Sunday, December 19, 2010
well project funded!
good news! my well project has been fully funded. you can read about it on the following website: http://watercharity.org/node/210. theres a button to donate to the project, but it has already been funded. but if you still want to donate, the extra money will go to another peace corps volunteers water project in country. thanks so much for reading. merry christmas and happy new years. hopefully ill be in Ile St Marie for new years celebrating with some other peace corps volunteers (if i can find a way to make it over there).
Wednesday, November 24, 2010
17 Novembre 2010
Last week we had mosquito net distribution here in the SAVA region complements of USAID, the President’s Rollback Malaria initiative and the NGO Population Services International. Every house in every fokontany (village) in the commune (county) was supposed to receive enough long lasting insecticide treated bed nets to protect all members in each household. It was quite an operation to say the least.
When I came back from my regional meeting with the other volunteers down in Antalaha at the beginning of November, I was greeted by about 200 huge white bundles of mosquito nets sitting on my porch. Each bundle had about 40 bednets plus packaging, weighing about 50lbs each. I guess since I live in a huge house right next to the hospital, they figured it would be the best place to store all of said nets. At least there was a small pathway on the porch conveniently left for me to enter my house. So as soon as I got home I helped the president of the hospital roll all the hefty packages inside.
A few days later there was a training session for the workers who were to distribute the nets. Before the distribution week began, the village leaders had to go around to each house in each village and record the head of household’s name and the number of people currently living in the house. The leaders then had to assign each household a number and write said number on the outside of the house.
A big truck came by to drop of mosquito nets at several distribution centers in the commune: one at my house, one 7km north and one 9km south along the main road. Then people from villages further away had to come to the three distribution centers to carry the huge 50lb bundles by foot all the way back to secondary distribution centers (some as far as a 2hr hike away). During the distribution week, bed nets were given out to a different village in the area each day of the week according to a set schedule. The end of the week (Saturday) was a free for all, with all those who had not received a number on their house the week before scrambling for the remaining nets that were left over from the past week.
Since there were plenty of people to help with distribution in town, I went out to a smaller rural village that I frequently work at to help with bed net distribution there. I assisted mostly by giving health talks during the week on malaria prevention and with some of the paperwork. I also requested the public health NGO PSI to come with their cinemobile at the end of this week to show a film on malaria prevention.
It was interesting just observing the whole process to see what the hang-ups were and how such a public health intervention could be improved in the future. The trickiest part was accounting for the middle school and high school students who study in big towns during the week and go back to their homes in the rural villages on the weekends. Some people thought the students were supposed to be accounted for back in their villages while others believed the students should receive a net in town where they study during the week. Other people were sneaky and sent multiple family members to pick up nets at different times of the week, claiming that they had never received a number on their house when in fact they had. Others missed the whole number-on-the-house thing the week before and never received a net at the end of the week when some distribution centers ran out.
The program might have worked better if the count was done by number of beds per house rather than number of people. The ratio was three people to one net, which would work if there were two adults and a small child; however three adults sleeping in separate beds in the same house should probably receive more than just one net. Other people who have only one bed in their house received as many as three nets, because they have a lot of small children or children studying in other towns that they still counted as part of their household. The discrepancies caused a lot of frustration among community members and bed net distributors. If the village leaders had simply entered each house and counted the number of beds, which should equal number of nets distributed, their might not have been as many discrepancies. There’s no reason for someone to receive three nets when they only have one bed in their house. But at least a lot of people got insecticide treated nets, and hopefully the herd immunity effect will help protect everyone against Malaria this year. Rainy season is coming up, and there have already been several deaths this past month at the hospital due to Malaria so I hope the program proves successful.
Either way, there were a lot of angry people crowded outside my house Saturday evening fighting over nets, with distributors working on my front porch from 8am until 7pm. So I decided to have dinner at my neighbors’ instead that night. It was actually kind of nice…we hung out, chatted, took some shots of home-made Malagasy whiskey and had some kind of fried insect that they eat here along with our rice for dinner. Being the adventurous Peace Corps volunteer that I am, I partook of the local fare, which was actually surprisingly tasty.
Unfortunately I found out later on that evening that the insect must be in the same family as yellow-jackets, which I am very allergic to. As I was getting ready for bed, I started breaking out in hives, so I popped two Benadryl and called the Peace Corps doctor. He advised me to use my handy Epi-pen if the symptoms got worse. So once my face swelled like a balloon, I couldn’t hear because my ear canals had closed up and my chest started tightening, I decided to bite the bullet and jab the unpleasantly gigantic needle into the side of my thigh. The stick was surprisingly painful, but at least I could breathe after that, and I started calming down. I was still very itchy but was finally able to fall asleep and woke up the next morning much improved. The only remnants were a very sore right thigh and still slightly swollen eyelids. I guess that’s what I get for trying to integrate into another culture. But at least it made for a good story.
On a side note, when I was helping out with bed net distribution in one of the other villages, a guy came in to pick up his net and was wearing the most unique outfit I have seen yet here. That’s saying something considering some of the ensembles the Malagasy manage to put together. They have some of the funniest used clothing here, which probably is shipped over in bulk from Salvation Army or Union Mission or something. I have seen everything from pink frilly princess gowns to college mascot t-shirts to 80s style Technicolor warm-up suits. But this guy came in wearing a bright yellow plastic construction hat, a t-shirt with a cartoon of a Rasta-man playing bongos and a black, faux leather trench coat with fake black fur along the hem and the collar of the jacket. It was a pretty amazing site.
Today was election day…the Malagasy are voting on a referendum on the constitution, which meant every one was at the polls (the local elementary school) and the rest of the town was really quiet. It also meant that there was no school today, so I could finally have my very first meeting with the healthy teen club members!
I headed to the CEG (local junior high school) expecting maybe 10 kids to show up, but there were actually around 85. We met and talked about what my goals and hopes for the organization are: to improve the health of community members in general and youth in particular, and to help the youth develop skills to set goals for themselves and to make healthy choices in life in order to achieve those goals. I also asked them to think about what their goals for the organization were. Then we shared ideas for health projects activities the organization could do in the community and started to come up with a program and schedule of how often we would meet.
Everyone seemed really interested in learning about HIV/AIDS, STD prevention and family planning, so I’m very excited about that. To end the meeting, I taught them a song in Malagasy about HIV/AIDS prevention (to the tune of Shakira’s World Cup song “Waka Waka”). We had a great time, and some of the students even walked me home and hung out with me for a while at my house. We chatted about Peace Corps and the U.S. and about life in America versus life in Madagascar. I explained to them about how young adults in the States often wait longer to get married and have kids, because they like to graduate from college first and get a job to earn money before starting a family. It’s a totally different concept to them from what they see every day here: fifteen year olds leaving school to have children out of wedlock and families with an average of five to seven kids. There are still high rates of illiteracy and elementary and middle school drop-outs. Some of the students in the group seem very smart and have a lot of potential, so I hope they get something out of the program I’m trying to start up with them.
In the afternoon I went over to one of my friend’s houses to hang out. We had the most interesting conversation about homosexual, bisexual, transgender and transvestite individuals. I think it’s so cool that I can actually talk about those things in Malagasy now. It was just really fascinating to hear about local people’s perceptions of the LGBT community here. My friend seemed totally fine with the idea of homosexuality and bisexuality, but she seemed to have a negative perception of transvestites (men dressing up as women in particular). Apparently there is a whole openly gay neighborhood in Antananarivo and quite a few men that dress up as women in Nosy Be! It was funny to see her reaction when I tried to explain about transgender individuals and sex change operations. I’m sure it seems far-fetched to people here, in a country where a majority of the population can’t afford clinic fees for the most simplest of procedures, such as properly setting a broken bone. And to think that the whole conversation started with the topic of earrings.
Parents are coming soon, and I get to go on my very first vacation since I left the States in October of last year. I’m very excited for everyone here to meet them, and I’m also looking forward to seeing more of this unique and amazingly diverse island over the coming weeks.
When I came back from my regional meeting with the other volunteers down in Antalaha at the beginning of November, I was greeted by about 200 huge white bundles of mosquito nets sitting on my porch. Each bundle had about 40 bednets plus packaging, weighing about 50lbs each. I guess since I live in a huge house right next to the hospital, they figured it would be the best place to store all of said nets. At least there was a small pathway on the porch conveniently left for me to enter my house. So as soon as I got home I helped the president of the hospital roll all the hefty packages inside.
A few days later there was a training session for the workers who were to distribute the nets. Before the distribution week began, the village leaders had to go around to each house in each village and record the head of household’s name and the number of people currently living in the house. The leaders then had to assign each household a number and write said number on the outside of the house.
A big truck came by to drop of mosquito nets at several distribution centers in the commune: one at my house, one 7km north and one 9km south along the main road. Then people from villages further away had to come to the three distribution centers to carry the huge 50lb bundles by foot all the way back to secondary distribution centers (some as far as a 2hr hike away). During the distribution week, bed nets were given out to a different village in the area each day of the week according to a set schedule. The end of the week (Saturday) was a free for all, with all those who had not received a number on their house the week before scrambling for the remaining nets that were left over from the past week.
Since there were plenty of people to help with distribution in town, I went out to a smaller rural village that I frequently work at to help with bed net distribution there. I assisted mostly by giving health talks during the week on malaria prevention and with some of the paperwork. I also requested the public health NGO PSI to come with their cinemobile at the end of this week to show a film on malaria prevention.
It was interesting just observing the whole process to see what the hang-ups were and how such a public health intervention could be improved in the future. The trickiest part was accounting for the middle school and high school students who study in big towns during the week and go back to their homes in the rural villages on the weekends. Some people thought the students were supposed to be accounted for back in their villages while others believed the students should receive a net in town where they study during the week. Other people were sneaky and sent multiple family members to pick up nets at different times of the week, claiming that they had never received a number on their house when in fact they had. Others missed the whole number-on-the-house thing the week before and never received a net at the end of the week when some distribution centers ran out.
The program might have worked better if the count was done by number of beds per house rather than number of people. The ratio was three people to one net, which would work if there were two adults and a small child; however three adults sleeping in separate beds in the same house should probably receive more than just one net. Other people who have only one bed in their house received as many as three nets, because they have a lot of small children or children studying in other towns that they still counted as part of their household. The discrepancies caused a lot of frustration among community members and bed net distributors. If the village leaders had simply entered each house and counted the number of beds, which should equal number of nets distributed, their might not have been as many discrepancies. There’s no reason for someone to receive three nets when they only have one bed in their house. But at least a lot of people got insecticide treated nets, and hopefully the herd immunity effect will help protect everyone against Malaria this year. Rainy season is coming up, and there have already been several deaths this past month at the hospital due to Malaria so I hope the program proves successful.
Either way, there were a lot of angry people crowded outside my house Saturday evening fighting over nets, with distributors working on my front porch from 8am until 7pm. So I decided to have dinner at my neighbors’ instead that night. It was actually kind of nice…we hung out, chatted, took some shots of home-made Malagasy whiskey and had some kind of fried insect that they eat here along with our rice for dinner. Being the adventurous Peace Corps volunteer that I am, I partook of the local fare, which was actually surprisingly tasty.
Unfortunately I found out later on that evening that the insect must be in the same family as yellow-jackets, which I am very allergic to. As I was getting ready for bed, I started breaking out in hives, so I popped two Benadryl and called the Peace Corps doctor. He advised me to use my handy Epi-pen if the symptoms got worse. So once my face swelled like a balloon, I couldn’t hear because my ear canals had closed up and my chest started tightening, I decided to bite the bullet and jab the unpleasantly gigantic needle into the side of my thigh. The stick was surprisingly painful, but at least I could breathe after that, and I started calming down. I was still very itchy but was finally able to fall asleep and woke up the next morning much improved. The only remnants were a very sore right thigh and still slightly swollen eyelids. I guess that’s what I get for trying to integrate into another culture. But at least it made for a good story.
On a side note, when I was helping out with bed net distribution in one of the other villages, a guy came in to pick up his net and was wearing the most unique outfit I have seen yet here. That’s saying something considering some of the ensembles the Malagasy manage to put together. They have some of the funniest used clothing here, which probably is shipped over in bulk from Salvation Army or Union Mission or something. I have seen everything from pink frilly princess gowns to college mascot t-shirts to 80s style Technicolor warm-up suits. But this guy came in wearing a bright yellow plastic construction hat, a t-shirt with a cartoon of a Rasta-man playing bongos and a black, faux leather trench coat with fake black fur along the hem and the collar of the jacket. It was a pretty amazing site.
Today was election day…the Malagasy are voting on a referendum on the constitution, which meant every one was at the polls (the local elementary school) and the rest of the town was really quiet. It also meant that there was no school today, so I could finally have my very first meeting with the healthy teen club members!
I headed to the CEG (local junior high school) expecting maybe 10 kids to show up, but there were actually around 85. We met and talked about what my goals and hopes for the organization are: to improve the health of community members in general and youth in particular, and to help the youth develop skills to set goals for themselves and to make healthy choices in life in order to achieve those goals. I also asked them to think about what their goals for the organization were. Then we shared ideas for health projects activities the organization could do in the community and started to come up with a program and schedule of how often we would meet.
Everyone seemed really interested in learning about HIV/AIDS, STD prevention and family planning, so I’m very excited about that. To end the meeting, I taught them a song in Malagasy about HIV/AIDS prevention (to the tune of Shakira’s World Cup song “Waka Waka”). We had a great time, and some of the students even walked me home and hung out with me for a while at my house. We chatted about Peace Corps and the U.S. and about life in America versus life in Madagascar. I explained to them about how young adults in the States often wait longer to get married and have kids, because they like to graduate from college first and get a job to earn money before starting a family. It’s a totally different concept to them from what they see every day here: fifteen year olds leaving school to have children out of wedlock and families with an average of five to seven kids. There are still high rates of illiteracy and elementary and middle school drop-outs. Some of the students in the group seem very smart and have a lot of potential, so I hope they get something out of the program I’m trying to start up with them.
In the afternoon I went over to one of my friend’s houses to hang out. We had the most interesting conversation about homosexual, bisexual, transgender and transvestite individuals. I think it’s so cool that I can actually talk about those things in Malagasy now. It was just really fascinating to hear about local people’s perceptions of the LGBT community here. My friend seemed totally fine with the idea of homosexuality and bisexuality, but she seemed to have a negative perception of transvestites (men dressing up as women in particular). Apparently there is a whole openly gay neighborhood in Antananarivo and quite a few men that dress up as women in Nosy Be! It was funny to see her reaction when I tried to explain about transgender individuals and sex change operations. I’m sure it seems far-fetched to people here, in a country where a majority of the population can’t afford clinic fees for the most simplest of procedures, such as properly setting a broken bone. And to think that the whole conversation started with the topic of earrings.
Parents are coming soon, and I get to go on my very first vacation since I left the States in October of last year. I’m very excited for everyone here to meet them, and I’m also looking forward to seeing more of this unique and amazingly diverse island over the coming weeks.
