From Togo, Africa
English translation of the preceding article:
I appreciate International RC’s commitment to the development of the RC Community in Africa, in particular its commitment to the RC Community in my young country, Togo.
My country has suffered so much. There has been a lot of environmental degradation. It is due to many factors, including the following:
- The effects of climate change
- The exploitation of our mineral resources by colonialism
- The felling of our forests for export to European countries
- The COVID-19 pandemic, which has forced many people to return to farming to survive
The colonizers have exploited the phosphate in Hahotoe and Kpomé for more than sixty years. The village of Kpomé has been decimated. There is no electricity, no sanitation, no infrastructure, and no drinking water to quench people’s thirst. The whole village is covered with dust, which makes it difficult to see. There are big open pits, and even small fields cannot survive. In Hahotoe, it is the same. There aren’t even dwellings for the people who have been dislodged from their land.
In Kpémé, there is a processing plant that exports goods to European countries, which poses a very difficult dilemma for the local populations. There is no sanitary infrastructure, no drinking water or electricity, and Lake Togo is polluted by untreated phosphate waste that has spilled into the water. The dust has made it difficult for people to live. Blindness and tooth decay are common. Farmland has become unusable. Fishermen are unable to fish due to lack of fish in the water. The population is without social assistance.
The Sustaining All Life workshops that were held on Earth Day gave us another vision for our development.
I am grateful to be part of the Togo RC Community.
Lomé, Togo
(Present Time 204, July 2021)