tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-56910936345863293822024-02-19T22:13:35.097-08:00Ah Bon, TogoJoseph Mahachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15681752052884636753noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5691093634586329382.post-29150479482490602602011-06-24T05:06:00.000-07:002011-06-24T05:07:08.555-07:00Chalk Talk<p class="MsoNormal">Most afternoons I open up my porch for the local kids to draw. The porch is a 10x5 concrete slab and sidewalk chalk from the states makes a great medium for the masterpieces of the kids. Also, it’s easy to clean. I’ve never really been around a group of 5-10 year olds for any amount of time so I don’t really have any idea what a group of them would talk about. The local kids seem to ignore me for the most part while chattering along in Adja. They don’t have enough French for me to ask them anything and since they aren’t talking about corn, beans, bicycles, school, or local moonshine, my Adja vocabulary is of no help. What’re also great are the conversations of adults in Adja in French that I overhear and understand. The standard format for a conversation in village is three or four people listening to an “expert” explain something. This expert can be anyone and they should not actually have any expertise on the issue under discussion. Their explanation is often totally ridiculous and wrong. “I did see the elephant that the pig gave birth to,” “that ethnic group made all the goats disappear,” “Joe can’t understand us, so let’s talk about how funny he talks.” So I can only imagine the discussion going on between the three eight year old boys beside me as they draw cars, cooking pots, and Togo flags. “That’s not what a bucket looks like,” “this is the coolest chalk I’ve ever seen,” “if he somehow wins the election, will all of Mitt Romney’s wives live in the White House?” Good question Kossivi. Good question.</p>Joseph Mahachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15681752052884636753noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5691093634586329382.post-26337614346138739472011-06-24T05:01:00.000-07:002011-06-24T05:06:03.646-07:00Get your read on developing worldSo...it's been a while, eh? Um...sorry about that. Can we just be friends and move on? Thanks.<div><br /></div><div><p class="MsoNormal">There is continual debate on how to best use the money of developed countries to aid undeveloped ones. Personally, I think that there is a fairly simple strategy worth trying. Certainly in the part of Africa that I know, and I assume in many other under-developed places in the world, people lack simple reading material. Almost daily I am asked for “<span lang="FR" style="mso-ansi-language:FR">les documents</span>”. People just want something to read. While this makes for a convenient disposal of old magazines and the copious amounts of would be fire starter that Peace Corps sends me, it could also be a huge opportunity for development projects, especially those that are somewhat abstract and hard to explain, like say gender equity promotion.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>What if a sizable portion of foreign aid monies went to the production and distribution of pamphlets that explained various aspects of our work here? So far the only such publications that I know of are religious, followed (oh so distantly) by a Peace Corps production, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal"><span lang="FR" style="mso-ansi-language:FR">Leve-Toi Jeune Fille</span>,</i> which targets youth, primarily girls and discusses health, education, and important life skills. I can’t say to what affect that the Jehovah’s Witness pamphlets have on people’s faith here, but they are very popular and there doesn’t seem to be a shortage of faith.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Much of my work is spent explaining the definitions of complex foreign terms like <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">gender equity</i>, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal">harassment</i>, and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">stop beating that small child for apparently no reason</i>. Okay, well maybe not that last one, because that’d be impossible to really get through here. But for the others, I’m in the process of designing a <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">petite guide</i> to being a Man As Partner (despite the grammatical shortcomings of that sentence, it works here in French and is a part of our Men As Partners program). It will be a kind of reference for men and women who are looking to be examples of equality in their communities. I think it’ll be useful because not only will it serve as a reminder of “all that stuff that the crazy American was talking about,” but also it will probably make up about 50% or more of the reading material in any given house, so it will be read over and over and etched in to minds craving knowledge.