dinsdag 19 augustus 2008
La Pluie
Rain season is taking its toll here. This article gives a pretty accurate account of the situation. http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=43500
maandag 11 augustus 2008
Efoa? ça va? Yo!
Oh this is going to be a hard entry because there’s lots to share, but as usual, I don’t know how to describe so much of what I’m experiencing! Words don’t seem to do justice, but I’m going to try.
So first a scattered update on my life here:
A little while ago, I was pretty sick for several days but after sweating, vomiting, and a visit to the local hospital the worst passed and now I am in good health….. This week I moved out of my host family in Lomé and instead am splitting my time between a room in a housing commune in the city (where a couple of Togolese friends including Mama also live) and living in the rural areas. There are a lot of reasons (including that it cost even less) so that both me and the organization can afford for me to stay on) and allow me to move around more freely but also moreso because now I feel much more integrated into how Togolese life goes as far as market shopping, cooking, finding water, transport, language, etc. so that I can take care of finding my own water and coal, preparing food on fire outside, etc. I am glad to be spending more time in the country although I also have to admit that I am starting to have much more of an appreciation for life in Lomé (especially the beach in the evenings)
And the reason I will be moving around outside the city more is because my role at JVE is shifting a bit to work more on the solar oven project as well as doing research on starting a new solar energy project with women who work in the markets in the Vogan region to replace their kerosene lanterns with photovolitc ones..after being here 7 weeks and getting acquainted with the projects here (and the ins and outs of researching, writing, and finding grants) and during that time getting an intensive education on solar energy, I'm excited to get more involved in it. It combines my interests in anthro, food, environment, people?etc. I will be working with several groups of women to understand their perceptions about using the solar cookers and lamps and thus if and how the use of the solar energy can be used and promoted by them in their communities. I will also continue research and project proposals that I have been working on relate directly or indirectly to alternative energy like the one on deforestation and the alternatives to wood as a fuel source. Also am working with a group of community (from the young to the old) to teach solar energy fabrication so that they can aid in spreading the method to rural areas. This past week we had an incredible training week with 40 people from the local neighborhood around the JVE office as we constructed over 150 solar cookers. This group of people has been incredible and a source of many new friends. The week was filled with lots of singing (lots of king Mensah, a Togolese singer who defines everyday life here and that everyone should look up…good stuff), dancing, discussing, playing soccer in the mud…
Some more about Tsiko: The trip to Tsiko means packing myself into a bush taxi with no less than 7 people in a car made for 4 to Kpalimé, then changing taxis to get to Adeta, where I take a zebidjan (taxi motorcycle) to get up to the mountain village of Tsiko. But it’s worth it when I arrive and am greeted by lots of smiling faces in the place that I feel most at home here. When I am there I live with Mama and her family. There is no semblance of privacy as I share a roomwith Mama and we share a bedroom with her 5 year old son and we live with her parents, brother, and 6 of her female cousins who range from 6 to 22 and two of which have babies of their own. Needless to say it’s a full house (my new place in Lomé is almost the same situation except I do have my own room), but I love it.
the village politics and relations. Just last weekend there was a public meeting in the village with all the chiefs from the surrounding communities to discuss a case of witchcraft: the story is a bit complicated and crazy (it took many translations into French before I got everything straight): family with two sets of half-siblings (polygamy is common practice here) where a sister and brother visited a shaman medicine man to ask for a safe delivery of her baby and after this ritual she gave the shaman a list of people who she thought were her enemies in the village as well as her half sister who they thought was taking too much of their father’s attention and money.
Everyone came to listen and participate and it was one of the most expressive events even by African standards. In the end, the chiefs deliberated and found in favour of the cursed half sister (white powder was thrown on her to exonerate her) and the other side of the family had to pay in forms of several bottles of liquor….oh and there are so many ins and outs of relations between families and friends in the village that I’m becoming aware of….There is no barrier between my public and private life which is really true in my situation as my work and leisure time are so intertwined. And everything is open and warm and everywhere you go you hear, ‘Woezon’ or ‘Bonne Arrivée’ (to which in Ewe you respond ‘Yo’) Communication wise, French is now going very well and now I’m also working on learning more Ewe, the local language. It’s going slowly but surely especially in the rural regions where many in the older generation can’t read or write at all and don’t speak French.
You Dutchies will be proud to know that bike is still one of my main forms of transport: I have a shitty but working one that I use in Lomé to get to work and around the city. At first I was sure there was no way that I would manage as there are so many motorcycles and very little road rules, but I’m taking it doucement and managing….And out in Tsiko I share a bike with a neighbour and I have been taking beautiful cycle tours from village to village. By now the village people I’ve also been hiking in the mountains in the morning as my only time alone and I can’t describe how breathtakingly beautiful it is especially once you reach the top and look out over the forests and valleys and waterfalls.
