As we returned from Accra, the second time, we were at the trotro station and all the drivers were trying to convince us that we should get in their trotro. I was looking for the trotro with the most passengers as they are just vans and when the van fills then the trotro leaves. We were looking at the drivers and the trotros when our driver from our last trip saw us and we felt that he was an overall safe driver and we had a nice journey last time so we got in his trotro and took our seats in the front with him like last time, but then we realized that we were two of three passengers. I knew it would be a long wait and it was so I began checking out the wares that people were carrying for sale on their heads. I even spotted some beer and joked that the beer would for sure make the wait more interesting. We opted for Sprite instead. We looked at all kinds of things that people wanted us to buy and I called a few friends in America, as it’s much easier to call in Ghana. Then after a few hours I had to pee so I asked the driver where I should go. He took my hand and led me down an alley, then ducked into a building and we twisted and turned down a few more dark passageways and then he greeted a woman and pointed for me to use a stall marked women. I gladly did and was thankful I carried my own TP as there was only old newspaper available in the stall, mind you this was upscale for Africa and I was grateful. Another half an hour later we pulled out destine for Lome. It was about 7:30pm by then and I was very leery that we would make it to Togo before the boarder closed. I wanted to know where we would sleep but the driver and my friend both said that I shouldn’t worry. I sat and easily did the math in my head and a four hour ride and the boarder closing at 10:00 just equaled bad news but I went with it.
The driver clearly wanted to make time so he maneuvered through Accra traffic (think LA rush hour only Africa style). We even veered off the road at one point and drove way over on the shoulder to bypass many many cars. After we made it out of the city I curled up and began sleeping. I know that both my friend and I were out cold when I heard it and then smelt it, a flat tire. I have only had two in 15 years of driving but you never forget it. He slowed down and pulled over and we all had to unload. I think every woman ran out to relieve themselves while the men just stood where they were and were not shy at all, another very Africa thing. The driver did an amazing job changing the tire and we were back on the road in about 10 minutes. I didn’t sleep so well after that in spite of being incredibly tired. The road was just too bumpy and the lady behind me wouldn’t let me lean my head back without pushing on me or pulling my hair.
When we were near the boarder the driver called someone and everyone began talking in Eway. My friend basically told me that the boarder was closed but the driver knew someone who would take us through so we would get home and I shouldn’t worry. Oh and I should mention it began raining fairly hard.
When we got out of the trotro we were led through some grass and down a passage between some houses. We all stopped under a tin roof that was the overhang of someone’s house. We then had to pay the two men so they could bribe the night boarder guards. No one mentioned that this was very dangerous and I was a HUGE liability because I was white. No one mentioned that I should hide my skin and stand behind other people. I was only told to stay close so I did but with no warnings I was basically oblivious. Then as they were telling me to duck through the hole in the fence, that someone had cut for such occasions, I was told to go and stand in a doorway out of sight. Another woman handed me a panya (large piece of cloth that women wrap themselves in). I put it on my head and hid under it but I still had my shines and ankles hanging out. If someone had told me I could have put my own panya on also and I would have blended a bit more. After everyone had passed under they all gathered around me and we walked toward the guards. I couldn’t see so well but I know that everyone all of a sudden wasn’t there, only my friend and the men we paid and I was in the beam of a flashlight being yelled at to stop and come to the group of boarder guards huddled under a tin roof shelter.
I reminded my friend to tell them that I was sick and we left this morning to go see the doctor and then when we were returning the trotro broke down. He told me that I should not talk but he explained in Eway. They asked to see my passport and we showed them and I pointed to my Ghana and Togo visas. I was completely legal, just crossing at an illegal time of day. I coughed and shivered and acted weak so they might let us go. Then they yelled at my friend and the leader basically said that my friend was to pass and leave me with the guards because white people have been causing problems overseas for other countries and he was holding me. After more discussion and my friend refusing to leave me he wanted money and wouldn’t accept the few Cedis (Ghana currency) that my friend had. I gave 1000 CEFA (Togo currency) and another guard said to the leader that he should just take it because I really did look sick. I got the feeling they started to think they didn’t want to hold me after all. We thanked them and walked fast most of the way home. The boarder is a 15 minute walk from my house. My friend laughed and told me I did a good job playing sick because the guards believed me.
I will never know how people who are smuggled into other countries feel but I know that this little adventure was only a drop in the bucket of what they must experience. This was more than I bargained for when I left to go to the doctor for sure. My friend and I have agreed that next time we will just stay the night as I would have gladly stayed in a hotel. Then again this is an experience I will never forget.
