Lockdown week 6

Faustin informs me that our old adversaries the termites are merrily chomping their way through the roof beams of my house in Togo. We need to act fast on this: Imagine woodworm on fast-forward, and you’ll get some idea of how destructive they can be.

We’re quite used to having to replace windows and doors, but this is the first time they have climbed this high.

The trouble is, Mandahewa, the roofing carpenter I really trust to do this job, is based in Lomé, 415 kms away, and he can’t travel north because there’s no public transport during lockdown. So Faustin will have to find someone local instead.

New bridge

It’s exciting to watch this project moving forward from afar. Six years ago, the village chief of Lama-Gnangbade, where I live in Togo, told me that his highest development priority was to build a small bridge to improve access to our neighbourhood during the rainy season. Thanks to generous donors, local and international, we are now able to begin construction. And thanks to Faustin who is in charge of the building site.

Scorpion count

We’ve killed 24 scorpions at home since 1 January. Flip flops were invented for this purpose. You can also wear them on your feet.

Dan orthography testing

This has been home for the last three months.

Tourist peak

I’ve always liked the fact that my place is something of a local tourist destination, but we’ve never seen anything like the last couple of days.

Yesterday morning, fifteen people descended on us after mass. Having seen the house from their ground-level village, their curiosity got the better of them, so they climbed the mountain to find out who lives here.

Then in the afternoon, the intrepid ‘Puits de Jacob’ community (who I met in Sokodé last week) became the first people ever to drive a nine-seater bus up the mountain.

And today, 30 teenagers from the ANLP (à nous la planète) club arrived unannounced, but waving a printed program of their Independence Day excursion listing “11h: visit the white man’s house”. They showed off their break-dancing skills on the veranda.

Black-crowned Tchagra

Pandja, one of the guys who lodges at my place, is on the final day of a malaria treatment. He must be feeling bettter: he caught this black-crowned tchagra with his bare hands this morning. Then came the usual debate about whether or not to give it to the cat… but in the end it escaped of its own accord.

RIP Patience :(

 

Patience the monkey had an all too short life. A few days ago, the neighborhood dogs surrounded her, mauled her, killed her and ate her.

Chief’s enthronement

Chief’s enthronement

Chief’s enthronement