Things I am grateful for
Things I miss most about home (U.S.):
Privacy
Efficiency when trying to get things done
Family and friends back home
Laundry machines
Clean, indoor bathrooms (both public and private)
Sinks with running water
Ice
American stoves, ovens and microwaves
Refrigerators and freezers
Lack of constant cockroach, ant and rodent infestations
Easy access to clean water
No malaria and no schistosomiasis
Good dentists
Hi-speed internet, especially at home
TV Shows: The Daily Show, Colbert Report, South Park, The Office, Lost, Anthony Bourdain, Top Chef
Movie Theaters
Going out to bars and cafes with friends
Coffee shops (lattes and iced coffee)
Pandora Radio and NPR
Having my own seat when using public transportation
Good telephone connections
Speaking English whenever I want
Hot tubs and pools
Good wine, beer, margaritas, mojitos
American food (pretzels, whole grain bread, crackers, baby spinach salads, chips and salsa, cheese, ice cream, olives, apples, broccoli, mushrooms, cereal and cold soy milk)
Things I will miss about Madagascar when I leave:
Malagasy friends
PCV friends
Lush tropical forest
Deserted beaches
Rice paddies
The variety of fresh, local tropical fruits
Biking and hiking around my site to do health outreach activities
Malagasy music
Fresh, local, pesticide-free, cheap, healthy food
Malagasy hospitality and sense of community
How easy it is to make friends here
The slow pace of life
The funny sounds people here make when speaking in Malagasy
Speaking in Malagasy in general
Frip (used clothing) markets and lambas (colorful, Malagasy cloth wraps)
Malagasy peoples’ unique sense of style
Warm weather all the time
How easy it is to live “green” (water conservation, no electricity, public transportation only, eating local and organic, lack of processed foods)
Free healthcare from Peace Corps
A non-office job
Lack of TV and Internet (I read more books and am more productive)
Fresh, homemade soymilk
Privacy
Efficiency when trying to get things done
Family and friends back home
Laundry machines
Clean, indoor bathrooms (both public and private)
Sinks with running water
Ice
American stoves, ovens and microwaves
Refrigerators and freezers
Lack of constant cockroach, ant and rodent infestations
Easy access to clean water
No malaria and no schistosomiasis
Good dentists
Hi-speed internet, especially at home
TV Shows: The Daily Show, Colbert Report, South Park, The Office, Lost, Anthony Bourdain, Top Chef
Movie Theaters
Going out to bars and cafes with friends
Coffee shops (lattes and iced coffee)
Pandora Radio and NPR
Having my own seat when using public transportation
Good telephone connections
Speaking English whenever I want
Hot tubs and pools
Good wine, beer, margaritas, mojitos
American food (pretzels, whole grain bread, crackers, baby spinach salads, chips and salsa, cheese, ice cream, olives, apples, broccoli, mushrooms, cereal and cold soy milk)
Things I will miss about Madagascar when I leave:
Malagasy friends
PCV friends
Lush tropical forest
Deserted beaches
Rice paddies
The variety of fresh, local tropical fruits
Biking and hiking around my site to do health outreach activities
Malagasy music
Fresh, local, pesticide-free, cheap, healthy food
Malagasy hospitality and sense of community
How easy it is to make friends here
The slow pace of life
The funny sounds people here make when speaking in Malagasy
Speaking in Malagasy in general
Frip (used clothing) markets and lambas (colorful, Malagasy cloth wraps)
Malagasy peoples’ unique sense of style
Warm weather all the time
How easy it is to live “green” (water conservation, no electricity, public transportation only, eating local and organic, lack of processed foods)
Free healthcare from Peace Corps
A non-office job
Lack of TV and Internet (I read more books and am more productive)
Fresh, homemade soymilk
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
My Favorite Fruits in Madagascar
Ampalibe (Jackfruit)- This is probably the funniest looking fruit in Madagasascar. It is spiky, bright green and very large, but there is no particular uniformity to its shape. When you cut it open, the smell hits you like a barn door in the face: sweet yet somewhat pungent, like it’s already rotting. Ampalibe is very, very sticky and there are many yellow pods of fruit that surround white, lima bean-shaped seeds. I think the fruit is delicious if you get a good one; sugary, juicy with a hint of banana flavor. It’s addicting, but can give you a stomach-ache if you over-indulge. The tree is tall and grand, with wide, round, dark green and orange leaves. When it fruits, it looks like it has huge tumors all over it, because of the large irregular shape of the fruit. The trees are all over the place here, lining the side of the road and adding to the dense, lushness of the forest. Always in season.
Manga (Mango)- The mango tree makes up a majority of the forest here, along with jackfruit and breadfruit trees. Their huge trunks and massive branches make for good shade and climbing. Need I say anything about the fruit? It’s wonderful; juicy sweet, fragrant, and a beautiful, orange color inside. There are several different varieties here and they are all delicious. They fruit twice a year too! You can also make good salads by grating the unripe mangoes when they are still green.
Mapaza (Papaya)- They are always in season and I even have a tree in my back yard (although there seem to be more papayas around now than there were before). There are two varieties: one that’s got smaller, elongated fruit and another with larger, tear-dropped or round-shaped fruit. The ones picked fresh off the tree from my back yard are ridiculously sweet and juicy. They are even better if you squeeze a little fresh lime on them. The flesh is soft and orange and there are black, round, tiny seeds that run down the center. The outside is green when unripe and turns yellowish when it ripens.
Mananasy (Pineapple)- a very cool looking plant. I had never seen the plant before (just the fruit) until I came to Madagascar. It’s very spicky and the fruit pops out of the top of the plant. Apparently you can plant a pineapple by cutting off the spiky green top of the fruit and sticking it in the ground. I haven’t tried it yet, though. I have three growing in my back yard, they are magenta colored and small right now, so still not ready for harvest yet. They are in season right now, though, and the pineapple here is amazingly sweet; sweeter than any pineapple I have ever had in the states. When I get a good one, it’s probably my favorite fruit here. You have to be careful about eating too much though, because it’s highly acidic and can give you sores on your tongue and heartburn. I think they are in season about twice or three times a year.
Avacado (Gavo be or Zavoka)- Avacado season (April/May) is amazing. They have a giant, darker skinned variety and a smaller, lighter green variety here. The inside is sweet, creamy and light green in color. Both varieties are delicious and make good guacamole, although there’s no cilantro here. By the time my cilantro in my garden was ready to harvest avocado season was already over.
Saoñambo (Breadfruit)- The saoñambo tree is the most spectacular tree in this region of Madagascar. It is one of the tallest in the forest here, with lush, giant, shiny green leaves that fan out and big, bright green, round balls hanging from every branch like Christmas decorations. The fruit can be eaten ripe or unripe, but needs to be cooked like any other starch. It grows wild here and is all over the place. People should use it as a staple food more than they do…they are too hooked on rice here. My favorite way to eat the fruit is when it is still firm and unripe. You can cut it up and fry it like french fries, and it almost tastes better than potatoes, because it stays a little soft and moist inside. People here make these really delicious fried bread-like balls out of them too, with salt, pepper, onions and garlic inside (really good with spicy cucumber salad.) When it’s soft and ripe, it’s surprisingly sweet. You can make a sweet porridge out of it by boiling it and mashing it up, although I’m not a huge fan.
Sakoaña (???)- Don’t think there’s an English word for this fruit. I have never seen it before coming to Madagascar. You can eat it when it is still green, but I think it tastes best when it’s ripe and orange-brownish in color. It tastes like crossed between a mango and a peach or nectarine, but you can’t eat the peel. It’s one of the juiciest fruits I have ever tasted. The pit is really funny looking, with spiky fibers sticking out of it. The only bummer is that they easily get worms or bugs in them, they are very messy to eat and the fibers get stuck in your teeth. But I guess most of the fruits and vegetables here get buggy very easily since there’s no pesticide use. It’s in season around the same time as avocadoes. The tree is huge; one of the tallest in the forest.
Konokono- (“Coeur de boeuf” in French, custard apple or cherimoya in English??) A small, round, pinkish, soft fruit shaped like a heart, which is probably why it’s called beef heart in French. The flesh inside is whitish, soft, custardy and sweet with little black seeds. It’s like eating a creamy, rich desert. Not sure if there is an English equivalent or if they have this fruit in South America or something. They were in season in October.
Voazato- (custard apple or cherimoya??) Like Konokono, but a little bigger and the skin is thicker and yellowish in color with dull spikes or eyes on the outside. The name in Malagasy literally means “100 seeds.” Suffice it to say, there are a lot of big, black seeds inside. The flesh is a little more firm and juicy than konokono, but still very custard-like and sweet. Both Konokono and voazato are best eaten with a spoon. It’s in season around late May, June, July.
Voanio (Coconut)- I love the unripe ones that have a lot of sweet water to drink and a little bit of soft flesh inside. They are really delicious, especially on a hot day. The ripe ones are also great to cook with. Vary aharo voanio (coconut rice), bonbon coco (coconut candies) and añantoto aharo voanio (pounded cassava leaves with coconut milk) are my favorites. The coconut milk is also good cooked with beans. They are hard to open though, especially if the outer husk is still attached. It’s a lot of work to grate the coconut by hand, too.
Polmosy (Grapefruit or pomello?)- Basically a large grapefruit. It has a thick, yellow rind and pinkish fruit inside. You can get juicy ones, but they are usually a little dry for a citrus. I like them, though. They’re tangy and sweet and have lots of vitamin C.
Manga (Mango)- The mango tree makes up a majority of the forest here, along with jackfruit and breadfruit trees. Their huge trunks and massive branches make for good shade and climbing. Need I say anything about the fruit? It’s wonderful; juicy sweet, fragrant, and a beautiful, orange color inside. There are several different varieties here and they are all delicious. They fruit twice a year too! You can also make good salads by grating the unripe mangoes when they are still green.
Mapaza (Papaya)- They are always in season and I even have a tree in my back yard (although there seem to be more papayas around now than there were before). There are two varieties: one that’s got smaller, elongated fruit and another with larger, tear-dropped or round-shaped fruit. The ones picked fresh off the tree from my back yard are ridiculously sweet and juicy. They are even better if you squeeze a little fresh lime on them. The flesh is soft and orange and there are black, round, tiny seeds that run down the center. The outside is green when unripe and turns yellowish when it ripens.
Mananasy (Pineapple)- a very cool looking plant. I had never seen the plant before (just the fruit) until I came to Madagascar. It’s very spicky and the fruit pops out of the top of the plant. Apparently you can plant a pineapple by cutting off the spiky green top of the fruit and sticking it in the ground. I haven’t tried it yet, though. I have three growing in my back yard, they are magenta colored and small right now, so still not ready for harvest yet. They are in season right now, though, and the pineapple here is amazingly sweet; sweeter than any pineapple I have ever had in the states. When I get a good one, it’s probably my favorite fruit here. You have to be careful about eating too much though, because it’s highly acidic and can give you sores on your tongue and heartburn. I think they are in season about twice or three times a year.
Avacado (Gavo be or Zavoka)- Avacado season (April/May) is amazing. They have a giant, darker skinned variety and a smaller, lighter green variety here. The inside is sweet, creamy and light green in color. Both varieties are delicious and make good guacamole, although there’s no cilantro here. By the time my cilantro in my garden was ready to harvest avocado season was already over.
Saoñambo (Breadfruit)- The saoñambo tree is the most spectacular tree in this region of Madagascar. It is one of the tallest in the forest here, with lush, giant, shiny green leaves that fan out and big, bright green, round balls hanging from every branch like Christmas decorations. The fruit can be eaten ripe or unripe, but needs to be cooked like any other starch. It grows wild here and is all over the place. People should use it as a staple food more than they do…they are too hooked on rice here. My favorite way to eat the fruit is when it is still firm and unripe. You can cut it up and fry it like french fries, and it almost tastes better than potatoes, because it stays a little soft and moist inside. People here make these really delicious fried bread-like balls out of them too, with salt, pepper, onions and garlic inside (really good with spicy cucumber salad.) When it’s soft and ripe, it’s surprisingly sweet. You can make a sweet porridge out of it by boiling it and mashing it up, although I’m not a huge fan.
Sakoaña (???)- Don’t think there’s an English word for this fruit. I have never seen it before coming to Madagascar. You can eat it when it is still green, but I think it tastes best when it’s ripe and orange-brownish in color. It tastes like crossed between a mango and a peach or nectarine, but you can’t eat the peel. It’s one of the juiciest fruits I have ever tasted. The pit is really funny looking, with spiky fibers sticking out of it. The only bummer is that they easily get worms or bugs in them, they are very messy to eat and the fibers get stuck in your teeth. But I guess most of the fruits and vegetables here get buggy very easily since there’s no pesticide use. It’s in season around the same time as avocadoes. The tree is huge; one of the tallest in the forest.
Konokono- (“Coeur de boeuf” in French, custard apple or cherimoya in English??) A small, round, pinkish, soft fruit shaped like a heart, which is probably why it’s called beef heart in French. The flesh inside is whitish, soft, custardy and sweet with little black seeds. It’s like eating a creamy, rich desert. Not sure if there is an English equivalent or if they have this fruit in South America or something. They were in season in October.
Voazato- (custard apple or cherimoya??) Like Konokono, but a little bigger and the skin is thicker and yellowish in color with dull spikes or eyes on the outside. The name in Malagasy literally means “100 seeds.” Suffice it to say, there are a lot of big, black seeds inside. The flesh is a little more firm and juicy than konokono, but still very custard-like and sweet. Both Konokono and voazato are best eaten with a spoon. It’s in season around late May, June, July.
Voanio (Coconut)- I love the unripe ones that have a lot of sweet water to drink and a little bit of soft flesh inside. They are really delicious, especially on a hot day. The ripe ones are also great to cook with. Vary aharo voanio (coconut rice), bonbon coco (coconut candies) and añantoto aharo voanio (pounded cassava leaves with coconut milk) are my favorites. The coconut milk is also good cooked with beans. They are hard to open though, especially if the outer husk is still attached. It’s a lot of work to grate the coconut by hand, too.
Polmosy (Grapefruit or pomello?)- Basically a large grapefruit. It has a thick, yellow rind and pinkish fruit inside. You can get juicy ones, but they are usually a little dry for a citrus. I like them, though. They’re tangy and sweet and have lots of vitamin C.
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
mailing info
hey, planning to change my po box to sambava soon, so dont send letters to my old adress anymore. you can just use the peace corps one I have posted now, and Ill post the new adress when I get it set up. updated wish list:
all set on the playing cards, thanks!
more coloring books or small interactive toys for kids
pens
lighters
suture kits (if you can find and are feasible to send)
photos
magazine and news clippings
letters
dental floss
toothbrushes
tea (especially herbal)
spices
herb seeds for gardening (cilantro, basil, rosemary, oregano, citronella)
other vegetable garden seeds are great too
cds and dvds (malagasies really like music videos if you can find)
all set on the playing cards, thanks!
more coloring books or small interactive toys for kids
pens
lighters
suture kits (if you can find and are feasible to send)
photos
magazine and news clippings
letters
dental floss
toothbrushes
tea (especially herbal)
spices
herb seeds for gardening (cilantro, basil, rosemary, oregano, citronella)
other vegetable garden seeds are great too
cds and dvds (malagasies really like music videos if you can find)
Friday, October 29, 2010
27 Octobre 2010
Lots of adventures this month! I’ve still been going around to different villages, doing cooking demos and baby weighing with the nutrition workers. More baby weighing than anything else, though, because it’s hard to do cooking demonstrations when the nutrition organization has no money to pay the workers. We’ve been telling the women in different communities that if they want to have us cook with them, they need to supply the rice or corn or whatever staple food is locally available. Since many of the poorer villages don’t really have any rice to spare, we’ve mostly been doing just the baby weighing and health talks. It’s still been really great getting a chance to see more villages and work with new people, though.
The new volunteers came this month as well. I have an English teacher just 90km north of me, a health volunteer a 4 hour hike from my site, a health volunteer in Antalaha and an English teacher in Andapa. Last week, I biked down to Ambavala (a market town/taxi brousse stop 20km south of me) to meet up with the environment volunteer who is 25km south of me. From there we biked along a windy, bumpy, hilly dirt road out to the coast to visit the new health volunteer. It was quite an exhausting trip (4 hours on a bicycle for me). Though the bike ride was tiring, it was really neat to go down a road I’d never been down before and to see a new town I’d never been to but often heard about.
Once we met up in Ambavala, the other environment volunteer and I biked through dense forest interspersed with small villages and rice paddies. After about an hour and a half the path flattened out and became sandy. We passed a coconut grove and a lot of vanilla fields and crossed many rickety bridges over small streams and rivers. The road was fairly dry, though I can see how it would be impassible during rainy season. The health volunteer there has a really nice set-up, but he is very isolated from any big towns. People have told him that during the rainy season, he might not be able to leave site for several months. When we got to his site, we had a very warm welcome from the mayor and other community members. We mostly just hung out and talked, as it’s always so great to converse effortlessly with other English-speakers. There was also another French aid worker from Medecins de Monde who is posted there for two months. He doesn’t know much Malagasy, but converses with community members in French and is currently working on a cyclone relief project as well as a Morenga nutrition project and other community development projects. I look forward to working with the health volunteer there, because the commune I live in borders his, and there are a few villages out his way that I’ve never worked in before.
Life back at my site has its ups and downs. The public taps broke again for several weeks, so everyone had to fetch water from the river. At first, I tried braving the treacherously steep path down to the water, but its way too hard to climb back up the steep, muddy hill with a pail of water in one hand. I’m not as skilled as the Malagasy women. Some of them can balance a bucket of water on their head while also carrying a huge bin full of dishes they washed down by the river in one arm and another small pail in the other. It’s really amazing how much balance and coordination they have. I however, gave up on trying to compete with them; I broke down and hired the lady who fetches my neighbor’s water to carry my water as well. It’s only 100 ariary a bucket (20 cents), although I feel kind of weird about it because the woman is middle-aged. At least I provided her with a little bit of income. The taps finally started working again after a couple weeks, though. I’m glad for that, since everyone bathes and washes their clothes down by the water, and no one bleaches their water that they use in the kitchen. I was worried there might be a rise in diarrheal disease if it lasted any longer.
Although I hired someone to carry my water, I still go down to the river to wash clothes. Even though the path is steep, and it’s still kind of hard to carry a big bin of clothes down to the river, I like going down there to hang out with the other women doing chores and to watch kids playing in the water. It also gives me something to do on Saturdays when everyone else is out working in their rice fields. It’s not uncommon for me to see kids fishing or a flock of ducks paddling by or children playing in a wooden canoe they commandeered from the man who makes a living taking people across the river when it’s too high to wade through in rainy season. The other day some kids were using large banana stalks to float down the river kind of like those foam noodles American kids play with in swimming pools back in the States. It was kind of a funny site!