29 April, 2010
Health Update
April has brought more serious illness into my life. I’m still not sure what it was and if it is gone for sure but I can tell you I have lived through the worst stomach pain ever. At first my friends and I thought it was bad food. When that didn’t pass then we thought it was worms. Then when the medicine didn’t work and I was only getting worse I went to the stomach/obgyn doctor. The man listened to me and my friend as we told him about how I was sick and what the symptoms were. The doctor pushed on my stomach and was sure that it was amebas that were hurting me. He ordered blood work and wanted me to begin the medication immediately. He also, bless his heart, prescribed pain medication for my stomach.
At the lab the secretary, who was not so nice in January when I was there, decided that she would draw my blood personally. She used, I kid you not, an extra large needle. Then she pushed so hard to “stop the bleeding” that she bruised me. I have never had a bruise like this before and I swear I was not being a big baby about it. After taking the medicine I began feeling some relief and the running stomach was not so fierce and I began eating a little more and that was nice too.
The next day the lab results showed that I didn’t have amebas, but I had numerous fungi in my blood. It also showed that the sediment rate of my blood was very high. When I returned to the doctor he basically told me I didn’t have amebas, but the fungi could also mean I had an ulcer. He wanted me to start taking fungi and ulcer medicine immediately and then go and get an orthroscopic camera exam and more blood work.
I first cried to think that I might be very sick and living in a near third world country. This didn’t help my friend as he hates it when I cry. Later when I got it together we talked and talked and decided that I would wait the five days and go to Accra, Ghana to see a doctor during my vacation. The doctors are better there and we would find answers. I didn’t buy any of the medicine as the fungi medicine is not available in Lome and the ulcer medicine is mega powerful and highly expensive.
As the days passed I was very careful about what I prepared and how I washed my produce. I also began taking 1 Tbsp of vinegar each day. I continued to feel better each day and by the time I left for Ghana I was pain and symptom free. This made it hard to go to the doctor in Ghana, but I did. The clinic I went to was good and they are still in the process of testing me and waiting for the results before they make any conclusions. The doctor did say that she doesn’t think that I have a fungus infection in my stomach as old people and babies get those. We will see what she says when I return to her office for further consultation.
At the clinic it is a little different, even though Ghana is much more developed than Togo. I had to register, stand in line to pay the cashier, wait but shift chairs as the line moved to see the doctor. Then after she ordered the lab work I had to find the lab but then they sent me back to the cashier and then I could go to another area and pick up my own specimen collection tubes and carry them to the designated rooms, but one room had me return to the cashier to pay for an extra specimen collection fee or something. Then after all specimens were collected I carried them back to the lab and waited in line (there were triplet girls in front of me) and then they recorded the time of drop off and told me to return in three days.
We returned to Togo for the weekend and then journeyed back to the hospital on the third day. I checked in and everyone remembered me (it’s not that hard since I was pretty much the only white person in sight and not to mention they all knew I was from Togo). Then I went to the lab and waited in line for my results, which were stapled shut and I was told to give them to the doctor. I then waited in the chair line and moved from chair to chair as the people in front of me were seen by the doctor. Then doctor informed me that there was no indication of fungus in my system but I did have a UTI. She gave me a prescription and asked me to come back in a week or so to test and make sure it was gone for sure.
We went to the pharmacy and bought my meds and I breathed a huge sigh of relief. I was scared that there was something seriously wrong with me. I’m still not exactly sure why I was so sick but I am guessing that I must have had worms or ameba but since I took both medications it all just worked its way through and I’m ok now. Or maybe it was a virus and it ran it’s course too. I’m thankful that I’m better now and so are my friends.
At the lab the secretary, who was not so nice in January when I was there, decided that she would draw my blood personally. She used, I kid you not, an extra large needle. Then she pushed so hard to “stop the bleeding” that she bruised me. I have never had a bruise like this before and I swear I was not being a big baby about it. After taking the medicine I began feeling some relief and the running stomach was not so fierce and I began eating a little more and that was nice too.
The next day the lab results showed that I didn’t have amebas, but I had numerous fungi in my blood. It also showed that the sediment rate of my blood was very high. When I returned to the doctor he basically told me I didn’t have amebas, but the fungi could also mean I had an ulcer. He wanted me to start taking fungi and ulcer medicine immediately and then go and get an orthroscopic camera exam and more blood work.
