On Tuesday the 21st I left for my second trip to Togo. My traveling companion was a young Ghanaian named Philip Achinake. I met Philip through an American retiree named Alan Matthews who has been living in Accra since 2001. Alan had been helping Philip and a number of other boys who had previously been used by an illegitimate Ghanaian NGO to scam money from Western donors. It's a very long and complicated story that I'd love to share with people when I get home but I'll move on with the update on Togo.
The reason for my trip was to attend a celebration at La Conscience that was to be held on Wednesday. In attendance at this celebration was the Deputy Chief Ambassador for the US mission to Togo, the village chief of Ahépé, a couple of regional prefects, and many residents of the village of Ahépé. The purpose of the event was to present donated school supplies to children in preparation for the upcoming school year. Entertainment included a number of dances from the girls in the vocation program at La Conscience and drumming and dances from residents of Ahépé.
Thursday morning I worked with Kodjo to film a promotional video for La Conscience, Kodjo narrating in French while I did so in English. Philip and I then headed back south to Lomé where we caught a lorry north to the town of Kpalimé on the western side of the country. Early Friday morning we visited the nearby Kpimé falls complete with monkeys jumping through the tree-tops. We then chartered a couple of motorcycle taxis to take us across the border back into Ghana. The hour-long ride through the forested hills separating Togo and Ghana was spectacular! Not to mention the border crossing was much more uneventful than previous crossings down in Lomé, namely, no death threats.
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