As far as work goes, I’ve been pretty busy at the clinic and biking and hiking around to other villages to do health outreach programs. A few times I’ve biked to visit my friend who’s a nutrition worker 7km north of me. She likes to hike out to remote areas and weigh babies whose mothers don’t normally make it out to her weighing center each Tuesday. We’ve met up several times to weigh babies and give health talks to the mothers. I enjoy just hanging out and talking with her too, because she’s really sweet and helps me understand Malagasy culture better (which is also part of my job as a Peace Corps volunteer). One day she even took me out to her vanilla and rice fields. Her nephew taught me how to pollinate the vanilla flowers by hand (since Madagascar doesn’t have the natural pollinator for the vanilla plants that originally came from Mexico). It was really delicate and fascinating work. After pollinating the flowers, we hiked over to her cassava fields and she dug up a few cassava roots (one of the staple foods here) for me to take home. I don’t really like the starchy root very much, but she insisted that I take some as a “voandalana,” or, gift for the road.
This past week was health week, a government sponsored program to distribute vitamin A and deworming pills to all children under five as well as pregnant women twice a year. This time around we also distributed malaria prevention medication to pregnant women and measles vaccines to children under four. On Monday I went to the village 9k south of me that has a small rural clinic I frequently work at. There, I gave health talk and helped the clinic workers distribute the medications all morning. In the afternoon we went over to the one private school in the village and distributed vaccines, vitamin A and deworming medication to all the four-year olds in the kindergarten class. I was kind of on the fence about that one, because one of the workers was using a pair of scissors to threaten the stubborn kids who didn’t want to come forward for their medicines and shots. I spent the night at the doctor’s house there, because the next morning I, along with his wife and daughter and a few other workers, hiked two and a half hours from there out to a very remote village. We had to leave at 4:30 in the morning so we could get there early enough to distribute medications and vaccines and still have time to stop by two other villages on the way back to give out meds. By the time we got back to the doctor’s house it was 5:30 in the evening. I was so exhausted from having woken up at four in the morning and having hiked five hours that day. The hike through the dense forest and rice paddies was really beautiful, though, and I got a chance to see more of the commune that I hadn’t seen before. Going out to the remote villages was a eye-opening, because the poverty out there is much more visible than in town or even in the neighboring villages that I’ve been to. Almost all the houses were dilapidated shacks made of sticks and leaves and most of the children under 10 showed signs of kwashiorkor (protein deficiency). It’s unfortunate that the vitamin A and deworming distribution was only for children under 5, because the children over 5 were still, very clearly malnourished. Many had bloated bellies, ribs sticking out of their chests, skinny arms and reddish hair. Its amazing to me that even in an area as lush as here, where things grow so easily due to the frequent rains and heavily forested areas, that people still have a hard time finding the resources to farm and forage for adequate amounts of nutritious foods. I’m hoping that I can return to those villages again to do some gardening and nutrition projects if the communities are interested.
The next day I biked back to town and worked at the hospital, because we finally got HIV tests in to administer to all the pregnant women. Since I knew the midwife wasn’t going to do pre-counseling even though she’s had the training before, I made sure to talk to all the pregnant women beforehand about the HIV test, about the illness itself and about prevention measures. HIV/AIDS doesn’t seem to be as stigmatized here as it is in many other African countries, but the more concerning issue is that awareness levels are very low. Many simply do not know what the illness is or how it is transmitted, and those who have heard of HIV, think that it doesn’t exist in this part of Madagascar. Although the country-wide prevalence is still very low, it could easily spread very quickly, because nobody uses condoms, there’s a high rate of STDs and many are unaware of the illness and its consequences. Afterwards, the doctor gave a health talk as well. He stressed using family planning as he announced that on average, 60-70 births occur at the hospital per month. I knew there were a lot of pregnant women around, but I didn’t realize the number was that high! That’s not even including the many women who give birth at home or in the 4 other small, rural clinics in the remote areas of the commune.
In the afternoon I helped out with family planning. A lot of women showed up, but most of them were regulars who have been using the Depo shot for several years now. Every time I give a health talk to the women about the different family planning methods, I always stress condom use and talk about STDs and HIV/AIDS. Nobody takes the free condoms and too many of them are really young or have husbands that sleep around. It’s so frustrating when everyone here says that men won’t use condoms, but if I can just get one young person to take some home, it will have made my day.
Other than that, all three of my grant applications for funding health projects got rejected, since there’s not much government funding to go around here in Madagascar…so I resubmitted my well project under Peace Corps Partnership. If it gets approved, I’ll post the link to the Peace Corps website where interested donors can contribute online. I’m keeping my fingers crossed!
And along with other unfortunate news, I found out that I had Giardia for the past two weeks. At first I wasn’t sure what was going on because the symptoms were so mild in the beginning. After it didn’t go away for over a week but got worse, and after talking to other volunteers and to the Peace Corps doctors, I found out that I probably had Giardia. So I went around to five pharmacies until I found the last stock of Flagyl (Giardia medication) left in the whole town and bought them out of it. After a day of taking the medication, I no longer had to run to the bathroom five times every morning. So I’m guessing that was the cause of my mysterious GI problem. Yay for fun tropical illnesses! Hopefully my next entry will be a little more uplifting.
The new volunteers came this month as well. I have an English teacher just 90km north of me, a health volunteer a 4 hour hike from my site, a health volunteer in Antalaha and an English teacher in Andapa. Last week, I biked down to Ambavala (a market town/taxi brousse stop 20km south of me) to meet up with the environment volunteer who is 25km south of me. From there we biked along a windy, bumpy, hilly dirt road out to the coast to visit the new health volunteer. It was quite an exhausting trip (4 hours on a bicycle for me). Though the bike ride was tiring, it was really neat to go down a road I’d never been down before and to see a new town I’d never been to but often heard about.
Once we met up in Ambavala, the other environment volunteer and I biked through dense forest interspersed with small villages and rice paddies. After about an hour and a half the path flattened out and became sandy. We passed a coconut grove and a lot of vanilla fields and crossed many rickety bridges over small streams and rivers. The road was fairly dry, though I can see how it would be impassible during rainy season. The health volunteer there has a really nice set-up, but he is very isolated from any big towns. People have told him that during the rainy season, he might not be able to leave site for several months. When we got to his site, we had a very warm welcome from the mayor and other community members. We mostly just hung out and talked, as it’s always so great to converse effortlessly with other English-speakers. There was also another French aid worker from Medecins de Monde who is posted there for two months. He doesn’t know much Malagasy, but converses with community members in French and is currently working on a cyclone relief project as well as a Morenga nutrition project and other community development projects. I look forward to working with the health volunteer there, because the commune I live in borders his, and there are a few villages out his way that I’ve never worked in before.
Life back at my site has its ups and downs. The public taps broke again for several weeks, so everyone had to fetch water from the river. At first, I tried braving the treacherously steep path down to the water, but its way too hard to climb back up the steep, muddy hill with a pail of water in one hand. I’m not as skilled as the Malagasy women. Some of them can balance a bucket of water on their head while also carrying a huge bin full of dishes they washed down by the river in one arm and another small pail in the other. It’s really amazing how much balance and coordination they have. I however, gave up on trying to compete with them; I broke down and hired the lady who fetches my neighbor’s water to carry my water as well. It’s only 100 ariary a bucket (20 cents), although I feel kind of weird about it because the woman is middle-aged. At least I provided her with a little bit of income. The taps finally started working again after a couple weeks, though. I’m glad for that, since everyone bathes and washes their clothes down by the water, and no one bleaches their water that they use in the kitchen. I was worried there might be a rise in diarrheal disease if it lasted any longer.
Although I hired someone to carry my water, I still go down to the river to wash clothes. Even though the path is steep, and it’s still kind of hard to carry a big bin of clothes down to the river, I like going down there to hang out with the other women doing chores and to watch kids playing in the water. It also gives me something to do on Saturdays when everyone else is out working in their rice fields. It’s not uncommon for me to see kids fishing or a flock of ducks paddling by or children playing in a wooden canoe they commandeered from the man who makes a living taking people across the river when it’s too high to wade through in rainy season. The other day some kids were using large banana stalks to float down the river kind of like those foam noodles American kids play with in swimming pools back in the States. It was kind of a funny site!
As far as work goes, I’ve been pretty busy at the clinic and biking and hiking around to other villages to do health outreach programs. A few times I’ve biked to visit my friend who’s a nutrition worker 7km north of me. She likes to hike out to remote areas and weigh babies whose mothers don’t normally make it out to her weighing center each Tuesday. We’ve met up several times to weigh babies and give health talks to the mothers. I enjoy just hanging out and talking with her too, because she’s really sweet and helps me understand Malagasy culture better (which is also part of my job as a Peace Corps volunteer). One day she even took me out to her vanilla and rice fields. Her nephew taught me how to pollinate the vanilla flowers by hand (since Madagascar doesn’t have the natural pollinator for the vanilla plants that originally came from Mexico). It was really delicate and fascinating work. After pollinating the flowers, we hiked over to her cassava fields and she dug up a few cassava roots (one of the staple foods here) for me to take home. I don’t really like the starchy root very much, but she insisted that I take some as a “voandalana,” or, gift for the road.
This past week was health week, a government sponsored program to distribute vitamin A and deworming pills to all children under five as well as pregnant women twice a year. This time around we also distributed malaria prevention medication to pregnant women and measles vaccines to children under four. On Monday I went to the village 9k south of me that has a small rural clinic I frequently work at. There, I gave health talk and helped the clinic workers distribute the medications all morning. In the afternoon we went over to the one private school in the village and distributed vaccines, vitamin A and deworming medication to all the four-year olds in the kindergarten class. I was kind of on the fence about that one, because one of the workers was using a pair of scissors to threaten the stubborn kids who didn’t want to come forward for their medicines and shots. I spent the night at the doctor’s house there, because the next morning I, along with his wife and daughter and a few other workers, hiked two and a half hours from there out to a very remote village. We had to leave at 4:30 in the morning so we could get there early enough to distribute medications and vaccines and still have time to stop by two other villages on the way back to give out meds. By the time we got back to the doctor’s house it was 5:30 in the evening. I was so exhausted from having woken up at four in the morning and having hiked five hours that day. The hike through the dense forest and rice paddies was really beautiful, though, and I got a chance to see more of the commune that I hadn’t seen before. Going out to the remote villages was a eye-opening, because the poverty out there is much more visible than in town or even in the neighboring villages that I’ve been to. Almost all the houses were dilapidated shacks made of sticks and leaves and most of the children under 10 showed signs of kwashiorkor (protein deficiency). It’s unfortunate that the vitamin A and deworming distribution was only for children under 5, because the children over 5 were still, very clearly malnourished. Many had bloated bellies, ribs sticking out of their chests, skinny arms and reddish hair. Its amazing to me that even in an area as lush as here, where things grow so easily due to the frequent rains and heavily forested areas, that people still have a hard time finding the resources to farm and forage for adequate amounts of nutritious foods. I’m hoping that I can return to those villages again to do some gardening and nutrition projects if the communities are interested.
The next day I biked back to town and worked at the hospital, because we finally got HIV tests in to administer to all the pregnant women. Since I knew the midwife wasn’t going to do pre-counseling even though she’s had the training before, I made sure to talk to all the pregnant women beforehand about the HIV test, about the illness itself and about prevention measures. HIV/AIDS doesn’t seem to be as stigmatized here as it is in many other African countries, but the more concerning issue is that awareness levels are very low. Many simply do not know what the illness is or how it is transmitted, and those who have heard of HIV, think that it doesn’t exist in this part of Madagascar. Although the country-wide prevalence is still very low, it could easily spread very quickly, because nobody uses condoms, there’s a high rate of STDs and many are unaware of the illness and its consequences. Afterwards, the doctor gave a health talk as well. He stressed using family planning as he announced that on average, 60-70 births occur at the hospital per month. I knew there were a lot of pregnant women around, but I didn’t realize the number was that high! That’s not even including the many women who give birth at home or in the 4 other small, rural clinics in the remote areas of the commune.
In the afternoon I helped out with family planning. A lot of women showed up, but most of them were regulars who have been using the Depo shot for several years now. Every time I give a health talk to the women about the different family planning methods, I always stress condom use and talk about STDs and HIV/AIDS. Nobody takes the free condoms and too many of them are really young or have husbands that sleep around. It’s so frustrating when everyone here says that men won’t use condoms, but if I can just get one young person to take some home, it will have made my day.
Other than that, all three of my grant applications for funding health projects got rejected, since there’s not much government funding to go around here in Madagascar…so I resubmitted my well project under Peace Corps Partnership. If it gets approved, I’ll post the link to the Peace Corps website where interested donors can contribute online. I’m keeping my fingers crossed!
And along with other unfortunate news, I found out that I had Giardia for the past two weeks. At first I wasn’t sure what was going on because the symptoms were so mild in the beginning. After it didn’t go away for over a week but got worse, and after talking to other volunteers and to the Peace Corps doctors, I found out that I probably had Giardia. So I went around to five pharmacies until I found the last stock of Flagyl (Giardia medication) left in the whole town and bought them out of it. After a day of taking the medication, I no longer had to run to the bathroom five times every morning. So I’m guessing that was the cause of my mysterious GI problem. Yay for fun tropical illnesses! Hopefully my next entry will be a little more uplifting.
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
18-28 Sept
18 Sept 2010
I’ve been doing quite a bit of traveling in the past month or so. I was back in Tana (the capital) at the beginning of September again to help train the new group of health volunteers that recently came into country. It was really great to meet all of them, especially the four new folks that will be coming to my area, the Sava region, although it was really cold up at the Peace Corps training site! I was only there for a few days and was already anxious to return to my site, where it is much warmer. The two who will be posted nearest to me are an education volunteer and another health volunteer. I’m looking forward to working with them in the coming months.
After only a few days back at site, I was off again, traveling to an environment volunteer’s site near Ambilobe. She lives way out in the boonies (ambanivolo be, as we call it in Malagasy) and her tiny village has very limited access to food. She requested me to come up and help her with a nutrition project in her village. The long trek up there was quite an adventure. When you look at it on the map, it doesn’t seem like her site would be that far from mine, but the road from Vohemar to Ambilobe is in terrible shape…and it doesn’t help that the vehicles are in bad shape too. On average it takes about 2-3 hours to get from my site to Vohemar, and then 10-12 hours to get from Vohemar to Ambilobe.
It actually took me 15 hours to get from Vohemar to Ambilobe, because the transmission blew out in the car I was riding in, just 1hr into the journey. Then we had to wait for three hours for someone to bring a new transmission, and then another hour for them to repair it (with no power tools). After that, a couple hours outside of Ambilobe, the engine started acting up, which delayed us probably another couple hours. The car kept stalling out every few kilometers, and then the driver would have to open the hood and tinker with the engine to start it up again. It was a nightmare. I really don’t think that tiny buggy-like four-seater was really meant to go on those roads. This is the kind of road that those absurd, giant SUVs that soccer moms in the states drive on paved roads are really meant for. We’re talking divots and potholes the size of a small Jacuzzi, a two foot layer of dust on some sections of the road, and boulders and rocks strewn across the entire stretch, just for added pleasure.
On top of that, I have a feeling that car I was riding in was very old, as I could see the ground underneath my feet through a few rusted out holes on the floor in front of my seat. At some points, dust and sand was spraying up at my feet and covering the bottom of the car. I’m guessing the engine was held together with paper clips and rubber bands, too. When I finally got to Ambilobe at 10:30 at night, I was slightly darker in color, due to the nice coating of dust all over everything and the three hours I spent sitting in the sun, waiting for the driver’s friend to bring a new transmission. Luckily, my fellow environment volunteer was there to meet me. We spent the night at her friend’s house and headed up to her site the next day. Before we left, we made sure to stock up on veggies at the nice big market in Ambilobe (cabbage, leeks, green beans, carrots, garlic, onions, papaya…they even had cashews!). Then we hopped in another bush taxi and headed north. It took maybe an hour to fill up the bus with people, and then probably another two hours to get to Martaolana. From there, we stopped for a quick plate of rice and then walked three and a half hours out into the desert and grasslands to her site. It was quite a shock to see how different the area is from my region. I am very fortunate to live in a lush, tropical, rainy setting with easy access to fresh fruits and a beautiful surrounding of dense forest. Up north, everything is deforested, so there’s a lot of desertification. Instead of green, brown is the dominant color here, with strong winds blowing dust and sand at you every few minutes. I can see why it would be hard for her village to access fruits and vegetables. Before I came, she warned me that the people in her community mostly eat just rice and beans…sometimes tomatoes or greens if they can find them.
When we finally arrived at her village, I was shocked to see how small it was. I live in a town of around 6-8000 people in a commune (kind of like a county) of 50-60,000 people total. Her village has maybe 50 people in it! Very quaint to say the least. It was so wonderful and refreshing, though, to be in such a rural setting. Everyone I met was so welcoming, also. The village borders a forest that is known for the “ankomba joby,” or, black lemur. There is a Malagasy NGO posted in the village that has been working to connect sections of the forest, which once used to be continuous but has quickly been diminishing due to logging for firewood and lumber. They have a pepenier going down in the village, so they can transplant native trees into the deforested areas nearby. There are sections of the forest that once used to play host to the black lemur, but are now empty because the lemurs cannot cross the deforested sections of their previous habitat. In addition to tree-planting, the NGO is also monitoring the lemur colonies population and movement. The environment volunteer there works both with the NGO, doing an assessment on land-use in the area and also with the people who live in the village to help improve their quality of life.
