In this interview, you’ll hear from Will Mahan, a Peace Corps Agriculture volunteer in Togo. Will shares what daily life looks like, the work being done, and how service has shaped their personal and professional growth. You’ll learn about housing, cultural differences, project work, language learning, and what it’s like to live and work in a new country. This interview offers a real look into Peace Corps service and what future volunteers can expect.
Table of Contents
- Volunteer Experience and Motivation
- Living Arrangements and Cultural Integration
- Surprises and Challenges
- Advice and Support
- Practical Tips and Language Learning
- Social Identity
- Impact of Media and Final Thoughts
Volunteer Experience and Motivation
1. What do you do as a Peace Corps Agriculture volunteer in Togo?
As an Peace Corps Agriculture Volunteer in Togo, I have worked on several agriculture-centered projects during my 2 years of service, including and not limited to: starting a beekeeping cooperative in my host community of Welou, teaching an agriculture class every Friday afternoon at the CEG Welou Middle School, starting a year-round school garden at the middle school, and working alongside internationally renowned Togolese Inventor and Agriculture Technology Expert Timothee Guema, in order to introduce Welou farmers to small-scale, affordable, post-harvest machinery that can automate the more labor intensive elements of Togolese farming.
Electric water pump grant project
Outside of my agriculture-centered work, I also completed a Peace Corps Partnership Grant Project to install an electric water pump at the CEG Welou Middle School. Together, our team was able to successfully identify an available aquifer on the school grounds, effectively drill a borehole, and install an electric water pump on the schoolgrounds. This project ended up bringing access to clean drinking water to over 300 students and teachers at the middle school.
Arts & crafts program
On top of this grant project, I also started and managed a locally-based arts & crafts program that met every Monday and Wednesday at the middle school. Every week, we worked on a variety of arts and crafts activities, including and not limited to: watercolor painting, origami folding, cartoon drawing, 3D sketching, paper plate crafts, sharpie on foil art, and paper cup crafts. During American Holidays like Halloween and Thanksgiving, we made Holiday-themed crafts, such as paper skeleton masks for Halloween and paper plate turkey faces for Thanksgiving.
US student’s service project
Towards the end of my Peace Corps Service in Welou, I also collaborated with Courts For Kids (NGO), Derek Nesland (Courts for Kids President), our School Director Kao Badoki Ani, Volunteer Teacher Akassibou Amana, local Social Entrepreneur Hubert Alou, and the CEG Welou Parents’ Association President Yao Laminawa.
We effectively facilitating a cross-cultural service trip for 2 American High School groups, consisting of students, teachers, and chaperones from Marquette University High School and Divine Holy Savior Angels High School in Wisconsin. During this service trip, we constructed a 26m by 15m Basketball Court at the CEG Welou Middle School.
Outside of helping lay the cement foundation for the sports court, the American High School students had the opportunity to explore Northern Togo and immerse themselves in the local culture, through a variety of local activities, including: local Kabye language lessons from my counterpart Mr. Amana, visiting lions and elephants at Djamde Park, visiting a local blacksmith shop in Tchare, witnessing and participating in traditional Evala wrestling matches, and witnessing a traditional Akpema ceremony.
Outside of these exciting events and experiences, the American High School Volunteers also had the chance to see a private concert, featuring prominent Togolese Rapper MC Key, which my friend Hubert organized and financed for the group. It was a fantastic cross-cultural experience for both the Togolese people and the American Volunteers in my village.
2. Why did you decide to join the Peace Corps and serve in Togo?
When I was an undergraduate student at Clark University, I volunteered and later joined the Academic Support Staff at African Community Education (ACE), a local nonprofit that assists African refugee and immigrant youth in the city of Worcester. I remember meeting so many young students who told me stories about their families, lives, and home countries on the African continent. It opened up my imagination and expanded my curiosity for the world around me.
