Welcome to Kpawa, Togo!

The Virtual Visit is an online experience that provides a direct, engaging and real opportunity for sponsors, donors, educators and youth to see what life is like in communities where Plan works. For the youth increasingly responsible for the creation of the Virtual Visits, the experience also provides the opportunity to learn, use and share new skills.

N’liwale! Welcome to our community in central Togo. We have two main ethnic groups, Kabye and Losso. Approximately 5,000 people live in our community, with females outnumbering males. Most activities revolve around farming, but also include hunting, sheep and poultry rearing, handicrafts, preparing charcoal for cooking, and brewing ‘tchoukoutou,’ a local beer. Crops include corn, millet, sorghum (grain), beans, yams, groundnuts and cassava.

Daily activities usually begin at 5 AM when the women rise to sweep, fetch water and prepare breakfast for the family. Men leave for the farm by 5:30 AM followed by the children who depart for school or the farm by 7 AM. Families return home by 5 PM to take care of chores and prepare dinner. The children organize games such as football for the boys and ‘ampe’ for the girls while waiting for dinner. Meals typically include rice, vegetables in palm oil, and fish or chicken.

Our community is very close knit and everyone watches out for one another. Farming collectives, for instance, help ensure that even individuals who are unable to work their own fields are guaranteed a portion of the crops. Children work together in groups when they are not in school in order to earn extra money for their families.

The challenges we face
The biggest challenges we face as a community are those that directly threaten our health and well-being.

One of our biggest concerns is the lack of a health clinic. Although construction of a government-funded clinic was begun several years ago, funding ran out and the building remains an unfinished shell. Without local medical staff, we rely on the traditional healer for general illnesses and a trained mid-wife who assists with pregnancies and difficult deliveries. A completed health clinic would help ensure pregnant women and those who are ill receive the care and support they need.

We're also concerned about our education and our futures. Right now our community has one primary school and the closest secondary school is located almost 19 miles away. As enrollment rates have been steadily increasing, we already need more classrooms in the primary school. We also desperately need a secondary school to accommodate the older youth. Very few youth are able to make the 19 mile walk (or bicycle ride) to the next town.

Tied in to all of the above is the reality of child exploitation. Every year at least 30 to 35 children from our community are lured away by “ogahs” (child traffickers) with the promise of money and are sent to work in conditions of near slavery. Some travel as far as Gabon in the hope of bringing money back to their families. Often they return with nothing. Plan is working with us to stop this situation, including advising us about the dangers of trafficking and providing education and life skills training. We don't want to continue living in poverty and we don't want to be so vulnerable to traffickers.

As you'll see in our videos, we are a very close community made up of many women, men and children who put forth their best to live a better life. We’re working together to make our community a safer and better place for children.