The first morning I was there, I met with all the mothers in the village as well as the village leaders and talked about proper breastfeeding practices, vaccines, the three basic food groups (starches, fruits and veggies and proteins) and Morenga, an amazing tree that grows here whose leaves have tons of vitamins, calcium, protein and iron. The next day we met with everyone at an empty plot next to the creek near the village and built a community garden. The men built the fence and the women prepared the beds. We talked about double-digging, companion planting and caring for the garden by weeding and watering. We planted beets, eggplant, bok choy, lettuce, tomatoes, radish, cucumbers and carrots. The NGO workers said they would also work on a Morenga pepenier and transplant the trees around the garden to make a living fence, once they were big enough. A strong fence was definitely a must, as there are lots of cattle that roam around the village destroying fences and eating up people’s gardens. We also stressed the importance of making up a schedule for who would tend to the garden each day, and the women were already discussing it when we finished planting! Overall it was a great success. I was really surprised, because I generally set very low expectations for even the smallest of projects as things tend to be really unorganized here and move much more slowly than we’re used to in the states. I just hope that the women can keep up their interest in the garden and tend to it routinely over the long term so that they can reap the benefits. In the very long term, the NGO is hoping to turn the area into more of an eco-tourist destination by building some bungalows and a restaurant/lodge for visitors interested in seeing the lemurs and staying overnight. They are hoping that if the villagers maintain interest in farming vegetables, they can even supply the restaurant with produce to get some money flowing into the community. It’s a lofty goal, but it would be really cool if it actually happened.
The day I left I was fortunate enough to have the chance to take a guided walk with a member of the NGO into the forest to see the lemurs. Some of them have collars on them so they can be tracked and studied. I was fortunate to get a close look at maybe five or ten of them. It was so cool! They were really cute. It was also really interesting to get a look at the different sections of forest and see how they were trying to connect them into one continuous chain…a great end to my visit up north.
On the way back, I managed to catch a bush taxi that was in much better shape than the first one, although everyone was really crammed in there for the long ride. Only 12 hours this time, and I managed to get a ride direct to my site instead of stopping in Vohemar, since the bus was going all the way to Sambava.
28 September 2010
The new volunteers were installed this week. One of them stopped by my house to pick up some furniture that was being stored for him here. His site is actually pretty close by…only about a four hour hike, maybe a 2 ½ hour bike ride. I and the volunteer 28k south of me are planning to bike there soon to check it out. It’s near the coast, and I’ve never been there, so I’m excited to see his site.
Things at my site have been going slower than I’d like, as usual. You have to be very very patient here in Madagascar when trying to get things done…and I think that probably goes for Africa in general and for Peace Corps too, for that matter. The three projects I applied for funding for are still waiting to be approved. I have gotten some things accomplished, though. I’ve been biking to the smaller, rural clinic 9km south of me and bringing their vaccines on my bike so they can vaccinate babies and pregnant women every Thursday. We recently got the swine flu vaccine, and all pregnant women are supposed to receive it along with their anti-tetanus vaccines now. When I bring the vaccines, I help by explaining the vaccine schedule to all the mothers and then recording the vaccinations in the clinic’s log book and in each baby’s or mother’s “karinem” (small personal notebook that holds all their medical records, which they are responsible for and need to take with them every time they come to the clinic). The nurse posted at the clinic is really great. He and his wife, who weighs babies on vaccine day as the village rep for the national nutrition organization, are very hard-working and are really great about including me in the activities that go on at the clinic. They always make me stay for lunch before I head back to my town in the afternoon.
In addition to working at the rural clinic, I also got a chance to head out to a village I’d never been to, that’s a 2 hour hike from my town. I went with one of the local nutrition workers whose sister lives out there. We planned to meet with the mothers in the village to talk about nutrition, weigh babies and do a cooking demonstration. I left the house at 5am that morning. We had headed out early, hoping to arrive at around 7:30, have breakfast there, and then meet with the villagers by 9am so we could start cooking by 10. As it turned out everyone was at church, so the town was really quiet until about 10:30/11…Africa time. At least I got a chance to meet all the village elders.
After chatting with the president of the village, I gave a talk on vaccines, breastfeeding and healthy foods, and then the nutrition worker started the cooking demo. It was probably around 11:30 at that time. Needless to say, the program took a lot longer than we expected. While the food was cooking (rice porridge with peanut butter and a milk and egg custard), we weighed all the babies at the village president’s office. It was really noisy and crowded. All the kids who were able to, stuffed themselves into the little house to watch us put the babies in big blue pants and hang them from a produce scale, so they could giggle and make fun of their little brothers and sisters being weighed. I will admit, the babies do look pretty funny hanging from those scales, but it was really loud and overwhelming with 50 people inside that one little room along with screaming and laughter and aggressive mothers pushing their babies’ “karinems” at me trying to get their kid weighed first.
Aside from the crowded weighing session, it was a really great day. The hike was absolutely gorgeous: through the woods, across a stream and past some rice paddies towards the mountains. On the way there, we stopped at a small village to pick up some fresh cow milk. I actually got to watch the guy milking the cow. The Malagasy were making fun of me because it was the first time I had seen a live cow-milking in action. On the way back, we were running a little late, and the sun had already set before we were half-way home. We walked by the moonlight, which actually wasn’t too bad, because the moon was really bright that night. There were a fair amount of people still out and about due to the moon’s illuminating glow. Even though I had never been down the path to that village, there were kids shouting my name at each village we passed the whole way there and back. Sometimes I feel like a celebrity or something. I was so exhausted by the time we got back at 7:30pm, since we had hiked a total of 4 ½ hours and had been awakes since 5am. It had been a really long but good day. I hope to do it again sometime soon.
Today I got a chance to meet with the parent’s organization at the local CEG (junior high school). I found out from the director of the school that they were meeting today to do some repairs on the school buildings, and I asked if I could stop by, because I’m planning to start a health club at the school this year. I wanted to let all the parents know so that they could encourage their kids to join. I also asked them to let me know if they had any suggestions for projects or health topics that we should focus on. I also let them know that there’s funding available for the club to do HIV/AIDS trainings or festivals if the kids are interested. All the parents there seemed fairly receptive.
I’m keeping my expectations low, but hoping that the health club can meet at least once a month to learn about a variety of topics, like malaria prevention, family planning, clean water and HIV/AIDS. I’d be really thrilled if we could do a program with the local radio station or do peer education outreach in the rural areas in order to reach the youth who have dropped out of school or who don’t study in town. I’m really hoping to focus on life skills and prevention of STIs, because there are so many kids who drop out of school due to unplanned pregnancies and a lot of STIs at the clinics too. I especially want the young girls to learn that they can say no to older guys and wait until they’re ready or negotiate condom use. If I can even get anyone to show up on a regular basis, it will still be really hard to talk about that kind of stuff in Malagasy. My language is improving everyday, and I have a few manuals on life skills and HIV/AIDS in Malagasy, but it will be challenging nonetheless. It’s difficult enough as it is discussing safe sex and how to make life choices in English!
That’s about it for now. On Thursday, I’m planning to do a cooking demo with the nutrition worker at the rural clinic where I help out with vaccines. Then on Sunday I’m planning to bike to another village just down the road with a different nutrition worker to do a cooking demo and weigh babies again. We’re going to go in the afternoon, though, so it doesn’t conflict with anyone’s church schedule.
I’ve been doing quite a bit of traveling in the past month or so. I was back in Tana (the capital) at the beginning of September again to help train the new group of health volunteers that recently came into country. It was really great to meet all of them, especially the four new folks that will be coming to my area, the Sava region, although it was really cold up at the Peace Corps training site! I was only there for a few days and was already anxious to return to my site, where it is much warmer. The two who will be posted nearest to me are an education volunteer and another health volunteer. I’m looking forward to working with them in the coming months.
After only a few days back at site, I was off again, traveling to an environment volunteer’s site near Ambilobe. She lives way out in the boonies (ambanivolo be, as we call it in Malagasy) and her tiny village has very limited access to food. She requested me to come up and help her with a nutrition project in her village. The long trek up there was quite an adventure. When you look at it on the map, it doesn’t seem like her site would be that far from mine, but the road from Vohemar to Ambilobe is in terrible shape…and it doesn’t help that the vehicles are in bad shape too. On average it takes about 2-3 hours to get from my site to Vohemar, and then 10-12 hours to get from Vohemar to Ambilobe.
It actually took me 15 hours to get from Vohemar to Ambilobe, because the transmission blew out in the car I was riding in, just 1hr into the journey. Then we had to wait for three hours for someone to bring a new transmission, and then another hour for them to repair it (with no power tools). After that, a couple hours outside of Ambilobe, the engine started acting up, which delayed us probably another couple hours. The car kept stalling out every few kilometers, and then the driver would have to open the hood and tinker with the engine to start it up again. It was a nightmare. I really don’t think that tiny buggy-like four-seater was really meant to go on those roads. This is the kind of road that those absurd, giant SUVs that soccer moms in the states drive on paved roads are really meant for. We’re talking divots and potholes the size of a small Jacuzzi, a two foot layer of dust on some sections of the road, and boulders and rocks strewn across the entire stretch, just for added pleasure.
On top of that, I have a feeling that car I was riding in was very old, as I could see the ground underneath my feet through a few rusted out holes on the floor in front of my seat. At some points, dust and sand was spraying up at my feet and covering the bottom of the car. I’m guessing the engine was held together with paper clips and rubber bands, too. When I finally got to Ambilobe at 10:30 at night, I was slightly darker in color, due to the nice coating of dust all over everything and the three hours I spent sitting in the sun, waiting for the driver’s friend to bring a new transmission. Luckily, my fellow environment volunteer was there to meet me. We spent the night at her friend’s house and headed up to her site the next day. Before we left, we made sure to stock up on veggies at the nice big market in Ambilobe (cabbage, leeks, green beans, carrots, garlic, onions, papaya…they even had cashews!). Then we hopped in another bush taxi and headed north. It took maybe an hour to fill up the bus with people, and then probably another two hours to get to Martaolana. From there, we stopped for a quick plate of rice and then walked three and a half hours out into the desert and grasslands to her site. It was quite a shock to see how different the area is from my region. I am very fortunate to live in a lush, tropical, rainy setting with easy access to fresh fruits and a beautiful surrounding of dense forest. Up north, everything is deforested, so there’s a lot of desertification. Instead of green, brown is the dominant color here, with strong winds blowing dust and sand at you every few minutes. I can see why it would be hard for her village to access fruits and vegetables. Before I came, she warned me that the people in her community mostly eat just rice and beans…sometimes tomatoes or greens if they can find them.
When we finally arrived at her village, I was shocked to see how small it was. I live in a town of around 6-8000 people in a commune (kind of like a county) of 50-60,000 people total. Her village has maybe 50 people in it! Very quaint to say the least. It was so wonderful and refreshing, though, to be in such a rural setting. Everyone I met was so welcoming, also. The village borders a forest that is known for the “ankomba joby,” or, black lemur. There is a Malagasy NGO posted in the village that has been working to connect sections of the forest, which once used to be continuous but has quickly been diminishing due to logging for firewood and lumber. They have a pepenier going down in the village, so they can transplant native trees into the deforested areas nearby. There are sections of the forest that once used to play host to the black lemur, but are now empty because the lemurs cannot cross the deforested sections of their previous habitat. In addition to tree-planting, the NGO is also monitoring the lemur colonies population and movement. The environment volunteer there works both with the NGO, doing an assessment on land-use in the area and also with the people who live in the village to help improve their quality of life.
The first morning I was there, I met with all the mothers in the village as well as the village leaders and talked about proper breastfeeding practices, vaccines, the three basic food groups (starches, fruits and veggies and proteins) and Morenga, an amazing tree that grows here whose leaves have tons of vitamins, calcium, protein and iron. The next day we met with everyone at an empty plot next to the creek near the village and built a community garden. The men built the fence and the women prepared the beds. We talked about double-digging, companion planting and caring for the garden by weeding and watering. We planted beets, eggplant, bok choy, lettuce, tomatoes, radish, cucumbers and carrots. The NGO workers said they would also work on a Morenga pepenier and transplant the trees around the garden to make a living fence, once they were big enough. A strong fence was definitely a must, as there are lots of cattle that roam around the village destroying fences and eating up people’s gardens. We also stressed the importance of making up a schedule for who would tend to the garden each day, and the women were already discussing it when we finished planting! Overall it was a great success. I was really surprised, because I generally set very low expectations for even the smallest of projects as things tend to be really unorganized here and move much more slowly than we’re used to in the states. I just hope that the women can keep up their interest in the garden and tend to it routinely over the long term so that they can reap the benefits. In the very long term, the NGO is hoping to turn the area into more of an eco-tourist destination by building some bungalows and a restaurant/lodge for visitors interested in seeing the lemurs and staying overnight. They are hoping that if the villagers maintain interest in farming vegetables, they can even supply the restaurant with produce to get some money flowing into the community. It’s a lofty goal, but it would be really cool if it actually happened.
The day I left I was fortunate enough to have the chance to take a guided walk with a member of the NGO into the forest to see the lemurs. Some of them have collars on them so they can be tracked and studied. I was fortunate to get a close look at maybe five or ten of them. It was so cool! They were really cute. It was also really interesting to get a look at the different sections of forest and see how they were trying to connect them into one continuous chain…a great end to my visit up north.
On the way back, I managed to catch a bush taxi that was in much better shape than the first one, although everyone was really crammed in there for the long ride. Only 12 hours this time, and I managed to get a ride direct to my site instead of stopping in Vohemar, since the bus was going all the way to Sambava.
28 September 2010
The new volunteers were installed this week. One of them stopped by my house to pick up some furniture that was being stored for him here. His site is actually pretty close by…only about a four hour hike, maybe a 2 ½ hour bike ride. I and the volunteer 28k south of me are planning to bike there soon to check it out. It’s near the coast, and I’ve never been there, so I’m excited to see his site.
Things at my site have been going slower than I’d like, as usual. You have to be very very patient here in Madagascar when trying to get things done…and I think that probably goes for Africa in general and for Peace Corps too, for that matter. The three projects I applied for funding for are still waiting to be approved. I have gotten some things accomplished, though. I’ve been biking to the smaller, rural clinic 9km south of me and bringing their vaccines on my bike so they can vaccinate babies and pregnant women every Thursday. We recently got the swine flu vaccine, and all pregnant women are supposed to receive it along with their anti-tetanus vaccines now. When I bring the vaccines, I help by explaining the vaccine schedule to all the mothers and then recording the vaccinations in the clinic’s log book and in each baby’s or mother’s “karinem” (small personal notebook that holds all their medical records, which they are responsible for and need to take with them every time they come to the clinic). The nurse posted at the clinic is really great. He and his wife, who weighs babies on vaccine day as the village rep for the national nutrition organization, are very hard-working and are really great about including me in the activities that go on at the clinic. They always make me stay for lunch before I head back to my town in the afternoon.
In addition to working at the rural clinic, I also got a chance to head out to a village I’d never been to, that’s a 2 hour hike from my town. I went with one of the local nutrition workers whose sister lives out there. We planned to meet with the mothers in the village to talk about nutrition, weigh babies and do a cooking demonstration. I left the house at 5am that morning. We had headed out early, hoping to arrive at around 7:30, have breakfast there, and then meet with the villagers by 9am so we could start cooking by 10. As it turned out everyone was at church, so the town was really quiet until about 10:30/11…Africa time. At least I got a chance to meet all the village elders.
After chatting with the president of the village, I gave a talk on vaccines, breastfeeding and healthy foods, and then the nutrition worker started the cooking demo. It was probably around 11:30 at that time. Needless to say, the program took a lot longer than we expected. While the food was cooking (rice porridge with peanut butter and a milk and egg custard), we weighed all the babies at the village president’s office. It was really noisy and crowded. All the kids who were able to, stuffed themselves into the little house to watch us put the babies in big blue pants and hang them from a produce scale, so they could giggle and make fun of their little brothers and sisters being weighed. I will admit, the babies do look pretty funny hanging from those scales, but it was really loud and overwhelming with 50 people inside that one little room along with screaming and laughter and aggressive mothers pushing their babies’ “karinems” at me trying to get their kid weighed first.
Aside from the crowded weighing session, it was a really great day. The hike was absolutely gorgeous: through the woods, across a stream and past some rice paddies towards the mountains. On the way there, we stopped at a small village to pick up some fresh cow milk. I actually got to watch the guy milking the cow. The Malagasy were making fun of me because it was the first time I had seen a live cow-milking in action. On the way back, we were running a little late, and the sun had already set before we were half-way home. We walked by the moonlight, which actually wasn’t too bad, because the moon was really bright that night. There were a fair amount of people still out and about due to the moon’s illuminating glow. Even though I had never been down the path to that village, there were kids shouting my name at each village we passed the whole way there and back. Sometimes I feel like a celebrity or something. I was so exhausted by the time we got back at 7:30pm, since we had hiked a total of 4 ½ hours and had been awakes since 5am. It had been a really long but good day. I hope to do it again sometime soon.
