To go to Togo

I recently was sent to another small West African country called Togo.  It is between Benin and Ghana.  I was there for six days and it was pretty sweet.  The workshop I attended was really great and I learned a lot.  I was lucky enough to stay right on the ocean. The View was amazing!! 

My Room

The View

Sweet Picture in my Room

At any one time you could see like 50-75 ships just a few miles off of the coast waiting to go into the neighboring ports.  There are pirates in the area so they stay close to the coast line for safety.  

The Ships

Togolese flowers

As we were driving around I took some pictures of a bank and of the ECOWAS building.  I thought the architecture was pretty different than what I have seen in West Africa.

Hard at work

ECOWAS building

another building

Ben and I sittin gon some rice bags





 The Togolese police had some of the sweetest trucks I have ever seen super reinforced.



I am Food Secure!!



In Service Training

So we just finished up a week long technical training in Basse.  This training was for the new volunteers that Just sworn in three months ago.  We taught grafting, all aspects of tree growing and gardening, then their counterparts came and we taught them the same thing. 

Grafting

It was hot like 110+ hot.  I forgot what hot is like and I understood how I lost so much weight, when it’s hot all you do is drink warm water and you don’t eat.  

Thats me in the middle

“facilitating”

Craziness

84lbs of onions

Onions

onion moving

onion drying



Getting the perfect shot




The US Ambassador said “this is the best onion I have gotten all day”

one I forgot from The Fatou Show

I am back in the city now for a while.  It’s nice to have a fan to sleep under throughout the night and actually enjoy the cool evening breeze. 

I am headed to my village for a mini staycation tomorrow

Pluggin Away

I just got back from two treks each being about 3-4 days.  The first one was a food security trek to check up on projects.  It went well on of the highlights of it was a monkey at another volunteers site.  I fed it some jujube fruits and it took them all out of my hand and stuck them all in his mouth like a chipmunk.  It was sad, cruel but still entertaining. 

Mokey feeder

I came home for the weekend and went to a live taping of a local evening television show called “The Fatou Show,”  the host Fatou is basically The Gambian Oprah.  There was about 15 volunteers and staff.  We went to watch a couple volunteers talk about a camp they just put on for Gambian high school kids about leadership.  It was a real success so they were invited on to talk about. 

On air

Modu and I

 Overall it was entertaining; it brought back memories of being on the Rambling Rod Show. 

Ramblin Rod

Then Monday I left again for a couple days back up country to visit more sites for an “environmental compliance check.”   It went as well as expected.  I got to go back to my village and see my host family and check up on my former project, which is always nice and puts a smile on my face. 

I have been busy lately and thought that it may slow down in the near future but I am still unsure as to when that time will come.  I leave again Sunday for a week of training.  I am hoping after that I can take a few days and just relax.

I recently spent some time at the beach, which is rare for me I could count the number of time I have been to the beach here on one hand.  I grew up on the west coast and the beach; I never felt the need or desire to go to the beach here compared to some volunteers that go to the beach as often as they can.  In the last couple weeks I have been a couple times, and each additional visit it gets better.  I think it is my mindset when I go; it is like anything else, I have to mentally prepare for it.   A clear mind or at least a mind that is clear of things you don’t want to think about is where I have to be.   My most recent trip was late at night, Just sitting on the sand and staring at the white from the waves breaking would just appear like lightning from the darkness and it was like fire you just stare at it and it become mesmerized by it.  This has all made me appreciate the beach here as much as the beaches back home. 

Road Trip

I just recently returned from a weeklong trip to Senegal.  Myself two staff and 10 other PCVs went to look at PC Senegal’s Master Farmer program.  It’s a great program where you take a counterpart and teach them improved techniques in farmer and gardening and then use their land as an example farm/garden and then bring other host country nationals to their site and let your counterpart explain what they are doing  and the benefits of it all. PC The Gambia is hoping to implement a similar program in the next year, that was the reason for the trip.

From the roof of the Kaolack hotel

A village



Master Farmer Presenting



Chicken Farm

Salt flat

Overall it was a great trip I got to see some parts of Senegal I had never seen and saw some practices they were doing that were very innovative.



Hand pump



On the way home I had mixed feelings because when I came back to The Gambia many of my friends would not be here.   Their time was finished they went different directions, traveling the world and going back to the states.  Nearly every week one or two people will be gone from the group of 30 that arrived over two years ago.  From the 30 that arrived only 6 are staying another year and a couple more are extending for a few extra months.

Garlic

Cabbage

I chose not to participate in the Yawn contest

The end of a long day

Gambian Ferry

One of my friends just came back from a conference in Ghana.  I have started a new hobby of collecting fabric from every place I visit. I was going to give him some money and was talking with one of our staff in the office and she said “NO NO, give him more money they have really nice fabric in Ghana.”  So I gave him some more money and he brought me back six pieces each being about 2 meters long.   

Ghana Fabric

The Motherland

87 days since I last wrote anything.  I haven’t forgotten, I have procrastinated without an excuse.  Now that I sit down and think a lot has gone one since that one November day.   I have moved into the “city,” I live in an apartment that is similar to America, TV, microwave, stove/oven and a refrigerator.  It has running water and power also.  It’s nice, about a 10 minute walk to the PC office where I work now.  It’s a little bit of an adjustment, no screaming kids, wondering farm animals or bucket baths; on the other side of the coin I now have what we call “Kombo problems.”  These problems entail having to replace light bulbs, getting out of bed in the middle of the night to flip the power switch to generator power from the local grid as to keep the fan blowing air on me while I sleep.  Some of the other volunteers roll their eyes at these so called problems but it doesn’t bother me. 