The idea that a simple 10 hour flight could completely transport me into a very different place, with a radically different way-of-life was both fascinating and perplexing for me to comprehend. I wanted an unfiltered and truthful perspective on what life in other parts of the world can look like.
My time in Togo gave me the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to form lifelong friendships with people whom I otherwise would never get the chance to meet. Peace Corps Service itself can be a challenging experience, but it undoubtedly paves the way towards a far more empathetic and giving world.
Living Arrangements and Cultural Integration
3. What is your housing like in Togo?
I lived with a local village chief and his family in their living compound. The compound was located near a community hand pump, from which I fetched water every morning. The compound is located in Welou, a suburban village that is 5 kilometers outside of the city of Kara.
It is a hybrid village in every sense of the word, meaning parts of the village are more rural and other parts are more urban. The more rural side of Welou has an elementary school and the CEG Welou Middle School in it, while the more urban side is home to a carpentry shop, a local market, and the Elovra Blessing Bar and Restaurant, which is owned and managed by my good friend Hubert Alou.
I frequently visited the Elovra Blessing Bar and Restaurant in the evening, to order a plate of rice or spaghetti, which was a daily comfort during my Peace Corps Service in Welou.
Less comfortable features of my life included fetching water from a hand pump and taking bucket showers every morning.
4. What moments or interactions stand out during your service?
On being Santa Claus
One of the highlights from my Peace Corps Service in Togo was hosting a large Holiday Party with my friend Hubert at his local restaurant business: Elovra Blessing. Dressing up as Santa Claus, dancing with the children, and giving out small gifts in 2023 was one of my fondest memories from my time in Welou. Even a year after the celebration, many of the youngest children in the village still called me Santa Claus.
In 2024, Hubert and I organized another Holiday Party at Elovra Blessing, this time asking my local language tutor, Kpeling, to play Santa. It was really fun to see Kpeling take the spotlight in such a large celebration. I hope to work with Hubert well into the future and make this a yearly tradition for all of the schoolchildren in Welou!
Art exhibition and banquet event
I also loved hosting the art exhibition and banquet event for my local art club. I co-hosted this event with my friend Hubert at Elovra Blessing, towards the end of my Peace Corps Service in Welou. The Welou School Director Mr. Kao and I decorated the walls of the restaurant with photos of students and their artwork over the years. We split the photo display gallery into three sections. One section was designated for photos from 2023. Another section was designated for 2024 photos, with a final section being designated for 2025 photos.
At the beginning of the event, Welou students were able to walk around the restaurant to see pictures of themselves and their artwork from over the years.
Next, the students in our program were introduced to Charlotte Gnassouwa, who became the next Couleurs de Togo Program Manager. Once Charlotte’s introduction was finished, we had a certificate ceremony, after which we played a video montage, made by my filmmaker Mason Boilla, which documented 2 years of photos from the Welou art program.
Surprises and Challenges
5. What has surprised you most about living or working in Togo?
The amount of time that goes into day-to-day chores in the village definitely surprised me. Fetching water every morning, taking bucket showers, cooking meals, and doing laundry by hand take a significant amount of time.
In regard to agriculture, I was surprised by how much farming and harvesting is done by hand. In terms of food, I was pleasantly surprised by the incredible array of sauces in Togo. The people of Welou make incredible ademe sauce and peanut sauce in particular!
6. What challenges have you faced in your Agriculture work, and how did you respond?
During our practical, hands-on beekeeping sessions, we faced challenges with ant infestations in our beehives, which required sprinkling ash around the base of the trees (on which the beehives were mounted). One of our beehives also had a lizard infestation issue in March of 2025. We addressed this by wrapping plastic wrap around the top of the beehive, effectively sealing part of the hive.
By the end of my service, the Welou Beekeeping Cooperative harvested a total of 11 liters of honey, showcasing the resilience of our team in the face of environmental challenges.
7. What secondary projects have you worked on during your service?
Community 5K race
Throughout the duration of my Peace Corps Service, I collaborated with Local Businessman and Social Entrepreneur Hubert Alou to host several social entrepreneurship ventures for the Welou community. This included collaborating with Hubert to host the Elovra Blessing Community 5k Race, which had over 200 participants.
