Im Still here!! And Im happy

  SOS Village - Lomé, Togo
Wednesday, July 21, 2004

I've had one of those days where I just feel fantastic and I thought I should try and capture some of it for you here, the sceptics amongst you might claim the feeling of wellbeing is due to the 3 cups of tea I've had today (the 1st since I left the UK) but actually I've just had a great day at the village.
I'm going to try and show off a bit and "weave" in some pictures, to view them better look at the photo album.

To give you the background about a week ago I was slightly questioning the point of me being here, this coincided with a bad food experience, and as this is public I won't give you the details but I spent more time than I would like sitting on a loo. I also was skint because MasterCard is rubbish, so all in all wasn't very happy.
Yesterday was the first full day at the village and I had a really nice day and it was nice to hear the children going "where have you been" and running to see me when I walked through the gates (I was standing sideways when they arrived...live+learn!!)
I also discovered a new friend, he's 1 years old (ish) and is called Jerimy





Not sure whys he's so big, sorry will work on that! anyway he is very cute and cant walk (likes to crawl) and cant talk, so is very much at the "what a sweet child" stage. Anyway I decided he was quite cool and should walk so I started giving him lessons



So today was very excited when he didn't need two hands to hold him up, only one....hell be walking soon!! Ill of taught a kid how to walk, Ill be so proud when he can walk around and cause havoc and everything!!
He did however go down somewhat in my estimation when he was sitting on my leg and gurgled innocently then VOMITED all down my shorts....nice
Anyway one of the teachers from the British School OF Lomé came as well and we played some games which went down well and kept the kiddies occupied and it was all very nice.
Basically I've realised that even if to me this is bloody tiring and everyday I do get home and I am filthy, with vomit down my leg and smelling in serious need of a long shower, I am having a great time, It was good to see how other people react to the kids and how it is normal to get slightly exhausted and wanting a break when you've got 8 kids vying for your attention/bag/water bottle/bread, but then to bizarrely walk out exhausted and go "yeah I want to go back".

I also managed to find out the history of one of the children, I don't like to ask the children so have to get one of the staff alone and ask them, which is a bit of a challenge, anyways this story appears fairly normal, The child was born into a fairly normal family, but the mother was firmly in charge of raising the child with the father not really helping out that much, the problem arose when the mother went mad for whatever reason,(sometimes blamed on voodoos)or the mother dies, or the father(and money earner) dies and there was no one else to raise the child as the father didn't really want to know and didn't really know where to start, or the family is now too poor to support a child and the extended family couldn't help. So the child gets kind of ignored and often not fed properly, falls ill. Then neighbours or members of the extended family find out, get concerned and often tell the authorities who since there isn't really and government program, refer the case to SOS Children's Villages who take the child on. Sometimes it's actually one of the parents who turn up at the village hoping we can help.
Once accepted the child is then looked after, educated and basically giving a helping hand all the way along. But it's a "4 stage process" which basically means SOS could be with child from a few months old until they have found a stable job and are standing on their own two feet. In the words of the director SOS is basically like a real family, they will look out for and support their children right up until they are independent.
I'm only seeing the beginning stage and really want to meet an SOS child who is now a working adult...
If your wondering, SOS also supports AIDS children, obviously it cant help see through to the end stage, as a child born HIV+ doesn't stand much chance of making it to Uni, and there are no HIV+ children on the village, this is for a number of reasons and is nothing to do with the stigma as Togo is quite good and honest about AIDS, but SOS does try and give them a better life whilst they are still alive, giving money for the Antiretroviral and support to those involved.
Anyway its a sad way to end the tale but there are many organisations that do care specifically for AIDS children's (which I'm hoping to visit), and I don't believe on our village we would be able to give the care needed to support and care for HIV+ AIDS orphans, Its something that I'm very interested in and was a bit angry at first (I thought they where doing a pick and mix approach....."well we will help you, your healthy...sorry not you your ill") but to be honest I think SOS is amazing at what it does and should be praised for that!!

Please do look at the photos (thumbnails at the top of the page) I got to spend alot of the day with the girls, who are absolutely forbidden by the boys to play football with me(I am trying to change this but when I some girls on my team all the blokes go on strike and stomp off) And it was nice to get to know them a bit and see them playing and giggling ridiculously; and playing Simon says etcc... and yes I know I look very strange in most of the photos.


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A quick update on my fight against all things creepy crawly, I was sitting in my impregnable fortress(insecticided,mosi-netted,airconditioned) of a bed last night reading and congratulating myself on winning the fight against creepy crawlies when I heard a scratching sound, jumped out of bed commando style and started searching high and low for the evil thing, eventually after much searching decided to sod it and go to sleep, when I heard it again louder this time, jumped out of bed determined to find it and crush it with my flip-flop (conveniently on bedside table!!), but to no avail, couldn't find it, decided I was getting paranoid and jumped back into bed.
It was only when I settled down for the second time with my head comfortably nessetled in my pillow that it slowly dawned on me......there's something living in my pillow.
I'm now sleeping pillow less wondering what's in my mattress but not wanting to put my ear down to listen!!
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Thanks for all your emails; it is great to hear what you think of this!! And well done if you've go this far!!
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A Cheesy photo to finish!!!
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