4 husbands and counting....

****This blog was written over the course of the month of mid-August to mid-September.****

So tonight I am lying in bed, with the strong smell of insect repellent imported from Nigeria (which is probably giving me cancer and destroying the enviro) and little cuts all over my fingers so it hurts to type. but, besides all these random little things (or maybe because of them), its been a good day. And, tomorrow is my one month anniversary of being in kante. I washed lots of clothes today, including some in boiling water (which I will remember to let cool before touching next time), and somehow I think that's how I got all these cuts on my hand. And, I washed my new puppy! Which was completely a riot! The kids came over to help, so there was a wet dog, and the Maxime, one of the kids, decided to “take a shower” too, with the dog.. ahha... There was so much water and soap, I just ended up washing the whole porch. Anyway, good day.

I have been at post for about a month now and am in the process of familiarizing myself with Kante, the hospital, AED, the people, all that stuff. The broad plan for the future is: the first three months that I am here, I will get to know Kante and the people and identify the needs and the resources here. Then, I can start planning and carrying out effective (hopefully) projects. This plan leaves me with a lot of liberty in how/when I go about discovering this town. So, in this blogpost, I hope to introduce you to my town through some of my initial stories and experiences here through my time spent at home, time spent at work, time spent between home and work, and finally random things.

So, Time at home: My home a house in a shared family compound. And within this compound, there is Papa, Clarisse, who takes care of Papa and is also a tailor, and a family with small kids. Now, there is also some of Papa's sons who recently returned from summer vaca, and there is (obviously) me, and my new puppy!!!! There is a pump in our compound in the yard, which is good. I have huge garbage-can-size storage containers for water in my kitchen and I use this water for everything (dishes, toilet, bath, laundry, food, drink...etc). So, every couple days, I use the water pump to fill up buckets of water and carry these into my kitchen to fill up the garbage can things. Doing this in addition to laundry-by-hand

I spend a good amount of time reading and writing. The girl I replaced left a wonderful shelf full of wonderful books! Even an immunology text book! So, I finished a couple books already, including Harry potter (except book number 5) and I'm currently reading 4 books, a history or AIDS type book, an intro to philosophy book (for when I'm in a deep-thinking mood), a David Sedaris book (a new fav author of mine...super funny), and the MCAT review book (because I miss biology). So basically, this shelf of books, in combination with a cup of tea and a fan pointed in my direction, is pretty much Barnes and Nobles and I love it.

But when I am at home and not working or reading, I am playing with the neighbors kids. There are three kids right next door: Maxime, a 4 yo boy, Blaise, a maybe 10 year old?. Solange, an 11/12-ish yo girl, and the baby, a <1yo baby. The kids come over whenever I am home, and either run around and create chaos with the puppy, or color. But anyway, Maxime, in particular, loves to play, and one day, in particular, was the playtime of all playtimes. I had just gotten home from a day-long outing helping the Sage-Femme (midwife) treat and give birth control implants to some people in a more remote village. And once I got home, Maxime and Solange came over to play and Maxime started jumping around while I was unloading and organizing my stuff. And the next thing I know, Maxime falls and is screaming, and when I turn around and look at him, there's blood running down his face. And if you cut your head, there's a ton of blood available, all ready to just gush out...and it always looks super serious. So Maxime is freaking out and screaming, but luckily, with Solange's help, the bleeding stopped and I made a bandage that made him look like a ninja. And of course, regardless of his injury, once he realized he looked like a ninja, he wanted to play again. I, on the other hand, put on some chill music to unwind (a full day with the sage femme + a injured maxime = need to unwind). But then, the next song was a happy song, and Maxime started dancing in a way that reminded me of Michael jackson, and that just cracked me up, so Solange and I started dancing too, and we had a mini-dance party until their parents came home. It was a good day.