Holiday Parties
I also collaborated with Hubert to host two Free Elovra Blessing Holiday Parties. For both of these Holiday Parties, Hubert and I decorated the entire restaurant with Christmas lights, Holiday decorations, a Christmas Tree, and a large chair for Santa Claus. Together, we were able to give away small gifts, candies, and cookies to all of the young children in attendance. Hubert and I hope to continue this yearly tradition for the children of Welou. We envision a new Welou community member playing Santa Claus every year.
Shoe fabrication training
In addition to these Social Entrepreneurship Ventures, I partnered with Madame Raisha to host a shoe fabrication training for girls and boys at the local middle school. At the end of the training, all 30 Welou students went home with a new pair of self-designed flip flops.
Darien Book Aid
I was also able to secure 2 boxes of donated books from Darien Book Aid (an NGO based in Connecticut), which we used to set up a small library at the CEG Welou Middle School. Every Thursday and Friday afternoon, I hosted an open reading hour at the school.
American Corner
Finally, at the behest of the U.S. Embassy in Lome, I co-facilitated Advanced English lessons at the University of Kara – American Corner during my final four months of Peace Corps Service in Togo.
Advice and Support
8. What advice would you give to future Agriculture volunteers in Togo?
Find local agriculture experts who can help you successfully achieve on-the-ground results.
My experience with beekeeping
In the case of our training session on affordable agricultural machinery, we brought in Timothee Guema, an internationally renowned inventor who builds small-scale, cost-effective machinery for subsistence farmers in West Africa. My approach to the beekeeping project was no different than my approach towards the agricultural technology conference.
When we launched the Welou Beekeeping Cooperative, I didn’t have any technical expertise in beekeeping. I viewed my role as the lead point person, who could connect the farmers in my village with a local expert in beekeeping. After some in-depth research, I found a Kara-based beekeeper named Eyabane Bitassa, who served as the technical trainer for our beekeeping cooperative.
It was Mr Bitassa’s idea to teach the Welou farmers how to build cost-effective, cement beehives. Identifying local experts and having them co-facilitate training sessions for the farmers in your village, is an incredibly effective way of achieving on-the-ground results.
Don’t quit, just keep problem solving
Sometimes you will hit roadblocks in your agriculture projects. Don’t quit, just keep problem solving and troubleshooting every week. Don’t let little mistakes or failures discourage you, it is part of the process. Always look at the bigger picture and keep pushing ahead with your team’s vision.
When we first set up our cement beehives, we ran into multiple problems with ant infestations. This required time and effort to address effectively.
Another example was access to water
Another problem that we ran into with our bees was access to drinking water. The field near Peleyi’s house (which we selected as our beeyard) didn’t have a nearby water source in the dry season, which meant we needed to set up small water stations, so our bees would stay hydrated. We tried two different, DIY water station models, since our non-elevated versions were ruined by nearby goats who drank them dry. The point here is that you are going to face unexpected setbacks on your agriculture projects. It is important to be patient, stay diligent, and trust the process. Success rarely happens without facing adversity first.
9. How did Peace Corps training prepare you for service?
Pre-Service Training (PST) effectively prepared me to work in a French-speaking environment. It helped me connect with other volunteers in my cohort as well.
My In-Service Training (IST) and Mid-Service Training (MST) sessions were a good chance for me to deepen my connection with my village counterparts, those being our local CVD Koro Padadere and Volunteer School Teacher Akassibou Amana.
I think seeing such a diverse cohort of Peace Corps Volunteers really helped my counterparts see the true diversity of the United States of America. This helped me achieve the second goal of the Peace Corps, which is to help promote a better understanding of Americans on the part of the people served.
