Thursday, April 26 Lome, Togo, and somewhere over Algeria at 38,000 feet.

Little to do today other than hit the beach to dip the toes in equatorial waters and have a closing dinner with our Togolese hosts. Rumor has it that are traditional dishes are to be included YES! - it is being catered by one of the woman. Can't wait. Then I am certain there will be sad goodbyes and then off to the airport.

On the Brussels Air flight from Lome to Brussels. 


It's 2:15AM Lome time / 4:15AM Brussels time on this 7.5 hour flight. Wonder why I am yawning :-o Good byes were emotional for all, amazing how tightly a bond can develop when circumstances are right and they were indeed right in Togo. E-mail addresses were of course exchanged with promises of follow-up. I especially became close with Bill the cook as I was informally assigned as the liaison between team Canada and the team Togo accommodations and living guys. Bill is a great guy, loves Canada and is seriously trying to find a way to move himself and family there but I get the sense it may be somewhat difficult as he does not have professional credentials that I am aware of. At parting I wished him and his family well and promised to support him in any way vis a vis application to get to Canada, either as a tourist initially or an immigrant.

The closing meal was held at our apartment complex (Casa Blanca) and was great with a wide variety of food some of it native to the Ewe people who populate central and southern Togo. The women looked marvelous with their brightly colored and patterned long outfits. All of Team Canada had either shirts and / or dresses made from colorful African cotton material and we wore these outfits to the party. Quite the colorful and joyous spectacle. The Togolese love to sing and dance to African beats which I must say are absolutely captivating.

Closing thought for the day and the adventure: 


The Togolese Ewe people are very warm, thankful, quick to laugh, hopeful, proud, wonderful with song and music, have an affinity for religion (but in a quiet unassuming way) and a loving people. I will miss my quickly gained friends however I do believe that in our short time there we were able to make a small difference to 5,000 families as well as our support staff. All our lives have been positively impacted and enriched and I thank my Togolese friends for the opportunity to make this happen. There are 5 Canadians and 1 American (Eleanor) who now have the ability to uniquely drift away for a moment, with a distant look in their eyes, and a warm smile and only they will know what the adventure was rally like.


Peace to all.




Gypsy type squatters living on he old pier in Lome.

Apparently Dosseh thinks he can part the waves! These guys really do take the religion seriously. :-)

Margaret and I had a pact that the trip to Togo would be incomplete unless we put our feet into the ocean. Mission accomplished!

Just walking the beach with our Togolese friends.

"Yes Eleanor, I know how to paddle a canoe but this one step up!"

Local hand crafted in-shore fishing boat

Want to know why Mercedes Benz cars last forever? The Germans got to practice on structures such as this. This pier was built in the 1890s and it's still standing! That is metal, not cement!

1890s art work or engineering or both?

The last supper that was served to us by Bill our cook. he wore a chef's jacket for the occasion and brought a bottle of bubbly. What a gentleman. 

Last looks at Togo and the beach.

Wednesday - April 25 - Dagninou Togo

What an eventful last day of delivery with several unplanned adventures. The day started with a steady significant rain that only relented to a degree about 1 hour into the drive. We were cruising along at 90km/hr (top speed for our driver - I trust his reasoning) when we drove through what was thought to be a 3 ft wide puddle only to later find out it was indeed 3 ft wide but also 18 inches deep. A BANG from hell with everybody being lifted off their seats (seatbelts only exist in the front 2 seats!) was the immediate result of the hit. 30 minutes later we continued on our drive after changing our second flat tire while here, not to mention the seriously bent rim.

The way back was just as eventful. We were 30 minutes out of Lome when we encountered an army roadblock that had shut down the highway while the president was participating in a ceremony at a new Chinese agriculture research centre. After one of our crew was yelled at by a soldier type carry a big ugly gun a gun (hey she is American, could he sense a coup ;-) for taking a picture of the traffic we were directed to a small "side road" (would be defined as a dirt bike trail in Canada). Slight problem, 250 cars and motorcycles going off road in competing directions on a trail only wide enough for 1 vehicle! Monstrous grid lock is an understatement - all were stopped in a jungle opening - with much gesturing, yelling, etc. Sat there for 10 minutes then got out of the van and took 2 of our university student support team with me and worked at unravelling the mess. Must have been a hilarious picture, one white guy in a sea of blacks stopping cars and bikes and moving things forward using international gestures for stop, back up, left, right, are you crazy? hurry up, etc. And it worked thanks I guess to good old Canadian logic and determination! Big round of applause when the van caught up with us and we jumped back in. Total travel time on return - 4 hours.

With the delivery of our 5,000 kits our mission is now accomplished. It was a very quiet ride home with much contemplation as the reality that our mission was complete and that we would not have the opportunity, no honour, of meeting any more Togolese / Ewe kids sank in.

Relaxing evening, watched European Cup game with the cook - football is THE sport here - between Real Madrid and Munich, and struggled through internet efforts.

