Life as it goes

During the nearly 4 years I've being out of Togo, there hasn't been a single day when I felt more home sick than today. God knows I wouldn't have missed today's beautiful celestial event in the sky of my home Country for anything else.

For reported 6 full minutes, the sun was completely eclipsed by the moon. Day turned into night. This is such a rare event.

Despite the apparent beauty of the phenomenon, it is said to be very dangerous for the naked eye.

Boy wearing protective special glasses. Media credit: republicoftogo.com

For once, it is refreshing to hear that the Government did the right things to inform and protect the population. Authorities imported hundreds of thousands of pairs of special glasses that consumers cleared rapidly from shelves in the capital, Lome. But villagers in the interior won't have access to the eyewear and officials called on them to stay home. Even so, a nation-wide information campagne was caried out weeks before the event. "Please, do not go out and keep your children indoors on solar eclipse day," was health minister's message broadcast on state television.

I'm just sad I missed the whole thing ... ;-)