Gateau de Ahkoroo – Since there are plenty of bananas here and I wanted to share some of my familiar cuisine I made banana bread! Baking is an adventure since there is only one lady that has an oven, an oven in which you have to burn a fire for several hours to heat up inside and then remove the coals before starting to bake. But it was worth it and it’s a huge hit. It’s just different enough that it’s an exotic treat but still it uses the staple familiar ingredients. This week I will make it using the solar ovens which are fabricated in the training! And there are already ideas and plans for starting a petite enterprise of selling gateau de akohroo en four solaire with some of the women I have been working with J
I have been assured that already I am on my way to becoming a true Togolese. Here are some of the apparent signs:
-My new Togolese name is Ami Vi: Ami because I am born on Saturday and Vi because it means ‘little’ in Ewe and as my coworker is already named Ami, I am the junior in the organization.
-have been practicing carrying basins on my head and can almost make it along the whole path that goes from our house into town.
-When in Tsiko I help harvest the farm fields of corn, yams, etc. Everyone from grandparents to kids help with this And the walk out to the farm is my favourite. Today we gathered the remains of the corn husk which we later crushed to make farine (cornmeal flour). I’m also mastering pounding foufou which is a mashed paste of yams that among with pate is a staple food here. (Basically two people have two large wooden poles which they alternate pounding into a wooden pot to create the paste.) Other food that my stomach is being filled with: fish, rice, peanuts, cocao, avocados, and my favorites pineapple and mango…..
-My dresses and skirts of beautiful African fabric are being made by my new neighbour who is a seamstress and who is teaching me to sew
-and if I really want to become Togolese there are marriage proposals readily available (just kidding.. at least I think;)
And I also wanted to give some brief background about Togo since it’s not a place that one hears about often (except that everyone knows this tiny strip of land had qualified for the World CupJ)
The Togolese population is the result of a number of migrations that happened from the north east centuries ago. The Ewe came all the way from Egypt and settling for a period in Nigeria and Benin before mainly populating present day Togo and parts of Ghana. (There are several large celebrations coming up in September to celebrate this migration and the Ewe diaspora.)
As far as European influence, the Germans occupied Togo after WWI when it came under French rule until its independence in 1960….The 1990’s were major crisis years for Togo and most notably the military coup and ‘election’ of Eyadema Ganssingbe. Economic and political turmoil during this time have had severe consequences for the country from which it has not recovered. It is significantly less developed economically and politically than its neighbors in Ghana and Nigeria. There is very little faith or trust in the current government although things have been fairly stable in recent years…..
I will have to continue the history and culture info later….plus I think you are getting tired of reading my news by now…I'll try to write shorter updates and info more often so I don't end up writing ramblings like this....Hope all is well is your corner of the world wherever that may be!
So first a scattered update on my life here:
A little while ago, I was pretty sick for several days but after sweating, vomiting, and a visit to the local hospital the worst passed and now I am in good health….. This week I moved out of my host family in Lomé and instead am splitting my time between a room in a housing commune in the city (where a couple of Togolese friends including Mama also live) and living in the rural areas. There are a lot of reasons (including that it cost even less) so that both me and the organization can afford for me to stay on) and allow me to move around more freely but also moreso because now I feel much more integrated into how Togolese life goes as far as market shopping, cooking, finding water, transport, language, etc. so that I can take care of finding my own water and coal, preparing food on fire outside, etc. I am glad to be spending more time in the country although I also have to admit that I am starting to have much more of an appreciation for life in Lomé (especially the beach in the evenings)
And the reason I will be moving around outside the city more is because my role at JVE is shifting a bit to work more on the solar oven project as well as doing research on starting a new solar energy project with women who work in the markets in the Vogan region to replace their kerosene lanterns with photovolitc ones..after being here 7 weeks and getting acquainted with the projects here (and the ins and outs of researching, writing, and finding grants) and during that time getting an intensive education on solar energy, I'm excited to get more involved in it. It combines my interests in anthro, food, environment, people?etc. I will be working with several groups of women to understand their perceptions about using the solar cookers and lamps and thus if and how the use of the solar energy can be used and promoted by them in their communities. I will also continue research and project proposals that I have been working on relate directly or indirectly to alternative energy like the one on deforestation and the alternatives to wood as a fuel source. Also am working with a group of community (from the young to the old) to teach solar energy fabrication so that they can aid in spreading the method to rural areas. This past week we had an incredible training week with 40 people from the local neighborhood around the JVE office as we constructed over 150 solar cookers. This group of people has been incredible and a source of many new friends. The week was filled with lots of singing (lots of king Mensah, a Togolese singer who defines everyday life here and that everyone should look up…good stuff), dancing, discussing, playing soccer in the mud…
Some more about Tsiko: The trip to Tsiko means packing myself into a bush taxi with no less than 7 people in a car made for 4 to Kpalimé, then changing taxis to get to Adeta, where I take a zebidjan (taxi motorcycle) to get up to the mountain village of Tsiko. But it’s worth it when I arrive and am greeted by lots of smiling faces in the place that I feel most at home here. When I am there I live with Mama and her family. There is no semblance of privacy as I share a roomwith Mama and we share a bedroom with her 5 year old son and we live with her parents, brother, and 6 of her female cousins who range from 6 to 22 and two of which have babies of their own. Needless to say it’s a full house (my new place in Lomé is almost the same situation except I do have my own room), but I love it.