Practical Tips and Language Learning
10. What would you tell future volunteers to pack—or leave behind?
I recommend packing a solar bank charger for your smart phone, since you might not have electricity at your permanent site. It is also a good idea to bring a raincoat or umbrella with you, particularly if you are heading into a country that has a designated rainy season.
In Togo or any adjacent country, I’d also recommend packing a pair of polarized sunglasses. As you are acclimating to the change in diet, it is also nice to have some popular American-brand snacks with you.
If you are traveling to Togo, I recommend leaving behind expensive jewelry or heavy jackets, the latter of which is not conducive with the climate in Togo.
11. How has language learning been for you in Togo?
The Peace Corps language learning model is incredibly effective. When I first arrived in Togo, I didn’t speak a word of French. By the end of my Peace Corps Service, I achieved conversational fluency.
In my own experience, Peace Corps language tutors are very good at their jobs. I highly recommend meeting with them as much as possible in the early stages of Pre-Service Training (PST). If you have downtime before your departure date, then I highly recommend learning some basic phrases and greetings in your host country’s language. This will make your adjustment in-country so much easier.
Social Identity
12. How has your personal identity shaped your service experience?
When I first joined the Peace Corps in Togo as a 22-year old trainee, I had never lived internationally before. It felt like a huge leap of faith to join the Peace Corps. It was challenging to live away from friends and family back home. It is crucial to be patient with yourself as you adjust to your new life in-country.
Building new friendships is a key part of your job as a Peace Corps Volunteer, but true friendships take time to foster. My Peace Corps Service in Togo taught me the virtue of patience and long term vision building in particular. Long-term thinking is what ultimately made my Peace Corps Service in Welou worthwhile.
13. Did your identity lead to specific challenges or situations?
Being young often meant expecting big victories to happen quickly. The truth is that it takes time to enact any meaningful change. Have patience with yourself and your community and chip away at big goals, little by little, until they are attainable. Any big project takes long-term planning and lots of commitment to succeed. When you have a big idea, stick with it and don’t give up when things become challenging.
Being a Peace Corps Volunteer takes a lot of patience, so if you’re young and impatient like me, always keep the big picture in the back of your mind. Stay focused on long-term success throughout your service.
14. What advice do you have for volunteers who share your identity?
Be patient with yourself. Learning a new language is really difficult, so don’t become disheartened if it takes more time to learn than you initially anticipated. Likewise, development work doesn’t take shape overnight. Long-lasting and effective change requires commitment and discipline. When you have a big idea or an ambition, stick with it and be prepared to face setbacks. This is par the course in any development work that you will initiate in-country with your counterparts.
Impact of Media and Final Thoughts
15. If you share content online, how has that shaped your service?
I share photos from our weekly Welou art program, which is called the Couleurs de Togo Program. Sharing posts on the Couleurs de Togo social media pages twice a week gave me a sense of meaning and purpose on a day-to-day basis. It allowed me to have a small but meaningful sense of victory throughout every week of my Peace Corps Service.
The Couleurs de Togo Program is currently being led by Charlotte Gnassouwa, a student-artist at the University of Kara. If you are interested in following our student-artists’ work each week, you can find the links to our Instagram and Facebook pages below. I also attached a link to the official Couleurs de Togo website.
16. What final advice would you share with future volunteers?
Stay focused on the big picture. Two years might feel like a long time, but over the course of your life, it is a very short period of time. Do your best, but don’t be too hard on yourself. Your job isn’t to transform the world or fix every single inequity around you.
Your primary role in the Peace Corps is to learn, grow, share your experiences, inspire others, and cultivate community-led development efforts. Be patient, love yourself, and find positive things that you appreciate about your host community too. It will be challenging, but stay strong and try to find some joy in the little things, too.
Are you thinking about joining the Peace Corps? If you’re curious about service and ready for something new, apply today. Like Will, you can live abroad, work with communities, and grow in ways you didn’t expect.
Apply to the Peace Corps and take the next step.
The content of this post does not necessarily reflect the views of the U.S. Government, the Peace Corps, or Togo Government.
