Soon to be home in only a few short days

For those of you who don't have a clue where I am moving in just a few short days or what I will doing for the next two years, I thought I would fill you in.









Here is Togo. It is about twice the size of Maryland. It only has 32 miles of coast line and one port at its capital, Lome.The languages spoken in Togo are French (official, commerce); Ewa, Mina (south); Kabya, Dagomba (north); and many dialects. Its religious makeup is 51% Indigenous beliefs, 29% Christian, and Islam 20%.

Compared to my highly mountainous home in the Adirondacks, the highest point in all of Togo is Mont Agou at only 986 m.

Average life expectancy for people in Togo is 55.02 years for men 59.06 years for women. HIV is at a low rate of 4.1% in 2003 but I heard that it has gone down to 3%. There have only been about 10,00 deaths caused by the virus, which is promising.

Togo has a pretty steady government. It is currently a republic under transition to multiparty democratic rule. There were some issues during the last election but nothing since then. Its economy is mostly based on commercial and subsistence agriculture. Cocoa, coffee and cotton provide a large portion of its economy.

I will have internet and a phone there once I buy a cell phone. Cell phones are quite prevalent and reception works fairly well.

My biggest worry about leaving is getting sick. Some of the diseases that are prevalent in Togo are Yellow Fever, Cholera, Malaria, Schistosomiasis. Malaria and Yellow fever are spread through bugs. Cholera is spread through person to person contact. Schistosomiasis is carried in freshwater by worms that enter the skin and attach to the intestines and bladder. This is probably the worst one because it is hard to get rid of. So I guess no swimming for me :(

As far as my job goes, I will be working in the Community Health Expansion and AIDS prevention program (CHAP). I will be working under a member of a village-based health team, working closely with a nurse, midwife, sanitation agent, social or member of a local NGO.

"Your duties are responsibilities will fit into five main components, including and not necessarily limited to:

Health services management improvement-- Organizing regular meetings for communications and problem solving; improving costs recovery management system; forming and training health committees; planning, implementing and evaluating annual/periodic action plans; periodically carrying out knowledge-attitude-practice(KAP) survey and focus group discussions; and carrying occasional studies on the quality of service delivery.

Community Health Promotion--Identifying and selecting village volunteers (men and women, young and old) to serve a Community Health Workers (CHWs); training the CHWs other roles and responsibilities and IEC techniques; ensuring a regular system of supervision and coordination of CHWs activities.

Health Education--Initiating and regularly conducting Information-Education-Communication IEC) activities (health talks, home visit, counseling) and integrating them into daily and monthly activity calendars as important components of primary health care; Creating and facilitating drama groups (with folk tales, stories and songs); ensuring a regular system of supervision and coordination of CHWs; organizing IEC activities at sports events; organizing IEC activities for groups such as drivers, hairdressers, tailors/seamstresses, and prostitutes.

Youth Education on Population Issues and AIDS/STI Prevention-- Forming school health clubs and peer education groups and training members on roles and responsibilities and IEC techniques; ensuring a regular system of supervision and coordination of school health clubs' activities; organizing IEC activities at sports events organizing IEC activities for English clubs at the primary, secondary and high schools and for other groups such as drivers, hairdressers, tailors/seamstresses, and prostitutes.

Community Development - Organizing and working with various committees, such as village development committees, health committees, water committees, and cooperatives; helping the committees in their efforts to initiate development activities; creating, planning, implementing and evaluating community development projects with financial and/or material support from various funding sources; collaborating with village chiefs, social workers, agricultural agents and rural water supply agents.

I will also have secondary projects within my community or with other Peace Corps volunteers and are determined based on what is felt to be needed.

So now you know a bit more about where I am going. I am getting really excited about leaving and to finally be in Togo. Please send me letters and mail. It will be greatly appreciated!!!! Alia