Whitney McLeod
whitney_mcleod@med.unc.edu
Where is Togo?
HERE
France occupied
Togo after World
War One-so you
need to speak
French to work in
Togo (unless you
speak Kabiye or
Ewe)
NOT IN THE PACIFIC OCEAN!
Travel to Togo with a Duke anthropologist
Charlie Piot cpiot@duke.edu
Work in one of 4 places:
Lomé
Kara
Farendé
Kuwde
On a project that you choose. Charlie likes big and crazy ideas.
You will probably start by working on a project that is already
being undertaken and shadowing wherever you are. A couple
of weeks into the program, you will be expected to begin work
on your own project.
Lomé
the capital-on the coast, by the Ghanaian border
Work in a large hospital or a clinic
Conduct an independent project
ex. from this summer: survey on attitudes about HIV/AIDS
Kara
the largest city in
northern Togo
Work with AED
Ride motorcycles
all over the
mountains to
observe home
visits!
(this is where I worked)
What I did:
1. evaluated electronic
record system
2. technology training
3. assist the clinic in costcutting and finding ways
to meet budgetary needs
4. report to Hope
Through Health (USbased NGO that supports
the clinic) on needs and
activities of the clinic
AED-Kara: An outpatient
HIV/AIDS clinic that follows
about 2,000 patients and
1,400 children affected by the
epidemic
Farendé
Work in a small, government run hospital, work with
“gueriesseurs”, traditional healers, to connect their work with
work of the hospital
Dr. Piot and Dr. Mark Noar (a gasteroenterologist from
MD) want someone that is interested in medical anthropology
to research components of traditional treatments. The
hospital in Farendé wants to work in network with traditional
healers. Customarily, healers and people trained in western
medicine are at odds with each other in this region, but in this
community, they are beginning to work together.
Kuwdé
You get to go hiking, every day!
Work in a village clinic, work to help implement a
village-wide insurance system , survey
households on medical histories, work in nonmedical areas (solar power, etc.), etc.
Logistics
- I got elective credit. To do this, you need a UNC advisor along with an advisor
from whatever institution you will be going with. You also need lots of
signatures, but you don’t need to actually talk to the people that sign your
forms. Getting elective credit means you have to pay summer tuition, but it
also means you get summer financial aid.
- You can apply for research funding-but it may be hard to get for this program.
- This is not currently an official Duke or UNC program. You will be introduced to
the country and taken to where you will be living by Charlie and Fidele, a
Togolese law student that works for Duke. Then, you will be left to live and
work independently. You may live with a host family or you may end up
renting an apartment. Every few weeks, you will meet with Charlie. You may or
may not see the other students. (This year, there were 6 of us-5 Duke
undergrads and me).
- You will have time to travel. I went to Benin and Ghana, on my own. The other
students went in groups to Ghana. You are also relatively close to Burkina Faso
and Nigeria if you want to visit either of those. There is very little outside
tourism in Togo-but there are beautiful beaches and surfing along the GhanaTogo-Benin border. Our summer coincides with rainy season in Togo-its
beatiful.
More Information
Hope Through Health
http://www.hthglobal.org/
Past Duke Projects in Togo carried out by students
http://globalhealth.duke.edu/dghi-fieldwork/past-projects
Noar Foundation
http://noarfoundation.org/
Blog from one of the students that participated this summer
http://depaysant.blogspot.com/
Charlie: cpiot@duke.edu
Whitney: whitney_mcleod@med.unc.edu
AED Pharmacists and Accountant
Meet Tegba! (and maybe Fidele)
Moonshine in Benin
Ghana
AED Clinic Staff
Annual national wrestling match