Adventures in Datcha

Hello all!  Hope everything is going well for everyone back home.  We're sure it is colder there than it is here!  We are in the land of no winter.  Our blog today is about going to another Canossian hospital here in Togo and our experiences there.  We hope you enjoy it!
Although our mission site through VOICA is Agoe, we were offered the opportunity to spend some time helping at another mission.  The Cannosian Sisters operate a hospital (Hopital Sante Joseph) in Datcha, a small village two and a half hours north of Agoe, where Tim, Leah, and Gabriele were able to spend about 10 days helping in different ways.  One of the sisters came to pick us up on a Saturday morning and we made the drive up the bumpy, partially paved road that is the main stretch from the south to the north of Togo.  The drive was long, and sometimes slow going, but it gave us a chance to see other places along the way.  Our journey took us through a lot of villages were we saw people selling their goods on the side of the road, children walking to school in matching uniforms, and dogs, chickens, and goats dodging children and cars as they scurried across the road.  It was interesting to see the different materials used in building as our journey progressed.  The further north we drove, the more the construction of the houses and buildings changed.  Most houses toward the south are made from wood or cement and corrugated tin.  The houses just north of us had similar construction but instead were topped with grass roofs.  A little further north and the house looked more like huts with walls made from mud and had the same grass roofs.  And then, when were were in the Datcha area, the huts were made from only grass that was woven together and they were all arranged in a circle.  We were able to see some of this intricate grass weaving up close, and it's really incredible that it is used to build an entire hut.
When we arrived at the mission the sisters were waiting with open arms and an already prepared lunch of fufu and pasta.  After our lunch, Sister Anna Maria, an Italian sister stationed in Datcha, took us on a tour of the hospital, which is not a single building but composed of many small buildings spread out over a large campus.  Besides the front most building, which contains the pharmacy, laboratory and the cashier, every department is housed in it's own building. They have separate building for radiology, surgery, hospitalization, general consultation, administration, maternity, and many others, including a morgue and a place for family members to wash laundry and cook for patients.  It is not a large hospital, but it is much larger that our dispensary.  The residential part of the compound in Datcha is also set up differently than ours in Agoe.  The hospital is enclosed in the same compound as the convent, whereas in Agoe, our dispensary, while smaller, has its own compound.  Another difference is that in Agoe, the volunteer house is in the same walled area as the convent, while in Datcha the volunteers have their own compound next to the sisters' with a house and a bit of land, which gives the volunteers a quiet, private place to stay.
Datcha is full of greenery and wildlife, and it's a great place to wander around with a camera.  One day while we were exploring right behind our compound, we came across some nomads and their large herd of cows.  These nomads, always with some type of livestock (cows, goats, or sheep), are a common sight in Togo, especially in the north.  We took many photos of the cows and the goats that were hidden among them, the birds that followed the herd, and the nomads as they kept the cows moving in the direction they needed to go.  There were three children among the nomads working just as hard as the adults.  The smallest of the children was having a difficult time keeping up, so one of the older ones picked him up and put him on his shoulders.  We walked around to another side of the compound and found a small, circular cluster of grass huts with women cooking over fires and dogs and children running around.  Some of the children saw us with the camera and came running toward us to pose but were afraid to get too close at first.  When Tim tried to show them the photo he had taken they started to inch closer, but were still a little hesitant.  Then, one boy was brave enough to walk up and look at the camera, and the rest felt it was safe to approach.  They all started laughing when they saw themselves in the photo and then ran off to continue their playing, so we continued our exploring.  Our walk took us to the front of the compound which lies on a dirt road, along which you will find a small hotel/bar, a shack that poses as a convenience store, and an outdoor market area that is crowded with people trying to sell their goods every Wednesday.
Even though this market is only a 5 minute walk from the compound and we were able to buy all the food we needed, the sisters came by our compound every day or two to bring us fresh fruit and make sure we had enough bread.  Sister Anna Maria even brought us a chicken and 3 packages of hot dogs.  Walking through this market was different than the markets near Agoe.  Everyone quoted us fair prices on things (we have learned how much things should cost), some of which were even lower than what we pay in Agoe.  The only issue we had was similar to others we've had before.  Two ladies were selling the same beans.  We asked one lady how much the beans cost, and she told us one price.  Then, when the other lady came over to bag the beans for us she tried to charge us a higher price.  After explaining that we were quoted a lower price and talking back and forth for a while, she finally gave in to the first price.  When we paid her for the beans she didn't give us the correct change.  Gabriele argued with her for a minute, and when she wouldn't give us the rest of our change he reached down, grabbed another handful of beans, put them in our bag, and walked away.  Everyone around started laughing, including us, but that's just the way things are here.  While some things in Datcha, like the market, are a little different than Agoe, we felt right at home and settled in quite nicely.