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>So, how hard would it be for USAID or a large NGO to produce a bunch of copies of 10-20 page pamphlets on a few issues that are designated as pressing? For example, Peace Corps Togo has four programs. What if we made a little pamphlet for each and set them loose in villages? As it turns out, we kind of do have something for each program: <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">Farm to Market</i> from our environment and business Volunteers, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">Et la Santé?</i> from our health Volunteers, and the soon to exist <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">The Small Guide for the Make Better of the Situation of Men and Women</i> (again, it sounds better in French and that’s just a working title). These help explain our messages and projects and the best part is that their circulation could stretch farther that we PCVs can. People could know that the US thinks that the empowerment and education of girls is important before I show up and have a long conversation that leaves them thinking that I’m nuts for agreeing to this work.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>I think this is a pretty good idea and would certainly cost less than many of the development projects out there and I find it hard to see a downside as long as we are careful with what we put into these cheap little pamphlets. We could make it the mailbox stuffer of Africa, except here people (who can) will absolutely read it.</p></div>Joseph Mahachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15681752052884636753noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5691093634586329382.post-53801843954779883682010-06-23T03:50:00.000-07:002010-06-23T04:06:37.625-07:00The Desires of a PCVHey all! I have noticed that my birthday is a-coming. I know that for my entire life I’ve been hard to shop for but I think this year we can make it a bit easier. Here’s a list of stuff that would drive any PCV (especially this one) crazy. Of course, I don’t actually ‘need’ any of these things, so don’t stress over anything and, of course, anything will be greatly appreciated.<br /><br />Joseph Mahach, PCV<br />Peace Corps<br />B.P. 3194<br />Lomé, Togo, West Africa<br /><br />Books: any travel books (I’ve got access to Africa and West Africa travel guides, but would love stuff like the “Best American Travel Writing of 2010”), books on/about West and North Africa, especially Nigeria, Mali and Algeria, stuff by Keith Gessen (I read “All the Young Literary Men” and really liked it), stuff by Mark Jenkins (travel writing), I saw a travel guide called “The World’s Most Dangerous Places” it was really, really cool, but from 1996, if they still make it that would be cool to have, and anything else (I read a lot).<br /><br />Magazines: National Geographic, Travel, Outside, Travel Africa, Men’s Health/Journal, Saveur.<br /><br />Maps: Of anything - Africa, the US, California, Santa Cruz, and anything kinda weird and interesting. I really like maps.<br /><br />Pictures: I can see pictures of all of your smiling faces on Facebook and what not, but it is a pain to download them or print them out. I’m currently making a push to decorate my house and I’d love to have pictures of family and friends to hang.<br /><br />Wall calendars: people here leave calendars up for years (seriously, my chief has one from 2003) and they make great gifts. Anything with scenes of America or crazy stuff (like snow) that will blow Togolese minds.<br /><br />Music: Little flash drives with new music, movies or TV shows would be a hit in the PCV community.<br /><br />Sustenance: Don’t get me wrong, I love my daily regimen of oatmeal, rice and beans, rice and beans, rice and beans, and fried tofu, but good old Stateside food is awesome. Dried fruit, all candy, powdered sauces, and cheap, fake Cheese (Velveta) are just the tip of the iceberg of possibilities. Propel Fitness Water mix is great. Hot sauce. As always, Cheez-Its will drive PCVs crazy.<br /><br />Money: While I am hesitant to start any project that requires me to hit up family and friends for money (seriously, that is probably the biggest problem that I have with Peace Corps and development organizations in Africa, but that’s another blog) I will be traveling to Burkina Faso, Ghana, Benin, Nigeria and maybe other places soon and visas, travel and bribes for border guards can eat up a Peace Corps living allowance pretty quick. And goals 2 and 3 of the Peace Corps are to expose other cultures to Americans and to expose Americans to other cultures, so any donations to “Joe’s Goal 2 and 3 Fund” do support the mission of the Peace Corps (I’ll check on their tax deductable status).