Volunteering Experience in Togo

Week 1

We arrived in the early hours of the morning. As soon as we stepped outside the airport, we could feel the humid heat, which has been hard to get used to.

The five of us volunteers arrived on the same flight. Two members of the association came to pick us up and took us home, where we were able to rest for a few hours.

Afterwards, we went for lunch at a restaurant in our neighbourhood, Djidjolé. We withdrew some money and got a SIM card.

When we got home, we experienced our first power cut, which gave us the chance to get out of the house for a while to go for a walk and put our creativity to the test whilst cooking by torchlight.

The next day we went to visit the Halsa office. We had an induction session, met the rest of the team and had a traditional meal together that they’d prepared right there. Everything was absolutely delicious.

We spent the rest of the weekend at the beach, Grand Marche and getting to know the city a bit better.

Week 2

This week, Gael and I spent time with Team 4B. We went to the beach with Liman and Victoire and met the girls from Holland. We watched Samira give a talk on raising awareness about violence and gender equality.

This is one of the aspects that has proved challenging, as most of the girls mainly use the Ewe language to communicate, which means that the volunteers’ ability to join in the conversations is greatly limited.

Week 3

This week was a bit bittersweet.

I had the chance to go with Martin to the YMCA, where the vegetable garden for the project he’s in charge of (Potager) is located. There’s a lot of work to be done, such as clearing the land, watering thoroughly, planting, and so on, as well as other tasks like recruiting volunteers and distributing food kits. Whilst we were working in the orchard, I made the mistake of leaving my bag unattended and someone took it, stealing some of my belongings.

The people from the organisation were very supportive, trying to find it and later going to the police. This made me realise that both here and anywhere else in the world, you have to keep a close eye on your belongings. Fortunately, everything was sorted out and this didn’t stop me from continuing to enjoy my experience. Proof of this was that we went to Kpalimé that very same weekend! The experience was wonderful thanks to two Halsa staff members who helped us organise the trip and decided to join us for the journey. We saw waterfalls, went cycling, tried new food, visited historical sites and had a great laugh. We’ll certainly cherish the memories.

Week 4

This week was my first time at Ecole alternative! I went with the volunteer Miriam, who had already completed her first week of the project. Thanks to the Halsa staff in charge of this area of work, the week was very enjoyable and I really liked it.

Miriam and I decided to prepare some literacy games for the children to learn and practise words in English and French. We created some cards with words and pictures which Samira was then able to use for her literacy session. It really makes a difference to be able to participate more actively in the development of the activities, something we have often missed as our role has mostly been that of observers.

At the weekend, we decided to have a barbecue at our house and invite the teams from the organisation. We cooked loads of food and had a really fun evening – we even danced in the rain!

Week 5

This week I worked with the 4B team again. We made bracelets with the girls from Hollando. They really enjoyed it and there was a large group. It’s a good activity for getting to know them better and working together, as it allows us to use visual cues and non-verbal communication. Meanwhile, Samira led an awareness-raising talk on violence and positive parenting.

During those days, we took the opportunity to gather more information about the girls and add it to the data collection system. On Friday, all the teams worked together to visit the Ecole mobile. This has been one of my favourite activities in the project, although unfortunately I only went once. The children were very excited when we arrived and gave us a very warm welcome. It was impossible not to notice how keen they are to learn and meet new people, from the youngest to the oldest.

Personally, I think this is a very creative idea and, although the logistics of transporting all the materials are not straightforward, it is well worth it and demonstrates the association’s commitment to achieving its goals in terms of access to education for all children.

At the weekend, we volunteers went to a music festival in a mountainous area of Kpalimé. It was an incredible experience. As it was a small festival, we had the chance to meet people from Togo and other countries; we went on a hike with stunning views that ended at some waterfalls where we went for a swim. The music was varied and we even got to dance around the fire to the sound of the drums. This weekend has allowed us to make connections with people living in Lomé and has made us feel more integrated into Togolese life.

Week 6

This week Halsa host some visitors from another organization from France, three of them minors and two educators who accompanied them. One of them actually worked in the past with Halsa and he was able to speak ewe.