I first cried to think that I might be very sick and living in a near third world country. This didn’t help my friend as he hates it when I cry. Later when I got it together we talked and talked and decided that I would wait the five days and go to Accra, Ghana to see a doctor during my vacation. The doctors are better there and we would find answers. I didn’t buy any of the medicine as the fungi medicine is not available in Lome and the ulcer medicine is mega powerful and highly expensive.
As the days passed I was very careful about what I prepared and how I washed my produce. I also began taking 1 Tbsp of vinegar each day. I continued to feel better each day and by the time I left for Ghana I was pain and symptom free. This made it hard to go to the doctor in Ghana, but I did. The clinic I went to was good and they are still in the process of testing me and waiting for the results before they make any conclusions. The doctor did say that she doesn’t think that I have a fungus infection in my stomach as old people and babies get those. We will see what she says when I return to her office for further consultation.
At the clinic it is a little different, even though Ghana is much more developed than Togo. I had to register, stand in line to pay the cashier, wait but shift chairs as the line moved to see the doctor. Then after she ordered the lab work I had to find the lab but then they sent me back to the cashier and then I could go to another area and pick up my own specimen collection tubes and carry them to the designated rooms, but one room had me return to the cashier to pay for an extra specimen collection fee or something. Then after all specimens were collected I carried them back to the lab and waited in line (there were triplet girls in front of me) and then they recorded the time of drop off and told me to return in three days.
We returned to Togo for the weekend and then journeyed back to the hospital on the third day. I checked in and everyone remembered me (it’s not that hard since I was pretty much the only white person in sight and not to mention they all knew I was from Togo). Then I went to the lab and waited in line for my results, which were stapled shut and I was told to give them to the doctor. I then waited in the chair line and moved from chair to chair as the people in front of me were seen by the doctor. Then doctor informed me that there was no indication of fungus in my system but I did have a UTI. She gave me a prescription and asked me to come back in a week or so to test and make sure it was gone for sure.
We went to the pharmacy and bought my meds and I breathed a huge sigh of relief. I was scared that there was something seriously wrong with me. I’m still not exactly sure why I was so sick but I am guessing that I must have had worms or ameba but since I took both medications it all just worked its way through and I’m ok now. Or maybe it was a virus and it ran it’s course too. I’m thankful that I’m better now and so are my friends.
Elizabeth
When I was sick at the end of January I was talking with David, a friend/parent who lives down the street. He and his wife had two house girls and he suggested that I took one to help with cleaning since I’ve been sick and it would help them and help the girl. I thought it over and decided that especially since I’d been sick this was necessary. I talked to the girl and she wanted 10,000 CEFA a month (roughly $22 USD) and she didn’t want to come only one day a week she wanted to come one afternoon and then Saturday all day or until she finished. I agreed and she began a few days later.
Elizabeth is a kind person. I think she is about my age and she has a full-time job at a boutique but needs extra money for her 12 year old daughter who lives with the girl’s grandmother. I like having Elizabeth around and my house looks great too, so it is the win win situation.
A few weeks after Elizabeth started she came to me and explained that she needed to leave her house and so she couldn’t come to work for the week as she needed to look for a new place to live. I thought about it and asked my director as she rents the house for me and reminds me all the time how it is her house. My director said that it would be ok if my house girl lived with me in my three bedroom house, but she didn’t want her to sleep on the bed in the room as my house girl might make the bed smell like a Togolese person and the bed was bought for teachers to sleep in. I just stared with my jaw hanging off my face in disbelief. I truly heard such overt racist speech pouring forth in 2010. My heart ached and my stomach lurched. I was uneasy with having a house girl at the price that I pay but this was beyond. So I talked to my director a little more and then she backed off from telling me to have Elizabeth sleep on a mat on the cement floor next to the bed to sleeping on the bed if she used her own sheets and she didn’t make the bed smell. Mind you the “bed” is a four inch piece of foam that has been used for at least three years by various teachers who have lived in the house with their Togolese boyfriends. Needless to say the bed isn’t much better than sleeping on the floor but it’s the principle of the matter for me. This year my director added a rule; no Togolese people living in the house, and has stated it clearly over and over as if I was going to shack up with someone.
After gaining the thumb up from my director I told Elizabeth that she could live in the house with me and she jumped up and down hugging me in the middle of the street. She moved in a little at a time after dark over the course of a week. She told me that she did it this way because people would see her moving and would cause more problems for her if they felt she was going somewhere nice. Please know that first my house is about two blocks from her old house, and second it isn’t that much of anything to look at for people to be jealous over. This another example of something that we never think of in Western culture, but here this is true. Togolese people are wonderful but there are some who get jealous or find joy in stirring up problems for other people. Then some of these people go the extra mile and practice Vodoo, which everyone seems to speculate is behind anything unpleasant.
