Sensibilisations

So another term you learn almost immediately upon joining the PC, at least in francophone countries, is sensibilisation. It roughly translates as sensitivization, sort of like a consciousness-raising session/lecture on some problem or social issue, like HIV/AIDS or the importance of education. The whole village turns out to listen, as pictured here. The man speaking in the center is Francais, who works with ADIFF. He's speaking to one of the schools where ADIFF chose girls to receive the embassy scholarship I mentioned. Basically we travel to the schools, give out school supplies, etc. and then ADIFF does these sensibilisations before and after handing out the materials.

The building in the background is a school, a fairly typical Togolese school building (perhaps on the nicer side, as this one looks quite new and in better condition than many). Usually there are two buildings like this, separated by an open area. So on the other side of the school, not pictured, would be another identical building. Then the kids go out to the common area during breaks to play and eat, as women show up with something like porridge and the kids pay the equivalent of about 25 cents for a late breakfast.