october

Time for something more uplifting. In October, our cluster (the six volunteers who share a mail point) held a MAP (Men as Partners) training at the center in Pagala. MAP is a new initiative in the GEE program that encourages men’s participation in gender equity and social development. We each invited a few men from our communities. I brought the director, the new SVT teacher (Solange’s replacement and soon to be my new counterpart) and the chief (also known as my papa). In general, the training went really well, the men were open to the difficult conversations about gender roles and treatment of women and sexual behaviors and HIV infection, and we all felt pretty good about it at the end. The best part, though, took place the day after. My host dad, driving his car (very rare, owning a personal vehicle, but he’s kind of a big deal), stopped me on the road back into village (I was walking from somewhere) and offered me a ride. On the way back, we started talking about the formation and how he thought it went. He mentioned offhand that he was on his way back from the hospital in Pagala where he had just taken an HIV test. He had also made appointments for each of his three wives to go during the following week. This may not sound like much. It is only now, writing it in English, that it seems almost inconsequential. But getting the chef du canton to engage in immediate behavior change, to take an interest not only in his health but in that of his WIVES as well, was not an outcome I had foreseen. In fact, his is a success story people like to tell. I was just sitting in on a training for first year volunteers to which participants from previous MAP trainings came to talk about their experiences and one told the story of my chief. He is now all psyched about testing, and we are trying to get a mobile testing unit to come to village and test everyone for free.
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I went back down to Tsevie for my first week with the new stage. My first impression was that they were so CLEAN. It was also bizarre to have a new group asking me about Togo and the GEE program and my work, when really, I feel like I just got here. But it had been over a year since my arrival, now getting close to a year and a half. My favorite part of being a trainer was getting to sit through stage again, but this time I understood everything! It is amazing the difference a year has made with my French. It was also just nice to connect with a new group of volunteers, especially ones who are at their most idealistic and energetic.
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I’ll admit it. I was pouting and thus waited a full week after the arrival of Solange’s replacement to go meet him. I know that is not professional, or even remotely mature, but I was entirely prepared to dislike him. I had already painted a pretty uninviting picture of him in my mind. He was old, condescending, uninterested, misogynistic, set in his ways and probably a little creepy. Wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, and very wrong. See, sometimes I can admit when I’m wrong.
He is young and enthusiastic, open to all of my ideas, really smart, creative, forward-thinking, opposed to corporal punishment, willing to do anything I dream up. I originally planned to ask him to work with me just on science club, but Abdel has quickly become an all-around counterpart. This does not make me miss Solange any less, and I definitely think that having a female teacher presented the girls with an invaluable model, but, OK, Universe, I guess you knew what you were doing.