<br /><br />A phone call to say hey: +228 745 9207Joseph Mahachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15681752052884636753noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5691093634586329382.post-31618238550022920542010-05-28T10:23:00.000-07:002010-05-28T10:29:12.598-07:00Get WorldWiserHey all. One of Peace Corps's goals is to teach Americans about different cultures. One way we do that is through the WorldWise School program where each of us is partenered with a class of kids. I am partenered with Ms. Nina Drucker's 9th grade Non-Western World History class at a Green Dot school in Watts, CA. Below is a list of questions that they asked me and my response. I bet many people have the same questions and this is a good chance to show what 9th grade students in the US want to know about Africa.<br /><br />1. When the kids in Africa get sick where does the illness come from?<br />2. How do they educate themselves?<br />3. What type of music do they listen to?<br />4. Do Africans use the bones of dead people to make things?<br />5. Why are there so many people?<br />6. Is there a person in Africa that speaks all languages in Africa?<br />7. How many Africans receive education; and do they take it or do they ignore it?<br />8. Do all people in Africa wear shoes?<br />9. Do they feel like they have nothing and are coming from nothing?<br />10. Why do they make baskets?<br />11. Are people happy in Africa?<br />12. What sports do they play?<br />13. How and where do they get water from?<br />14. Are there a lot of hospitals?<br />15. Do people walk around showing each other their privates?<br />16. Does the US help Africa?<br />17. What type of food do they eat?<br />18. What is the currency?<br /><br />Hey guys, I’m glad that we finally have the chance to communicate, I hope I can help you learn a bit about Africa and the Peace Corps. I’ve done my best to hit all of the questions and include some other stuff that I think you might find interesting too. I hope you enjoy this, and keep the questions coming!<br /><br />First off, I am serving in Togo, West Africa in the Girls Education and Empowerment Program. French is the language used in school and offices, but many local languages are spoken across the country and continent. I teach English at our high school and also work with students and apprentices to help them better understand things like HIV/AIDS, the importance of goals, how to lead a healthy life. Also I work with the local leadership, like the Chief, to further the goals of women’s equality.<br /><br />Most illness in Togo is either malaria or diarrhea. Throughout Africa, every year around 2.5 million people die of malaria, mostly children. While I take a weekly pill to protect me, that is just out of the price range for most people in Africa. Their best bet is to sleep under a bed net, as malaria is carried by the mosquito. As for diarrhea, it is spread by the E. coli bacteria, which is on the hands of people that don’t wash their hands after going to the bathroom. That bacteria then can get into food and the body tries to get it out by moving food through the body very quickly, which means diarrhea. The problem is that also a lot of water is passed and dehydration is a big problem, especially in kids.<br /><br />Here, they have schools like we do in the States, but with a lot less money. Most classrooms are cheap tin roofed and have just palm fronds for walls. Most schools don’t have all the teachers they need, so the teachers have to cover multiple subjects, which no doubt overworks them. For example, before I got here, English was taught by the Math teacher. There are also many young people who do not have the money to go to school. They either end up working in the fields or taking up apprenticeships. Apprenticeships are usually three year programs that teach a trade such as tailoring, hairdressing, or carpentry.<br /><br />It is a real challenge to keep kids in school. Even with university degrees and PhDs people cannot find jobs and end up back on the farm. Most people here do not have “jobs” as you and I think of them. They mainly work on farms that produce food for their family and then supplement that with a small amount of trading in fuel or household goods, for example.<br /><br />They are big fans of hip hop music here as well as local drum beats. As there is not much entertainment other that soccer and dancing, music is a big part of all festivities. And soccer is really the only sport here. In some towns there is basketball or even rugby, but a soccer field can be anything and all that is needed is a ball.