A Letter From Peace Corps to Friends and Family

Dear Families and Friends,

Greetings from the Togo Desk in Washington, D.C. It is with great pleasure that we welcome your family member to the Togo training program. Over the years we have received many questions from Volunteers and family members alike regarding travel plans, sending money, relaying messages and mail, etc. As we are unable to involve ourselves in the personal arrangements of Volunteers, we would like to offer you advice and assistance in advance by providing specific examples of situations and how we suggest they be handled.

1. Irregular Communication. (Please see #3 for the mailing address to Peace Corps' office in Lomé the capital of Togo). The mail service in Togo is not as efficient as the U.S. Postal Service. Thus, it is important to be patient. It can take from three to four weeks for mail coming from Togo to arrive in the United States via the Togolese mail system. From a Volunteer’s post, mail might take up to one to two months to reach the United States depending upon how far the Volunteer is from the capital city, Lomé. Sometimes mail is hand carried to the States by a traveler and mailed through the U.S. postal system. This leg of the trip can take another several weeks as it is also dependent on the frequency of travelers to the U.S.

We suggest that in your first letters, you ask your Volunteer family member to give an estimate of how long it takes for him or her to receive your letters and then try to establish a predictable pattern of how often you will write to each other. Also try numbering your letters so that the Volunteer knows if he or she missed one. Postcards should be sent in envelopes--otherwise they may be found on the wall of the local post office.

Peace Corps Togo has established “The Lomé Limo” which runs up and down the country monthly, delivers mail, medical supplies, and sometimes volunteers or staff to central sites along the national road.

Volunteers often enjoy telling their “war” stories when they write home. Letters might describe recent illnesses, lack of good food, isolation, etc. While the subject matter is often good reading material, it is often misinterpreted on the home front. Please do not assume that if your family member gets sick that he or she has not been attended to. The city of Lomé has medical and dental facilities, and there is a Peace Corps Medical Officer there as well. Most Volunteers can reach Lomé in less than one day’s time. Many Volunteers also have access to a telephone so that they can call our Medical Office. In the event of a serious illness the Volunteer is sent to Lomé and is cared for by our Medical Unit. If the Volunteer requires medical care that is not available in Togo, he/she will be medically evacuated to South Africa or to the United States. Fortunately, such circumstances are very rare.

If for some reason your communication pattern is broken and you do not hear from your family member for at least one month, you should contact the Office of Special Services (OSS) at Peace Corps in Washington at 1-800-424-8580, extension 1470 (or direct: 202-692-1470). The OSS will then call the Peace Corps Director in Lomé, and ask her to check up on the Volunteer. Also, in the case of an emergency at home (death in the family, sudden illness, etc.), please do not hesitate to call OSS immediately, so that the Volunteer can be informed by a member of Peace Corps/Togo staff.

2. Telephone Calls. The telephone system in Togo has fairly reliable service to the United States. In the interior of the country, where most of our Volunteers are located, the system is less reliable. Most Volunteers have access to a telephone in or nearby their site.

When dialing direct to Togo from the U.S., dial 011 (the international access code) + 228 (the country code) + the number. Volunteers generally set up phone calls with people in the U.S. in advance, and have the distant party call them, which is much less expensive than calling the U.S. from Togo. Many volunteers decide to purchase cellphones once they arrive in Togo, but they may not always have regular reception at their site.

The Togo Desk in Washington, D.C. usually calls the Peace Corps office in Lomé at least once a week. However, these calls are reserved for business only and we cannot relay personal messages over the phone. If you have an urgent message, however, and have exhausted your other means (regarding travel plans, etc.), you can call the Desk, and the message will be relayed.

3. Sending Packages. Parents and Volunteers like to send and receive care packages through the mail. Unfortunately, sending packages can be a frustrating experience for all involved due the high incidence of theft and heavy customs taxes. You may want to send inexpensive items through the mail, but there is no guarantee that these items will arrive. We do not recommend, however, that costly items be sent through the mail. Even though many Volunteers sometimes choose to get local post office boxes, you may always use the following address to send letters and/or packages to your family member:

John Doe, PCV
Corps de la Paix
B.P. 3194
Lomé, Togo
West Africa

It is recommended that packages be sent in padded envelopes if possible, as boxes tend to be taxed more frequently. Packages can be sent via surface mail (2-3 weeks arrival time) or by ship (4-6 months). The difference in cost can be a factor in deciding which method to utilize. For lightweight but important items (e.g. airline tickets), DHL (an express mail service) does operate in Lomé, but costs are very expensive. If you choose to send items through DHL, you must address the package to the Country Director, s/c Corps de la Paix, 48 Rue de Rossignols, Quartier Kodjoviakopé, Lomé, Togo. The telephone number for the Peace Corps office in Togo is (228) 221-0614, should DHL need this information. If you send the item to the Country Director, no liability can be assumed. For more information about DHL, please call their toll free number, 1-800-CALL-DHL, or visit their web site at www.dhl.com. Please be aware that there is a customs fee for all DHL packages sent to Volunteers. For each DHL package, the Volunteer will be taxed 10,000 CFA (roughly US$20).

