the chance to lead sessions on the importance of girls
education and time management. It was
really neat to watch the participants realize that their entire future will be
better if their sisters, wives, and daughters are educated right alongside
them. And teaching about planning – if
you know me at all, you know I can get pretty fired up about this one! Even more, I had the chance to be with three boys
from Lama-Tessi who were invited to participate. To be able to watch them
experience something so new and exciting was really cool. What’s more, they’re
fired up and ready to spread the knowledge here in LT.
The second week was
a blur – what’s with this exhaustion? Not used to FULL days without long hours
of reading at home, I struggled throughout my time at camp with questions like,
“Why can’t I get through a day of camp without needing a nap, sugar, caffeine?”
and “Will I be able to make it in America?” Scarfing down my lunch, I
practically ran back to my bunk each afternoon, coveting every precious minute
of rest hour. By the end of the week I
realized why my mom valued my nap time so much when I was little!
The third and final
week in Pagala, was the last week of Camp Espoir and I had the pleasure of
being a staff member (rather than an organizer as I was for the other 3 weeks)
and be right among the little monsters for the week. I was assigned to a ‘medium’ aged cabin of
seven boys from the southern regions of Togo.
This means it was my turn to be energetic, silly and fun. Yes, I know
some of you are thinking about how that must have been a stretch for me.
However, my good (and smart) friend Connor kept the office stocked in sugar and
caffeine and the week went really well and I found my laid-back camp mode and
had a great time!
Some highlights: In
the talent show the group of PCV’s on staff that week did a ‘circus’ act
complete with a clown (Connor), a gymnast and ribbon dancer (Alex and Lauren),
a peanut catching/animal caller (Ryan), and a bad mime (me). I don’t think the kids got it at all. But we
sure had fun! The next night the kids had time to share stories of the
challenges they’ve experience in being infected or affected by HIV/AIDs. Almost
all seven of my boys opened up about losing one or both parents and friends to
AIDS. It was an up close and personal
reminder of why this week of fun and encouragement is so important. As we sent
the boys home and began cleaning up the center, I stopped to read the some of
the camper evaluations the PCV’s collected.
“Why do you like Camp Espoir,” we asked.
“I like camp because I don’t get hit and we get to eat lots of food,”
one responded. Wow. Sharing with the
other volunteers we all realized how easy it is to forget that these kids are
seen as outcasts- lepers to their friends and family members who have been
obligated to take them in.
It was interesting
to have the perspective on these different camps. UNITE gives hope for the
future of Togo- empowering the country’s young people to stand up, take
responsibility and make change for themselves. ESPOIR provides a safe environment
where for one week vulnerable kids impacted by HIV aren’t seen as different but
can play and have fun as well as enjoying some positive love and
attention from
PCV’s. Different, but both important for Togo.
Other exciting
things from this week include the prospect of a new project with a Togolese
volunteer (think AmeriCorps) here in Lama-Tessi who has his medical degree and
would like to improve the hygiene situation. He drew up a plan to put in trash
cans at each of the schools and we met with the chiefs this morning to win
their support. Also, I was encouraged yesterday
with a trip to Yao Kope, the small village to the north of LT where there is a
group building a new hog enclosure with the help from a grant from the US
Embassy. I was impressed to see their progress and foresight for the
project. Always nice to be around motivated,
hard working people!
Finally, four days.
My sweet boyfriend will be landing in this hot little country in less than a
handful of days. After absorbing lots of vaccinations and buying random things
for my friends here he is taking the leap across the Atlantic to come sweat
with me for ten days. I’m a lucky girl.
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