the village politics and relations. Just last weekend there was a public meeting in the village with all the chiefs from the surrounding communities to discuss a case of witchcraft: the story is a bit complicated and crazy (it took many translations into French before I got everything straight): family with two sets of half-siblings (polygamy is common practice here) where a sister and brother visited a shaman medicine man to ask for a safe delivery of her baby and after this ritual she gave the shaman a list of people who she thought were her enemies in the village as well as her half sister who they thought was taking too much of their father’s attention and money.
Everyone came to listen and participate and it was one of the most expressive events even by African standards. In the end, the chiefs deliberated and found in favour of the cursed half sister (white powder was thrown on her to exonerate her) and the other side of the family had to pay in forms of several bottles of liquor….oh and there are so many ins and outs of relations between families and friends in the village that I’m becoming aware of….There is no barrier between my public and private life which is really true in my situation as my work and leisure time are so intertwined. And everything is open and warm and everywhere you go you hear, ‘Woezon’ or ‘Bonne Arrivée’ (to which in Ewe you respond ‘Yo’) Communication wise, French is now going very well and now I’m also working on learning more Ewe, the local language. It’s going slowly but surely especially in the rural regions where many in the older generation can’t read or write at all and don’t speak French.
You Dutchies will be proud to know that bike is still one of my main forms of transport: I have a shitty but working one that I use in Lomé to get to work and around the city. At first I was sure there was no way that I would manage as there are so many motorcycles and very little road rules, but I’m taking it doucement and managing….And out in Tsiko I share a bike with a neighbour and I have been taking beautiful cycle tours from village to village. By now the village people I’ve also been hiking in the mountains in the morning as my only time alone and I can’t describe how breathtakingly beautiful it is especially once you reach the top and look out over the forests and valleys and waterfalls.
Gateau de Ahkoroo – Since there are plenty of bananas here and I wanted to share some of my familiar cuisine I made banana bread! Baking is an adventure since there is only one lady that has an oven, an oven in which you have to burn a fire for several hours to heat up inside and then remove the coals before starting to bake. But it was worth it and it’s a huge hit. It’s just different enough that it’s an exotic treat but still it uses the staple familiar ingredients. This week I will make it using the solar ovens which are fabricated in the training! And there are already ideas and plans for starting a petite enterprise of selling gateau de akohroo en four solaire with some of the women I have been working with J
I have been assured that already I am on my way to becoming a true Togolese. Here are some of the apparent signs:
-My new Togolese name is Ami Vi: Ami because I am born on Saturday and Vi because it means ‘little’ in Ewe and as my coworker is already named Ami, I am the junior in the organization.
-have been practicing carrying basins on my head and can almost make it along the whole path that goes from our house into town.
-When in Tsiko I help harvest the farm fields of corn, yams, etc. Everyone from grandparents to kids help with this And the walk out to the farm is my favourite. Today we gathered the remains of the corn husk which we later crushed to make farine (cornmeal flour). I’m also mastering pounding foufou which is a mashed paste of yams that among with pate is a staple food here. (Basically two people have two large wooden poles which they alternate pounding into a wooden pot to create the paste.) Other food that my stomach is being filled with: fish, rice, peanuts, cocao, avocados, and my favorites pineapple and mango…..
-My dresses and skirts of beautiful African fabric are being made by my new neighbour who is a seamstress and who is teaching me to sew
-and if I really want to become Togolese there are marriage proposals readily available (just kidding.. at least I think;)
And I also wanted to give some brief background about Togo since it’s not a place that one hears about often (except that everyone knows this tiny strip of land had qualified for the World CupJ)
The Togolese population is the result of a number of migrations that happened from the north east centuries ago. The Ewe came all the way from Egypt and settling for a period in Nigeria and Benin before mainly populating present day Togo and parts of Ghana. (There are several large celebrations coming up in September to celebrate this migration and the Ewe diaspora.)
As far as European influence, the Germans occupied Togo after WWI when it came under French rule until its independence in 1960….The 1990’s were major crisis years for Togo and most notably the military coup and ‘election’ of Eyadema Ganssingbe. Economic and political turmoil during this time have had severe consequences for the country from which it has not recovered. It is significantly less developed economically and politically than its neighbors in Ghana and Nigeria. There is very little faith or trust in the current government although things have been fairly stable in recent years…..
I will have to continue the history and culture info later….plus I think you are getting tired of reading my news by now…I'll try to write shorter updates and info more often so I don't end up writing ramblings like this....Hope all is well is your corner of the world wherever that may be!
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