Welcome to the Hospital of Hope, Mango, Togo, West Africa!!

 We left Grand Rapids on March 23 and connected in Chicago and Brussels before arriving in Lome, the capital city of Togo. After a night at a guest hotel, we were driven up to the Hospital of Hope or l'Hopital de L'Esperance. Thankfully, the roads are in good shape and we had a competent driver and arrived at the town of Mango after an 8 hour drive. By the way, the town is pronounced  Mahn-go, not Man-go. We will be here for a month.

 Togo is about 8 degrees north of the Equator and very near the prime meridian, which passes through Greenwich, England!   

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          

Togo is wedged between Ghana, Benin, and Burkina Faso (whose capital has the mellifluous name of Ouagadougou).  We see many patients from these surrounding countries.  ...Togo is about 360 miles long and varies from 35 to 100 miles in width. It is about the size of West Virginia and has about 8 million residents.

Our plane landed in the capital of Lome and you can see Mango in the far north.

Here is the sign at the hospital gate with its official French name...              

                                                                                                                                                  

       

                                                                    

 

Our guesthouse has about 8  rooms and a large dining and meeting area.

5 or 6 Togolese ladies prepare excellent meals in their expansive kitchen.

         

          Our room is more than adequate - comfortable bed, wall A/C, ceiling fan, and indoor plumbing!!