<br /><br />While I haven’t seen any human bones, voodoo, or “gri-gri” is pretty common. In most markets there is a guy selling animal bones and little fetishes. And, even people that say the don’t believe in the voodoo will occasionally say things like “watch out for that tree, it’s evil.” Also, scarring is a big part of the culture here. In order to protect young kids, parents will have local healers make small cuts on the faces of the kids that will scar. Some people also have hundreds of little scars down their arms and stomachs as either a form of protection or a sign of strength.<br /><br />Indeed there are a lot of people. By 2050 there will be 1.5 billion people living in Sub-Saharan Africa. Contraception is not widely used here and in most cultures many children is a sign of strength and are a big help on family farms. In reality, more children are more mouths to feed and more money to be paid for school (or it means more kids that don’t go to school). Also, polygamy is fairly common in the villages. My counterpart, whom I work with the most, has two wives and eight kids. This is not unusual. There are people who understand the difficulties of having large families, but it is still hard to reach everyone and fully explain the consequences.<br /><br />In Togo, there are over 60 indigenous languages. So far, the most impressive linguist I’ve met is our former Safety and Security Coordinator and current US Embassy staff member that can speak over a dozen of them fluently and converse simply in a dozen or so more. The national language is French, but many people, especially women, cannot speak it. Nearly every activity I do, I work with my counterpart and he translates into Adja for me. As for my language proficiency, I can Speak French and can say the standard greetings in Adja and Ewe (the language next door) and I know several key words, so I can usually understand what people are saying, but I can’t respond in Adja.<br /><br />Most people were shoes, kind of. Little kids really don’t unless they are going to school. I think all adults do except for the poorest of the poor. The most common shoe here is a cheap sandal that we might use for a shower sandal in a dorm.<br /><br />People here definitely know that they are poorer than most of the world and view the US and the West as immensely rich places with no problems. Still, people here are able to have fun and enjoy their lives. But, there is some sense that the West has so much and the people here have so little, why don’t they help more?<br /><br />People in my area really don’t make baskets. They pretty much use whatever they have to hold stuff, usually a large metal basin. And people do carry things on their heads. I’ve seen little girls with basins full of ten gallons of water on their heads walking down the street. Also, it is humorous when they put things on their heads that could easily be carried, like a single notebook, but that is just how they carry things here.<br /><br />Water sources depend on where you are. In my village we have wells. I pay a kid to pull water for me and fill a 25 gallon barrel on my porch as needed. This water is for my drinking, cooking and showering. Some wells her go dry in the dry season. Luckily, the well near my house doesn’t (usually) go dry. Others in village do and people walk from all over to use the well near me or to the stream in the village.<br /><br />In my village there is a small clinic. In Prefecture capitals (31 in the country) there are hospitals with doctors. The problem is not really the lack of facilities, but a lack of personnel and resources. There are not enough doctors and not enough resources to support them. For instance, there is no trauma care in Togo. If I get in a car crash and bump my head, I’m pretty much on my own (don’t tell my mom).<br /><br />The stereotype of African women not wearing shirts is somewhat true. In village, when women are at home, shirts are most definitely optional. And that’s even if I come over to say hey. However, when people are out and about or in bigger towns and cities the keep it locked up.<br /><br />Every year the US Peace Corps budget is between $360 and $400 million, or on day in Iraq. Also, the US aids Africa through various other aid programs such as USAID and PEPFAR (which is the best thins that President Bush did). The US is definitely here, but it is so much more complicated than just money. So much money is stolen by government officials her, or by other people working on projects. Sadly there is no magic bullet for aid in Africa. Thus, the US and Peace Corps do a little of everything. In Togo we have a health program, a small business program, an environmental program, and the Girls’ Education and Empowerment Program. Also, USAID help on construction projects and other smaller projects. Alos, there are UN agencies, the AID agencies of other nations and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) here all working toward “the development” of Togo. It’s hard to tell what has worked and what hasn’t as aid has now become a part of African life. I think that we are coming along bit by bit, but we still have a long way to go.