8/6/2019 Testimonial - n 7 - from Jo Hambling - Australian volunteer

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A testimonial from Jo:

Bonjour! My name is Jo and I am an Australian volunteer fromMelbourne. I arrived in Togo a week ago, and was thrown straightinto a hot, dusty and slightly chaotic foreign world. A team fromPDH met me in neighboring Ghana and accompanied me back toLom by minivan. I spent the trip with my eyes glued to the window.

With a reggae mixed tape blaring, we passed large, brightly coloredconcrete houses side by side with small mud huts, boab trees,dusty children, traditionally dressed women carrying everything andanything on their heads and as the sun went down, candlelitmarkets.

After a much needed day of rest, I was excited to be given the opportunity tojump in and be involved in PDHs work straight away. During my first morningat work, I helped one of PDHs staff members, Mawuli, to carry out housevisits to HIV patients. We zipped around Loms sandy streets on one ofPDHs motos. PDHs clients are all in difficult and sometimes depressingsituations, so listening to and learning about their stories can be verychallenging. However, everyone has welcomed me warmly and PDHs

cheerful and hard working staff members help to keep up morale. The strengthand resolve of PDH and their clients is to be admired! In the afternoons, aftera much needed siesta, I have been writing up detailed reports for each of thevisits in French. PDH is very thorough and everything is always carefullydocumented. The staff members at PDH also work extremely hard. After theinternational volunteers have collapsed in thei r rooms, the permanent staff members continue to work-- sometimes right up until dinner time or even late into the night.

During my first week, I also had the chance to help with otherhome visits and a school visit where we set up a makeshift minicinema, using a white sheet and a projector, to show theyounger children a film. I also helped with an emergency trip to ahospital and have been planning some of the Christmasactivities.

During the weekend, Iexplored the crazy and

slightly stressful GrandMarch with some of the

other volunteers, where we attempted to bargain hard forpurchases including colorfully printed African material. OnSunday, we visited Lake Togo and the nearby village ofTogoville, where a peace treaty was signed that gave theGermans rights over the whole of Togoland (pre-IndependenceTogo). Togoville was visited by Pope John Paul II after theVirgin Mary was seen over Lake Togo.

I have thoroughly enjoyed my exciting introduction to life in Lom and already feel a part of the PDHteam. I am looking forward to gaining a better understanding of PDHs work, Togolese lifeand tofurther exploring Togo!

(Togo Monde 75, December 2010)