As Gael and I were working with the Ecole alternative team this week, we were lucky enough to see the children getting to know one another through sports such as football, traditional Togolese games, team-building activities and music!

That Friday, the children went to visit Togoville as it was their last day of activities with Halsa. Chiara, the volunteer, and I asked for Friday off so we could travel to Kara. It was a long journey – nine and a half hours by bus. It was quite an experience. We found the climate to be hotter, and the landscape was different too: orange-coloured dirt roads, villages with distinctive architecture, and baobab trees! We made the most of our time by getting up very early to visit places such as: Sarakawa Nature Reserve, a small museum housing a private collection of masks and sculptures from various African countries, and the village of Koutammakou. The latter was perhaps the most interesting; we were able to see inside one of the village houses. The guide explained the history of the first inhabitants, different customs, and how the family is arranged within the house—for example, the father sleeps on the ground floor to protect the house in case enemies come, and the mother with the children on the upper floor.

As I love baobabs, it was very special for me when they took us to see the Maison du Baobab, a tree hundreds of years old (perhaps even older) that is hollow inside and which you can walk into. It was great that Halsa agreed to give us an extra day off, which has allowed us to explore this part of the country.

Week 7

This week it was my turn to join the 4B team.

We went to see the girls at Hotel la Paix. They were very nice and some of them showed interest in the activity. Samira did a sensibilization session about the practice of ablation, self hygiene and the menstrual cycle. I found it very useful and talked with Samira during the next few days about some ideas that we could try, like handmade pads with fabric or preparing a menstrual calendar. She and the rest of the team thought it would be nice to prepare an example of the calendar for the next week, so I started to work on that.

On Friday, the group of volunteers went to Benin!

We instantly noticed some of the differences between the two countries even though the border is just two hours away. We visited Cotonou, Ganvie, Abomey and Ouidah. It was a busy weekend; we did a lot of sightseeing, had to practise our haggling skills, and tried some new food.

It was another highlight of our volunteering experience and showed that we feel more confident about travelling on our own.

Week 8

This week I was back to the orchard at the YMCA with Martin. I was very happy after seeing that what we had planted a few weeks ago started to grow. We planted more seeds, water the vegetables and mix the soil with the compost to prepare the rest of the terrain.

On Thursday afternoon, we were told at Halsa that they had decided to give us tomorrow and the rest of next week off so that we would have enough time to enjoy our last few days in the country. This came as a surprise to us and at first we weren’t sure how to feel about it. However, we’ve since realised that lots of plans have come up for the last few days, and having some time off has helped us organise ourselves better.

During the weekend I went to visit Aneho and Togoville. It was very nice to still visit new places not so far from Lomé, learn more about the history of the country and try new food, for example the drink “coco” for breakfast.

One day we went with the girls to buy oranges. The idea was for them to resell them at the market so that the next day they could recoup the cost of the oranges and make a profit for themselves; not all of them managed to achieve this, but the initiative has been successful and the girls from the beach have shown an interest.

At the weekend, some volunteers went to visit Togoville and Agbodrafo. I was feeling a bit under the weather, so I spent Saturday resting, and on Sunday we went to the beach – the best remedy for recharging our batteries.

Week 9

This last week we had free time to visit the places we liked for the last time and say goodbye to people that we met.

On Monday it was the day of the independence, Tuesday we had lunch with the long term volunteer Caterina, as it was her last day in Togo. We all went together to have lunch in a Lebanese restaurant.

On Wednesday, the plan was to go to say goodbye to the children in Djena, although myself and another volunteer had to go to renovate our visa instead as this one expires just a few hours before our flight. We spent most of the morning at the DGDN. Fortunately there were not any issues and we got the extension for 15 days (apparently the minimum period of time).

Thursday we had our last evaluation meeting in the morning and in the afternoon, the staff from the organization prepared a delicious meal, gave us a certificate for completing the project and some gifts from Togo. We were very surprised and felt really grateful.

Our flight is on Sunday evening, so this weekend we plan to tidy the house, pack our bags and say goodbye to our Togolese friends.

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