Village Life!

The Schedule of the village.

I wanted to take some time to get a window into my daily life here in the village. It’s different, let me tell you that. Visions of TiVo, a baseball game, an ice-cold happy hour beer, cities blanketed with wi-fi - those things that make life worth living, are hardly close enough to make wish for them. Yet life here is hardly anything that’s too tough or even too far out of my comfort zone. Perhaps I’m well equipped for this environment because I moved around a lot when I was young, and in that context I learned that although I am happy in a certain environment, that doesn’t mean that I couldn’t be just as happy in a completely different context. Or perhaps it’s just because I have the luxury of knowing that I’ll be going back to my… luxury… in a few weeks.

First of all, life in Farendé starts early! I’m awake for about the same number of hours everyday, but the schedule is completely at the mercy of the sun. I get up with the roosters and the sun, usually around 5:30. I usually go for a run that morning with a kid or two from my house or my fellow Duke student, Rui, who is working on public health in the village. As I run across the gently rolling plain or up the nearby the mountains, I pass several villagers with hoes hanging over their shoulders and those already tending their corn or yam or rice fields. Nyen-e-liu I say to them, to which the reply is either silence as they don’t know what I said, “Bonjour” as a nod to the fact that as a white person probably speak French (or more likely speak French than the local Kabiyé) or the appropriate response, “Yo” (yes, it is fun to say!). I of course pass no other early morning joggers, even though our families here always talk about working out (faites du sport!), probably because they’ve seen various white people doing it.

After these gorgeous early morning jogs with the sun rising and fog lifting, I come back to the homestead and begin to get ready for the day. The first thing is a refreshing bucket shower! I head to the well in the center of the homestead and fill my bucket, grab my soap and head to the concrete stall with a piece of scrap metal which I must reposition to serve as the door. Particularly when it is warm (which it always is here) and I’m sweaty, I love the bucket shower. Think of it as splish-splashing in a bubble bath. Surprisingly fun and I use a lot less water that I do elsewhere.

Breakfast I eat on my own, either some oatmeal (Quaker Oats!) with powdered milk and some sugar cubes or some local break which I eat, and I’m not kidding, interspersed between bites of banana and peanuts to simulate a peanut butter and banana sandwich. Delicious! Then I head out for my days, which vary greatly. Usually they involve meeting with a variety of representatives or members of various organizations (such as the local microfinance branch, different groupments and associations in the village), local chiefs or simply members of the community to discuss different issues of development. These conversations range from the nitty-gritty of financing a small commerce to larger issues of democracy (or the lack-thereof) in Togo and larger structural problems such as the lack of electricity.

A quick example was a meeting I had yesterday with the members of a women’s cooperative who take small loans to finance their small commerce activities like making doughnuts or the local beer. I got a lay of the land and saw how it works, loans over 4 month that they pay back in part every week in a group-wide meeting. A great effort, but the interest, 10 percent over 4 months, is exorbitant. The local microfinance branch isn’t too much better, 13-18 percent over a year, but better than these ladies are getting. The rub is that the Microfinance branch requires a 15,000 CFA (about 30 bucks) deposit and a fee of 2,500 to open an account, out of the reach of many of these people. At this meeting I asked them questions about what they do with their loans as well as how they collaborate and compete with others. A few interesting things came out of this meeting. I asked if they had a notebook where they keep track of their costs and earning along with the interest they have to pay. Their response was that their accounting “est à la tete”- it’s in their heads. When talking about competition, I asked about the scene at the market: six women sitting side by side for the entire day selling beignets, each with a few customers and a few dozen beignets to sell. My natural instinct was to ask if they thought about consolidating their businesses to free up some time to do other things. They made a few comments about some people having bad luck and not wanting to take that chance, but it seemed that their view was that this coordination required a lot of effort for an uncertain result, while the status quo helps out a little in raising money. This group asked me to come back and talk to them a little more about my ideas to help them organize their businesses better. So I’ll look forward to that!

I usually come back for lunch which consists of either rice; beans with this dried, crunchy cassava flour; or spaghetti along with a spicy sauce of onions; tomato paste and red palm oil, the staple oil here (no olives in sight!). This is actually delicious, and usually wolf down the huge amount of food they give me. Yes, no Atkins diet in sight either.

The afternoon is similar, often with various forms or relaxing over some local beer or playing cards with the kids in my homestead inserted. Dinner is on at around 6:30 and consists of a standard pate of either petite mille (don’t know English word!) or corn, which tastes like a thick mound of unsalted grits. The sauces are usually delicious; with leaves I’ve never heard of before, various parts of baobab trees and some other flavour like peanuts or crushed okra. They are usually very tasty, but the routine is getting a little old. I crave this carb they eat during the dry season, Fufu, a delicious thick mashed potato like substance made of mashed and well-pounded yams, and of course some variety of cuisine. That will have to wait! One fun thing is that the eating of this is all done with the right hand, an adjustment, particularly when you the combination of being starving and piping hot food leads to injured hands!

After dinner I usually hand out with the family for awhile, before retiring to bed around 8 or 8:30 to read or do some work. As mentioned before I’ve been able to read a lot here which has been fabulous. But, after a long day in the sun, a filling meal and some time with a good book I’m about reading to hit the hay and repeat by about 9:30. It’s no watching 24 on TiVo with a cold microbrew and my close friends, but it’s a great life that I’m enjoying heartily!