Though at end of day: 


My theory after two weeks is it seems that the relative wealth of a Togolese village can be calculated based on the fatness of the chickens and goats running around everywhere. Fat chickens and goats today :-)




Three wise men of Dagninou, At the end of the distribution I saw these three gents sitting about so chose to walk over and have a chat. I liked these guys immediately; cool calm, informed. Speaking in French we talked for about 10 minutes about their village, what we were doing there and elsewhere in Togo, health, sports, etc. It was a pleasure. I would be hanging out with guys like this if I was Togolese.

Messah our driver and our chariot - fittingly a white Hyundai van of uncertain lineage.

Oh oh. Flat tire in the rain. Drat the gods of asphalt! Note the branches on the road. This is the way the Togolese indicate a warning of a problem on the road. Simple but effective. Saw it many times.

Parents waiting for their kids to get their kits. Love the mountains in the background.

Distribution efforts started off in the rain so were using the classrooms ond overhangs for distribution. About 30 minutes in the rain relented and we moved back outside .

All of our local volunteers. What a dedicated, wonderful, and compassionate crew. We could not in an any way succeeded without their support.

A future queen! What a cutie - she had just started to walk :-)

Me and my posse! I was working the handing out of the kits for most of the distributions and these wonderful ladies were my right arm - bringing the kit out of storage and down to my distribution post. Lots of laughs and hugs on the last day and for a matter of fact  , , ,  every morning when we first met. :-)

Apparently the village mascot! He ended up in the background of several of the official photos. 

This my friends is why we did what we did and went through what we went through. The kids will be missed.

Tuesday - April 24 - Mission Tove Togo

Well we are down to 2 deliveries with this one being very close by @ 45km so we shud be home by 1:00. The afternoon calls for a visit to 3 of Ryan's Wells - not sure I will go as it is optional.

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.

Monday - April 23 - Gadjagan Togo

Another 500 down and only 1,000 to go. It has gone by tremendously fast. Today was the hottest day and due to layout was in the direct blasted sun for approx 2 hours along with my distribution mate Eleanor. Secrete is copious amounts of water, patience, and focus.

We had a great reception by about 50 kids dancing and today we experienced the greatest music to date. In talking with one of our guides, the region we were in, and will revisit on Wednesday for our last distribution, is known for this specific style. It even had me shuffling around in the heat and clapping my hands. The female volunteers had a great laugh! The guys? Ahhh they were just jealous :-))  Whenever they played and sang, everybody joined in - hundreds of people. Both enjoyable and just plain outright cool music, singing, and beats. The fly into song at the drop of a hat - just marvellous. It is almost always the women involved but the occasional womanizer will jump in as well!

2 hour drives either way but the roads were very good for Togo. We are on the same area for the last 2 distributions so at least my ass will be spared :-)

After showers we have eaten then off to visit where the bed kits are assembled then the ladies want to do a bit of shopping (surprise) at the market as we did not get there as planned yday. I chose to pass on the visit to the factory and took some time to really cool down and re-c harge the batteries with a nap. It was amazingly hot today and the skin temperature monitor on my watch read 102.6 degrees.  SOB it was hot.

Closing thoughts of the day, , ,

Internet access. We are terribly spoiled in 1st world countries vis a vis net access. Putting aside any personal frustrations with internet needs here - which were totally unmet and why I am doing my blog upon return - I can say that the country is ravenous for access to the net, especially the youth. We have 3 university kids helping us out and they devour the net when we are not using it. They use internet cafes when they can afford the 50 cents / hour charge. Affordable and fast net access would immediately broaden their horizons and accelerate the county's desire to advance. What a catalyst it would be to trigger change. The hunger is there - the intelligence is there - big time -, and the will is there. It is so obvious what is needed, , , ,  government should take a leadership role and open things up (break current monopoly, etc)


Welcoming committee - at this site, even the boys were involved! Bravo!

Closer shot of the welcoming group, this time the beautiful girls.

Very few dogs seen and all were very skinny. This girl was not in the best of shape but it showed that this particular family had a few more means than the others.

Future king - guaranteed!

My partner Eleanor handing out the mattresses, the final step in the distribution to each child.

2nd to last step in the process just before the handing out of the mattress. I attempted dialogue with every child, most were shy but those that responded to my initial question of "comment ca va?" replied with, without exception either "sa va bien" or in most cases, "ca va tres bien". Now how is that for positive thinking in a third world country? 

A real princess. . . . . 

A REAL tree - African style. (boa boa)

Sunday - April 22 - Lome

DAY OFF ! ! !

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.

