Hubs in Huts

So let’s not elaborate things, Togo isn’t exactly high tech. Tiny pockets of most cities may be considered up to acceptable speed in the minds of an average American. However, most areas are very far "behind". Surprisingly however, cell phone use is widespread, even in the smallest villages. Of course it’s always a question of means whether or not people are able to own a cell phone. Used cell phones can be found for as little at $10 (more complicated knock-off models with MP3s, cameras and such are still only ~$50), but it’s the phone credit that makes things tough. Every call costs about a quarter, and that’s if you’re quick and to the point, definitely not traits of a normal Togolese conversation, especially in village.

So cell phone use looks like nothing in comparison with Western levels, since still most families don’t have a cell phone. Nonetheless, most people at least know someone whose cell phone they could borrow if needed and it wouldn’t be considered unusual for an average villager to own one. Either way, everyone’s familiar with cell phones, and coverage is amazingly good for the circumstances. I’ve been to few corners of Togo that didn’t have at least an elevated location where reception could be found. While electricity and running water continues to evade most villages, cell phone coverage remains an exception.

And thus how we come to have little radio shacks, like the one shown in the bottom picture. After all, in a village without electricity, how do you maintain your cell phones and other choice electronic devices (usually limited to radios or perhaps flashlights)? On market day, you can find certain individuals hanging out to do just that, like this guy in his shack. He can pull off simple circuit repairs (note soldering tools in fore), sell you phone credit and colorful phone covers and runs a generator almost explicitly to charge phones (there’s also one other guy who has a solar panel and can charge phones any day of the week as long as it’s not raining). Just yesterday this man fixed my solar lamp which had fallen and broken. In the U.S., we might have thrown it away, but besides having a blemish, it now works again!

The other high tech feature of my village is the video club (see top picture). This is another feature that generally is reserved for market days only. But two days a week, a friend of mine cranks up his own generator, plugs in a TV and his dish, and charges an entrance fee to anyone wanting to watch music videos, soccer games or movies from rows of benches. He pays a subscription for about 6 channels with the dish (unfortunately, not including last years World Cup which they blacked out for him and everyone else who wanted to watch the tournament in village!), but over the course of the year he can turn a small profit anyway.

Other than that, that’s about it for technology in village. A handful of folks occasionally crank up generators to refrigerate frozen fish or beer and soda (other bars bring ice to village every day from the city in Dapaong), and the health dispensary has a solar panel to run a small fridge for certain medicines. There are 2 or 3 gas run grinding mills for making flour and most households own a radio and a couple flashlights, all run on cheap batteries. That’s it!