Today I got a chance to meet with the parent’s organization at the local CEG (junior high school). I found out from the director of the school that they were meeting today to do some repairs on the school buildings, and I asked if I could stop by, because I’m planning to start a health club at the school this year. I wanted to let all the parents know so that they could encourage their kids to join. I also asked them to let me know if they had any suggestions for projects or health topics that we should focus on. I also let them know that there’s funding available for the club to do HIV/AIDS trainings or festivals if the kids are interested. All the parents there seemed fairly receptive.
I’m keeping my expectations low, but hoping that the health club can meet at least once a month to learn about a variety of topics, like malaria prevention, family planning, clean water and HIV/AIDS. I’d be really thrilled if we could do a program with the local radio station or do peer education outreach in the rural areas in order to reach the youth who have dropped out of school or who don’t study in town. I’m really hoping to focus on life skills and prevention of STIs, because there are so many kids who drop out of school due to unplanned pregnancies and a lot of STIs at the clinics too. I especially want the young girls to learn that they can say no to older guys and wait until they’re ready or negotiate condom use. If I can even get anyone to show up on a regular basis, it will still be really hard to talk about that kind of stuff in Malagasy. My language is improving everyday, and I have a few manuals on life skills and HIV/AIDS in Malagasy, but it will be challenging nonetheless. It’s difficult enough as it is discussing safe sex and how to make life choices in English!
That’s about it for now. On Thursday, I’m planning to do a cooking demo with the nutrition worker at the rural clinic where I help out with vaccines. Then on Sunday I’m planning to bike to another village just down the road with a different nutrition worker to do a cooking demo and weigh babies again. We’re going to go in the afternoon, though, so it doesn’t conflict with anyone’s church schedule.
Monday, August 30, 2010
30 August 2010
So it’s been about a month at site and now I’m back in Tana again to help train the new volunteers. It was actually pretty uneventful the past month at site. I helped out at a few of the clinics in my commune, visited with friends at site, spent a nice weekend up in Vohemar, a larger town north of me on the coast. It has a really nice beach…wish I would have remembered to take my camera. I also helped the environment volunteer 25km south of me start to paint a world map on one of the buildings at the CEG (junior high school). We had some kids in her town help out, and it was a lot of fun, though I don’t think it’s finished yet. When I left for Tana, it was just a giant blue rectangle, but I’m sure it will be beautiful when it’s done, and I hope the kids are able to learn some geography from seeing it everyday when they go to school.
So many people here have no idea where different countries are located. They often think that the United States is in Europe and they have no idea what countries are in Africa, even though Madagascar is technically considered part of Africa. I have a couple maps in my house, and I’m constantly showing people who stop by where America, Africa, France and Madagascar are, so they have some concept of where I am from and where they are from in the world. I guess it’s hard though, when so many of the people here haven’t even finished middle school. It’s especially hard for the girls, who often get pregnant at age 15 and then drop out of school because they have to take care of their baby.
On another note, the fact that I’ve been traveling around a lot made me realize I’ve never talked about the transportation system here in Madagascar. I’m luck enough to be a “fly site,” which means that the road from my site to the capital is so bad that it can take up to three days by car and is often impassible during the rainy season. So every time I have to go to the capital for a training or meeting, I get flown down and spared the unpleasant long journey crammed in a taxi brousse (French for bush taxi, i.e. public bus system in Madagascar). I still have to take a 1.5-2hr ride in a taxi brousse from my site to Sambava to catch the plane, though, and that in itself is enough for me.
This time around I was crammed in an 18 passenger van with 30 other Malagasies. Granted, a few of them were kids, and Malagasy people are generally pretty small, but still, it was pretty ridiculous. The smell of fried food, body odor and bad breath permeating throughout the vehicle does not help with the discomfort. One time there was a live chicken tied up under my seat, clucking away and flapping its wings. There are often people sitting facing backwards, legs entangled with the people directly in front of them, some sit on other’s laps, sometimes someone has to share a seat with the driver, who has to reach awkwardly between their legs every time he needs to switch gears, and some of the seats get really hot, because they’re right over the engine or something. Many of the drivers hotwire the car every time they start it because they don’t have the actual ignition key. When they have to fill up the engine, it’s often from an old glass soda bottle filled with petrol from a shack along the side of the road. The windshields often have cracks in the glass. Some of the taxi brousses have tons of stuff piled on top…anything from 15 giant sacks of bananas or cassava to bicycles to suitcases. A lot of times, the worker who collects everyone’s fair and loads luggage on top of the car has to hang out the side with the door open since the brousse is so full. I’m always terrified they’re going to tumble to their death if the taxi happens to make a sharp turn or get in an accident when they’re hanging out the side like that.
From a public health perspective, I sometimes wonder if there’s something we should be doing about the taxi brousse situation, considering many deaths in developing coutries are due to traffic accidents as the infrastructure is so bad and the population concentration so great. Unfortunately I suppose the transportation issue goes along with law enforcement. There really should be a limit on the number of people allowed in certain types of vehicles, and it should be enforced. There are checkpoints along the national highways, and the gendarmes do often stop the taxis to check that the driver’s registration and license is up to date and to reprimand the ones who stuff too many people in the car, but I think there’s often some under-the-table transactions (i.e. drivers forking over a few Ariary to the gendarmes so they can continue on their way). It’s also hard when gas prices are so high, and the drivers are just trying to make a living. You can’t blame them for wanting to get as many passengers as possible to make their trips worthwhile.
Nevertheless, I always seem to make it safely to my destination, even though it may sometimes be several hours later than I had intended to arrive. I’m in Tana again now, and man it is so cold!! I want to go back to my site already and it’s only been a day. I’m such a whimp, I don’t know how I’ll survive the weather when I go back to the states. I’m so glad my site is up north near the coast where it’s warm all year around. Right now it is our winter, and it does cool down (low 60s) at night and in the early morning to be fair, but the highlands is so much chillier than the coast. I can still wear tank-tops and sandals at site, but I’m bundled up in a sweatshirt and thick socks here. Anyway, looking forward to getting back to site soon and continuing on my projects. I’ll be headed up toward Diego in a few weeks to help out an environment volunteer posted up there with some nutrition projects. That’s it for now!
So many people here have no idea where different countries are located. They often think that the United States is in Europe and they have no idea what countries are in Africa, even though Madagascar is technically considered part of Africa. I have a couple maps in my house, and I’m constantly showing people who stop by where America, Africa, France and Madagascar are, so they have some concept of where I am from and where they are from in the world. I guess it’s hard though, when so many of the people here haven’t even finished middle school. It’s especially hard for the girls, who often get pregnant at age 15 and then drop out of school because they have to take care of their baby.
On another note, the fact that I’ve been traveling around a lot made me realize I’ve never talked about the transportation system here in Madagascar. I’m luck enough to be a “fly site,” which means that the road from my site to the capital is so bad that it can take up to three days by car and is often impassible during the rainy season. So every time I have to go to the capital for a training or meeting, I get flown down and spared the unpleasant long journey crammed in a taxi brousse (French for bush taxi, i.e. public bus system in Madagascar). I still have to take a 1.5-2hr ride in a taxi brousse from my site to Sambava to catch the plane, though, and that in itself is enough for me.
This time around I was crammed in an 18 passenger van with 30 other Malagasies. Granted, a few of them were kids, and Malagasy people are generally pretty small, but still, it was pretty ridiculous. The smell of fried food, body odor and bad breath permeating throughout the vehicle does not help with the discomfort. One time there was a live chicken tied up under my seat, clucking away and flapping its wings. There are often people sitting facing backwards, legs entangled with the people directly in front of them, some sit on other’s laps, sometimes someone has to share a seat with the driver, who has to reach awkwardly between their legs every time he needs to switch gears, and some of the seats get really hot, because they’re right over the engine or something. Many of the drivers hotwire the car every time they start it because they don’t have the actual ignition key. When they have to fill up the engine, it’s often from an old glass soda bottle filled with petrol from a shack along the side of the road. The windshields often have cracks in the glass. Some of the taxi brousses have tons of stuff piled on top…anything from 15 giant sacks of bananas or cassava to bicycles to suitcases. A lot of times, the worker who collects everyone’s fair and loads luggage on top of the car has to hang out the side with the door open since the brousse is so full. I’m always terrified they’re going to tumble to their death if the taxi happens to make a sharp turn or get in an accident when they’re hanging out the side like that.
From a public health perspective, I sometimes wonder if there’s something we should be doing about the taxi brousse situation, considering many deaths in developing coutries are due to traffic accidents as the infrastructure is so bad and the population concentration so great. Unfortunately I suppose the transportation issue goes along with law enforcement. There really should be a limit on the number of people allowed in certain types of vehicles, and it should be enforced. There are checkpoints along the national highways, and the gendarmes do often stop the taxis to check that the driver’s registration and license is up to date and to reprimand the ones who stuff too many people in the car, but I think there’s often some under-the-table transactions (i.e. drivers forking over a few Ariary to the gendarmes so they can continue on their way). It’s also hard when gas prices are so high, and the drivers are just trying to make a living. You can’t blame them for wanting to get as many passengers as possible to make their trips worthwhile.
Nevertheless, I always seem to make it safely to my destination, even though it may sometimes be several hours later than I had intended to arrive. I’m in Tana again now, and man it is so cold!! I want to go back to my site already and it’s only been a day. I’m such a whimp, I don’t know how I’ll survive the weather when I go back to the states. I’m so glad my site is up north near the coast where it’s warm all year around. Right now it is our winter, and it does cool down (low 60s) at night and in the early morning to be fair, but the highlands is so much chillier than the coast. I can still wear tank-tops and sandals at site, but I’m bundled up in a sweatshirt and thick socks here. Anyway, looking forward to getting back to site soon and continuing on my projects. I’ll be headed up toward Diego in a few weeks to help out an environment volunteer posted up there with some nutrition projects. That’s it for now!
Friday, August 20, 2010
6 Aug 2010
Wow, the past month has been really busy! The beginning of July, I was still at site doing the usual…teaching about health in the clinic in town and the rural clinic 10k south of me, working with local community organizations on projects like building public wells and latrines. I got to hike to a rural village to see where a women’s group was planning to build a well since there’s no access to clean water out there and many of the kids suffer from schistosomiasis and diarrheal diseases. I am planning to help the women’s group get money to build two public wells in that village.
I also had an unexpected visit from an American traveling through Madagascar on a bike! He had actually come across some of my fellow Peace Corps volunteers who live closer to Antananarivo, and had biked northwest up to the coast of Madagascar. Then he took a plane up to Sambava and passed by my site. He was asking about the road up north and looking to visit Diego. It was really cool to have a random English speaker stop by my house on a quiet Saturday and to hear that he had seen some of my friends in other parts of Madagascar. He had all of his belongings on a small cart-thing that was attached to the back of his bike (probably a technical term for this, but I’m not a savvy biker, so I don’t know).
The second week of July I headed back down to Tana. There I had a couple meetings and business things to take care of, and then I went to Ambatondrazaka/Lake Alaotra with a bunch of other volunteers to participate in a bike tour around the lake and do some festivals to raise awareness about AIDS. We stopped in 9 towns around the lake (7 of which were Peace Corps volunteer’s sites) and taught about methods of prevention against AIDS and about what Peace Corps does here in Madagascar. We also sang songs, danced, showed videos on a projector complements of the NGO Population Services International and generally had a good time. I had so much fun partying it up, seeing another part of Madagascar and hanging out with all my fellow volunteers again. I also got to see Lake Lemurs. How cool!
Now I am back at site again. At first it was a little difficult to go back, because I knew I would miss all my fellow American volunteers dearly, but I was excited to see some of my Malagasy friends back at site and to speak my dialect of Malagasy again. The official dialect spoken near the capital is difficult! It took a few days but I got back into the swing of things. I’ve jumped back on my own bike back at site and have been visiting all my friends and colleagues and working at the clinics again. I love the weather so much better up here. It’s not quite so cold as down in Tana (it is winter here in Madagascar after all). After doing all the AIDS festivals in Lake Alaotra, I’m inspired to do one here up north for World AIDS day on December 1st.
Sometimes I feel kind of conflicted when talking about AIDS though, because we often run out of HIV tests here in Madagascar and testing is such an integral part of AIDS prevention. It’s also so hard to get people to use condoms, since most of the men here are totally opposed to them and some even consider STDs to be a sign of manliness (I guess since that means they have slept with a lot of women). Most women are convinced that their husbands or boyfriends would never use a condom if they asked, yet so many people here have STDs. I saw a newborn baby at the clinic last week with swollen/infected eyes, and I wouldn’t be surprised if it was because the mother had syphilis. When we did have syphilis tests and were able to test pregnant women, at least one would test positive every time we tested each week at the clinic. Again, I get so frustrated sometimes when the majority of problems I see are systematic ones that I can’t change from my position as a volunteer in another country (ex: availability of syphilis and HIV tests, accessibility of clinics, availability/price of medications). Still pluggin’ away, though, and looking forward to seeing some new health and education volunteers up here at the end of September. I hope they will be good people to work with.
I also had an unexpected visit from an American traveling through Madagascar on a bike! He had actually come across some of my fellow Peace Corps volunteers who live closer to Antananarivo, and had biked northwest up to the coast of Madagascar. Then he took a plane up to Sambava and passed by my site. He was asking about the road up north and looking to visit Diego. It was really cool to have a random English speaker stop by my house on a quiet Saturday and to hear that he had seen some of my friends in other parts of Madagascar. He had all of his belongings on a small cart-thing that was attached to the back of his bike (probably a technical term for this, but I’m not a savvy biker, so I don’t know).
The second week of July I headed back down to Tana. There I had a couple meetings and business things to take care of, and then I went to Ambatondrazaka/Lake Alaotra with a bunch of other volunteers to participate in a bike tour around the lake and do some festivals to raise awareness about AIDS. We stopped in 9 towns around the lake (7 of which were Peace Corps volunteer’s sites) and taught about methods of prevention against AIDS and about what Peace Corps does here in Madagascar. We also sang songs, danced, showed videos on a projector complements of the NGO Population Services International and generally had a good time. I had so much fun partying it up, seeing another part of Madagascar and hanging out with all my fellow volunteers again. I also got to see Lake Lemurs. How cool!
Now I am back at site again. At first it was a little difficult to go back, because I knew I would miss all my fellow American volunteers dearly, but I was excited to see some of my Malagasy friends back at site and to speak my dialect of Malagasy again. The official dialect spoken near the capital is difficult! It took a few days but I got back into the swing of things. I’ve jumped back on my own bike back at site and have been visiting all my friends and colleagues and working at the clinics again. I love the weather so much better up here. It’s not quite so cold as down in Tana (it is winter here in Madagascar after all). After doing all the AIDS festivals in Lake Alaotra, I’m inspired to do one here up north for World AIDS day on December 1st.
Sometimes I feel kind of conflicted when talking about AIDS though, because we often run out of HIV tests here in Madagascar and testing is such an integral part of AIDS prevention. It’s also so hard to get people to use condoms, since most of the men here are totally opposed to them and some even consider STDs to be a sign of manliness (I guess since that means they have slept with a lot of women). Most women are convinced that their husbands or boyfriends would never use a condom if they asked, yet so many people here have STDs. I saw a newborn baby at the clinic last week with swollen/infected eyes, and I wouldn’t be surprised if it was because the mother had syphilis. When we did have syphilis tests and were able to test pregnant women, at least one would test positive every time we tested each week at the clinic. Again, I get so frustrated sometimes when the majority of problems I see are systematic ones that I can’t change from my position as a volunteer in another country (ex: availability of syphilis and HIV tests, accessibility of clinics, availability/price of medications). Still pluggin’ away, though, and looking forward to seeing some new health and education volunteers up here at the end of September. I hope they will be good people to work with.
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
30 June 2010
I’ve been back at site for a month now, and things have been going really well so far. The new environment volunteer who’s 25km south of me seems like she’ll be great to work with, and I’ve met up with her a couple times since I’ve been back. We’re thinking of doing some bio-intensive gardens with the nutrition organization here to encourage people to use kitchen gardens to improve their food security. We’re also planning on getting funding for some public wells and latrines in rural areas, building some improved cookstoves and possibly painting a large map of the world in one of the primary schools as part of Peace Corp’s World Map Project.