Saturday - April 21 - Kpessou Togo

Yes we were called to duty today with a 500 bed kit weekend delivery to the village. This group of 500 kids were more communicative (ie: less shy) than most others. 2.5 hours there and back - very rough roads (mostly unpaved with huge potholes - rarely drove straight for more than 100 meters or so without having to zig or zag around monstrous potholes. We have never once made it over 80km / hour during the 2.5 hour drives but that is not a reflection of our driver Messah who is top notch. At about 50km north of Lome is where the apparent attempt at paved roads ends and from there plod forward on smaller and smaller roads of red earth. The drives are the hardest parts of the day without doubt for which we are lucky when we have a delivery that includes less than a 90 minute drive. The returns are also a challenge as we are hot, sweaty, and starving. Our group leader was initially not into us having the cook prepare us sandwiches, (long stretch from 7:00 to 2:30 at the earliest) but I pulled him aside, had a chat, and now have 1/2 a baguette with ham or tuna and cheese, tomato, and lettuce etc. We are on the road early and the van is uncomfortable but that's the way it is.

This afternoon we visited a non-profit orphanage for kids from 4 to 15. I was concerned going there as I did not know to to be prepared for from an emotional perspective. There was no need to worry. The people who ran the orphange were some of the most dedicated people I have ever met in my life. They are on their own for funding and they have to beg, borrow, lobby to keep the place open. They are just outside of downtown in a rented cement 3 story building that is in need of some repair but is solid. There are a28 children that range from 6 to 14 years of age. They put on a great show of dance with both traditional and modern interpretive dancing for us. We were invited up onto the open flat roof where the dancing and music took place. A surreal experience. Our intent going into the visit was to spend 20 minutes, shake hands and drop off some gifts, hear their story, make stretched promises, etc. But thanks to their gratitude to "les blancs" we stayed 2 hours and what started off as a formal presentation to us was heading towards party status when we left with 4 local chaps (a band) playing drums and the ever present boom box was warmed up. They had white university student from a Quebec university doing her co-op at the orphanage who was a dancer and taught them some hip-hop routines (both boys and girls)! Go figure. The folks that run the orphanage were beyond words with gratitude and I can't count the number of handshakes and hugs I received. Kids were truly beautiful and full of regular kid spunk. The adults are unbelievably dedicated to these abandoned kids. They are proud that their efforts have also allowed orphans in need of surgery to be taken care of - something unheard of in the villages. Indeed, some sad stories heard but their faces and entertainment made this side trip one of my trip highlights.

Ended a very long day with SCAW taking the whole local support team out for a nice dinner.

Closing thought at end of day?

Time really does fly by when one is engaged in something they enjoy. We are now well pass the half way point with 3,500 kits delivered and it seems like I left but 3, not 10 days ago. Tiring - yes, uncomfortable - yes,, , but extremely rewarding. I am glad I came.

Phosphates is the largest export of Togo which is the 13th greatest producer in the world.

We were honoured to have the local tribal king provide us with a certificate of thanks as well as other small gifts. 

A beautiful people.

Largest picture ever taken by SCAW (this the 6th visit) with 100 kids in one shot. Took 1/2 hour to set things up.

One of our workstations was tasked with interviewing 3 families a day to get feed back on kits and future needs.

Friday - April 20 - Agome Glouzon Togo

Although the indicated distance from Lome is a medium length trip of 95km, the village is in the mid-eastern area of the country where roads have to be seen to be believed. To the village was 2.5 hours there and about 4.0 hours back as we stopped off at Lake Togo and swung by the port area of Lome. BIG mistake. Words cannot express the vehicular bedlam in the port area where the complete road infrastructure is being re-built. The whole area was under road construction and there were semis broken down, motorcycles coming and going in all directions without any sense of coordination at all - no lanes, no north, south, east or west, on temporary parched sand roads, a million horns, people yelling and gesturing at each other. And not a cop in sight. It was absolutely the most insane - and I feel comfortable in saying - PRIMITIVE traffic experience I have ever had. Glad it happened!

Kit distribution (500) was smooth as usual with the team operating in harmony. Funny thing happened, and apparently this has never happened in Togo before. As I was putting the gift package on a 6 or 7 year old girl, she shrieked and ran away in apparent panic associated with this white stranger! The assistants and her dad immediately got her and all was in order in a few seconds but the adults in the area found it hilarious.

Stopped for a peak at Lake Togo - water is about 85 degrees. The stopping point was a lakeside resort that looked wonderful. EVEN HAD A POOL! Too bad our group leader did not plan to have us saty for an hour and take advantage of it ant the bar. Grrrrr.

By the end of the distribution all, including or Togo partners at TSE were pooped, however I cannot say I was looking to the drive home at >3 hours - bit as Vonnegut says, , , "so it goes"!

After a shower at home base, hopped on the back of the cooks motor bike and did a bit of grocery shopping. What a mad and wonderful multi-sensual experience that was!

Closing thought at end of day?


You know you are in a third world country when a quick glimpse at a shiny new Toyota Corolla looks like a Mercedes 450!




One of the local volunteers that worked with me at the distribution station.

Are these a beautiful people or what? On of the older students helping out.

My attempt at some form of a meaningful photograph.

Gifts of thanks upon departure , , , more fruit!

view of the beach and resort on Lake Togo.

Traffic at the port. No that should read FU*KING TRAFFIC at the port!