So, next: time spent at work. Work is either at the hospital, AED (the organization that supports PLWHA) or "the gardens". In each place I have a completely different experience. I absolutely love the hospital. I could spend everyday there and be happy. I usually spend time in the maternity ward, helping with prenatal consultations and baby weighing. I feel like one of the family with the nurses there, and I learn something new every day I'm there. I'm thinking eventually I will start a project involving these women, maybe nutrition and/or family planning..or maybe a women's club.. Sometimes its really crowded and sometimes there's only like 2 women. I like the slow days because I can help out more and learn more, but I like the busy days because there are so many different people and its just ridiculous, but everything works out. During one of the baby weighing mornings, there were 160 women (with babies)! Crazy! In an area the size of ... probably two high school classrooms put together. Some of the babies are so nice and chubby and healthy, but some, especially if they are twins or if they have other young kids in the fam, are pretty scrawny. One new twin, was soooo tiny! It looked like a baby doll and the scale said 1.7 kg! There is also a laboratory at the hospital! Which I was super excited about, and I always stop by and talk about science things and science/school in US/Togo... And, I help out in the lab sometimes! I saw Plasmodium falciparum (which causes malaria) and giardia (which is the cause of a nasty gastrointestinal illness) in the microscope. The also invested in a spectrophotometer, and they can do analyses like glucose and triglycerides and cholesterol and urea, and other things that we are familiar with in the states. The lab chief is like a grandfather. He's older and really kind, and always smiles when he sees me and tells me about any exciting things they see in the lab. Also, the hospital has a pediatric unit, which isn't always common in hospitals here. I saw a little kid with kwashiorkor, with the edema that I only read about in books. And then I saw a kid who was on the last stages of recovery from kwashiorkor. Right now, in the midst of rainy season, there are a ton of malaria cases. Most of the kids there now have malaria. Sometimes, I shadow/hang out with the medical assistants, which is always exciting, but sometimes I think I am in the way (they are the busiest, but see the widest range of people). With them, There was a motto accident person, a couple palu cases, a couple AIDS cases, a girl who was completely out of it and couldn't talk or walk well suddenly, a snake bite (don't get bit by a snake), a guy with a really bad liver, and a couple other random things.. Also, once in awhile, a group of about 8 travel to a more remote village where we give Norplant-type implants (birth control) and gynecological exams to women who cant really make it into the hospital. For some women, this is the first and maybe the only time they've ever had a gyno exam. These days are tiring (I've only been involved in four so far), but I really like them. The last time there was about 75 women!! Everyone is always tired and hungry afterwards, so we usually stop and eat together before returning to Kante. It reminds me of happy hour - Togo style. Then, I get dropped off by the ambulance, which Mazime is always excited to see (He loves when cars drive up to our compound).

The work experience at AED is something completely different. It is much more chill because its a smaller close knit group of people. AED is a org for people living with HIV/AIDS. It provides medical and psychosocial consultations, and provides people a cheaper option for meds for opportunistic infections and improved nutrition for members. Also, there's a group of kids "peer educators" who go out into the community and do educational things to increase knowledge and decrease rumors about HIV/AIDS. So, my time at AED has been spent helping with the pharmacy and budget, sitting in on meetings with the peer educators, and meeting everyone who comes in. So its really chill, almost like a family because people bring their kids and sometimes share meals. It's a good break as opposed to the super energized hospital.

Finally, the gardens. The gardens were started by a man named Akanto. And Akanto is like a super-man person. There is nothing he can't do. He started these gardens to help orphans and continues to build up the garden area, adding a oven (so they can make and sell things to generate more income, and a pond, to help with the water in the gardens, and housing and a small library. There are formations here once in awhile and I've been attending them. They are basically like cultural presentations, or presentations on how to mobilize the community or make community projects.. Akanto was also working on a project in which schools in the US could exchange with schools here, and at the same time provide for mosquito nets. Most recently, Akanto mentioned that he may want to open a school. So, like I said, this man can do anything. So anyway, that is work for me. I'm sure as time goes on, and I become more familiar with the community and with these individual work places, I will be able to have some good projects going.

And finally: time between work and home. This is a huge chunk of time. Whenever I leave my house to go somewhere, I try to say hi to everyone and have the basic conversation in local language Lamba of "how's the house, "how's work", "how are the kids"...... And the people of Kante (generally) get a kick out of it. There are certain people along the way who always try to teach me new phrases or words in Lamba, which I really like. Every outing is a different experience. The type of people I come across are: kids, people working at carpenter, welder, or small stores, (who generally sit outside and watch the world go by when there's no work), people going to the fields (everyone basically works in the fields during rainy season), women working at the house, cooking, women selling things (they walk around with baskets or buckets of things on their heads, drivers taking a break (there's a truck stop in kante, where a lot of drivers can rest and eat and drink and get things repaired), people going for random walks. So, yea, people are generally very nice and friendly. However, there are also a lot of guys who ask to marry me (jokingly). But, I've come up with a good response, that they seem to find funny (and I find really funny). I just say " I already have 4 husbands! One to do the sweeping, one to do the dishes, one to make the food, one for security! you can be a husband too and you can be the one for washing the dishes!" ...or something like that. and then they don't know how to respond so i get my chance to say goodbye and leave. that's worked so far. Another, uncomfortable/annoying encounter is with certain children. Once in awhile, I get a child following me, who I think is just curious about me, which most children are. But, eventually, after some chit chat, they ask for money, or a present, and then I realize that they were not genuinely interested in me as a person, but in my white skin and the money that they believe is attached to me. Right now, my strategy has been to say that I don't have money to give, and if they don't get the point, then I ask them for money and that usually throws them off guard. A couple volunteers yell at the kids who do this repetitively, saying "I am going to hit you" and I think if I continue to get the same kids doing this constantly, I may resort to yelling also. (It will be weird to yell, I'm not used to yelling at people). But generally, I've had always positive and very friendly encounters with people. It takes a long time to walk anyplace because of this, so sometimes if I actually have to be somewhere at a certain time, I will ride my bike or moto ride.