<br /><br />Food here basically consists of a starch and a spicy sauce. Near me, that usually means either fufu, yams that are pounded into the consistency of uncooked pizza dough, or pâte, which is cornmeal and water. Personally, I eat a lot of rice and beans. A lot.<br /><br />The currency here is the West African CFA Franc. CFA has stood for many things over the years, but now is referred to as the “Community of Francophone Africa.” It was pegged to the French Franc and is not pegged to the Euro at around 620 CFA (or “cee-fah” to the Euro. Which right now means about 520 CFA to the dollar. And stuff is cheaper here; a large bottle of beer, 66 cl. costs 500 CFA. I can eat for around 300 or 400 CFA per day. Peace corps gives me 129,000 CFA per month for all my expenses: food, transport, housing, help around the house, clothes, etc.<br /><br />I hope this answers your questions and I look forward to continuing this in the future and explaining more about Africa and the Peace Corps. Let me know if there is anything you’d like more info on. Thanks!<br /><br />-JoeJoseph Mahachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15681752052884636753noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5691093634586329382.post-58278128247738685952010-05-25T00:55:00.000-07:002010-05-25T00:56:44.458-07:00It’s dusk. I’m standing in the shadow of a cell tower two kilometers outside of town, waiting for a man that I sometimes have drinks with at a bar that seems to be frequented only by us and his friends. It feels like I’m a CIA agent or something, waiting to get some info or something. I am not a CIA agent, of course, as that would break several Peace Corps regulations including one that goes something like, “don’t be a CIA agent.”* No, this is how I charge my computer and sometimes my cell phone. As there is not power grid that reaches out here and thus no power <span style="font-style: italic;">chez moi</span>, I rely on the generators of local proprietors or the electricity of the big city, when I get in there, to charge my things.<br /> Recently, I have acquired a solar charger from a PCV that has left the country after medical issues. It is rumored that I can use this to charge my iPod (now I just use the USB cable with anything I can) but I am hesitant to do so. Another volunteer used a solar charger on her iPod and now it is broken. I feel like one of the students here that believes that you will get sick if you wear a condom because he heard from a friend that this one kid sneezed after looking at a condom. The iPod is so important to a volunteer that without one we would certainly go bonkers.<br /> In addition to no electricity in Asrama, we also have no running water. Luckily, there is a well just 50 meters from my front door. As I have said in a previous post, I don’t lug myself all that way to get water; I hire an outside contractor – a specialist if you will – to handle that. Also, I’m lucky in that my well is nearly guaranteed to never go dry. My house is at a bit lower elevation than most of the village and so even when rain in scarce (like now) <span style="font-style: italic;">mon ami</span> doesn’t need to walk to another well or the river.<br /> Not all Peace Corps Togo posts are like this of course. There are several volunteers that have glass windows, electricity, running water and all the luxuries that come with them, such as fans and refrigerators. Some places have electricity for only about half of the day while some have it all the time. These are the volunteers that are (jokingly) referred to as Posh Corps Volunteers. They are very popular. Of course they have to pay utilities out of the same living allowance as I receive, but I haven’t heard any complaints.<br /> Anyway, my utilities payments here are only 500 CFA (one dollar) a week for water garbage and exterior cleaning plus about 200 CFA a week to charge cell phone batteries and then a beer now and again to the guard at the cell tower where I charge my computer. It sure beats PG&E.<br /> I hope all is well in the States and hope to hear from you all soon.