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OM SRI SURABHYAI NAMAH! OM SRI GURAVE NAMAH!
Togo is the smallest of all the West African countries having as capital TOME. I visited the devotees here accompanied with HH Bhakti Carudesna Maharaja after having toured our projects in the Ivory Coast and Ghana. Maharaja travels regularly to these countries as he actually overseas the seven French-speaking countries of West Africa.
The devotees serving in Tome have been blessed to have their own property that is also quite centrally located. This was made possible by the kind donation of some of the local Indian community supporters. The temple President is Madana Gopal prabhu and he personally looks after the Deity worship assisted with another long standing devotee, Atma Tattva prabhu who is the National Secretary for ISKCON Togo. The temple has presiding Deities of Sri Sri Radha Govinda-Madhava, Sri Sri Gaura Nitai and Sri Sri Jagannatha, Baladeva and Subhadra. Devotees have a weekly Food for Life program serving about 100 guests, in addition to having Harinam three times a week in the streets of Lome.
The most encouraging news about this Yatra is that a devotee based in Dubai, Manish prabhu, felt inspired to donate a very good piece of land some 8 months back. On August 10th, I visited the land accompanied with Atma Tattva prabhu, his son, Madana Gopal prabhu, the President and Akincana prabhu who is the Secretary for the ISKCON Tome temple.
As we approached the land, it was reminiscent of the land we have in Cambodia named Yashodapur Eco Village that is spread over 11 hectares. The land here in Togo is located about 2 hours from the capital city and somewhat in the interior. The last 10 kilometers are off the main road on dirt road with a few challenging hurdles along the way. On the way there I could notice all kinds of vegetation. When we finally stopped the vehicle, I came to know that the land is located about half a kilometer from the road with no direct road access but proper trails. The whole area is covered by various bushes, some large trees along with wild grass.
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When we finally reached the actual land, we first took darshan of the flowing river that borders the land. This river flows all year round and our land goes for about 400 meters longing the river. The river location is perfect Vastu-wise being situated on the eastern side of the land. The land from the west slopes slightly east as well making it even more ideal. The previous owners have planted some 100 or so teak trees and all are growing well. So the land is already blessed having such trees.
I came to know from Haridas prabhu, the main devotee who negotiated the land with the original owner, how this land was sold to us. The original owner is actually a local King having many hundred of hectares of land. He was ready to sell us land but not the land touching that river. When Haridas prabhu explained that our project is connected with India, he immediately agreed to sell us the land at a reasonable rate.
Plans are being drawn how to open on hectare of land on the southeastern side. The day we visited we planted a coconut tree as a sign of auspiciousness. Devotees here are very exited about the project.
Another interesting development at ISKCON Togo is the arrival of a new devotee, Bhakta Anthon, who hails from Benin, the neighboring French country. He is by profession a French teacher and had come to enroll his daughter is one of the schools in Tome. Out of curiosity he was walking the streets of Togo when he happened to pass in front of our temple and met with Atma Tattva prabhu. From that very day he became attracted and spent most of his time at the temple reading Srila Prabhupada’s books and attending the classes both in the morning and evening.
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We came to know later that he is from a particular community called PEULH and, amazingly, their specialty is to look after cows. After attending the daily morning and evening programs he became convinced that the philosophy of Krishna consciousness is the one that clarifies all the doubts a person can have and he has thus committed himself to become a full time devotee. He became inspired with the discussions we were having about the importance of land, cows and Krishna, so much so that he committed himself to donating one of his cows for ISKCON Togo.
Devotees also arranged a live Television interview at the local TV station and on the last day of my stay a visit to a Peulh community where they look after some 200 cows. We performed Go Puja praying that Mother Surabhi can bless the up and coming projects soon to develop in Togo.
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