Also, some random things:
There is a store which I am super excited about in Kara (the main big city) that has mac and cheese, and Snickers! and Nutella!!! mmmmm. so excited. although its expensive :(. And, regarding prices. Here's a taste of what prices are like here: We get paid about $7-$8 per day, which is the average pay of a school director here. My rent is $40/month, bread (about the size of an American loaf, 60cents, a couple tomatoes (about equivalent to 4-5 large tomatoes), 20 cents; stamps to send a letter to the US, $1.30; an hour at an internet cafe, 90 cents; Oats (enough for 1.5 weeks of oatmeal), $1.40; Moto ride across town (instead of the hour walk), 20 cents; Bush taxi to Kara (the big city an hour away), $2.40, a cold beer at a bar, $1.20, a shot of alcohol at a bar, 10 cents; fabric and having a tailor make a dress, $10-$12 , a prenatal exam ($0.20), a medical card (required for anything done at the hospital...sicknesses, prenatal stuff, prescriptions, lab tests... $1), a mosquito net ($1), .Dues for AED (allows AIDS patients to get complete medications for any illness or malnourishment that comes along, $1/month)

Also, Markets. Markets are ridiculous! Almost every town and even small village will have a "marche day". Some markets are bigger than others, and the market in Kante is fairly large. In town, there is a location, about the size of a soccer field/football field, that is reserved just for the stands and mud huts that fill with vendors every friday. People come from all over the place to buy and sell things. When you walk through, you inevitably run into other people, smell lots of different smells, and see fruits, veggies, animals (I saw a monkey last time), street food, people selling plastics and household items, and tons of taxis and motos transporting everyone. It reminds me a bit of a fair in the US, but super condensed, as if you would take everyone and everything at a fair and put it in a space half the size of its original space.....if that makes sense. Also, one important spot at the marche is the tchiuk (spelling?) stands. Tchiuk is a local alcoholic drink that tastes like a mixture of beer and wine and is very thick, like syrup. Every day (not just market day) Women walk around carrying huge buckets of tchiuk on their head for sale. And, on market day, lots of tchiuk vendors arrive and a section of the marche becomes the drinking section. Apparently, if you stay out at the marche until late, then you'll run into plenty of drunkards. (I've been advised by other female volunteers to avoid this. So, I think I will take this advice unless I'm with other people).

Also, the rain. No one does anything in the rain; people just stay in. And, it has been raining so freakin hard all the time. (This is rainy season) And it is amazing. One day, I was in the kitchen and i heard a weird noise outside. It sounded like static from a TV off in the distance. And then, I figured out that it was Rain!! on the Tin roofs! And then suddenly it reached my house! And my tin roof! And it was so incredibly loud! It sounded like we were experiencing a tsunami crashing on my little house! It was crazy! so Maxime and I just sat and watched it. Then, as it died down, Maxime stripped and ran outside, saying he was taking a shower..haha. It was a good day.

Also, now, whenever I see an American magazine, or TV show (another volunteer was my hero and sent my a USB with 2 seasons of the office.....amazing), I notice all the food product placements... like, I was watching part of a movie on Akanto's computer, and the character went to burger kind and ordered a burger, and even though i haven't had a burger from burger king since, probably 2003, I just started salivating and craving a burger from burger king. This happens with any kind of American food picture or video. Also, on one of the office episodes, they eat ice cream cake. And omg i have never craved ice cream cake so badly.

Also, food. I freakin love Togolese food. And, love eating it with my hands. Right now, September, is "Fufu season" which I love. Fufu is a ball of mashed igname/yams (a starchy veggie similar to potatoes) that is mashed in such a way that it has almost a play dough-gelatin consistency. It takes a LOT of work (upper arm strength) to make, using a pillon and mortar. The pillon wooden and heavy and you have to put pieces of the igname in mortar bowl and smash it repetitively with the pillon. So you get a ball of Fufu, and pour sauce over it. And Sauce is always really amazing. It always spicy and is either peanut based or tomato based and sometimes has meat. You eat it with your right hand, and is probably as messy as it sounds. But soooo good.