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