My two great accomplishments for today are:
1. taking Ntido to the dispansaire for pre-natal counseling and
2. popping a big tombu maggot out of the tail of one of my kittens.
There is something satisfying about popping tombu maggots out of dogs/cats. its almost as satisfying as watching them squirm around on cold concrete people you step on them.
The other morning I walked out of my house to see papa scooping the brains out of a goat skull with his finger and eating them. his response to the apparently incredulous look on my face? "C'est doux!"
So yeah, Ntido is pregnant. I thought she was about 2-3 months ago. then village rumor picked it up about 3 weeks ago. i hate being right sometimes. Anyway, I tried talking to Ntido about it. No good. D came out last week though, and had a good talk with her about about stuff. So I feel better. It sucks being a guy Volunteer sometimes because half the population is too shy or doesn't speak french well enough to talk me.
The dispansaires, e.g. local/village/rural health clinics, have decent pre-natal counseling and infant health programs. this is especially true with the dispansaire in Nampoch because it is run by Sisters from the Catholic Mission in Guerin-Kouka.
I have a lot of respect for the Catholics here. they do a lot of good work in Togo, especially in the arenas of health and education. i'd never be a monastic, but you have to have a Lot of respect for people who dedicate their lives to making their corner of the world a better place.
D and I went in to talk to the Sister who comes out to the Nampoch dispansaire to find out when their CPN is, well D did all the talking cause she works with dispansaires, I just went along cause I knew the way. Anyway, the Sister was really nice and professional. Unwed, pregnant teen mothers are sort of a fact of life here.
On my way into town today, I biked past an army ant mound, one of like 50. This one was different cause it had a 15-ish centimeter long dead viper on it. Poetic justice.
I refuse to say anything about the recent elections in the US, especially since it could get me fired.
I've reached this weird point in my service. Its time to start handing off national projects that Ive been working on. Most national projects, like committees, publications, etc, have a year-long term. Last month we finished up our last issue of Farm to Market and passed that off to the new editing team. Then, last weekend, I went up to Dapaong to take part in the transition meeting for the new Food Security Committee. I was one of the founding members of the committee; its kind of weird passing it on to new people, but in a good way. Normally, I guess, it wouldnt be that big of a deal because I'd be getting reading to COS. Since I am planning on being here for another year or so this feels like my mid-service point instead of the beginning of the end.
i like the feel of real books, but i like trees and being able to have 100+ books with me on my nook. conflicted.