Since I have been here for a year and a little more I feel it makes sense to recap my 14 months living in Adjengré. Here are some general stats about Adjengré which I know is scattered throughout my blog entries, but I think a cohesive review of my town would be helpful for people reading my blog.
Adjengré in Kabyé, the local language here means "portion de fiable" translated as "weak portion." The story is that the original Kabyés from Kara (a huge city about 2 and half hours north of me) sent all their weak members to Adjengré. Not the best name, but I think I can deal with it.
The quartier (section of town or district) that I live in means "behind the forest" in Kabyé. It is about a 5-10 minute walk from the highway which makes it really nice when I travel. The town is located in the Centrale Region in pretty much the exact center of the country. It is 5-6 hour taxi ride from Lomé, the capital of Togo and located on the ocean and beside the Ghanaian border.
There are around 8,000 people here and ethnically most are Kaybé, but a few are Kotokoli. Kaybés are Christian and Kotokolis are Muslim. The Kaybé speak Kabyé as their local language and the Kotokoli speak Kotokoli, however because it is a pretty big city and because it is on the only paved highway pretty much everyone in my town speaks French as well. Both languages are very different, but everyone here at the very least can understand both Kotokoli and Kabyé. Both Kaybés and Kotokolis are located in the Centrale Region, in the South it is Ewé and in the North
Most people here have electricity, but only the Bon Compte Hotel has running water. There are pumps and wells scattered throughout the village which is where I get my water from.
Every Sunday there is a big market in the town. People come from all over to sell stuff. It is then that I can find certain things that might be prove difficult to come by during the week, but to be honest, in Adjengré, I can find pretty much whatever I want during the week. However, if I lived in a small village off the highway it would be extremely difficult and I would await the weekly market with undisguised excitement.
The recap of my projects of 2010 (and most of will be continuing until I end my service):
- Assisting teaching at the highschool
- Working with the English Club at the highschool
- Summer Vacation course teaching English by teaching about HIV/AIDS prevention
- Raising rabbits as an income generating activity as well as helping with good nutrition
- Teaching daily computer classes to both kids and adults
- Repairing 4 pumps in Tittigbé with the PeaceCorps volunteer who is posted there, 30 minutes away from me
- The construction of a well in Atonko, a village located 1hour and 30minutes off the highway and only accessible by motorcycle
- Library at the local highschool which incidentally will be the first real library in Adjengré
- Cookbook for Togolese to teach both good nutrition and different ways to use the ingredients they already have easy access to
- Business classes for 5 groups of girls where each group are somewhat established businesses involved in different income-generating activities
- Creating and organizing a government sanctioned non-profit organization with my counterpart which will be involved in educating girls about various health subjects
- Creating a mostly self-sustaining garden in Timbeayo, a small village 45 minutes away from me by motorcycle, and practicing generally sustainable farming techniques such as composting and creating a seed-bank so the village won't have to buy as many seeds
