The Foreign Service Journal, October 2013

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | OCTOBER 2013 39 out a meager living. I saw few new buildings; instead, old homes were braced up to lodge large extended families. During my Peace Corps service, I interacted exten- sively with local authorities and traditional chiefs. One of my most precious possessions is a letter begging me to stay lon- ger following the end of my service in 1973—signed, stamped and thumbprinted by all 33 village chiefs of the Agu district. There were some bright spots along the way. I was par- ticularly pleased to see the German hospital, “Bethesda,” in Agu-Nyogbo still functioning. I once gave blood there to save the life of another volunteer, and my own life was saved after a bad case of malaria. Agu-Nyogbo still looked good. But many of the villagers looked at me as though I was lost, and asked if I needed help. I wanted to reply, “Yes, I need help in finding the past.” How Much Has Really Changed? My main job during my Peace Corps stint was to cultivate school gardens and construct schools. So on my return visit, I stopped in a village named Glekopé to see whether the three-classroom school I had built there was still standing. There was no sign of it, but on closer inspection, I could at least make out the old foundation. So I consoled myself with the thought that I had laid the foundation for things to come. Back in the 1970s, the Peace Corps built more schools in Togo than any other organization. When I became associate Peace Corps director in Togo in 1973, following the end of my three-year stint as a volunteer, I worked to have this impres- sive achievement celebrated with a huge reception. For the photo of the assembled volunteers, diplomats and govern- ment officials who attended the 1974 celebration, hosted by It was only in the cemeteries that I could find the Togolese people I once knew. In a March 2012 ceremony in Ouagadougou, the author was given the title “Naaba Toega,” or Chief Baobab in the local Mooré language.