Michael Slattery | KF17 | Togo
Dusk in Lomé is a special time when people leave their...
Continue Reading >>Michael Slattery | KF17 | Togo
Dusk in Lomé is a special time when people leave their...
Continue Reading >>Compiled by Michael Slattery | KF17 | Togo
Despite the often upbeat tone of fellows’ posting on the blog, I’ll be the first to admit that the position entails some universal hardships. There is the occasional social isolation that leaves you Saturday night at home with a book and bottle of the local plonk, despite apparently leading a life of swinging exoticism and sun-drenched adventure. There’s is a lot of driving around, waiting, driving some more, and then getting told some tall tales by people who look at you like you’re definitely one of those foreign imbeciles that...
Continue Reading >>Michael Slattery | KF17 | Togo
For those who love to eat as much as I do, I salute you...
Continue Reading >>Michael Slattery | KF17 | Togo
This past week, a paper called the World Happiness Report came out. According to the report, Togo came in dead last in happiness...
Continue Reading >>Michael Slattery | KF17 | Togo
For the past number of weeks I’ve been training with my microfinance institution’s football club, WAGES FC. Early on in my stay, I found out that most of the male loan officers I was spending my days with were members of the team. This didn’t surprise me after a certain point: the MFI was interested in placing me with their best agents. Well-rounded people are generally active in various...
Continue Reading >>Previous to the Kiva Fellowship, I worked for the Canada Revenue Agency, Canada’s federal tax department. It was the only job I’ve ever had where I was reluctant to tell people what I did for a living. While working for the Agency carries with it a certain stigma, the job itself can be described as people management; you learn to understand...
Continue Reading >>Michael Slattery | KF 17 | Togo
Early on in my stay in Lomé I presented the Social Performance badge certificate awarded by Kiva to my microfinance institution WAGES. I made enquiries and had a gilded frame made for the certificate at a local photography shop, and presented it to the Director of Women and Associations for Gains for Economic and Social (WAGES), Monsieur NASSIROU Ramanou.
Continue Reading >>Michael Slattery | KF17 |Togo
A constant breeze flows across Lomé, day and night, alleviating the tropical heat. It is a near constant 30 degrees Celsius at every moment of the day; only around the middle of the day when the sun is highest does the temperature rise. At this moment, people grow languid, traffic abates, eyelids droop, and it is time for the daily nap.
Solving the ills of social inequality requires a thoughtful environment.
Alternately, the beach beckons and seats under the palms fill with all sorts: office...
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