I NEED A VACATION!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Hey, well it has been a while since I last posted. Things are going well here in Togo. I have been very busy with several big projects and I am in a desperate need of a vacation. But that of course can not come soon enough. It is still the rainy season here which translates to, avoiding the huge puddles, canceling meetings due to torrential downpours that occur almost every day, but cool nights that require a sweater.
Only 17 days away from my one year arrival mark seems like such a daunting concept. Have I really done anything in the past year? I hope that I have at least had some affect. My day to day activities still remain the same, meetings and planning sessions with village leaders. I am truly grateful for the amount of time and energy they are putting into the projects. Although my life is still terribly stressful, they are very helpful at the end of the day.
Two weeks ago, the group that came in June swore-in as volunteers. They were all dressed in the best looking payne outfits made by their host families. Speeches were made in local languages from every corner of the country, signify where each volunteer will be sent. I too did the same thing back in December. This new group, although there have been several changes in the numbers and a bit of drama, they are a good bunch. I like the new people who are in my region. They will blend well with those of us already here.
At the same time, we had to say goodbyes to several people who we have grown to call family here. It was sad to see them go, but I am sure they are doing great things back at home.
As I said I have been very busy in village with some big projects. I am still working on the project proposal for the health clinic. There have been a few hold ups which are keeping me from finally handing in the application. Every week it is like I make two steps forward but get pushed back one step. But I hope to get it in by October. I just hate that a lot of times I am the only person who thinks about all of the tiny details. It is really wearing to have to be the one thinking about everything all the time.
Another stressful project has to do with getting water pumps built in my village. The village made an official request to have 7 pumps built around the village back in June. We were told; each of the smaller villages had to collect 150.000FCFA. That roughly equates to $300. Each village has been able to come up with the money, even though everyone keeps saying they are SO poor. Truly my village is pretty well off but they don’t want to admit it. So, we were also told we have to hand in a Plan of Action. This is a huge document that lists every single problem in the village and what the solutions are and who is involved. I asked a friend of mine who owns a development NGO to help me. He told me that he could do it and I would only have to pay for supplies like paper and markers. I was fine with that. Turns out, he has never done a Plan of Action, so he asks his friend who runs another development NGO to help him because he has done this type of project before. Once this new guy got involved, everything changed. I was then told that the process that I thought would take a few days is now going to take over 40 days. And now it is going to cost ME 600.000FCA, or around $1200. It was phrased in a way that assumed I personally was going to pay for it. The two men understand that I don’t give money to fund projects personally. They money comes from funding sources. I tried to explain that, so then they said ‘well Peace Corps can pay for it’. Wrong again. I told them I can’t pay that much money but I will see if the village can find it some how. It has been left at that. They started the work but they are getting a little fussy that I can’t pay them. 600.000FCFA is more money than any Togolese person is ever paid. They are thinking on an American pay scale and that never happens in Togo, almost double what I get paid.
The only project that is not stressing me out is this other water project. This guy who used to be a Peace Corps volunteer in my village in the 70s, now owns and NGO in the states that repairs and builds pumps and wells. He married a Togolese women but some of her family is still here and works on this side of things. So his nephew came up to my village last weekend to look at all of the wells and pumps in my village that need to be repaired. There were 71 in total that need some help but we shall see how many they work on. The guy to the GPS location of the wells and he will then send them to his uncle in the states who will put them into some computer program that shows how close the wells are to underground water sources. If a well dries up in the dry season, they can see if they need to dig the well further in order to have water year round. The guy is coming in January to actually do the work so hopefully everything goes smoothly.
Other than that, nothing much else is going on. The school year starts in two weeks so hopefully my schedule will be more regular soon. Hope everything is going well for everyone at home. I miss you all and I hope to hear from you soon. Pleas write or email!!!!!!!!!!
Love and miss you,
Alia
Only 17 days away from my one year arrival mark seems like such a daunting concept. Have I really done anything in the past year? I hope that I have at least had some affect. My day to day activities still remain the same, meetings and planning sessions with village leaders. I am truly grateful for the amount of time and energy they are putting into the projects. Although my life is still terribly stressful, they are very helpful at the end of the day.
Two weeks ago, the group that came in June swore-in as volunteers. They were all dressed in the best looking payne outfits made by their host families. Speeches were made in local languages from every corner of the country, signify where each volunteer will be sent. I too did the same thing back in December. This new group, although there have been several changes in the numbers and a bit of drama, they are a good bunch. I like the new people who are in my region. They will blend well with those of us already here.
At the same time, we had to say goodbyes to several people who we have grown to call family here. It was sad to see them go, but I am sure they are doing great things back at home.
As I said I have been very busy in village with some big projects. I am still working on the project proposal for the health clinic. There have been a few hold ups which are keeping me from finally handing in the application. Every week it is like I make two steps forward but get pushed back one step. But I hope to get it in by October. I just hate that a lot of times I am the only person who thinks about all of the tiny details. It is really wearing to have to be the one thinking about everything all the time.
Another stressful project has to do with getting water pumps built in my village. The village made an official request to have 7 pumps built around the village back in June. We were told; each of the smaller villages had to collect 150.000FCFA. That roughly equates to $300. Each village has been able to come up with the money, even though everyone keeps saying they are SO poor. Truly my village is pretty well off but they don’t want to admit it. So, we were also told we have to hand in a Plan of Action. This is a huge document that lists every single problem in the village and what the solutions are and who is involved. I asked a friend of mine who owns a development NGO to help me. He told me that he could do it and I would only have to pay for supplies like paper and markers. I was fine with that. Turns out, he has never done a Plan of Action, so he asks his friend who runs another development NGO to help him because he has done this type of project before. Once this new guy got involved, everything changed. I was then told that the process that I thought would take a few days is now going to take over 40 days. And now it is going to cost ME 600.000FCA, or around $1200. It was phrased in a way that assumed I personally was going to pay for it. The two men understand that I don’t give money to fund projects personally. They money comes from funding sources. I tried to explain that, so then they said ‘well Peace Corps can pay for it’. Wrong again. I told them I can’t pay that much money but I will see if the village can find it some how. It has been left at that. They started the work but they are getting a little fussy that I can’t pay them. 600.000FCFA is more money than any Togolese person is ever paid. They are thinking on an American pay scale and that never happens in Togo, almost double what I get paid.
The only project that is not stressing me out is this other water project. This guy who used to be a Peace Corps volunteer in my village in the 70s, now owns and NGO in the states that repairs and builds pumps and wells. He married a Togolese women but some of her family is still here and works on this side of things. So his nephew came up to my village last weekend to look at all of the wells and pumps in my village that need to be repaired. There were 71 in total that need some help but we shall see how many they work on. The guy to the GPS location of the wells and he will then send them to his uncle in the states who will put them into some computer program that shows how close the wells are to underground water sources. If a well dries up in the dry season, they can see if they need to dig the well further in order to have water year round. The guy is coming in January to actually do the work so hopefully everything goes smoothly.
Other than that, nothing much else is going on. The school year starts in two weeks so hopefully my schedule will be more regular soon. Hope everything is going well for everyone at home. I miss you all and I hope to hear from you soon. Pleas write or email!!!!!!!!!!
Love and miss you,
Alia
posted by Alia at 3:24 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home