Saturday morning we had a team meeting. As we were wrapping things up, Karen's last item of new business was that we should go get the CoVid booster. They have not been available long in Togo, but she had heard from friends in Lomé that a clinic they knew had them. Karen's concern was that, since Hammer and Dela plan to travel to the US this summer, they may need to have the booster to get there or in any stopover country. I had been wondering the same thing for myself, so asked Karen if she thought that the clinic would give me a booster. We decided that it didn't hurt to try, so we chose today as our Booster day.
We thought that we would need two cars to make the trip, because Victoria and Viviane had been vaccinated with the group before. Karen wanted them to be fully protected. However, those two ladies decided not to go, so we four piled into Karen's car and off we went. We arrived in a timely fashion and managed to be the first in line for the vaccine.
The clinic we visited in Lomé today.
I showed my card to the lady at the desk; told her that I had been here since September and would be staying until June, and then asked if I could also get the third dose. She readily agreed and started doing all the record-keeping necessary for the four of us. Mine took a little longer, because I was not already in the system, so she had to add me. I had to tell her which name was my family name. In French-speaking countries (maybe others as well) they write the last name in all caps, so it is absolutely clear which name it is. Then she wanted to know my profession and my phone number in Togo. I had to enter my email address. Finally, there was some confusion about the date of my first two doses. Here, the date is first, then the month, then the year, so seeing 4/9/2021 followed by 4/26/2021 made no sense to her. I explained that we reversed those in the States. Notice how she carefully wrote today's date in the same order. I was touched at the effort she exerted for that. She also went to the trouble of tracking down someone higher-up (I assume) than she to do the signature.
As I was waiting for her to do that, I asked a young man waiting for his shot if he was nervous about it. He said he was not. A lot of Togolese are. Viviane and Victoria, for example, who opted out of today's visit. But at least they got the first doses of the vaccine. Some people won't even do that. Hammer devoted a good portion of prayer meeting two weeks in a row to encourage people to get the vaccine. Some people fear that the vaccine has been developed by the Americans so they can come in and kill Africans. Others (especially in church) feel that God will protect them from CoVid. Hammer tried to explain that God has given us the vaccine as part of His protection. Karen talked to them about how it is the best thing we have given what we know.
At one point, she turned to me in frustration and asked if I had anything I could say to convince them. I remembered a story from Reader's Digest (I think) and told it to them:
A Christian man who lived in an area prone to storms and flooding was asked by friends if he planned to evacuate ahead of the coming storm and its predicted floods. The Christian replied, "I am a Christian; I believe in God; He will protect me," and stayed in his home. The rains began and the streets began to flood. A big truck drove through the neighborhood. They stopped in front of his house and the driver called, "come on! we can get you out before your house floods!" The Christian replied, "No need! I believe God will protect me."
The flood waters climbed higher, so much so that the man had to move upstairs. A man in a motor boat came down the street. "Come on out," he called to the man in the house. "You'll get a little wet, but I can take you to safety!" Again the man refused, invoking his belief that God would save him.
But the rain continued to fall and the water climbed so high that the Christian had to climb out on his roof. Shortly after he had done so, a helicopter flew near. "I'll drop you a ladder! Climb up and I'll take you to dry ground." The Christian once again replied, "God will save me, but thanks anyway."
The water climbed higher and higher and the Christian drowned. Upon his arrival in heaven, he addressed God, "Father! I don't understand! I have followed you all my life! I believed that you would save me and you let me die?" God looked at the man and sighed, "My son! I sent you a truck, a boat, and a helicopter and you refused them all. What did you expect?"
After I told the story, Hammer asked one of the church leaders to summarize it in Ewe (I had told it in French). He did so, but I don't think my story was any more helpful than Karen's discussion of the science of the vaccine. Togo's official CoVid numbers are low*. Considering that the test is not widely available (at least in this area), it is not clear to me how they even come up with the numbers. At any rate, the people here may be right about not needing the vaccine. I certainly pray that they are!
*I am thanking God for that now, though. I have been looking into the travel requirements. Since I usually take Air France between here and New York (here being Africa, so I have done so twice. Does that count as usually?) I wanted to check on what I would need to pass through the airport. France has a complicated (to me) system of color coding countries. Togo happens to be on the green list due to their low numbers. That means as of February 22, I will not even need a negative test result if I have been fully vaccinated! Let's pray that the policy doesn't change. And that the US, which currently requires a test within 24 hours of departure, will change that policy. I have taken 3 CoVid tests here in Togo. I received results for only one of those, and they came three full days afterward. I fear that I would not have the results in time to travel. Hence my prayers for change!
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