Sending airplane tickets and/or cash is not recommended. Certain airlines will allow you to buy a prepaid ticket in the States; they will telex their Lomé office to have the ticket ready. Unfortunately, this system is not always reliable. Many airlines (e.g., KLM, Air France, Ghana Airways, Air Togo) fly into Lomé or Accra, but each has its own policy on pre-paid tickets. Please call the airline of your choice for more information. You could also send tickets via DHL as mentioned previously. However, Peace Corps will assume no liability in the event of a lost/stolen airline ticket.

Trying to send cash or airline tickets is very risky and is discouraged. If your Volunteer family member requests money from you, it is his/her responsibility to arrange receipt of it. Some Volunteers use Western Union, which has an office in Lomé. Volunteers will also be aware of people visiting the States and can request that they call his/her family when they arrive in the States should airline tickets need to be sent back to Togo.

4. E-mail. There is fairly reliable e-mail service in Togo with cyber cafes in most large towns. Connections can be very slow and time consuming as well as costly. E-mail, however, may become the preferred method of communication between you and your family member in Togo. Not all Volunteers have access to e-mail on a daily basis but they should be able to read and send messages at least once a month. As with other means of communication, do not be alarmed if you do not receive daily or weekly messages. Unless in Lomé at the office, Volunteers have to pay for internet time at cyber cafes and this can be a slow or expensive process depending on the connection at the café.

We hope this information is helpful to you during the time your family member is serving as
a Peace Corps Volunteer in Togo. We understand how frustrating it is to communicate with your family member overseas and we appreciate your using this information as a guideline. Please feel free to contact us at the Togo Desk in Washington, DC, if you have further questions. Our phone number is (800) 424-8580, ext. 2326/2325, or locally at (202) 692-2326/2325.


Sincerely,


Jennifer Brown, Country Desk Officer
Evan Baker, Country Desk Assistant

Sorry if that was a lot to read. Here's an adorable picture to make up for it.

The Books I Have Just Realized Must Always Be On My Shelf

It's safe to assume I'm going to have a lot of down time to read while in Togo. While there are libraries at all the Peace Corps outposts for me to use, I am bringing about five books of my own to enjoy. Volunteers are constantly swapping books with others, always trying to keep their bedside tables full with "to-be-reads."
My books are the first in a series of favorite things I will have to leave behind, but will probably try ever so unsuccessfully to squeeze into my luggage. But some I have to bring. They are not necessarily my all-time top five, but they did qualify once I considered the following completely arbitrary qualifications.

1) Re-Readability.

2) The Book's ability to represent me and where I came from.

3) Uniqueness. Will these books already be in Togo/be read by other volunteers.

4) Other Random Variables. These include length, quotability and conversation-starting potential.

This feels like a "desert island" top five, if you had to be stranded with only five books, what would they be? Well, I'm hardly stranded in Africa, but nonetheless, here's what I can't leave home without.

The River Why by David James Duncan

Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut

A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson


The Princess Bride by William Goldman

Desert Solitaire by Edward Abbey

Honorable Mention: A River Runs Through It, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, Ishmael, High Fidelity, Into the Wild, The Hot Zone, The Unbearable Lightness of Being, Caps For Sale

What would you take?

The Ponds of Kalambayi

"Still, I was uncomfortable with the do-gooder image. I wasn't a crusader. My goal was to help a few villages on that continent live slightly better lives. There was nothing more spectacular about it than that.
The motivation was also partly selfish. Four years of college had just produced a diploma with my name on it, but no clear instructions on how to proceed. According to widely accepted social timetables, it was time to start paying taxes and voting and putting a little something into a 401(K) retirement plan each month. It was time, in short, to be a real person. But each time I looked inside myself, no real person seemed to be lacing up his boots, ready to step out. Where was he? Who was he? What kind of work would he do? I wasn't sure. Living in Africa, stripped nearly naked of my own culture, I hoped to give my deepest feelings a chance to produce some answers. I hoped to travel my inner continent, in other words, and come back with a better focused picture."

This passage is from The Ponds of Kalambayi by Mike Tidwell. It chronicles his Peace Corps service in Zaire in the 80's. It's a great book if you're ever interested in serving in the P.C. Tidwell writes honestly and has made me realize a little more about how potentially rewarding but emotionally taxing this entire experience could be.

I also like this passage, because this is similar to the way I feel about volunteering (which is now less than one month away). I am just one person trying to help a few others, but trying to help myself just the same.