Since Elizabeth has been living here she wakes up at 5:30 each morning and does something; dishes, cleans the bathroom and shower, sweeps, mops, washes my clothes, or dusts. I feel kind of bad but she is thrilled that she gets paid and she has a free place to live. I’ve been scolded a few times for doing dishes or working in the yard, but I tell her I need to participate in maintaining the house too. My director has been OK too as I think she realizes the house will be in very clean condition when I leave rather than mediocre. She has even said that if Elizabeth (she calls her my girl) is as good as I say she might have a job for her. I told Elizabeth this but she is happy with her full-time job and cleaning on the side. Besides, who wants to willingly work for a racist person if you can help it!!! I hope I don’t get too used to having Elizabeth because I feel like she spoils me.
Elizabeth is a kind person. I think she is about my age and she has a full-time job at a boutique but needs extra money for her 12 year old daughter who lives with the girl’s grandmother. I like having Elizabeth around and my house looks great too, so it is the win win situation.
A few weeks after Elizabeth started she came to me and explained that she needed to leave her house and so she couldn’t come to work for the week as she needed to look for a new place to live. I thought about it and asked my director as she rents the house for me and reminds me all the time how it is her house. My director said that it would be ok if my house girl lived with me in my three bedroom house, but she didn’t want her to sleep on the bed in the room as my house girl might make the bed smell like a Togolese person and the bed was bought for teachers to sleep in. I just stared with my jaw hanging off my face in disbelief. I truly heard such overt racist speech pouring forth in 2010. My heart ached and my stomach lurched. I was uneasy with having a house girl at the price that I pay but this was beyond. So I talked to my director a little more and then she backed off from telling me to have Elizabeth sleep on a mat on the cement floor next to the bed to sleeping on the bed if she used her own sheets and she didn’t make the bed smell. Mind you the “bed” is a four inch piece of foam that has been used for at least three years by various teachers who have lived in the house with their Togolese boyfriends. Needless to say the bed isn’t much better than sleeping on the floor but it’s the principle of the matter for me. This year my director added a rule; no Togolese people living in the house, and has stated it clearly over and over as if I was going to shack up with someone.
After gaining the thumb up from my director I told Elizabeth that she could live in the house with me and she jumped up and down hugging me in the middle of the street. She moved in a little at a time after dark over the course of a week. She told me that she did it this way because people would see her moving and would cause more problems for her if they felt she was going somewhere nice. Please know that first my house is about two blocks from her old house, and second it isn’t that much of anything to look at for people to be jealous over. This another example of something that we never think of in Western culture, but here this is true. Togolese people are wonderful but there are some who get jealous or find joy in stirring up problems for other people. Then some of these people go the extra mile and practice Vodoo, which everyone seems to speculate is behind anything unpleasant.
Since Elizabeth has been living here she wakes up at 5:30 each morning and does something; dishes, cleans the bathroom and shower, sweeps, mops, washes my clothes, or dusts. I feel kind of bad but she is thrilled that she gets paid and she has a free place to live. I’ve been scolded a few times for doing dishes or working in the yard, but I tell her I need to participate in maintaining the house too. My director has been OK too as I think she realizes the house will be in very clean condition when I leave rather than mediocre. She has even said that if Elizabeth (she calls her my girl) is as good as I say she might have a job for her. I told Elizabeth this but she is happy with her full-time job and cleaning on the side. Besides, who wants to willingly work for a racist person if you can help it!!! I hope I don’t get too used to having Elizabeth because I feel like she spoils me.
The Moto Ride of All Moto Rides
I thought I was just riding home from buying dog food at the market but I should know better by now. Things here take much more time and effort than what they should. This was indeed the case like every other day.
