Projects in Togo

Education

Education Volunteers in Togo make a positive difference in the lives of their middle school students. Peace Corps’ Targeting English Education for Change (TEECh) project was developed in collaboration with Togo’s Ministry of Education to mitigate a significant shortage of qualified English teachers. Volunteers work to strengthen their students’ English skills through innovative, participatory teaching methods in the classroom and through English conversation clubs and other extracurricular activities outside the classroom. They also support their Togolese counterparts to improve their teaching skills through coaching, peer observation, and feedback.

On average, girls in Togo achieve less well academically than their male counterparts and drop out more often in middle and high school. Education Volunteers work to improve girls’ academic outcomes by incorporating practices that empower both boys and girls into schools and through efforts to reduce institutional violence on boys and girls. Volunteers facilitate dialogue with school communities, including administrators and parents, on positive masculinity; organize boys' clubs to encourage boys to help with household chores; and coach girls on life skills and issues related to menstruation.

Cross-sector initiative: Women’s empowerment

Volunteers learn about women's challenges during service and co-implement activities around flexible gender roles and female role model shadowing. Volunteers collaborate with community members to foster inclusivity, belonging, and integration through the implementation of Student-Friendly Schools principles.

Agriculture

As environmental changes affect West Africa, food security is a real and growing concern for many Togolese families and communities. Peace Corps Togo created the Promoting Agriculture Education for Sustainability (PAGES) project to support the Ministry of Agriculture’s priority goal—to ensure sufficient, safe, and nutritious food for all. PAGES Volunteers work with local counterparts to provide training and technical assistance to smallholder farmers and community gardeners to adopt sustainable agricultural techniques. PAGES Volunteers work together with farmers to introduce and co-train on a variety of topics such as soil and water conservation, intercropping techniques, and small animal husbandry.

To encourage sustainable farming practices well into the future, Agriculture Volunteers also work in middle schools. Students learn and practice sustainable techniques that they can share with their families and continue implementing for years to come. In addition to classroom teaching, Volunteers work with students and fellow teachers to establish school gardens, practice agroforestry, and institute composting and other green technologies.

Cross-sector initiative: Food security

The effects of environmental degradation on different sectors of the society in Togo are complex and interrelated. Drought, flooding, increased heat, unpredictable growing seasons, and other factors decrease food production and impact health. Volunteers collaborate in their host communities to raise awareness and initiate actions to promote climate adaptation and resilience.

Health

In Togo, expectant mothers and young children run high risks of mortality and illness. Most maternal and child deaths are preventable, however. In rural communities, access to health facilities, resources, and information is often challenging. Working hand-in-hand with the Ministry of Health, and in support of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), Peace Corps developed its Community Health Education and System Strengthening (CHESS) project. Volunteers with CHESS live and work in rural communities, supporting health systems by strengthening efforts with local healthcare workers. Some activities that Volunteers implement with these work partners include improved monitoring and evaluation efforts, project planning, and improved documentation.

In addition to this important work with health care providers, Volunteers and their counterparts organize pre-natal consultations, infant growth monitoring activities, and behavior change communication to promote healthy behaviors such as vaccination, the use of insecticide-treated bed nets, and appropriate care seeking. Through these efforts, Volunteers contribute to real and lasting improvements in the health of the communities they serve.

Cross-sector initiative: Endemic, epidemic, and pandemic disease prevention

Endemic, epidemic, and pandemic diseases such as malaria, Lassa fever, and COVID-19 are a threat to Togolese health systems and the population. Volunteers learn about infectious diseases to better equip them to co-plan and facilitate awareness raising, prevention, and mitigation activities with community members and health institutions.