📝 Detailed information
🏢 About the local organisation
Our local partners are the Nadoba conservatory responsible for managing the site, the village development committee (VDC), the club for FAGAD children on the site and the ministry responsible for culture.
💼 What the programme involves
3. Theme :Promotion and protection of the world patrimony of UNESCO
Management and life on the site ( “ Action for sustainability ”)
Project « Action for sustainability » initiated by the World Patrimony of UNESCO and the Coordination Committee of Voluntary International Service (CCVIS). It targets the promotion and permanence of the art and culture of the Batammariba in terms of space and time by way of the social - cultural touristic and artistic elements special to these people. To allow the population to live well on the site with projects designed to last a long time.
Work to be done :
Animation ( stories and guessing games, singing and traditional dances, concerts of music of Tamberma inspiration, theatre, literary competitionin tamari, games, sports, leisure activities );
Exhibition and sale ( artisanal products; pottery, basket - work, jewelry in grass and in stone, sculpture );
Conferences and debates ( classification of the site ; advantages and problems, the Tata; history and sociology of the Tamberma people, contributions and social – cultural and economic perspectives of the tamari people in the development of Togo );
Maintenance of ancient replanted woodlands;
Creation of seedbeds and replanting trees;
Improvement of the water barrage;
Activities for improving the site of the market on the side of the water barrage;
🏠 Accommodation on site
The volunteers live in the house often made available by the conservatory and the village. There is running water and electricity. WC and the shower relatively modern . FAGAD provide mattresses.
The food is Togolese, African and European. All volunteers attend to tasks and can be assisted by local volunteers and ladies in the village
📍 About the location
Location: Koutammakou,. World Patrimony of UNESCO
Koutammakou, in the region of the Batammariba is 500 kms² and is composed of 4 cantons: Nadoba ( Kounadowou ), Koutougou, Warengo et Agbonté. Nadouba is some 620 kms from Lomé, in the north of Togo. The site was classified as an element in the World Patrimony of UNESCO in 2004. Benin is 4 kms from Nadoba
The Batammariba are farmers and hunters. They live in houses of clay bricks in the form of a little castle, Tata, based on a special form of architecture.
The language spoken by the Batammariba is called Ditammari which, by way of deformation, has become Tamberma. The prinipal belief of the Batammariba is animism. Fetiches, which they adore and are to be found at the entry to the Tatas, are in diverse forms. In accordance with the form, they can represent simultaneously thior ancestors with whom they communicate; the major exploits of hunters; members of the family still alive; the different ceremonies.
Between the Batammariba living there is a very deep link with the dead. Effectively each and every living person owes his life to the breath of a dead person who wants him to join him in the life hereafter. We would say a sort of desire for reincarnation. The rites of grief for the dead are associated with a return to life and the secret names of the dead enclose a vital energy.
The traditioinal dances are very often associated with the ceremonies.
Leisure
Make a walking excursion to discover Koutammakou ; visit the tatas and the fetish tree ; visit Benin ; visit the animal park of Sarakawa:
Possibility to discover southern Togo; excursion on Mount Agou ( the highest summit in Togo; 986 m ); Aného, town on the way to Benin whence it is possible to take an excursion to Togoville by way of a trip on Lake Togo, one of the largest in Togo and explore Togoville. Situated 22 kms from Togoville is the lake dedicated to sacred crocodiles and the site of the phosphate mine. At Lacata there is a lake of h hippopotamuses.
Cultural activities: percussion ( Djembé drums ) and dancing around the fire;
A day with a family: a day steeped in the daily life of an African family organized around the following themes: animism, putting the village chief on his throne, traditional marriage, a day in the fields.
⚠️ Requirements
Waitting motivated and flexible volunteers . NB: if you are not from organisation , member of CCIVS, you'll pay 100 euros more