My Water Tower

“Water, like religion and ideology, has the power to move millions of people. Since the very birth of human civilization, people have moved to settle close to it. People move when there is too little of it. People move when there is too much of it. People journey down it. People write, sing and dance about it. People fight over it. And all people, everywhere and every day, need it.” ― Mikhail Gorbachev

In the United States I never really had to worry about water, where it came from, or if I would have enough for tomorrow. In Togo it’s something that people are always aware of. They think about water every day. Most people here have to travel a block, quarter-mile, or maybe even a mile or more to get water. And when I say “travel” I don’t mean in a car with air conditioning. They walk and bring the water back balanced on their head, often in very hot weather, and that’s just for one bucket of water. And what happens if during the dry season the village’s water source has dried up? They have to travel even farther to find water. I know a few volunteers who have students and children help them get water, since the pumps/wells are so far from their houses. They are always conscious of how much water they have on hand.

To have running water in your house here in Kpalime, you can connect your house to the city water pipes, or you can dig a well and install a water tower. At my compound there is a well. Inside the well is a pump that pumps the water up into the water tower’s holding tank. To turn the pump on all I have to do is flip a switch on the wall outside, like a light switch. I watch the tank and when it is full, I switch it off, or else the water overflows from the top and splashes everywhere. The tank at the top is attached to the water pipes in my house, so the water just flows down into the pipes with gravity. The pressure isn’t that great, but I don’t care. With the water tower, I don’t have any water bill and I don’t have to worry when the city water lines stop for no apparent reason. One time the lines weren’t working for three days. In my first house here I used to keep a barrel full of extra water outside my door for times when the water was off, because I had no well.

I am very thankful for my water tower! It’s one of my favorite things ever. Most volunteers don’t have running water, so I know that I got really lucky with my situation. No bucket baths.  Also, since the water tank is dark and in the sun all day, my afternoon showers are warm!  After living in Togo, I will never think about water the same way I did before, and I have a new appreciation for things like American water fountains…..cold, clean, free water available in public places. Amazing. 

My Quote Wall

“Language is the mother, not the handmaiden, of thought; 

words will tell you things you never thought or felt before.” 

~W.H. Auden

One of my favorite spots in my house is my quote wall. My parents always slip a quote into the envelope with their letters to me, and I decided to display these on a wall in my house. As you can see from my blog, I love quotes. They provide inspiration, enlightenment, and motivation for me whenever I read them. Here are some of my favorites:

“Contemplation often makes life miserable. We should act more, think less, and stop watching ourselves live.” – Nicolas Chamfort

“Not all those who wander are lost.” - J.R.R. Tolkien

“The man who moves a mountain begins by carrying away small stones.” – Confucius

“The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes.” - Marcel Proust

 “To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.” - Ralph Waldo Emerson

We all seek guidance sometimes from other people: Friends, co-workers, neighbors, family, spouses, etc. Well for me, at the end of a hard day or at the beginning of what I expect to be a hard day, the “food for thought” comes from my quote wall. Thank you John Lennon, Anne Frank, Maya Angelou, Thomas Edison, Winston Churchill, Howard Thurman, Arianna Huffington, Martin Luther King Jr., Hillary Clinton……  

      

Happiness in the Heart

“Most folks are about as happy as they make up their minds to be.” 

~Abraham Lincoln

For this blog post I’ve decided to talk about the things that make me happy. Living on your own isn’t always easy, especially when you are in a foreign country halfway around the world from everything familiar. Some days you feel like there’s no one you can really to talk to, but for me this loneliness has taught me to appreciate the little joys in life. Having low expectations can be a blessing in disguise, because now I am able to find joy in very simple ways. Here are some things that make me happy:

• A good cup of real coffee  

• Packages or letters from friends and family back home 

• My little neighbors running up to give me a high five or fist-bump when I am heading into my compound

• People downtown recognizing me and calling me by my name

• A good book 

• Jogging to the waterfall early in the morning when no one else is there

• Looking at pictures of my ADORABLE new nephew, Kai. He’s the cutest baby I’ve ever seen in my life. Seriously, baby dolls should be modeled after his looks.

• Having no rain on the days I do laundry (I used to have the WORST luck with this)

• The Voice of America on Saturday mornings, when they play music that is currently popular in the U.S. I never recognize the songs now, but it makes me feel less out of touch. 

• When my students say “Miss Emily”

• Opera music (especially Puccini and Verdi)

• When it starts to rain AFTER I have finished my run in the morning

• The sound of the Fanmilk horn (Togo peeps will get that)

• Getting a good deal on pagne

• When I sort of understand what someone is saying in Ewe

• The movie, Pitch Perfect (“I’m doing horizontal running.”) 

On Peace Corps Togo Staff there is a woman named Blandine. She organizes all the training for volunteers and manages the training staff. Some of the volunteers have taken to calling her “Queen Blandine.” During my first few months in Togo, Blandine shared with us the motto that she frequently reminds volunteers of throughout their service in Togo: “Keep the happiness in the heart.” I think she is saying that you can’t rely on outside things to keep you happy. Peace Corps service is hard work, and staying happy on the inside helps get you through the hardships that come along.