This just in from Togo

Over the past eight months that school has been in session, public elementary, middle, and high school teachers across Togo have been periodically striking to demand better working conditions. From what I have been told, this is in no way unusual. The duration of each strike is different village-to-village, town-to-town, and city-to-city. Over the past two weeks the presence of strikes across the country has been especially strong, both in prevalence and in duration. In some areas, students have demonstrated in peaceful ways - such as assembling together, or marching - to express support of their teachers' demands. The largest cities in Togo are the capitals of the five regions. These cities are some of the most visible areas, and host the largest populations. Recently, in some of the regional capitals, the peaceful demonstrations of students and teachers have been relatively large for Togo. Yesterday, what initially began as a peaceful protest in the northern most regional capital, Dapaong, became tragically violent. The article below reports that "security forces had fired bullets in the air to keep the crowd under control". Either way, the originally peaceful protest ended with the death of at least one young student. [Although the below Washington Post article cites one death, I have heard that it may be up to three.]

To any concerned friends or family - all Peace Corps volunteers are safe and we were not in any danger.

Today all schools were closed and I have been told that negotiations regarding teachers' conditions have commenced. I hope that a resolution that leads for better working conditions for teaches, and therefore better learning conditions for students, can be reached.

Washington Post Article - Union official: 1 student killed, 1 wounded in demonstration in tiny W. African nation of Togo

Insight into project work: Camp Espoir

The past few months, I have had the privilege of working with three other PCVs in organizing a summer camp, Camp Espoir. This summer camp is the result of a partnership between the Peace Corps and nine Togolese nongovernmental organizations (NGOs). Each month, these nine NGOs host a Club Espoir meeting for children infected with, or affected by, HIV/AIDS. I attend these Club Espoir meetings each month, and I always have a blast with the kids who attend. We sing songs from camp, play games, and review topics related to education and health. The kids are knowledgeable, curious, and extremely engaged throughout our meetings. The children who attend the monthly Club Espoir meetings at the nine NGOs are previous and future Camp Espoir campers. The knowledge gained by campers at Camp Espoir is carried through to their Club Espoir meetings, and the bonds that the children create at camp form the foundation of a support system for the children in their local communities. As a previous summer camper in my youth, and as a summer camp counselor at Project Morry during college, summer camp holds a place close to my heart. I am so excited to share a few weeks this summer with the children of Camp Espoir.

In order to share Camp Espoir and local Club Espoir activities, another PCV and I have created a website - campespoir.wordpress.com - please feel free to check it out! You may notice a familiar voice when you read some of the Tales from Togo entries!

Two girls and I at a local Club Espoir meeting