Traditional Togo

In Lome, Togo, I did an excursion titled Traditional Togo, and left with at least some appreciation of some of the beliefs and customs of this part of West Africa. I also left with a feeling that my tourist veneer had been overwhelmed.

This excursion was quite a production. There was a caravan of five large buses, all of which traveled together. We were proceeded and followed by police (or security) on motorcycles. There were also motorcycle police stopping traffic at all of the intersections and getting all other traffic to pull over so we could get through the busy streets. There was security on the bus.

All of this was surprising until I learned that ours was the first cruise ship to land in Lome in five years. Clearly they were doing their best to support the tourists and wanted the influx of money that came with our visit.

We had two local guides on our bus. The male guide started with a long explanation of traditional dowry practices in Togo. As he described it, a man must pay a dowry to the parents of the woman to compensate them for the loss of their daughter. If one did not negotiate an acceptable dowry with the woman’s parents, then one couldn’t proceed in the society. While I understand this practice is common in a large part of Africa, it was certainly different to hear the importance of it from the perspective of both the male and female guide. And, to hear the accompanying perspectives on women as property.

Our guide next told us that a large percent of people in Togo practice traditional African religion, either alone or in combination with another religion such as Christianity. Part of these traditional religions is the belief in animism, “the belief that objects, places, and creatures all possess a distinct spiritual essence. …. (and it) perceives all things— animals, plants, rocks, rivers, weather systems, human handiwork, and in some cases words–as animated and alive.”

Our first stop was a visit to the Fetish Market, where one can purchase all manner of things to solve problems using voodoo and animism. Our guide told us that the Fetish Market was a good place to go to solve the problem of your “woman messing around.” This prelude to the visit did not fill me with openness toward the experience.

This video gives a quick overview of the Fetish Market. The market was busy, hot, dirty, full of energy and tourists.

Here are some photos I took of the market:

After the Fetish Market, we drove to a “traditional rural village.” This experience was clearly curated for us as the caravan of our five large buses came at the same time.

We walked through this village and there was a ceremony where the local leader of the village (who they refer to as the King) processed in with all of his elders. They sat in front of us while a designated spokesperson gave us and introduction.

The experience of the day that had the biggest impact on me was a visit to the local rural school of the area of the King. All five large buses arrived there at the same time and it was a bleak area with maybe five open-air buildings, each of them having several rooms. Each room had a teacher (all male as far as I could tell), and about 100 children in each room. I saw no books.

The teachers had clearly been told to put on some kind of show for us and we were encouraged to walk around and look as the children in the classes recited different things in a kind of sing-song way.

The local leaders responsible for this school had chosen to put on this demonstration and I’m sure received money from the tour, which is needed to provide for the school. In addition, there were donation boxes out. The guide stated that they also wanted us to have an experience of what they are dealing with in terms of challenges. So, there were a lot of benefits to the invasion of all these tourists and I appreciate that.

At the same time, I felt profoundly uncomfortable. We were encouraged to be observers, looking at all of these children, wandering around from our place as visitors for a short time. Some of the children seemed to enjoy the attention, but they were a show and certainly did not have a choice in the matter. Some of my fellow tourists commented that the children all seemed happy and they threw out chocolates for the those lucky children close enough to pick them up.

I took no pictures, gave a donation and went to the bus. I ended up staying on the ship the next day when we went to Benin. When I shared this experience with a friend, she offered the lens of historical collective trauma, which feels right for my reaction. Further words really fail me about that day, except that I hope it works in me in a positive way in the future.