Monday - April 16 - Game Togo

Day two of delivery of another 500 kits. Hot, hot, hot, muggy, muggy, muggy and due to the layout at the distribution site (school) the whole affair was under the sun. One of my associates, a woman of a certain age had a bit of a rough go in the heat. I noticed from my post about 20 yards away that she did not look well at the table which she working at. I passed my task over to a local volunteer and went to her side and she was clearly not lucid and just staring into space. Helped her over to the air conditioned van and she came about. Only took 2 hours to deliver the 500 kits but all of us were physically beat.

The travel to and from the site is a bitch with early starts in the AM. But so it goes, the kids and parents were very happy to see us upon arrival

In the afternoon went to visit 2 sites of Brian's Well's in the greater Lome area. Both sites were in very wanting neighbourhoods and it was quite a humbling experience.

Went out to a top shelf restaurant this evening instead of eating "at home". The pizza and beer tasted extraordinary (I can now sympathize of how the players on Survivor feel when they win access to recognizable comfort food) providing a temporary flashback to western cuisine and there was, to top it off a high speed Wi-Fi connection:-) Would have taken this place over a topless bar in a heartbeat. :-)

Over and out for today. A demain et une autre 500 kits!



Closing thought at end of day? 


The ingestion of familiar food somehow raises spirits, tastes twice as good as when at home, and apparently cures all ills.






Lome early morning traffic
 

Colorful uniforms provided by the charity 

Handsome young chap!

 

Another young gentleman, what a smile!

This school was built by SCAW charity a few years ago. (note the local entertainment!)

Next day's shipment being loaded. They drive to the village the night before (including 9 people shoehorned with the mattresses etc), sleep with the gear and prepare a few things for the next morning's delivery.

Mangos, mangos, everywhere! They grow wild in Togo, no different than our pines or maples.

Women gathering fresh and clean water from one of the Ryan's Wells sites. Cost is about 40 cents Cdn for a bucket which helps pays for the operational costs of the well (ex: pump's electricity, repairs, etc) 

This is what a bed kit looks like. Items include:
- malaria net (blue in back)
- knapsack (black)
- water bottle
- towel
- material
- copy books and covers
- compass set
- color pencils
- small slate board
- the kit bag itself (red)