Living Conditions in Togo

Volunteers in Togo live with and in the communities they serve. Volunteer housing, access to services, and transportation are basic, meeting Peace Corp’s health and safety standards while encouraging Volunteers to integrate and understand the conditions of everyday life in Togo.

Communications

Mail

In general, letters take two to five weeks to arrive in Togo; packages take longer. There are import duties levied on packages arriving in Togo based on the value of the contents. Family members wishing to send care packages should keep them to less than five pounds and of low monetary value.

During your pre-service training you may receive letters and packages at the following address:

PCT “your name”
Corps de la Paix
B.P. 3194
Lomé, Togo
West Africa

Following pre-service training, Volunteers are encouraged to rent mailboxes at their local post office. Peace Corps does not forward your mail to your new address; friends and family should not send mail near the end of training.

Telephones

Simple cell phones are operational in almost all parts of the country, and SIM cards easily available. Peace Corps will provide you with a simple cell phone and SIM card. Many Volunteers bring unlocked smartphones and use online communication applications to keep in contact with fellow Volunteers and others.

Internet

Regional capitals and some larger towns in Togo have internet connections, although connections are often very slow and/or unreliable. Peace Corps Togo maintains workstations with internet connection that Volunteers may access for work purposes.

Volunteers are strongly encouraged to bring a laptop. A laptop increases options for internet access and enables Volunteers to complete required assignments offline.

Note on electronics

The heat, humidity, and dust can be very hard on smart phones, computers, tablets, and other devices. Thus, low cost and durable devices are preferable to expensive, at times more difficult to maintain, machines. It is highly recommended to insure laptops or other devices prior to arrival in country.

Housing and site location

Most Volunteers live in two-to three-room houses within Togolese family compounds. Living in a shared compound affords Volunteers a great opportunity to truly be a part of the culture, enjoy the benefits and security of communal living, and better learn the language of their host community. Many Volunteers develop close and lasting relationships with families in their compounds. Communal living can be challenging, however. Volunteers can expect far less privacy and more noise than they are used to, for example.

Sanitation and other amenities are modest—Volunteer houses usually are equipped with latrines and rarely with U.S.-style toilets; bucket showers are common. Many Volunteers live in communities without electricity, use candles and lanterns for light, and typically wake at dawn with the rest of the family. For those with electricity, Togo operates on a 220-volt system as is found throughout much of Europe. Volunteers cook on a simple gas burner; cooking gas is usually available, but in the event of shortages, Volunteers cook on charcoal. Water sources in Volunteer communities are varied—traditional wells and cisterns, bore holes equipped with pumps, or occasionally piped tap water. Whatever your source of drinking water, you will need to treat it. Peace Corps Togo provides water filters and training to maintain them.

Living allowance and money management

Peace Corps Volunteers are expected to live at a level similar to that of their host country counterparts. Volunteers receive a monthly allowance in local currency (Franc CFA) that is sufficient to live at the level of the villagers in their community. The allowance is adequate to cover food, household supplies, clothing, limited transportation, utilities, and a few other expenses.

The Peace Corps discourages Volunteers from supplementing their living allowance with funds from home. Living beyond the means of those around you would set you apart from your community. However, Volunteers may wish to have additional money for vacation travel. For this, credit cards and traveler’s checks are preferable to cash.

Peace Corps Volunteers are encouraged to add a trusted family member or friend to their bank accounts in the U.S. or to grant them power of attorney.

Handling banking issues from Togo can be difficult, sometimes impossible. Make sure your credit cards will not expire while you are in Togo and that you alert your bank to your travel plans. It is not uncommon for banks to shut off debit or credit cards due to "unusual activity" (that is, traveling in Togo and the region) or for cards to be stolen or lost.

Having a second party attached to your finances can make your life much easier to help sort out any problems you may encounter.

Food and diet

Your diet will consist of food available in the community in which you live—locally grown foods or a combination of local and locally available imported (usually preserved/canned) foods. A typical Togolese meal is corn or millet "pâte" (paste), accompanied by any of a variety of tasty sauces that are considered by most Americans to be hot/spicy. Rice and beans, usually eaten for breakfast, is another common meal. There is far less variety in meals than many Americans are accustomed to. Meat is available throughout Togo, as is dried fish, but fresh fish is only available in larger towns. Fruits and vegetables are seasonal, limiting the diversity of a strictly vegetarian diet at certain times of year, especially in more remote areas. Tofu (soy) is available in larger towns.