This is me looking at the sunset in Tobago last summer. One might interpret it as me looking towards my future. It's a subtle metaphor I know. Don't worry, this blog will be packed full of cheesy metaphors, mostly about my future, the society we live in, and the century-long futility of the Chicago Cubs.

FAQ's

So you might be wondering...

Grant, did you get to choose where you went?
Well, yes and no. I preferred Africa or Asia, (which doesn't really narrow it down much), and I have a background in French. That, and apparently the fact that French speaking males are somewhat of a rarity in P.C., landed me a nomination for West Africa, a region that primarily speaks French, though I will have to learn my local tribal language as well, depending on where I live in Togo. I also seemed to have fortunate timing during my application process. I have heard people taking two years to get into P.C., but I got the whole process done in about four months and nabbed one of the last spots in my program.

Do they pay you in P.C?
They give me a "modest living allowance" to live at the level of others in my village. I hear it's enough for the necessities and some extra for fun and travel.

What will you miss the most while in Africa?
I can't think of any one thing, but I will miss those moments when you really connect among friends and family; they are hard to describe, but they make you feel good, like you're secure in your place and you are a part of something special (I guess you could call it my "comfort zone.") Hopefully, I can create those moments in Africa in time.

So, are you going to, like, get AIDS, or something?
No, I will not get AIDS, I will take the necessary precautions. I might get a case of malaria, though, possibly avain flu, yellow fever, hepatitis A, or something called schistosomiasis. But P.C. has a crack team of doctors on hand. My health and safety is their number one concern.

Be honest, Grant, are you going to die?
Absolutely not. Don't worry about me. It's going to be a fantastic experience.

Grant, I miss you already! When do you get back?
December 2010. I'll be gone for 27 months, please come visit me.

You must be so nervous/excited!
Yes, I am nervous, but it's a good kind of nervous, like the kind of nerves you get when kissing a beautiful women for the first time. And, yes, extremely excited, too.

But what are you really excited about? Like, the stuff you don't want to tell the Peace Corps about?
Well....okay, I'm totally pumped to own a machete so I can go swinging it through the jungle. I've always thought it would be really cool to ride a camel (or elephant), though I doubt there will be any in Togo. I want to go fishing for Tigerfish. I'd really like to gain duel citizenship and earn a spot on Togo's World Cup roster. I want to give a cobra the "kiss of death," fall in love with a women who doesn't speak my language, and instill a love, in my Togolese neighbors, for classic American music, notably Talking Heads, The Boss, The Beach Boys and James Brown (But if they could learn to appreciate the quiet genius of Huey Lewis & the News, then I know I will have made a difference).

Grant, what if the Cubs win the World Series when you're gone?
Ha, your joking right? Besides, you can't talk about it, or you might jinx them. So quiet down.

Haha Grant you're so witty and adorable, will you marry me?
Apparently I am going to get many marriage proposals while living in Togo, so I'm going to have to weigh my options once I'm there.

Any other questions? Just ask.

My Job Title and Program

I will be serving in the Natural Resources Management Program as an NRM Extension Agent. Yeah, I know, it does sound official. Pretty awesome considering my last job title was Professional Burrito Roller.

According to my assignment description sent to me by Peace Corps,
"As a NRM Extension Agent, your overall goal and primary responsibility will be to promote environmental awareness that leads to the implementation of sustainable integrated agriculture practices in your work zone. You and your official and/or unofficial counterpart(s) will work in collaboration with local farmers, community groups, and schools to introduce sound agroforestry, soil conservation, and NRM techniques into rural communities in Togo."

So what does all this mean? Well, I'm not totally sure, but as long as I get to wield a machete, I'm down for just about anything.

Work activities I may be involved in:
"-Identifying and training model farmers."
"-Tree planting activities and tree nursery development."
"-Training individuals and groups in sustainable agriculture practices such as alley cropping, use of indigenous species, erosion control, gardening, integrated agriculture, composting, crop rotation and inter-cropping and use of appropriate technology such as fuel-efficient mud stoves."
"-Helping implement various projects with community, women's, student, and youth groups..."
"-Helping our Togelese partners understand the realities of the HIV/AIDS epidemic as well as options for coping with this reality."
"-Designing and conducting environmental education classes in elementary, middle, or high schools in your work areas."

-And many more!

I fly to Philadelphia on Sept. 17 for three days of staging, then over to Lome (note: the "e" in Lome should have an accent mark above it, pronounced "Lo-may"), the capital of Togo (via Paris).

I do not know where I will be living in Togo but NRM volunteers are typically placed in rural villages without electricity and running water. (I have to admit, I am kind of excited about my first sure-to-be hilarious encounter with a "squat" toilet)

I will be training in a small village with the other new volunteers (probably 20-30 people) for the first three months, and living with host families during that time. During training, I will be assigned my post and will live there for the two years of my service.