Finding Togo

A couple of months ago, I told my students to pick an African country they didn't know much about and to do a simple google search on that country. One student picked Togo. Most of you have probably not heard of Togo. Unless you read my post about the sex strike there there, and even then, you've probably forgotten.

Obligatory reminder of the location of Togo

And part of the reason that Togo is so little known, other than that it's tiny, might be because, when you type Togo into google, as my student did, and start to look at the top hits, as I had instructed, you might soon find some unusual hits.

"Ms. K, why is skype my third hit?"

... (crud)

"Um, I'm not sure. Let me look at your computer."

I look at her computer, and this is what I see:

Oh goodness.

So I explain to the class that google does not know the difference between Togo and To Go,  recommend that she ignore it and leave the students to their work.

But that's not the end.

"Ms. K, what is Togo's?"

"Sorry?"

"Come look at my computer again please."

Back to the computer screen I go, and this is the final straw:

Yep. Togo's Sandwiches, a West Coast Original. Good luck explaining THAT to a student.

Random Kate Thoughts: As much as I love a good tuna on wheat, it seems that a little country in West Africa has a bit of a PR problem. When a third of the searches for your country aren't even your country and instead are video chatting programs and sandwich shops, and the rest are all CIA/BBC/USGOV sites, there isn't a lot out there by Togolese people themselves. And that's certainly not helping them get their own stories told. So the next time you google Togo (try it now, why not), go and find the government's website, and click on it. Help a little guy out. Everyone needs more hits these days.