Oliver Wilson

"Working and travelling in Togo was an extraordinary experience. I went with my girlfriend to assist with a Togolaise charity called `Synergie Des Jeunes Pour Demain`. The charity had claimed that it would be fine to go if a potential volunteer didn't speak any French. However I believe if you are going on your own it would be far better to have a decent understanding of French. Also I wouldn't recommend that a young woman should go on their own (especially if they didn't speak fluent French) as they are likely to get strong advances from the Togolaise men - this is particularly a problem if the advances come from Togolaise volunteers which did occur with all the female volunteers who travelled alone. I was promoting AIDS awareness in a large village called Tohoun in the south of Togo on the border with Benin. The teaching was fascinating and mostly done in French using posters but sometimes in their local language of Ewe. Although 1 in 6 were estimated to be HIV positive in the village - they seemed to be very unaware of the dangers of AIDS. Most had heard of AIDS while many didn't think it existed -"Its a white man's conspiracy to stop Africans having sex."

 

This area of the world is a hotbed for traditional African religion in other words, voodoo. Those who tested positive for HIV often believed they had been put under a spell. It is also considered a sign of high status to have as many wives as possible. These reasons contribute to the problem of AIDS in Togo as well as lack of money to buy condoms and also ignorance - "I don`t wear a condom because that is how I might get AIDS."  Most of the village children lived in poverty as they were clearly malnutritioned with potbellies and enormous parasite belly-buttons.

 

This is because there was no fruit in the village and meat was too expensive for them to eat.  Many things interested me about Togo such as the politics of this "democratic" country where the leader Eyadema has been in power for over 34 years and no opposition parties or independent newspapers exist.  Eyadema's face is everywhere, on peoples clothes and even on walls at homes next to a picture of Christ. The religion interested me, the way it was intervowen with Christianity and the fetish market where witch doctors prescribe medicines involving snake skins, horse tails and monkey skulls!  Even basic things were fascinating such as catching transport and shopping.  All in all we felt our month in Togo was very worthwhile not only because  it was an interesting place but also because we felt sure that our teaching had helped.

 

Thanks very much for suggesting this opportunity."
Oliver Wilson, 20 yrs old from Southampton, UK.