Welcome to our blog about our volunteer experience in Togo!
We could have choosen many different projects to volunteer for, but we have choosen Togo and the small non-profit organization PDH. We had the impression that our help was the most needed there.
Togo is one of the poorest countries in the world and some of the statistics about Togo are sobering: over a million children are underweight (out of over 6 million people); the average life expectancy is only 54 years. Only 4 out of 10 girls and 6 out of 10 boys can read and write. HIV/Aids, Malaria and TB are making many victims and leave thousands of children orphaned.The non-profit organization, PDH has an open-door and non-discriminatory philosophy that strives to help anyone in need, regardless of their status or condition. That means that all sorts of people come to their centre: those suffering from HIV/AIDS or other illnesses, the unemployed, orphans, children in need and victims of abuse or family problems.PHD humanitarian efforts focus on HIV/AIDS prevention; education for children in need; and basic services like medical care, food, clothing and shelter for children and adults who are suffering from extreme poverty and abandonment.Very often PDH is forced to turn away people that they, quite simply, cannot help.
This blog is about the volunteer experience of Saskia van Manen and Yoka Heijstek in Togo, West-Africa for a very small non-profit organization, called PDH: "La Promotion et Developpement Humain", The Promotion and Human Development Organization.
Please note
Due to very sporadic availibily of electricity and the internet his week (this past weekend Togo just wasn't on-line, none of it, nowhere!) two new posts have just been posted at the same time! Happy reading!
Pictures
The internet cafe has a very slow connection; unfortunately pictures have to wait, but we have some good ones...
Schedule
Yoka will fly from Boston to London on Thurday May 29 early in the morning. On Friday the 30th both Yoka and Saskia will fly from London to Accra, the capital of Ghana. On Saturday night they will stay at a hotel near the beach where African drumming and dances will be performed. On Sunday, May 31 they will be picked up by a representative of PDH and will cross the border to Togo, which is a 2 hour drive. On July 4th they will return to Ghana for a few days of relaxing and sightseeing before flying back to London on July 9. Yoka will arrive in Boston on July 11.
Map of Togo
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