I set out to go to the bank, walk through Grande Marchette, go to the western market to buy dog food, and then take a taxi home. I got most of that done with not one hitch until the taxi part. The taxi, like all taxis in Lome, inflated the price beyond reason and then some because I was with my other white friend and because we are yovos we are rich so he must take our great riches. So we negotiate and I still pay a little too much but oh well and we set out for home. Then unannounced to us there was another demonstration/march about the election that was held the first week of March. The opposition side is very unhappy that the president won the votes in the north (villages mostly) and lost in the south (capital city and suburbs and some villages) and still managed to get the majority of the votes. They have been marching off and on but this protest was massive. They marched down one of the major roads of the city. So the taxi looked at the protestors and realized that we were completely cut off from the side of town that was our destination. I realized there was the angry mob, but figured we could get by some how so I proceeded to munch the western cookies we treated ourselves to at the market. Then I saw the police trucks roll up and this serge of anger grew. I knew that these protestors liked to throw rocks at the police and so I knew we had to go please and thank you. The taxi maneuvered the tight traffic and got the taxi turned around and headed in the opposite direction then pulled over. He began demanding that we get out and that we pay him. My friend said no and then told me to sit in the taxi while he got the dog food out. I did and then I got out too. Honestly the taxi hadn’t taken us more than six blocks or so and to demand his fair for several miles wasn’t good and isn’t protocol here.
So we were left on the side of the road not 100 yards from where the protestors and the police and the traffic jam was. We managed to get two motos and they were confident they could get us home. We began with driving against traffic then turned up the muddy street. Oh did I mention we had torrential rain that morning for about an hour. As we dodged puddles the size of small lakes, cars, and pedestrians then zigzagging down this street and the next to find a way around the protestors that seemed to be stretched out for miles. We even went through a few very large puddles, but I will say that my driver didn’t get me wet or dirty at all. This man had skill. He also had a large mouth as he was yelling and commenting to everyone around him. I chuckled as I clung fiercely to the moto. People laughed at my face and how my eyes were the size of saucers.
I made it home first and we were good. I was glad to be done with that adventure.
A few days after this protest I found out that 2 policemen were killed and one wounded. These demonstrations are serious and I’m thankful that we managed to maneuver around it. The Togolese Independence Day is happening soon and the president will be instated as the president for the next four or five years. I know that the opposition is rallying again today and the opposition leader has come to give a speech on the beach and the masses have been out for that, well until the rain rolled in. I hope that there is peace today and this next week. I will stay home as much as possible.
I set out to go to the bank, walk through Grande Marchette, go to the western market to buy dog food, and then take a taxi home. I got most of that done with not one hitch until the taxi part. The taxi, like all taxis in Lome, inflated the price beyond reason and then some because I was with my other white friend and because we are yovos we are rich so he must take our great riches. So we negotiate and I still pay a little too much but oh well and we set out for home. Then unannounced to us there was another demonstration/march about the election that was held the first week of March. The opposition side is very unhappy that the president won the votes in the north (villages mostly) and lost in the south (capital city and suburbs and some villages) and still managed to get the majority of the votes. They have been marching off and on but this protest was massive. They marched down one of the major roads of the city. So the taxi looked at the protestors and realized that we were completely cut off from the side of town that was our destination. I realized there was the angry mob, but figured we could get by some how so I proceeded to munch the western cookies we treated ourselves to at the market. Then I saw the police trucks roll up and this serge of anger grew. I knew that these protestors liked to throw rocks at the police and so I knew we had to go please and thank you. The taxi maneuvered the tight traffic and got the taxi turned around and headed in the opposite direction then pulled over. He began demanding that we get out and that we pay him. My friend said no and then told me to sit in the taxi while he got the dog food out. I did and then I got out too. Honestly the taxi hadn’t taken us more than six blocks or so and to demand his fair for several miles wasn’t good and isn’t protocol here.
So we were left on the side of the road not 100 yards from where the protestors and the police and the traffic jam was. We managed to get two motos and they were confident they could get us home. We began with driving against traffic then turned up the muddy street. Oh did I mention we had torrential rain that morning for about an hour. As we dodged puddles the size of small lakes, cars, and pedestrians then zigzagging down this street and the next to find a way around the protestors that seemed to be stretched out for miles. We even went through a few very large puddles, but I will say that my driver didn’t get me wet or dirty at all. This man had skill. He also had a large mouth as he was yelling and commenting to everyone around him. I chuckled as I clung fiercely to the moto. People laughed at my face and how my eyes were the size of saucers.
I made it home first and we were good. I was glad to be done with that adventure.
A few days after this protest I found out that 2 policemen were killed and one wounded. These demonstrations are serious and I’m thankful that we managed to maneuver around it. The Togolese Independence Day is happening soon and the president will be instated as the president for the next four or five years. I know that the opposition is rallying again today and the opposition leader has come to give a speech on the beach and the masses have been out for that, well until the rain rolled in. I hope that there is peace today and this next week. I will stay home as much as possible.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
