50th Anniversary Peace Corps Togo

“When President Kennedy founded the Peace Corps in 1961, he saw it as a bold experiment in public service that would unite our nation’s highest ideals with a pragmatic approach to bettering the lives of ordinary people around the world. He also saw it as an investment in our own future, in an increasingly interdependent world. In the years since, it’s paid off many times over.” –William Clinton

Last night I was officially sworn in as a Peace Corps volunteer! It was awesome! This year our group of Peace Corps Trainees was a special one, because it is Peace Corps’ 50^th Anniversary in Togo. Volunteers first came to Togo in 1962 and have been working in Togo ever since, without any breaks. To mark such a special event, our swear-in ceremony was at the Palais de Congres in Lome, the capital of Togo. Usually the ceremony is either at the U.S. Ambassador’s house or the Peace Corps Country Director’s house. There were a lot of people attending the ceremony; current volunteers, all Peace Corps in-country staff members, members from all of our host-families, U.S. diplomats from the Embassy, and reporters with news cameras. There were also a few special guests, including a top Ministry official of Togo, the U.S. Ambassador to Togo, the first Peace Corps Togo volunteer from back in 1962, and the Peace Corps Regional Director, Dick Day, who flew in from D.C. just for this special occasion.

In the middle of the great speeches by these V.I.P.s, there was a part when all the new volunteers went on stage and, using local languages of Togo, introduced themselves and said which town they will be volunteering in. For my part, I spoke in Ewe, the popular local language of southern Togo and Ghana. “nkonye enye Emily Brown. Mawodo le Kpalime. Akpe na mi. Nunyuie wola fe ta meyi na to oo.” My name is Emily Brown. I will work in Kpalime. The last two sentences roughly translate into “thank you” and to a Togolese proverb meaning “One will never forget the work of the people who work to do good here.” I was a little nervous, but from the cheers and laughs I received at the end of my proverb, I knew that everyone understood what I said.

After the ceremony was over, a few of us were interviewed in French by a television news station. I was a bit nervous, but I think I spoke well, and I had fun with the reporter and cameraman doing the little interview. After the ceremony was over, we had a party at our hotel with all the current volunteers. It was great to meet these members of our Peace Corps Togo family and enjoy a night with American music and dancing. This was a special day and a landmark in my life that I will never forget.