One of the main differences is that they have a full functioning hospital.  Tim found the pharmacy was pretty well organized but their inventory system was basically large index cards with drug names, dates, and quantities.  So he installed a program on their computers, one in the pharmacy and one in the storage facility where they keep most of their stock, and taught the staff how to use it.  Sister Anna Maria had a small problem with the disk drive on the computer in the pharmacy and Tim showed her how to fix it.  That day she had the same problem on another computer and was able to fix it herself.  When she saw that Tim knew his way around a computer, she asked him to take a look at a some of their other computers and fix a few problems.  Our last day in Datcha, he was able to come to the O.R. and observe the last three surgeries.
Gabriele worked alongside their surgeon, Florentin, and completed a number of different surgeries that repaired hernias, fistulas, and hydrocells.  With the opportunity to work in the O.R. again, instead of working in the lab, Leah assisted Gabriele and Florentin with the surgeries.  For some of the surgeries she was able to scrub in and retract and even help as an instrumentalist.  Knowing the names of the instruments in English doesn't help you much when you're working with two surgeons, one who speaks Italian and one who speaks French!  At least there was enough time to watch one surgery and learn the names of the important instruments before scrubbing in to assist with the next surgery.  It was different than working in the O.R. at home, but it was a great learning experience.
As a thank you for all of our help, Florentin took us out to a bar/restaurant in Atakpame, a larger town about 15 minutes north of Datcha.  Because the bar was having a promotion for a local beer, there was a DJ playing a lot of African music, and an unofficial dance-off started.  It was very entertaining!  One guy, probably in his twenties, was dancing so enthusiastically by himself.  He danced nonstop for about an hour.  Two teenage boys were having a dance-off between themselves.  One would show off some slick moves, and the other would try to copy him and add in something a little more complicated.  For some songs they would would do the same moves simultaneously like a two man dance team.  Probably the most entertaining were the small children that would dance like their energy would never run out.  One little boy, who couldn't have been more than 4, was dancing like crazy when his parents dragged him back to the table.  But as soon as his parents sat back down he jumped back up and started dancing again.  It was a very entertaining night.
Our last night in Datcha the sisters made us a nice going away dinner, served with beer and soft drinks, and told us how much our presence was appreciated and that we must come back soon and bring the others.  After we were all finished eating and were sitting around the table talking, two of the sisters left the table and reappeared a few minutes later singing and carrying in gifts for us.  What a surprise; it felt like a birthday party!  We unwrapped our gifts to find that we all received beautiful cloth, each with a different pattern, to have made into clothes.  The sisters were so generous in showing their appreciation.  The night ended with a chorus of "Thank you", "Merci", and "Akpeloo" from both us and the sisters.
We are really glad we had the opportunity to visit Datcha.  Not only were we able to see a different area of the country and meet new people, but we were also able to give of ourselves to help others in need.  A satisfying experience indeed!
Keep praying for us, and thank you for all of your support!

Grocery Shopping, Gardening, and Chickens

I remember how a 5 minute drive to the grocery store seemed like such a hassle when I needed something right away.  We take for granted how easily accessible things are at home.  Oh, how I've longed for that little 5 minute trip and the car in which to make it!  It is a one hour walk, or a 10 minute ride on a zimijan (moto-taxi) down our traffic-heavy dirt road to Assiyeye, the outdoor market which is the closest place to buy vegetables. Going grocery shopping takes a lot of time out of your day, not to mention a lot of energy.  It's very difficult to walk home with multiple heavy bags of produce, so we usually take a zimijan. One of the important things we've learned is that because we are white people will always quote us a higher price for everything.  We MUST negotiate on the prices of anything we want to purchase.  In order to do that, we need to know how much things should actually cost, which in the beginning, we really did not.  Thanks to a former volunteer and some friends who live here, as well as having learned the hard way by overpaying a time or two, we now have a better idea of the actual costs of many things.  A zimijan ride from our compound to Assiyeye should cost 250CFA, but when we flag down a zimijan the drivers always quote us 400-500CFA.  And at the market, vendors will quote us as much as 3 times the regular price for produce.  Using the local language always helps our cause, so we've started saying "no" in Ewe when we're quoted a price that is too high.  Then, we ask in French for a price we know is normal.  Sometimes they refuse and you have to be willing to walk away no matter how much you want what they are selling.  The walking away usually ends in them calling you back and accepting your offer, but when it doesn't, you hope someone else is selling the same thing and is more willing to negotiate a reasonable price.  Because we have been buying our produce at Assiyeye for four months now, we have formed some relationships with some of the vendors there, and they never try to overcharge us any more.  It's nice to feel like we've figured out at least a small part of the system. Aside from Assiyeye, there are some small shops along our road that sell things like toilet paper, oatmeal, cell phone credit, and other various things,  but the closest thing to an actual grocery store is on the south side of Lome, and it's about a 40 minutes car ride.  This is how our "grocery shopping" experience was the first 3 months we were here.  The volunteer car was at the mechanic when we arrived, so we had to walk or take zimijans if we needed or wanted to go anywhere.  At the beginning of December the car came back from the mechanic and it has made getting places so much easier.  