Lately I’ve been biking or hiking out to the more rural areas to carry out health education activities. I really enjoy getting the exercise everyday and meeting new people. So far I’ve taught at four different primary schools and have been carrying out a training program for health educators at another primary school. I’ve also brought some materials to construct hand-washing stations at a few of the schools I have taught at. Sometimes it’s a little overwhelming, because there can be as many as 80-100 kids in a class, but it’s still really fun. The kids really enjoy the pictures I draw on my health posters, and the songs about healthy foods and hand-washing are a big hit. Malagasy love to sing, no matter how tone deaf some of them might be (some are really talented singers, though). I also often work with a doctor posted at a much smaller rural clinic 9km south of me. I go there at least once a week and help out with family planning or vaccines. I really enjoy talking to the people who visit the clinic about their daily struggles and about different options they have to improve the health of their families. It’s so beautiful out in the countryside of Madagascar, so even just traveling out to the different villages is an amazing experience in itself. I just need to remember to bring my camera more often! My garden is starting to come along too. Ive got tomato plants, onions, eggplant, cilantro, green beans, cucumbers, carrots and radishes already growing. The tomato plants already have little tomatoes on them. Hopefully we'll be able to use the veggies for cooking demos with the nutrition organiation.
I’ve also been doing some informal English lessons on the side. I’m more about the health education than English, but there are so many people here that want to learn and it is a nice way to make friends. I also end up picking up a little more Malagasy and French too, and I often get “voandalanas,” or, gifts for the road (cucumbers, bananas, coconuts, etc.).
June 26th was Madagascar’s Independence Day, which is a huge celebration here. The past weekend was really fun. A couple of friends had me over for meals, I participated in a bike race, watched a parade through town, watched a soccer match, heard a speech given by the village president and went to a dance party on Saturday night. Needless to say I was completely exhausted on Sunday, but it was a really fun experience. The Malagasy really know how to party!
Quite a few people have TVs here, and there’s electricity in town from 2pm-12am everyday, so I’ve even been able to catch some of the World Cup action. People here really enjoy watching Brazil (like everyone else). When I’m not able to make it over to a neighbor’s house to catch the games, I listen on my radio. The local Malagasy station in town runs commentaries on the matches every evening. It’s hard to understand a lot of it, since they speak so fast (like commentators in the U.S.) and it’s not in the same dialect, but once in a while I can figure out what’s going on, and it’s a good way for me to work on my language.
My Malagasy has been coming a long much better now that I’ve been back at site. I find that when I’m listening in on other’s conversations I can understand a lot more than I could before. I’m able to mix the dialects a little better now. Even though I was trained in the northern dialect, Sakalava, the people in this region speak a mix of several different dialects. In addition to Sakalava, there’s also Betsimasaraka, Tsimihety and Antandroy. Many people take words and expressions from multiple dialects, and when I travel from village to village (even if it’s only a few km away) there are clusters of groups, so I’ll find people speaking more Betsimasaraka than Sakalava or more Tsimihety than Betsimasaraka. I notice that some of the villages I go to, I really have a hard time understanding them because they tend to use more of one dialect than another. It’s a real challenge. Some days are really frustrating, because I feel like I’m back at day one, but then other days are encouraging because I feel that I’m really picking up on the language.
This weekend I’ll be meeting up with the other three volunteers in my region to celebrate 4th of July and watch a little World Cup. Then in mid-July I’m headed back to Tana (the capital) for a meeting and a training session since I’ll be helping train the next batch of health volunteers that come in August. I’m also going to help out with a bike tour against AIDS that some of the other health volunteers are organizing up at Lake Alaotra. I’m really excited to see everyone again and to help out with the bike tour. It should be a lot of fun. Hopefully somewhere in there I’ll be able to get the funding straightened out for the public latrine and well projects that I’m working on. It’s been a challenge since a lot of the US gov. funding has been cut for aid/assistance with projects in Madagascar. That’s about it for now. My next post will probably be from Tana in a couple weeks.
Lately I’ve been biking or hiking out to the more rural areas to carry out health education activities. I really enjoy getting the exercise everyday and meeting new people. So far I’ve taught at four different primary schools and have been carrying out a training program for health educators at another primary school. I’ve also brought some materials to construct hand-washing stations at a few of the schools I have taught at. Sometimes it’s a little overwhelming, because there can be as many as 80-100 kids in a class, but it’s still really fun. The kids really enjoy the pictures I draw on my health posters, and the songs about healthy foods and hand-washing are a big hit. Malagasy love to sing, no matter how tone deaf some of them might be (some are really talented singers, though). I also often work with a doctor posted at a much smaller rural clinic 9km south of me. I go there at least once a week and help out with family planning or vaccines. I really enjoy talking to the people who visit the clinic about their daily struggles and about different options they have to improve the health of their families. It’s so beautiful out in the countryside of Madagascar, so even just traveling out to the different villages is an amazing experience in itself. I just need to remember to bring my camera more often! My garden is starting to come along too. Ive got tomato plants, onions, eggplant, cilantro, green beans, cucumbers, carrots and radishes already growing. The tomato plants already have little tomatoes on them. Hopefully we'll be able to use the veggies for cooking demos with the nutrition organiation.
I’ve also been doing some informal English lessons on the side. I’m more about the health education than English, but there are so many people here that want to learn and it is a nice way to make friends. I also end up picking up a little more Malagasy and French too, and I often get “voandalanas,” or, gifts for the road (cucumbers, bananas, coconuts, etc.).
June 26th was Madagascar’s Independence Day, which is a huge celebration here. The past weekend was really fun. A couple of friends had me over for meals, I participated in a bike race, watched a parade through town, watched a soccer match, heard a speech given by the village president and went to a dance party on Saturday night. Needless to say I was completely exhausted on Sunday, but it was a really fun experience. The Malagasy really know how to party!
Quite a few people have TVs here, and there’s electricity in town from 2pm-12am everyday, so I’ve even been able to catch some of the World Cup action. People here really enjoy watching Brazil (like everyone else). When I’m not able to make it over to a neighbor’s house to catch the games, I listen on my radio. The local Malagasy station in town runs commentaries on the matches every evening. It’s hard to understand a lot of it, since they speak so fast (like commentators in the U.S.) and it’s not in the same dialect, but once in a while I can figure out what’s going on, and it’s a good way for me to work on my language.
My Malagasy has been coming a long much better now that I’ve been back at site. I find that when I’m listening in on other’s conversations I can understand a lot more than I could before. I’m able to mix the dialects a little better now. Even though I was trained in the northern dialect, Sakalava, the people in this region speak a mix of several different dialects. In addition to Sakalava, there’s also Betsimasaraka, Tsimihety and Antandroy. Many people take words and expressions from multiple dialects, and when I travel from village to village (even if it’s only a few km away) there are clusters of groups, so I’ll find people speaking more Betsimasaraka than Sakalava or more Tsimihety than Betsimasaraka. I notice that some of the villages I go to, I really have a hard time understanding them because they tend to use more of one dialect than another. It’s a real challenge. Some days are really frustrating, because I feel like I’m back at day one, but then other days are encouraging because I feel that I’m really picking up on the language.
This weekend I’ll be meeting up with the other three volunteers in my region to celebrate 4th of July and watch a little World Cup. Then in mid-July I’m headed back to Tana (the capital) for a meeting and a training session since I’ll be helping train the next batch of health volunteers that come in August. I’m also going to help out with a bike tour against AIDS that some of the other health volunteers are organizing up at Lake Alaotra. I’m really excited to see everyone again and to help out with the bike tour. It should be a lot of fun. Hopefully somewhere in there I’ll be able to get the funding straightened out for the public latrine and well projects that I’m working on. It’s been a challenge since a lot of the US gov. funding has been cut for aid/assistance with projects in Madagascar. That’s about it for now. My next post will probably be from Tana in a couple weeks.
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
In-Service Training/Antananarivo
It's been so strange to be away from site for such a long time! A little over two weeks ago, I hopped on an Air Madagascar plane along with the midwife from my health clinic in Antsirabe Nord to head down to the capital, Antananarivo (a.k.a. Tana) for in-service training. After arriving in town, I stayed at the Peace Corps hostile and then headed up to the Peace Corps training site 2hrs outside of the city.
The training site is a beautiful place next to a lake up in the mountains in the center of the island, but it is quite chilly and rainy there. It was so wonderful to meet up with the other volunteers in my stage, since we hadn't seen each other in so long. The first week was filled with training sessions on how to apply for funding for projects, how to work with our counterparts and our community, how to do community analysis and needs assessment, some hands-on bio-intensive gardening as well as some HIV/AIDS prevention education strategies. We also did a bit more language training, which was very helpful since I'm still not proficient in my dialect of Malagasy. At the end of the first week, the counterparts that we brought from our sites went home and just the volunteers stayed on for a second week of training. We did a little more sector specific training (health for health volunteers, business for business volunteers, etc.) and some strategizing for what we plan to do when we return back to site. We also managed to find a little time to hang out and have fun too :)
I was very excited to hear that there is a new stage of health and education volunteers coming soon, and some of us might get to come back to help train them during the months of August and September. I'm hoping I get to be one of the trainers, because I really appreciated the help and advice I received from volunteers in the field when I was a Peace Corps trainee. Another advantage of being a trainer is that Peace Corps would fly me down to Tana, and then I could also take part in an upcoming Bike Tour against AIDS that some volunteers are planning in the Ambato region. Otherwise, it would be too far and too expensive for me to travel from my site to where the bike tour will be held in July.
The past few days I've been hanging out in the capital until my flight leaves to go back to site. It's expensive here in Tana, but it is quite an interesting city. Sometimes it seems very crowded and overwhelming, but I'm starting to enjoy it more, now that I've been able to see more of the city. The public bus system has been quite an adventure to explore. There are hundreds of different bus numbers that go all over town, and it only costs 300 ariary (15 cents) to get on one. I've gone all around the city on it. The markets are so fun to look at, because there is so much variety here: tomatoes, carrots, persimmons, tangerines, pineapples, papayas, avocados, apples, bok choy, cabbage, lettuce, sweet potatoes, peanuts, many different kinds of rice, tons of used clothing (fripery), electronics, toys, handicrafts. It's like sensory overload after four months of rural life! The big city doesn't come without it's downsides though. There are lots of pickpocketers, pollution, children begging on the streets, seas of dilapitated houses and buildings all connected to each other in a jumbled mess... Part of me is definitely anxious to get back to site to start working with rural communities again. That's about it for now. A manaraka indray!
The training site is a beautiful place next to a lake up in the mountains in the center of the island, but it is quite chilly and rainy there. It was so wonderful to meet up with the other volunteers in my stage, since we hadn't seen each other in so long. The first week was filled with training sessions on how to apply for funding for projects, how to work with our counterparts and our community, how to do community analysis and needs assessment, some hands-on bio-intensive gardening as well as some HIV/AIDS prevention education strategies. We also did a bit more language training, which was very helpful since I'm still not proficient in my dialect of Malagasy. At the end of the first week, the counterparts that we brought from our sites went home and just the volunteers stayed on for a second week of training. We did a little more sector specific training (health for health volunteers, business for business volunteers, etc.) and some strategizing for what we plan to do when we return back to site. We also managed to find a little time to hang out and have fun too :)
I was very excited to hear that there is a new stage of health and education volunteers coming soon, and some of us might get to come back to help train them during the months of August and September. I'm hoping I get to be one of the trainers, because I really appreciated the help and advice I received from volunteers in the field when I was a Peace Corps trainee. Another advantage of being a trainer is that Peace Corps would fly me down to Tana, and then I could also take part in an upcoming Bike Tour against AIDS that some volunteers are planning in the Ambato region. Otherwise, it would be too far and too expensive for me to travel from my site to where the bike tour will be held in July.
The past few days I've been hanging out in the capital until my flight leaves to go back to site. It's expensive here in Tana, but it is quite an interesting city. Sometimes it seems very crowded and overwhelming, but I'm starting to enjoy it more, now that I've been able to see more of the city. The public bus system has been quite an adventure to explore. There are hundreds of different bus numbers that go all over town, and it only costs 300 ariary (15 cents) to get on one. I've gone all around the city on it. The markets are so fun to look at, because there is so much variety here: tomatoes, carrots, persimmons, tangerines, pineapples, papayas, avocados, apples, bok choy, cabbage, lettuce, sweet potatoes, peanuts, many different kinds of rice, tons of used clothing (fripery), electronics, toys, handicrafts. It's like sensory overload after four months of rural life! The big city doesn't come without it's downsides though. There are lots of pickpocketers, pollution, children begging on the streets, seas of dilapitated houses and buildings all connected to each other in a jumbled mess... Part of me is definitely anxious to get back to site to start working with rural communities again. That's about it for now. A manaraka indray!
Monday, May 3, 2010
2 May 2010
The past week has been really busy, but really fun also. It was “herinandran’ny fahasalamana” (health week) here in Madagascar, which basically means mass distribution of Vitamin A and deworming pills for pregnant women and children under 5. On Monday, Tuesday and Thursday I went with one of the midwives at the hospital and a few other helpers to surrounding smaller villages to distribute the medicine. Before we gave out the pills, I did a little health education on various topics (prevention of diarrheal disease, nutrition and vaccinations) for all the women and children waiting to get the medicine. It was really fun to meet all the new people and to help give the medicine to the children (Malagasy kids are so cute!). On Wednesday and Friday, I still helped with prenatal consultations and family planning at the clinic, but now we finally have the HIV and syphilis tests again. Before we were supposed to be testing all the pregnant women so that they wouldn’t pass any diseases on to their babies, but there was a problem with the supply chain (probably related to the current unstable government situation). Because of health week, we now have the tests again and medication for those who test positive for syphilis, which I’m really happy about.
On Saturday I went with a friend to a village 17km out in the countryside. It was an exhausting 3 ½ hr hike, but really fun because the scenery was absolutely gorgeous. The forest/jungle here is really beautiful and really fun to go hiking in. Once we arrived, we rested, had lunch with his family, and then walked around the village. It’s a really cute place surrounded by mountains and forest and a windy creek. There’s also a small clinic with one doctor and a small primary school. I got to talk with the doctor at the clinic and the teachers at the school, so hopefully I can come back again soon and do some health education projects with the folks there. Everyone was so nice, and as usual I came back with a bunch of gifts (oranges, avocados, bananas and beans). Can’t wait to explore more of the surrounding rural areas when I get the chance. There are still so many villages I haven’t seen yet and so many new people to meet.
Oh, and thank you to everyone who sent me cards or packages or called. I had a great birthday thanks to you all!
On Saturday I went with a friend to a village 17km out in the countryside. It was an exhausting 3 ½ hr hike, but really fun because the scenery was absolutely gorgeous. The forest/jungle here is really beautiful and really fun to go hiking in. Once we arrived, we rested, had lunch with his family, and then walked around the village. It’s a really cute place surrounded by mountains and forest and a windy creek. There’s also a small clinic with one doctor and a small primary school. I got to talk with the doctor at the clinic and the teachers at the school, so hopefully I can come back again soon and do some health education projects with the folks there. Everyone was so nice, and as usual I came back with a bunch of gifts (oranges, avocados, bananas and beans). Can’t wait to explore more of the surrounding rural areas when I get the chance. There are still so many villages I haven’t seen yet and so many new people to meet.
Oh, and thank you to everyone who sent me cards or packages or called. I had a great birthday thanks to you all!
18 Avril 2010
Some exciting things have happened since the last time I posted. One of my good friends here is part of a local NGO in town that wants to build a bunch of public latrines in town and in the surrounding rural areas. They also want to do a health education program in conjunction with the latrine construction to encourage use of the latrines (and good hygiene in general) once built. I already know several of the folks in the NGO fairly well, and they are really excited to have me involved with the project. I helped put them in touch with a French NGO in Ampanefena, just 15k north of us, that specializes in building latrines. The same NGO in Ampanefena also wants to build a water system here in Antsirabe Nord that will bring potable water to public taps in town and at the clinic. They’ve already implemented the water system (and have already built several public latrines) in Ampanefena. They already have funding, have already talked with our mayor, and want to break ground in August! Hopefully we can all work together to improve the water and sanitation situation here in Antsirabe Nord, because it really is problematic. Many people just use the woods as the bathroom and there’s also tons of trash by the river side, so when it rains, the river gets really dirty. People still bathe, wash clothes, wash dishes and fetch water from the river…especially when the public taps that we do have in town break (which happens frequently).
Other than getting involved with these two projects, I’ve been trying to learn more about daily life of people in and around Antsirable Nord by asking people about their daily and yearly schedules. It’s really interesting, because people’s lives here are often centered around when they plant and harvest crops (mainly rice and vanilla). It’s so different from in the U.S. where hardly anyone farms anymore because of the industrialized agriculture system and widespread importation of crops. In the U.S. what we eat and when we work isn’t as dependent on the growing seasons as it is here. Even those who live in town often have fields which they travel to on the weekends to farm, and almost everyone has family members who live and farm out in the countryside. Most people wake up around 6am. After they eat breakfast, the women go to the river to do the washing and the men go to the fields. Many women also go the fields to work during the day too if they’re not taking care of the children at home. They come back and eat lunch around noon. In the afternoon they pound rice with giant mortar and pestles in order to get the husks off. Most people here eat dinner around 7pm and go to bed soon after that (if they are out in the countryside and don’t have electricity). I found out that there are several different types of rice people plant: one that grows in 3 months, one in 4 months and one in 5 months. Most people plant rice in October through December and sometimes January. Then they harvest in February through June depending on the type of rice and when they planted. Then they prepare the fields for planting again in May through September. People also plant corn all year around. A lot of people also farm coffee, coconut, bananas, cassava, vanilla, oranges, avocado, peanuts, beans and cucumbers. Many also farm chickens, ducks, pigs and cows if they have the money. There are even a few goats around, which is rare for Madagascar.