<br /><br />*Note: And I cannot stress this enough, I am not, and have not ever been, affiliated with any intelligence outfit of the United States (or any) government. Seriously, if you work for Peace Corps and are reading this, take it easy, just foolin’.Joseph Mahachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15681752052884636753noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5691093634586329382.post-45162536256550550152010-04-13T06:07:00.000-07:002010-04-13T06:10:45.247-07:00Chez Moi La BasSo I figure that it is about time that I put some sort of account of my time in Togo on the internet for all my adoring fans to read. Sorry it has taken so long. I have many great excuses for not getting anything up involving, but not limited to, living oh-so-far from reliable internet, writer’s block, a best friend/dog dying and a motorcycle-bat collision at high speed. But that is neither here nor there. Anyway, I hope this can help my friends and family understand what it is that I’m doing over here and I hope that I can convey some of the great experiences I’ve had as well as a bit of Togolese culture. Oh, and I’ll try to get pictures up, but don’t hold out for them, most days the internet is just too slow to upload stuff.<br /><br />So here is a rundown of my life here: I live in the village of Asrama, which has anywhere between two and five thousand people in it, depending on who you ask and whether or not you are counting votes. Asrama is both a village and a canton, which basically equates to a county in the states, sort of. I consider the canton to be “my turf” as the chief of the canton is my boy (really, he’s probably my best friend in village) and with four middle schools and a high school the canton seems about the right size for Joe’s Kingdom. I can ride my bike from one side of it to the other in probably half an hour.<br /><br />My housing arrangement is the Peace Corps Base Model. That means two rooms, about 12’ x 12’, one peach and one an electric blue/green (those may be the only colors available here), with an outdoor shower and latrine. The community was also nice enough to build a fence for me so I have a little yard that is a bit bigger than one of my rooms. Also I have a nice place where I can have my own garden, but right now I am using it to see how undisturbed soil can be used in development (results inconclusive). No electricity or running water (as that would ruin my street cred) but I do have a piece of cardboard that I use to fan myself with, so that’s nice. I bought a mattress and had a nice bed made (carpenters and tailors abound here, so all furniture and clothing is custom made) but it is just too friggin’ hot to sleep on it. Instead, I sleep on the lipicot (lip-ee-coh) that I bought. A lipicot is a metal frame, the size of a twin bed, with that string that you can melt, whatever that’s called, woven across. The result is a bed that let’s air move all around you and sweat fall away. It is awesome. And it gives me great decorations on my skin in the mornings.<br /><br />For food, I pretty much cook for myself. I bought a gas tank and stove, but I also have a little charcoal stove for stuff that takes longer (gas is not expensive, but a hassle to get, so I only use it for quick cooking). The standard menú de jour consists of a breakfast of oatmeal and a hardboiled egg, then I make enough rice and beans to last me lunch and dinner. On market days (once a week) I can usually get some chicken that I like, but the usual meat options for sale here are not exactly in tune with my palate. Also, most days I can get fried tofu with a spicy sauce on the street which is really good. If I go to someone’s house to eat we usually eat fufu (yams pounded until they resemble uncooked pizza dough), or pâte (literally ‘paste’ in French) which is cornmeal and water. Like polenta minus flavor, texture, color, or fun. I have gotten used to Togolese food and can eat it without trouble (that has not always been the case) but I certainly wouldn’t order it in a restaurant or buy boxed, powdered fufu and make it myself (you know who you are fellow volunteers).<br /><br />I get my water from a well and then I filter and bleach it (I could boil and filter, but boiling uses too much gas and takes too long on charcoal). And when I say “I get my water” I mean I pay a kid to fill a 25 gallon barrel on my porch as needed. He also sweeps my porch, keeps the outside of my house looking nice and disposes of my garbage. I also pay a girl to do my laundry every other week. Don’t judge me; I would do these things, but I just really don’t want to. Anyway, water. Every two weeks or so I clean the filter and damn, I sure am glad I have a filter. That well water is pretty dirty. Water is probably one of the easiest ways to get sick here (not that any way is terribly hard). Between the amoebas and other parasites that live in it or the malaria bearing mosquitoes that breed in it (I take a weekly malaria prophylaxis) the water is something not to be trusted.