Our first experiences figuring out where to buy things and how much they should cost were frustrating.  Our experiences at Assiyeye trying to buy fruits and vegetables made us start saving seeds to start our own garden.  Not only would it reduce the number of times we would have to go to the market, but we would spend less money on food.  We prepared some ground in an old run-down chicken coop area near our house and planted okra and beans.  Soon after the plants started growing, the sisters had all the chicken coops repaired and added a rooster, a chicken, and two guinea hens.  The birds started tearing up our garden immediately.  So we decided not to plant anything else and tried to build a makeshift fence out of anything we could find (bricks, old roofing tiles, sticks, rotting boards, old chicken wire).  It wasn't enough to keep them out, and the fowl continued to wreak havoc on our small garden.  The gardeners saw that our makeshift fence was not working and built us a new one by interweaving palm fronds and attached a door made from chicken wire with a wooden frame.  Not only did they build us this fence, but they also prepared some land right behind our house so we can continue our gardening in a better place.
Our parents sent us hundreds of seeds, and we are so excited to use them.  The land behind our house is ready for planting, and we have already started with carrots.  Tim and Gabriele acquired some plastic tubing from our friend Michele and created an irrigation system so we don't have to water our plants using a bucket and a cup anymore.  Watering by hand was not so bad when our garden was small, but now that we are expanding, an irrigation system will be very helpful.   Also, our friend Christine told us where we can buy a watering can for the areas like the chicken coop that don't have irrigation.  After we get a good harvest off of the okra and beans in the coop we probably won't plant again in that area.  Dealing with the birds is such a hassle.
Our herb seeds are planted and soon we'll have rosemary, cilantro, dill, fennel, and oregano.  We rooted some cuttings that we took from the basil plants in the sisters' garden and planted them in front of our house.  It's always good to have fresh basil on hand, especially when we have tomatoes!   For Leah's birthday we had home-made gnocchi, thanks to the Italians,  with a pesto sauce made with the basil from the garden.  In our courtyard area we planted the tops of a lot of pineapples.  We know that we won't enjoy the fruits of our labor since pineapples take two years to produce, but at least future volunteers will enjoy fresh pineapple right outside their door.  Plus the plants make the courtyard look really pretty.
There are a few passion fruit vines that grow around the compound and many of the seeds have ended up in our compost pit.  Tim saved some of the little vines that started growing in the pit, and Ream planted them between two trees behind the house.  Soon we will have passion fruit closer to the house, but we will still wander the compound, baskets in hand, checking every tree for ripe fruit.  Grapefruit has been abundant since we arrived, which is great since we eat them almost every day, but the trees are starting to look a little bare. Three weeks ago, the sounds of fruit bats announced the start of mango season.  We have many mango trees around the compound.  Due to the harvesting by us, the gardeners, and the bats, the mango trees are also starting to look a little bare.  Too bad mango season isn't as long as grapefruit season.  The bats have also found the guava tree in our courtyard.  The guavas are still small and green, but the bats are eating them anyway, and pretty soon we won't have any guavas when the season comes.  At least we were able to take some night shots with the camera and get some photos of the bats.  They are actually pretty cute.
Our experiences with shopping and price negotiation in the first few months may have been a little difficult, but it has gotten easier with time.  Having access to all these fruit trees has been  a real treat since some of the fruit we can't buy at the market.  The garden is a daily project and we are really looking forward to all that we will gain from our hard work.