What I think is really interesting is that there doesn’t seem to be a whole lot of division of labor, with the exception of the domestic tasks, like cooking, cleaning, washing and taking care of the kids, which is primarily the women’s job. However both men and women work out in the fields (and kids if they’re old enough and not in school), both men and women pound the rice, and both men and women sell things in the marketplace (although women tend to be the ones selling food items, and men seem to sell more of the hardware and other household items). I often see husbands and wives working together as one unit as they go out into the fields, run small restaurants or shops in town or sell things in the market.
Aside from that, I’ve had to travel down to Antalaha several times to visit the dentist because I apparently clench my teeth at night, and it’s causing problems with my gums. It’s a cute little town with a nice beach, though, so at least that part’s nice. There will also be two new environment volunteers coming to my region in May, which I’m excited about, since the only other volunteer who was up north here with me before quit Peace Corps and went home a few weeks ago because of some personal issues. I’ve been the only other American volunteer for miles around, which is kind of cool in its own way, but I miss the other volunteer and I’m excited to collaborate and do some cross-sector work with the two new ones who will be nearby.
Health week is coming up on April 26th, which is also my b-day (yay)! As hospital workers, we’ll be promoting and distributing vitamin A, deworming pills, vaccines and to women and children all around the area (and health information in general to as many people as we can, I hope). Then in mid-May I travel to the capital, Antananarivo, for two weeks of training with Peace Corps. I’m looking forward to seeing all my fellow volunteers. I can’t wait to catch up with everyone and see how they’ve been doing the past three months…a bit of separation anxiety since we were in such close quarters for several months before that.
Other than getting involved with these two projects, I’ve been trying to learn more about daily life of people in and around Antsirable Nord by asking people about their daily and yearly schedules. It’s really interesting, because people’s lives here are often centered around when they plant and harvest crops (mainly rice and vanilla). It’s so different from in the U.S. where hardly anyone farms anymore because of the industrialized agriculture system and widespread importation of crops. In the U.S. what we eat and when we work isn’t as dependent on the growing seasons as it is here. Even those who live in town often have fields which they travel to on the weekends to farm, and almost everyone has family members who live and farm out in the countryside. Most people wake up around 6am. After they eat breakfast, the women go to the river to do the washing and the men go to the fields. Many women also go the fields to work during the day too if they’re not taking care of the children at home. They come back and eat lunch around noon. In the afternoon they pound rice with giant mortar and pestles in order to get the husks off. Most people here eat dinner around 7pm and go to bed soon after that (if they are out in the countryside and don’t have electricity). I found out that there are several different types of rice people plant: one that grows in 3 months, one in 4 months and one in 5 months. Most people plant rice in October through December and sometimes January. Then they harvest in February through June depending on the type of rice and when they planted. Then they prepare the fields for planting again in May through September. People also plant corn all year around. A lot of people also farm coffee, coconut, bananas, cassava, vanilla, oranges, avocado, peanuts, beans and cucumbers. Many also farm chickens, ducks, pigs and cows if they have the money. There are even a few goats around, which is rare for Madagascar.
What I think is really interesting is that there doesn’t seem to be a whole lot of division of labor, with the exception of the domestic tasks, like cooking, cleaning, washing and taking care of the kids, which is primarily the women’s job. However both men and women work out in the fields (and kids if they’re old enough and not in school), both men and women pound the rice, and both men and women sell things in the marketplace (although women tend to be the ones selling food items, and men seem to sell more of the hardware and other household items). I often see husbands and wives working together as one unit as they go out into the fields, run small restaurants or shops in town or sell things in the market.
Aside from that, I’ve had to travel down to Antalaha several times to visit the dentist because I apparently clench my teeth at night, and it’s causing problems with my gums. It’s a cute little town with a nice beach, though, so at least that part’s nice. There will also be two new environment volunteers coming to my region in May, which I’m excited about, since the only other volunteer who was up north here with me before quit Peace Corps and went home a few weeks ago because of some personal issues. I’ve been the only other American volunteer for miles around, which is kind of cool in its own way, but I miss the other volunteer and I’m excited to collaborate and do some cross-sector work with the two new ones who will be nearby.
Health week is coming up on April 26th, which is also my b-day (yay)! As hospital workers, we’ll be promoting and distributing vitamin A, deworming pills, vaccines and to women and children all around the area (and health information in general to as many people as we can, I hope). Then in mid-May I travel to the capital, Antananarivo, for two weeks of training with Peace Corps. I’m looking forward to seeing all my fellow volunteers. I can’t wait to catch up with everyone and see how they’ve been doing the past three months…a bit of separation anxiety since we were in such close quarters for several months before that.
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
5 April 2010
I’ve been at site for a little over two months now…can hardly believe it’s already been that long! I’m still helping with prenatal consultations and family planning twice a week, only I’ve started giving health talks on safe motherhood and reproductive health to all the women beforehand now that my Malagasy is a little better. I also help with baby weighing on Mondays and Tuesdays, and I’m still teaching at the local secondary school as well. I recently had a nice chat with one of the teachers from the primary school and it looks like I might be able to help out with health education there as well. I also found out that a project might be starting up in our town soon to build several latrines for public use (with government money no less), which I’m really excited about. Even though we have electricity and public taps around town, many people still don’t have latrines and use the woods instead. Then when it rains, the river is really dirty. Many people still wash dishes and bathe in the river, so one can easily imagine the hygiene and sanitation problems the situation causes. Hopefully I’ll be able to assist with the project and help it come to fruition.
I’ve also slowly been exploring more of the countryside on the outskirts of town where everyone farms rice. I’ve traveled with the SEECALINE (nutrition/baby weighing) lady to two nearby villages to weigh children under five and do some cooking demos on nutritious weaning foods. I’ve also walked with some friends to a village 2hrs away to visit with their relatives. The families who live out in the fields are always so friendly and seem genuinely excited to have visitors. Every time I’ve come back from the fields I’m laden with gifts: oranges, avocadoes, cucumbers, rice, coconuts…even a live chicken the last time (which one of my friends promptly sold for me to a passerby on the way back home, as I’m vegetarian and don’t know the first thing about raising chickens)! I can’t get over how nice everyone is here, sometimes.
The other day I rode my bicycle to explore some of the smaller towns just south of me. There are some more schools and a smaller clinic in one of the towns I passed, so I definitely want to go back soon to see if there’s any health programs I might be able to help with. Not only that, but I’ve been getting a little tired and overwhelmed with playing nanny for all the rambunctious neighborhood kids and so have consequently been making an effort to get out of the house more, although I still do enjoy them visiting from time to time. All joking aside though, I am always stunned by how beautiful this country is every time I go exploring around the area. The forests, rivers and mountains are breathtaking, and I still find it so surreal that Madagascar is actually going to be my home for the next two years.
I’ve also slowly been exploring more of the countryside on the outskirts of town where everyone farms rice. I’ve traveled with the SEECALINE (nutrition/baby weighing) lady to two nearby villages to weigh children under five and do some cooking demos on nutritious weaning foods. I’ve also walked with some friends to a village 2hrs away to visit with their relatives. The families who live out in the fields are always so friendly and seem genuinely excited to have visitors. Every time I’ve come back from the fields I’m laden with gifts: oranges, avocadoes, cucumbers, rice, coconuts…even a live chicken the last time (which one of my friends promptly sold for me to a passerby on the way back home, as I’m vegetarian and don’t know the first thing about raising chickens)! I can’t get over how nice everyone is here, sometimes.
The other day I rode my bicycle to explore some of the smaller towns just south of me. There are some more schools and a smaller clinic in one of the towns I passed, so I definitely want to go back soon to see if there’s any health programs I might be able to help with. Not only that, but I’ve been getting a little tired and overwhelmed with playing nanny for all the rambunctious neighborhood kids and so have consequently been making an effort to get out of the house more, although I still do enjoy them visiting from time to time. All joking aside though, I am always stunned by how beautiful this country is every time I go exploring around the area. The forests, rivers and mountains are breathtaking, and I still find it so surreal that Madagascar is actually going to be my home for the next two years.
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
11 March 2010
So I’ve been at my site for about a month and a half now. There are still many times when I can’t understand what’s going on in a conversation or I’m not able to express exactly what I want to, but I’m finding that I’m slowly getting a better handle on the language. I’ve had a couple dreams in Malagasy and I sometimes think in Malagasy now. It’s even hard to talk in English on the phone with people at times now, because I’m so used to having to think in simple sentence structures that I’m able to express in Malagasy…it’s the strangest feeling when you have trouble with your own native language. My writing has gone downhill as a consequence as well, so you’ll have to excuse the quality of my blog posts from now on if they’re poorly written.
Things have still been going really well so far. I still love the kids here in my town. Many of them come to visit me everyday. We often hang out on my porch, talk, look at picture books or play cards. They teach me Malagasy and I help the older ones learn English. They absolutely love to play cards. It’s such a novelty since no one here has them (I haven’t seen them for sale in any stores here either). I’ve taught them how to play spoons and go fish, and they’ve taught me how to play a few Malagasy card games as well (“Couvet” and “Ayamps”). I even learned a game they play with stones that’s somewhat similar to jacks. It’s really difficult, though even though it looks so easy when I watch them play. Sometimes I’ll go over to my friend/neighbor Sandra’s house because her family has a TV with a VCR and DVD player. When the electricity comes on at 2pm they’ll put in a disc of Malagasy music videos or really cheesy American movies from the 70s or 80s dubbed over in French (they even had a disc with 6 quite graphic movies all about cannibals in the Amazon). In my spare time I also tend to my garden, read or go for walks around town. I also like to go the soccer pitch to watch matches among the schools here or the local men’s league. The older ones are really good. I can’t wait until the World Cup starts. I’m sure everyone will be tuning in, as they’re crazy about soccer here (or “bolly” as they call it).
I’ve also been teaching at the CEG (junior high school) in my town every Wednesday. So far I’ve taught about diarrheal diseases, Oral Rehydration Solution, nutritious foods and family planning complete with a condom demo. I also throw in English vocab here and there since the teachers really want me to help their students learn English. This past Wednesday made me really happy, because after my lesson on family planning a boy came by my house to ask me about STIs and contraception. He was confused about the cause of STIs and thought that some contraceptive methods could make you sick. Many people here in Madagascar think that different methods of contraception (like the pill or the Depo shot) can make them sick. Hopefully I can help communicate the message that contraceptive methods don’t make people sick and are a much better option than leaving school at 15 because of early pregnancy or than giving birth to 7 or 8 children. I’ve also taught about hand-washing and vaccines to the mothers who come to get their babies vaccinated on Tuesdays. I think I’m to the point in the language now where I can teach about safe motherhood to the pregnant women who come for prenatal consultations and to the girls who come for family planning about different options for contraception. I like teaching and interacting with the students at the schools more than working at the hospital though, because the doctor already does a lot of health education at the clinic, and there are two midwives a nurse and two other assistants who help staff the clinic as well. When I’m more familiar with the area and more comfortable with the language, I’m hoping to bike around to the surrounding villages where people don’t come to the clinic as often because they have to walk a long distance. Hopefully I can encourage them to use family planning, to vaccinate their children at the hospital on Tuesdays and to come for prenatal consultations if they are pregnant. Today was really sad because a group of folks from a village 15km away brought in a woman who was 7 months pregnant and hemorrhaging. Unfortunately she was already dead by the time she arrived at the clinic and there was nothing that the midwife could do. Perhaps if more women come into the clinic frequently for prenatal consultations, some of these unfortunate complications can be avoided. However, limited resources and poor infrastructure also often pose challenges that are out of our hands here in the rural areas. It’s frustrating when it seems that the structural changes are the ones that would make the biggest difference but are also the changes that I as a mere volunteer visiting from another country have no chance of impacting in the next two years. On that cheery note, I’ll leave you all until I have another opportunity to use the internet. A menaraka (until next time!).
Since some people have asked,
here are suggestions of things to send if you’re feeling generous:
Letters! Please write! I don’t get to check email very often!
Pictures of family/friends
World news (newspaper/magazines)
NY times crossword puzzles (not Thurs-Sat though b/c they’re too hard)
Children’s books/picture books
Colored pencils/crayons
M&Ms (any variety)
Ear plugs
A new headlamp (mine broke)
Playing cards (mine are already dirty and worn from use!)
Anything you think a person with a lot of spare time on their hands would find fun or amusing to do for several hours straight
Mailing Address:
Maya Rao
BP 19
Ampanefena
Vohemar (209)
Madagascar
Phone: 011-261-0327325038
Things have still been going really well so far. I still love the kids here in my town. Many of them come to visit me everyday. We often hang out on my porch, talk, look at picture books or play cards. They teach me Malagasy and I help the older ones learn English. They absolutely love to play cards. It’s such a novelty since no one here has them (I haven’t seen them for sale in any stores here either). I’ve taught them how to play spoons and go fish, and they’ve taught me how to play a few Malagasy card games as well (“Couvet” and “Ayamps”). I even learned a game they play with stones that’s somewhat similar to jacks. It’s really difficult, though even though it looks so easy when I watch them play. Sometimes I’ll go over to my friend/neighbor Sandra’s house because her family has a TV with a VCR and DVD player. When the electricity comes on at 2pm they’ll put in a disc of Malagasy music videos or really cheesy American movies from the 70s or 80s dubbed over in French (they even had a disc with 6 quite graphic movies all about cannibals in the Amazon). In my spare time I also tend to my garden, read or go for walks around town. I also like to go the soccer pitch to watch matches among the schools here or the local men’s league. The older ones are really good. I can’t wait until the World Cup starts. I’m sure everyone will be tuning in, as they’re crazy about soccer here (or “bolly” as they call it).
I’ve also been teaching at the CEG (junior high school) in my town every Wednesday. So far I’ve taught about diarrheal diseases, Oral Rehydration Solution, nutritious foods and family planning complete with a condom demo. I also throw in English vocab here and there since the teachers really want me to help their students learn English. This past Wednesday made me really happy, because after my lesson on family planning a boy came by my house to ask me about STIs and contraception. He was confused about the cause of STIs and thought that some contraceptive methods could make you sick. Many people here in Madagascar think that different methods of contraception (like the pill or the Depo shot) can make them sick. Hopefully I can help communicate the message that contraceptive methods don’t make people sick and are a much better option than leaving school at 15 because of early pregnancy or than giving birth to 7 or 8 children. I’ve also taught about hand-washing and vaccines to the mothers who come to get their babies vaccinated on Tuesdays. I think I’m to the point in the language now where I can teach about safe motherhood to the pregnant women who come for prenatal consultations and to the girls who come for family planning about different options for contraception. I like teaching and interacting with the students at the schools more than working at the hospital though, because the doctor already does a lot of health education at the clinic, and there are two midwives a nurse and two other assistants who help staff the clinic as well. When I’m more familiar with the area and more comfortable with the language, I’m hoping to bike around to the surrounding villages where people don’t come to the clinic as often because they have to walk a long distance. Hopefully I can encourage them to use family planning, to vaccinate their children at the hospital on Tuesdays and to come for prenatal consultations if they are pregnant. Today was really sad because a group of folks from a village 15km away brought in a woman who was 7 months pregnant and hemorrhaging. Unfortunately she was already dead by the time she arrived at the clinic and there was nothing that the midwife could do. Perhaps if more women come into the clinic frequently for prenatal consultations, some of these unfortunate complications can be avoided. However, limited resources and poor infrastructure also often pose challenges that are out of our hands here in the rural areas. It’s frustrating when it seems that the structural changes are the ones that would make the biggest difference but are also the changes that I as a mere volunteer visiting from another country have no chance of impacting in the next two years. On that cheery note, I’ll leave you all until I have another opportunity to use the internet. A menaraka (until next time!).
Since some people have asked,
here are suggestions of things to send if you’re feeling generous:
Letters! Please write! I don’t get to check email very often!
Pictures of family/friends
World news (newspaper/magazines)
NY times crossword puzzles (not Thurs-Sat though b/c they’re too hard)
Children’s books/picture books
Colored pencils/crayons
M&Ms (any variety)
Ear plugs
A new headlamp (mine broke)
Playing cards (mine are already dirty and worn from use!)
Anything you think a person with a lot of spare time on their hands would find fun or amusing to do for several hours straight
Mailing Address:
Maya Rao
BP 19
Ampanefena
Vohemar (209)
Madagascar
Phone: 011-261-0327325038
Monday, March 1, 2010
1 march 2010
Greetings from Madagascar! this will be short since the internet is slow in my banking town, but Ive been here at my site for a monthand its still going really well. I feel like im improving zith the language and have even taught a group of kids at the local high school about diarrheal diseases, dehydration prevention and how to prepare ORS. I help out at the clinic with baby weighing, pregnant mother consultations and family planning every week. enjoying all the tropical fruits and still working on my garden. I meet new people everyday. miss everyone back home. stay in touch!