<br /><br />Basically Africa is trying to beat us. It’s not like we’re running from lions or anything (poached out of this area decades ago) but Africa is trying to get us sick enough that we have to go home to the States. Already we’ve lost volunteers to stress, breathing in the dust and weird skin rashes (I hear they are all fine now in the States and planning their comebacks for other Peace Corps countries). And for those of us still here, well most of us know our latrines or toilets pretty well. There is really no use in asking how someone here got sick, it could have been from touching anything, or even just breathing. But don’t worry about us. We’ll be fine. The Peace Corps Medical Officers (PCMOs) are great and keep us patched up and able to work. I’d say there is possibly a very good chance that I’ll survive these two years.<br /><br />So, work. The program that I am in is Girls’ Education and Empowerment (I know, it is a great line) and right now I teach English at the high school. The GEE program works a lot with students and teachers to encourage girls to stay in school and to have a positive effect on their communities through a good education. It really is a great and necessary program. For example in my Terminale class, the final year of high school, there are 42 boys and only 3 girls. It seems simple to us: girls and women make up half (or more) of the population, so to not have them educated and contributing to the development of the community is a huge waste, but it is hard to pass on that reasoning. That’s not to say that there aren’t many people here that do understand the immense value of educating and promoting girls, but we’ve still got quite a ways to go.<br /><br />I teach and work at a combined CEG and Lycée (middle and high school). About five kilometers away is another CEG. For the 11 classes of these three schools there is only one state English teacher. He is assisted by two other teachers that normally teach Math and French and may have been to Ghana once and thus speak a little English. So, as I am fairly confident in my English-speaking skills, I have taken up the three lycée classes. Togolese grades start at sixth in middle school and count down, so I teach Seconde, Primiere, and Terminale, basically 10th-12th grades. In Seconde I have 110 students, Primiere: 75 and Terminale: 45. That makes for a lot of tests to grade and some stressful class management. The most common method of classroom management here is either punishment via manual labor or beatings. Of course Peace Corps and I are working with teachers to get away from the beatings, but I’d be lying if the thought didn’t cross my mind every once and a while (really though, I have pretty great students).<br /><br />I think that teaching is a great way to at least start my service and I think I will continue next year as well. Basically I have 230 students that have to sit and listen to me for four hours a week. It is incredibly hard to get people to show up to meetings, so to have a (semi-)captive audience on a regular basis is a blessing for a PCV. This has enabled me to utilize one of my favorite strategies, sneak sensitization. For example, “here class, translate the following passage from French to English…ha ha! It’s the Universal Declaration of Human Rights! You didn’t even see that coming did you!?” I’m pretty sneaky. We’ve used some Obama speeches in class that have brought up talks about homosexuality, equality and democracy, and I routinely use passages from a Peace Corps manual that promotes gender equity and healthy lifestyles which always leads to great discussions. And they think that they’re just learning English! Ha ha ha!<br /><br />That’s what’s going on now and soon I hope to start a few peer educator groups to educate the youths about sex, gender equity, self-confidence, goal setting and stuff like that. Also, we are hopefully about to start a village bank for development, I’ll let you know how that goes. And we’ve also got some ‘stay in school’ campaigns, micro finance projects for girl students, new/expectant mothers’ health talks, school and community gender equity committees, and other fun stuff planned. <em>On va voir</em>.<br /><br />I hope this bit has painted a good picture of my set up here and doesn’t seem too scary (mom, I’m fine). I really am happy to be in the Peace Corps and I couldn’t imagine doing anything else at this point in my life. All of you need to visit me at some point. Seriously, I’ll write as much as I can, but come spend two weeks or so here and you can really get a feel for life here. I miss you all terribly and thank you all so much for calls and care packages. The packages have been amazing. Stuff that we take for granted in the States is so great for a PCV. Stuff like news magazines, Cheez-Its, candy, cheap-crappy powdered buffalo wing sauce, etc. are oh so great. And fun fact: although kinda gross in the States, when eaten here a SlimJim is exceedingly delicious. Much love and thanks for all your love. Oh, and I’ve lost fifty pounds and look oh so sexy.<br /><br />It’s definitely not easy, but if it was I don’t think it’d be any fun.Joseph Mahachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15681752052884636753noreply@blogger.com4