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Water for Agomesevah in Togo 100% of 100 x 100
In June 2008 we were invited to the wedding of two friends; Teun and Anoma which was held in Togo where Anoma comes from. A thrilling and unique experience for us and as a result Togo came in to our lives. Very few people even know where Togo is, let alone anything about it and certainly we hadn’t before we visited.
As a part of our week long celebrations in Togo we visited the village of Anoma’s ancestors; Agome-sevah, which is on the river Mono, the border between Togo and Benin at this point. The people of the village were wonderful to us and could not have been more hospitable. Even though they did not know we were coming as there was no way to let them know! As we said at the time they gave us a lot more than they had. They have very little!
 Agome-sevah had no water and still has no electricity, no proper roads, no industry, no sanitation. As result many of those people with anything about them go to the capital; Lome, and try to make a living there. For all these reasons the village is struggling as you will see from the photographs that we took whilst there.
The father of the bride (Eugene, but everyone calls him Papa) has been elected as the “wise” person of his extended family and also of the village. He is an educated man gaining his degree in Mechanical Engineering in France. But more importantly he has that indefinable quality; wisdom
We (Mandy and I, Teun and Anoma) committed to do two things. Firstly we committed to and have already provided some micro finance so that the people of Agome-sevah can begin to set up small businesses, acquire things for the benefit of the whole village and then repay the loan so that someone else can then have a chance of setting up their business.
Secondly we committed to providing clean water to the village! The drilling of the well is due to take place any day now!!
If there is one thing they need, one thing we take for granted, one thing that would help them more than anything else it is clean water.
 Having achieved all that we need to help them a little bit more.
We have now comitted to helping them get their school and the health centre up to the minimum acceptable standard. Currently they have very few text books in the school and have a leaking roof. The hospital, as they call it is appalling and other than a structure have virtually nothing!
We need your help to do all this.
We are going to raise another £10,000 this year to cover all the costs of what has been identified. We are hoping to be able to get some of this from the big charities once we have obtained our charitable status but we will not get all of it from them. We are going to ask again for as many of you as possible to think of ways you can raise some more money or maybe for the first time!!
Not a penny will be taken for administration etc. Every penny raised will be sent to Togo for these projects in the village. We are going to go to Togo at least once more (at our own cost). We want to see the water running, we want to see what efforts the villagers have made themselves and we want to see that the school and the hospital have dramtically improved.
As mentioned, another part of what Mandy and I are giving is the provision of all administration and other related costs including this web site. All the finances will be under the scrutiny of Qualified Accountants (Andrew J Geary and Lorraine Marshall) who are also providing their services free of charge.
  Here are some of the ideas we have had to raise money including some from people committed to raising the minimum of £100
Let us know your ideas and we will add them to the list.
 How else could you help? We are wanting to contact people who have knowledge or contacts that can help the school and the "hospital". We need a new roof on the school and a new ceiling in the hospital. Do you know any builders who could go and do the work? We need expertise for the hospital in terms of telling us what equipment and drugs etc are required. Do you know anyone or any company that could help us How do we know our money will end up in Togo and be used exclusively for the benefit of the village? As stated we are going to use qualified accountants to provide you with an assurance that every penny goes to Togo. You will be able to contact them and you will be given a receipt. We are going to send everyone a monthly update so that you can see the progress made and all those contributing.
We also give you our word and we will also provide you with photos of the pump in action (or you could come out with us – at your expense). You would find the experience humbling. If you need anything else just let us know.
What do they do for water now?
At present they use the river! For fishing, for the toilet, for everything! Any clean water is carried from long distances and by the women as the men are working on the land
If you have any other questions at all just ask and we will get answers for you - mail@water4togo.org - we look forward to hearing from you soon!
Our great web site We have had lots of great comments about our web site which was done free of charge by a good friend and great guy; Khush Jabble. Check out his charity re kids in India as below. It is inspirational |
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