One of our troop has been stricken with traveller's diarrhoea (only victim thank god) so we will be short on a set of arms but the distribution team can backfill as all have gained experience in all positions.
This afternoon went to top up on groceries and one item needed was coffee. Our cook Bill indicated the type he used initially and YIKES , , , , it was decaf! BS on that, time for some caffeinated Ethiopian dark!
Back from trip by noon. The drive was, as previously mentioned, quite short but the 2/3 of the road was not paved and was wash-board like the whole way. Messah our driver did a great job keeping us pointed in the right direction.
Were stormed by 500 kids upon arrival who yelled bievenue, bonjour and jostled to shake our hands. What an absolutely great bunch!
Hottest day so far today. yesterday was a brisk 99.5 degrees. And jezuz we were again positioned in the sun for 2 hours. Got 500 kits delivered though in 90 minutes - we could do this in our sleep - although I don't think I would have made it to 600 without a break today based on the heat.
At the end of the delivery the chief brought out a box of fruit for us as well as a crate of 24 soft drinks and beer. He also had a jar of the infamous Togolese palm wine - a local hooch called sodabe that has quite a reputation (Lonely Planet calls it a terrifyingly potent moonshine). Well who am I to refuse a chief! God awful yeasty flavoured opaque liquid that tastes like someone took a sample of an 8 years alcohol distillation process after 2 days. One mouthful was enough but can now say - been there done that. :-)
Had the afternoon off so Bill the local cook and I took off on his motorcycle to cruise the market in search of a few Togolese baseball caps. After a few false leads found what was wanted in an upper end sports shop but Bill negotiated them down to a good price. All shopping now completed. I was interested in having a beer with Bill in a local haunt and it was great. 6 tables inside a wanting little building with 4 tables outside on one of the main streets with lots of noise, yelling, laughter, etc. Bohemian with a capital B! After much talk of politics and 2 cold 750ml beers we headed back to the house. Great afternoon!
Quiet evening playing cards and a few laughs. Have to be up at 6:30 in the AM as the start to our last delivery; 2 hour drive each way but according to our driver the roads are good.
Thought at end of day? It will be sad to leave our new found friends and all the kids but it will be nice to be home following a mission accomplished! We plan to take in every second of work tomorrow.
Two of my other associates - Bob our group leader (his 3rd trip to Togo) and Maragret.
One small think that I found amazing among the Eve is that they had no qualms about holding hands and that also included adults of the same gender, both men and women. Very charming.
Busy time! tried to keep pace with the picture taking but at times there were small backlogs when 10 kids were taken in the same picture.
Hot? What gives it away? :-) Those aren't tears either - needed a sweat band or something similar.
Guess which one in this picture is the Canadian? That's Meghan, Bob's daughter. Her live in boyfriend Freddie was also with us.
Bill our cook - right - and two of our university students Dosseh and Messanh playing a local game of chance. Took a while for us to grasp the concept but finally figured it out. The thing is these guys have been playing it all their lives so the moves take place at break neck speed. There is a lot of noise (distribution of tokens, slapping of piles of tokens, etc) and laughter during the games. It was great just watching.
I made a mistake on an earlier post. THIS is the picture with 100 kids.
This is Margaret a member of our team. This is her third trip having been to India twice. A real trooper and a very nice person. She goes through all this with two artificial knees and an artificial hip. Needless to say she was quite a star at airport security :-)
An amazing church out in the middle of nowhere. All our guides could tell us is that it was a very important church to the Ewe.
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