Yes, I’m still alive and well in West Africa. In fact, I’m
actually now in Nigeria! Lonely Planet says that until you have been to
Nigeria, you can’t really say you’ve been to West Africa. But for now, I want to recap the time in Togo,
which was eye-opening and full of new experiences.
My team and team Logos (the team my fellow Canadian partner,
CMac) were set to work at a local orphanage, teaching English, and playing
games with them. Also, God got us in touch with a church called Camp Des
Grands Evangelistes (CGE) – Changement, which I have to say is possibly
the best World Race contact ever.
Through them, a few of us got to visit villages where no white (or
yellow) person has ever visited. They welcomed us with awesome tribal dance and
music. We learned traditional African ways to live, watched a goat get
slaughtered (which was our dinner later), and slept in our tents. We held a
midnight service, where I got to share a message to the villagers.
At another village, we learned how they made charcoal, and
grew corn. With the income the villagers would buy school supplies and clothes
for the children. All of this was set up by CGE. They bring social projects as
well as the Gospel to these “forgotten” villages.
As I type this, I am in Lagos, Nigeria with Weston, setting
up our African Debrief for the squad. I just have to say that Nigeria, so far,
is the first country that I actually don’t enjoy very much. It could be a
combination of having been in Africa for 2 months already, the traffic, the heat,
the mosquitoes, the dust, or the people. On that note, I want to outline a few
things to end the blog.
-there isn’t much gentleness, or gracefulness, but a lot of
brute
-there’s no such thing as “damaged,” but it’s either working
or not working
-you will see at least 3 people, young or old, male or
female, peeing in the streets
-no one trusts the police
-you’re either very, very proud, or very, very helpless
-it seems like the World’s trash/unwanted things end up in
West Africa
-if you’re Asian, everyone will call you a “China man”