Sister and Brother in Law

I went back to America for my sister’s wedding.  It was nice, it was dead of winter and it took some tie for my body to get use to the below freezing temperatures.  Less than 24 hours after arriving in the US I was put in car and headed for a 2 day road trip to Utah.   Being alone for so long and doing my own thing and then being put in a car for 2 days and not being able to get alone it a great way to get over culture shock and adjust back to America.

Sister and I

I got to see Park City, Utah and parts of the Salt Lake City area that I had not seen before.  We had some spare time one day so my dad and I and one of my new relatives decided to sneak in some fly fishing.  I didn’t have any gear but we found a great little fly shop and rented some gear and hit the river.  It was probably one of the best moments of my trip.  I didn’t catch squat but it was great to just get out and do some fly fishing.  My sister’s wedding was great.  A winter wedding I think it the way to go.  I took lots of notes for when I get married. 

The Provo River

Luckily we got to fly back to Oregon and I was very thankful of that, I couldn’t go through another 2 day road trip.  My time back in Oregon was short and sweet.  I did have time to fit in a new hobby which is always good.  I did a little leather work while I was home and made this leather knife sheath for my dad before I left.  I have big plans whenever I get stateside to add this hobby to my repertoire of hobbies.

The Masterpiece

Overall my trip was great; glad I went home and got to see family and friends.  I get to go back to the states for a month whenever I want now since I have extended.  I don’t know when that will be but it looks like it will be next winter again. But who knows..

I have gone back to my former village a couple times to visit and eat some home cooking.  Last weekend I went and after a few minutes of just sitting on the bench in front of the house I looked around and thought to myself that I should be doing something.  Village life is so much slower and quieter.  I forgot how much I appreciate that life; it was a very nice change.  I spent most of the time in the gardens helping women with their gardens and just mainly hanging out.  I came home with all my clothes washed, a bag of grapefruits and lettuce. 

Life

Being in Peace Corps is like being on a roller coaster.  I have heard it before and I will hear it again.  I don’t like roller coasters and I think I can count on one hand the number of times I have been on one.  But, I like Peace Corps.  I could see how people compare the two.  There are times when you’re up and times when you are down.   

During your service of 27 months there is always this looming question that you ask yourself and other asks, “Are you extending”?  Which means are you staying for a third year?  For me personally, the first half year or so I really didn’t know one way or another and always told people I don’t know right now. There was about a year gap where I thought to myself, there is no way I would stay here any longer than I have too.  Around my birthday I started thinking that I like it here, I like my village, host family and I am not really getting that sick anymore.  I also started working on this Food Security initiative and as time went on I found myself working more at the Peace Corps office.  This summer I went back to the states to visit my family and while I was there I discussed my options with them.  The main options was I could potentially move out of my village and into the city and work on this Food Security Initiative full time.  I could only see doing it for a full year and not just the rest of my service of six months.

I thought I would have until December to decide.  For reasons outside of my control things started to fall into place and I had to make my decision in August.  It depended on Budget approval for me to move and work full time on food security.  In the beginning of November we got budget approval so I then officially submitted my paper work to extend until April of 2014.  Passed my medical exam, and then got my official approval from the country director. 

The next step was to tell my family and friends in my village.  When I told them they were upset but they were also excited for me.  My host father said he would let me keep my house and not let anyone else move in.  I appreciate it because I still want to go and visit and hangout on the weekends.  I also love my mother’s cooking.  

My program manager then came and told the elders and other important people in my village that I am leaving.  After that I found an apartment near the PC office and filled out the lease agreement.  I should be moving from my village to my apartment December 1^st.   I am headed back to village for a couple weeks and then I take a step on a different path for about a year and a half. 

I saw this Peace Corps PSA a couple weeks ago and it hit me just right and I just shook my head and told myself that its sooo true

Ouagadougou what??

I just got back from Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.  First off it is pronounced Wagadugu in English but spelled Ouagadougou.  The couple of weeks leading up to my departure I was telling people both in America and in The Gambia that I was flying to Burkina Faso and the typical response from people was “where is that? And why do you have fly? Is it far?”  Inside I just laughed.  I quickly realized I would say the same thing before I came here.  I didn’t know Burkina Faso from The Gambia.  

Can you find Burkina Faso??



Burkina Faso



If I was answering to someone in America I would explain it to them that it is east of The Gambia by a couple countries and a little south, sharing boarders with Mali, Niger and some other smaller West African countries.  If I was responding to a Gambian I would usually look around for a stick and draw them a map of West Africa and show them where all the countries in West Africa are and then show them where The Gambia was and where Burkina Faso was.  I usually would step back afterwards and gaze upon my dirt map and get a feeling of appreciation of my five long years studying geography in college and see the results of that. Nevertheless, I got my point across to two different people in different ways.   

Lots of scooters

I went to Burkina Faso for one week with three other Peace Corps volunteers  and participated in the ECHO 2^nd West Africa Networking Forum.  There were 165 participants from 17 African countries, 5 non African countries.  We went to 3 days of session in the morning and then in the afternoon we would go to smaller group sessions on more specific topics.  Most of topics where targeted in helping small scale farmers and families improve their lives through agriculture. 

Burkina Faso's Bush Taxi

 The day after the conference we went and toured an experimental farm about an hour outside of the city and that was great to get out of the city and see some of the country. 

Improved Variety of Okra

Soybeans

Deep Deep thought...

Burkina Faso Top Bar Hive



An overpass



Overall it was great conference and I brought back a lot of information and things that I can pass onto other Gambians and other PCV’s.  



I wanted to make sure you could spot me