14 Fevrier 2010
I’ve been at my site for two weeks now and everything is going really well so far. The installation process took a little longer than I thought it would, but otherwise the transition has been fairly smooth. Jess (the other volunteer living up north 30km away) and I flew from Antananarivo to Sambava early in the morning the day after swearing in as volunteers. A Malagasy Peace Corps staff person accompanied us to help us arrive safely to our sites and purchase necessities for our houses. Soon after arriving in Sambava we did some furniture shopping and then drove up north to check out my and Jess’s sites. It is really warm and humid up north compared to Mantasoa. As I looked out the window on the drive up, I was surprised at how the coast is reminiscent of Africa much more so than the center of the island. The villages we passed along the way seemed much poorer, as most of the houses along the side of the road are small shacks made from sheets of metal or wood with thatched roofs. The people here look distinctly African as well compared to the mélange of East and Southeast Asian, Black and Hispanic-looking people I’ve seen further inland. There are palm trees, rice paddies, pineapples and beaches to go along with the coastal theme as well. Approaching Antsirabe North, the paved highway turns slightly inland and the road gently rises and falls over low-lying mountains. A river weaves in and out with many small bridges crossing over it along the way. We entered into what seems like the middle of a jungle. Is I looked out the window, I kept thinking to myself, “This is where I’m going to live for the next two years.” The feeling was so surreal. When we pulled into Antsirabe Nord I was amazed at how big it was. The cobblestone road winding into the town is lined on either side with shops and many small shacks, occasionally interspersed with large, concrete houses (some even with multiple stories, satellite dishes and electricity).
At last we pulled into the courtyard of the CSB (health center) where I’ll be working for the next to years. After meeting my doctor (who I was surprised to find out can speak English fairly well) and filling out some paperwork for Peace Corps we inspected my house. I live right next to the health center in a giant concrete building. There are two large rooms and one large meeting room for the nutrition education program held at the CSB once a week. I was taken aback to find the house already furnished with almost everything I needed: two tables, two chairs, a couch, pots and pans in the kitchen room and a huge bed, a couch, a table and chair and a bookcase (along with tons of books) in the bedroom. Out in the small fenced in area in the back, there’s two papaya trees and some pineapple bushes growing. My set up is so nice I almost don’t feel like a real Peace Corps volunteer roughing it out in the bush, like I would have been in Niger. There’s even electricity from 2pm to 12pm everyday. No running water, though (I either collect it from the roof when it rains or climb down a steep, treacherous path to the river several times a day when it doesn’t rain). After driving another hour to Jess’s site only to find out that we couldn’t get into her house because the mayor, who has the keys, was out of town, we drove another half hour up to Vohemar and spent the night at a small hotel on the beach. The next few days we met all the gendarmes, police and mayors, set up our banking and post office boxes and did all the necessary shopping for furniture, gas stoves and the like. I spent the first afternoon at my post cleaning the house. Right away a bunch of neighborhood kids came over and introduced themselves and helped me to fetch water and clean. Even though I had hoped for a new post and instead ended up with one that had had four previous volunteers, there were definitely some advantages to the community already being accustomed to having a PCV around. I didn’t have to buy much for my house, I have instant friends, and people are always willing to help me out with the language and day-to-day activities.
The next day was Sunday, so I mostly spent the day cleaning up the house and walking around getting to know the community. On Monday morning I biked 15km to the nearest large town to set up my post office box. I was exhausted by the time I got back at noon because it was so hot that morning and the hills were treacherous (not to mention I’m really out of shape). It was a beautiful bikeride, though, and all along the way people on the side of the road were calling out to me in French (since they assume here in Madagascar that all white people speak French). I had fun yelling back Malagasy greetings to them. On Tuesday I got to meet everyone that works at the CSB and help out with baby weighing with SEECALINE (the nutrition health promotion program here in Madagascar). Jeanette, the lady who runs SEECALINE here is really nice. She showed me pictures of her with the last few volunteers and offered to help me with anything that I needed. On Wednesday I got to observe prenatal consultations in the morning and family planning in the afternoon. Both programs were heavily attended by young women. Many of the pregnant women who came in the morning were on their forth or fifth child, and there were some 15 and 16 year-olds on their first time. Most of the girls who showed up for family planning in the afternoon were really young as well (15-17yrs). A majority of them went for the 3mo. shot of Depo-Provera and a few chose the pill. Once in a while someone comes in for Norplant. No one ever asks for condoms or spermicide. I’m glad so many people are using birth control, but I’m also worried, especially for the young ones, because they could still be contracting STDs which are very prevalent in Madagascar (except for AIDS which is still supposedly less than 1%).
Other than observing at the clinic, I’ve just been walking around trying to get to know the community or hanging out at my house. Often times people (mostly kids) will stop by to visit me. They love teaching me Malagasy, and the ones learning English at school like to practice their English with me too. The past couple days have been really fun, because there’s been an annual celebration of the Malagasy schools. That basically means no school for three days and soccer matches all day long. There was also a huge parade of students and teachers singing and marching through town on the first morning of the celebration as well. I enjoyed attending the soccer matches and chatting with the students and other spectators. I was pleasantly surprised to find that there are girl’s teams too. Most of the kids who play can’t afford shoes, so they play barefoot. A few lucky ones do have soccer cleats, though, so I can’t imagine what it would feel like if one of them stepped on a bare foot!
Even though I had hoped for a smaller village, I still love Antsirabe Nord, and I get to know more and more people everyday. It’s gotten to the point that when I step out of my house and go for a walk or a jog through town, I can’t go but a couple feet before someone is calling out my name. I feel slightly bad that I can’t remember all their names (there’s just so many people here), but I keep reminding myself that I’ll remember in time and that I’ll get the language in time, and that I’ll be able to contribute in a more meaningful way at the CSB in time. I have done a hand-washing/hygiene demonstration in front of a group of women at the CSB and have passed on a few health messages here and there. I’ve also started a garden in my backyard with the help of some of the neighborhood kids. For the most part though, I just enjoy every conversation I’m able to have with someone in Malagasy, try to meet new people everyday and observe as much as I can about the culture here in the north of Madagascar.
New contact info:
Phone: 011-261-0327325038
Address: BP 19
Ampanefena
Vohemar
Madagascar
At last we pulled into the courtyard of the CSB (health center) where I’ll be working for the next to years. After meeting my doctor (who I was surprised to find out can speak English fairly well) and filling out some paperwork for Peace Corps we inspected my house. I live right next to the health center in a giant concrete building. There are two large rooms and one large meeting room for the nutrition education program held at the CSB once a week. I was taken aback to find the house already furnished with almost everything I needed: two tables, two chairs, a couch, pots and pans in the kitchen room and a huge bed, a couch, a table and chair and a bookcase (along with tons of books) in the bedroom. Out in the small fenced in area in the back, there’s two papaya trees and some pineapple bushes growing. My set up is so nice I almost don’t feel like a real Peace Corps volunteer roughing it out in the bush, like I would have been in Niger. There’s even electricity from 2pm to 12pm everyday. No running water, though (I either collect it from the roof when it rains or climb down a steep, treacherous path to the river several times a day when it doesn’t rain). After driving another hour to Jess’s site only to find out that we couldn’t get into her house because the mayor, who has the keys, was out of town, we drove another half hour up to Vohemar and spent the night at a small hotel on the beach. The next few days we met all the gendarmes, police and mayors, set up our banking and post office boxes and did all the necessary shopping for furniture, gas stoves and the like. I spent the first afternoon at my post cleaning the house. Right away a bunch of neighborhood kids came over and introduced themselves and helped me to fetch water and clean. Even though I had hoped for a new post and instead ended up with one that had had four previous volunteers, there were definitely some advantages to the community already being accustomed to having a PCV around. I didn’t have to buy much for my house, I have instant friends, and people are always willing to help me out with the language and day-to-day activities.
The next day was Sunday, so I mostly spent the day cleaning up the house and walking around getting to know the community. On Monday morning I biked 15km to the nearest large town to set up my post office box. I was exhausted by the time I got back at noon because it was so hot that morning and the hills were treacherous (not to mention I’m really out of shape). It was a beautiful bikeride, though, and all along the way people on the side of the road were calling out to me in French (since they assume here in Madagascar that all white people speak French). I had fun yelling back Malagasy greetings to them. On Tuesday I got to meet everyone that works at the CSB and help out with baby weighing with SEECALINE (the nutrition health promotion program here in Madagascar). Jeanette, the lady who runs SEECALINE here is really nice. She showed me pictures of her with the last few volunteers and offered to help me with anything that I needed. On Wednesday I got to observe prenatal consultations in the morning and family planning in the afternoon. Both programs were heavily attended by young women. Many of the pregnant women who came in the morning were on their forth or fifth child, and there were some 15 and 16 year-olds on their first time. Most of the girls who showed up for family planning in the afternoon were really young as well (15-17yrs). A majority of them went for the 3mo. shot of Depo-Provera and a few chose the pill. Once in a while someone comes in for Norplant. No one ever asks for condoms or spermicide. I’m glad so many people are using birth control, but I’m also worried, especially for the young ones, because they could still be contracting STDs which are very prevalent in Madagascar (except for AIDS which is still supposedly less than 1%).
Other than observing at the clinic, I’ve just been walking around trying to get to know the community or hanging out at my house. Often times people (mostly kids) will stop by to visit me. They love teaching me Malagasy, and the ones learning English at school like to practice their English with me too. The past couple days have been really fun, because there’s been an annual celebration of the Malagasy schools. That basically means no school for three days and soccer matches all day long. There was also a huge parade of students and teachers singing and marching through town on the first morning of the celebration as well. I enjoyed attending the soccer matches and chatting with the students and other spectators. I was pleasantly surprised to find that there are girl’s teams too. Most of the kids who play can’t afford shoes, so they play barefoot. A few lucky ones do have soccer cleats, though, so I can’t imagine what it would feel like if one of them stepped on a bare foot!
Even though I had hoped for a smaller village, I still love Antsirabe Nord, and I get to know more and more people everyday. It’s gotten to the point that when I step out of my house and go for a walk or a jog through town, I can’t go but a couple feet before someone is calling out my name. I feel slightly bad that I can’t remember all their names (there’s just so many people here), but I keep reminding myself that I’ll remember in time and that I’ll get the language in time, and that I’ll be able to contribute in a more meaningful way at the CSB in time. I have done a hand-washing/hygiene demonstration in front of a group of women at the CSB and have passed on a few health messages here and there. I’ve also started a garden in my backyard with the help of some of the neighborhood kids. For the most part though, I just enjoy every conversation I’m able to have with someone in Malagasy, try to meet new people everyday and observe as much as I can about the culture here in the north of Madagascar.
New contact info:
Phone: 011-261-0327325038
Address: BP 19
Ampanefena
Vohemar
Madagascar
Monday, January 25, 2010
24 Jan 2010
I am writing this entry from the training site in Mantasoa in Madagascar in the hopes that I will have internet access sometime soon and can upload documents and pictures from my flash drive to my blog. So much has happened since we first arrived in Madagascar six weeks ago. Soon after we landed in country and drove to the Peace Corps training site, we started learning Malagasy and having technical and cross-culture sessions. Christmas and New Years at the training site was actually pretty fun. The kitchen staff was absolutely amazing and cooked a bounty of wonderful American food for us. We had a Secret Santa gift exchange as well as several dance parties. We also had the amazing opportunity to visit a national park called Andasibe, where we saw lemurs and other really amazing wildlife. We were so fortunate to have two of the senior training staff from Niger (Tondi and Souley) accompany us to Madagascar and spend the first few weeks of training with us here to help us adjust and to assist the Malagasy Peace Corps staff. Unfortunately we had to say goodbye to them soon after New Years. We gave them a very sweet and sentimental sendoff, but it was still very sad to see them go, as they were very dedicated and inspiring individuals and such amazing leaders in their community back in Niger.
After about three weeks at the training site, we were finally able to move in with host families in the neighboring villages. I was so excited to learn more about the Malagasy way of life and to converse in the language in an immersion setting. I couldn’t have asked for a better home-stay. The village of Lohomby was gorgeous, as it was surrounded with rice fields, rolling mountains, green forests and rivers, and dotted with cute, brick, two-story houses and winding dirt roads. My family was a young couple in their twenties with an adorable four-year-old daughter. They were farmers and also kept rabbits, ducks, geese and chickens in a shed on the first floor of their house. There were fruit trees surrounding their small plot and pineapples growing in the back. The food was amazing, as we usually had fresh vegetables and tropical fruit at almost every meal. I learned how to fetch water, cook over an open fire, wash dishes and sweep the house. I also went on some amazingly scenic hikes. Although it was somewhat frustrating that I was trying to learn a dialect from the north in a village where no one really spoke or understood it, Sakalava is similar enough to standard Malagasy that I could still communicate with my host family about half of the time. During our technical sessions we visited a health center (CSB) in Mantasoa, taught about HIV and STIs in the schools, built two cookstoves (fatana mitsitsy) in our village and observed a baby-weighing and health education session with young mothers at the SEECALINE nutrition center in our village.
The end of training has been so incredibly hectic and stressful. In the past week we have said goodbye to our host families at our community based training sites, given presentations in Malagasy (or Sakalava in my case), been assessed on our language proficiency, packed up our lives into trunks and bags and had several parties (fetys) to celebrate the fact that the 36 of us are finally done with training after spending three months together. I have so many mixed emotions at the moment. I am absolutely thrilled and relived that I have successfully finished my Peace Corps training and can now go to my site and start working as a real volunteer. However I am also intimidated that I will be living by myself in a new environment where I will have to establish trust and gain the respect of neighbors, coworkers and community leaders in a language and culture that is still somewhat unfamiliar to me. I also have to fly to my site and then proceed to buy everything I will need for my house before I can actually move in. Along with the excitement, intimidation and anxiousness, I am also sad to say goodbye to my home-stay family, the wonderful training staff and all of the friends I have made during the past three months us trainees have spent together. We have gone through staging in Philadelphia to home-stays in Niger to consolidation at the training site in Niger to 24 hours in Paris to three weeks at the training site in Mantasoa to home-stays in Madagascar. At last we are all going to part our separate ways after swearing in as volunteers in the capital on Tuesday. I’ll be heading up to the northern part of Madagascar near Sambava. Next time you here from me I’ll be at my site!
After about three weeks at the training site, we were finally able to move in with host families in the neighboring villages. I was so excited to learn more about the Malagasy way of life and to converse in the language in an immersion setting. I couldn’t have asked for a better home-stay. The village of Lohomby was gorgeous, as it was surrounded with rice fields, rolling mountains, green forests and rivers, and dotted with cute, brick, two-story houses and winding dirt roads. My family was a young couple in their twenties with an adorable four-year-old daughter. They were farmers and also kept rabbits, ducks, geese and chickens in a shed on the first floor of their house. There were fruit trees surrounding their small plot and pineapples growing in the back. The food was amazing, as we usually had fresh vegetables and tropical fruit at almost every meal. I learned how to fetch water, cook over an open fire, wash dishes and sweep the house. I also went on some amazingly scenic hikes. Although it was somewhat frustrating that I was trying to learn a dialect from the north in a village where no one really spoke or understood it, Sakalava is similar enough to standard Malagasy that I could still communicate with my host family about half of the time. During our technical sessions we visited a health center (CSB) in Mantasoa, taught about HIV and STIs in the schools, built two cookstoves (fatana mitsitsy) in our village and observed a baby-weighing and health education session with young mothers at the SEECALINE nutrition center in our village.
The end of training has been so incredibly hectic and stressful. In the past week we have said goodbye to our host families at our community based training sites, given presentations in Malagasy (or Sakalava in my case), been assessed on our language proficiency, packed up our lives into trunks and bags and had several parties (fetys) to celebrate the fact that the 36 of us are finally done with training after spending three months together. I have so many mixed emotions at the moment. I am absolutely thrilled and relived that I have successfully finished my Peace Corps training and can now go to my site and start working as a real volunteer. However I am also intimidated that I will be living by myself in a new environment where I will have to establish trust and gain the respect of neighbors, coworkers and community leaders in a language and culture that is still somewhat unfamiliar to me. I also have to fly to my site and then proceed to buy everything I will need for my house before I can actually move in. Along with the excitement, intimidation and anxiousness, I am also sad to say goodbye to my home-stay family, the wonderful training staff and all of the friends I have made during the past three months us trainees have spent together. We have gone through staging in Philadelphia to home-stays in Niger to consolidation at the training site in Niger to 24 hours in Paris to three weeks at the training site in Mantasoa to home-stays in Madagascar. At last we are all going to part our separate ways after swearing in as volunteers in the capital on Tuesday. I’ll be heading up to the northern part of Madagascar near Sambava. Next time you here from me I’ll be at my site!
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