Oh the luxury of sleeping in :-)
The women want to shop at the market and we are hoping to put our feet in the ocean as well. As it is Sunday, we will also be off to witness the amazing church ceremony for a second time this evening.
Went to the only golf club in Togo today to pick up souvenirs if anyone wanted a golf shirt or golf balls with Lome Togo Golf Club printed on them. Women (why is it that whenever we stop the woman feel compelled to buy something?)
Rest of afternoon was a bit of a waste as we planned to go the market and beach and did not make the beach as the driver though there were was some risk due to special events and a large crowd there and the market was not at full capacity as it was Sunday. Went to the church again to listen to the music - fantastic however it was very hot and muggy and the ceremony went 2 hours. I am now holy and in the express line to Presbyterian heaven! Tomorrow we round third and head for home with only 3 deliveries left.
A verbose closing thought of the day.
One easily recognizable and simple 5 letter word to Canadians, , , W A T E R. And ready access to potable and clean water. The problem in Togo is not rainfall, it has aplenty although there are rainy and dry seasons. All is green with significant vegetation. However the only reasonable source of fresh and safe water here is via wells due to insect born and water based parasites, bacteria, etc.. I have seen 2 types of wells, hand dug or dug via machines. As with everything here, the farther from the beaten path, the more the dependency on manual labour and the use of wells dug by hand (it is very costly - ~$30k Cdn to have one drilled. Of the two hand dug types seen to date, both were between 30 - 35 years old, still producing, but only about 150 ft deep. In speaking to the NGO partner here however, (as studied buy the gov't) wells should be between 200 and 300 feet depending on location in order to be safe. While here, we were asked by the Canadian organization Ryan's Wells to visit their 6 sites (2 visited to date) and report back. Access to clean and healthy water is a very important issue here. I conducted several interviews with parents and almost all had issues with recurring bouts of malaria or digestive tract infections due to the water. Check out the Ryan's Wells website at: www.ryanswells.org. I can attest that they are making a big difference. Sorry for the somewhat long closing but one can only appreciate the importance of clean water when he or she speaks with a mom who has to walk 5 kms daily there and back with a 20 litre plastic drum and a child on her back to get safe water for her family.
Photo of a well built by Ryan's Wells Foundation in a Lome suburb.
Picture from the terrace at the Lome golf club. Bizarre feeling knowing that 200 yards from this very spot it is back to impoverished and crumbled Lome.
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