Transportation

The distance between communities and regional capitals varies, but can be as far as 60 kilometers. Public transportation consists largely of shared cars and vans, referred to as “bush taxis.” You will be provided with funds to purchase a bicycle to facilitate work and enable you to have greater access to nearby communities. You will also be given a bicycle helmet. Many Volunteers choose bikes for shorter distances and use local public transportation (bush taxis) to travel to their mail point, bank, and shopping locations. For longer distances, such as trips to the training center or the capital, Volunteers rely on public transportation.

Social activities

Togolese are extremely social, and most social activities center around community events.

Many Togolese love to chat, sing, dance, and be together. Various ceremonies and “fêtes” (festivals) are held throughout the year and Volunteer attendance is greatly appreciated.

While contact with other Volunteers is limited by distance and transportation, host families, counterparts, neighbors, and other community members usually provide Volunteers with the bulk of their social life. If Volunteers are open and friendly, their social life will likely be as busy as they care to make it.

People invite Volunteers to social events, and it may be perceived as rude to decline these acts of kindness. Many Volunteers take such events as community integration opportunities (as well as fun). Sometimes small gifts are exchanged. These need not be lavish or expensive.

Professionalism, appearance, dress, and behavior

Professionalism in the Peace Corps requires an awareness of the host community workplace culture, community values, and your self-presentation. To maintain a positive, culturally appropriate professional standing within a host community or workplace, Volunteers may need to adjust their style of dress, hair style, facial hair, make-up, piercings, manner of greeting others, etc. to demonstrate respect for local culture and customs. How you present yourself, in both informal and professional settings, reflects you as an individual and you as a representative of Peace Corps and the United States. In the U.S., dress (and other elements of personal appearance) may be seen as an expression of personal freedom and identity. In many host countries where Peace Corps Volunteers serve, the way you dress and present yourself may be interpreted as an expression of regard—or disregard—for those host community members around you.

Volunteers are encouraged to spend time in their communities, develop their language skills, and get to know the individual members of their community to better understand their traditions, culture, and local norms. As mutual trust is established over time, there may opportunities for Volunteers to adjust their personal appearance and dress outside of the more rigid local standards. Volunteers are encouraged to discuss these potential adjustments with staff and other cultural mentors.

Dress, appearance, and cleanliness are of great importance in West Africa. A casual, “relaxed” or disheveled appearance may be considered acceptable or an expression of individuality in the United States; however, it is viewed as demeaning and disrespectful to others in Togo. Appearance is considered to demonstrate a level of respect for those you encounter. Being respectful does not require dressing expensively or elaborately.

In Togo, people generally take great care to look neatly dressed even if they have very few or old clothes.

Volunteers are expected to dress appropriately and professionally throughout their service.

Wearing revealing clothing and/or dressing in an untidy manner will diminish the respect community members have for a Volunteer and would make their work more challenging.

Culturally, clothing that is perceived to be inappropriate in nearly all contexts includes: shorts, short skirts, and other revealing clothing (clothing that exposes midriff, back, chest or underwear), as well as dirty, torn, and/or untidy clothes.

Volunteers should be sensitive to the fact that village attire and city attire differ, as does attire for a classroom versus a farmer’s field. Volunteers should maintain a clean, neat, culturally and contextually appropriate appearance always.

In Togo, Volunteers will find an abundance of inexpensive cloth in beautiful prints available in every town, and tailors who, for a small sum, can transform them into attractive and functional styles.

Dress code for formal work situations include collared or traditional shirts or tops that cover the shoulders (no halter tops or spaghetti straps), long dresses, skirts, or pants that cover the top of the knees when seated, sandals or shoes (not flip-flops, rubber slides or shower shoes).

Togolese perceive Black/African American long hair as inappropriate, especially for those who are perceived as men. Volunteers from other races and ethnicities with long hair are likely to receive compliments as it is perceived as appropriate. However, locs are tolerated, if clean and well-groomed.

Visible body piercings (other than earrings for women) and tattoos for all genders are not generally accepted. Tattoos are uncommon in Togo and people with uncovered tattoos are perceived as immoral. These negative perceptions, however, can be overcome through respectful dress and attitude.

Wearing facial jewelry (aside from earrings on women) may make it more difficult to integrate into your community.

Volunteers will participate in orientations and discussions on culturally appropriate behavior and cultural sensitivity during training.