PC 50th

I spent this past weekend in Lome mainly cause I was sick, but also to support the Peace Corps 50th Anniversary Girls Soccer Match. It took place at the University of Lome and was played by the English Club at the University versus Volunteers and Staff. Was a pretty good turnout and folks from the US Embassy came and to give out support as well.

At half time, they did a sensablization on gender roles.


We often do this activity. There's 2 lines and it's a relay race between genders. Guys have carry a baby, a book, and a bucket because these are typical things that represent the roles of women in Togo. The girls in this case, carry a book and kick a soccer ball, cause that's what guys do. The girls usually win cause it's easier to be a guy in Togo and also most people drop the baby during the relay. It's all fun and laughter and easily underlines a serious point about the differences between gender and sex.

In the end, I think the score was 3-2, University of Lome, but they really dominated the whole game. That's all that is scheduled for 50th anniversary events, but I submitted a budget for a basketball tournament to the committee. Keeping fingers crossed it will happen. There's high interest because we have a real team and it will be really competitive. We're also out for revenge from our last loss.



Afterwards, we were invited to a BBQ at one of the embassy worker's houses. I've never been in the ex-pat area of Lome so it was a big cultural shock to see essentially the suburbs in Togo. It was kind of funny cause it was supposed to be a potluck, but no volunteer had access to a kitchen to actually cook something. Instead we chipped in money otherwise we would have all brought corn or beans like the village peasants we are.