The trip to Andapa was a great success! I taught at the high school and middle school about STIs and HIV/AIDS. The kids were very receptive and really enjoyed learning the song about HIV/AIDS and the games we played to help us learn about the biology of HIV (how it affects the immune system) and how to use a condom. I had a lot of great and sometimes amusing questions from the students, such as “do condoms come in different sizes?”
I was even able to meet up with the wife of the head of the hospital there who does trainings on latrine building. I got some advice about how to organize and hold community trainings for latrine construction projects, which I’m hoping to do with my village. The instructions for latrine-building she provided me with use locally available materials and other thrifty strategies that will enable the community to afford building them. I even got a few electronic files with pictures that I loaded on my flash drive. Technology is amazing (when it’s not crippled by the ubiquitous viruses that plague any kind of external drive here in Madagascar).
Although I enjoyed the pleasant change of cooler climate and the laid back atmosphere of Andapa, I eventually had to return home at the end of the week. Before I left, my fellow PCV took me on a nice walk out to the edge of town to see a beautiful waterfall surrounded by forests and wildflowers. The walk through town and out to the beginning of the countryside was absolutely gorgeous.
The town of Andapa sits in a valley surrounded by rice fields and mountains further out. It rains there quite frequently, which keeps the scenery green and the climate refreshingly cool. It was nice having a little break from the heat up in the mountains. The market there is amazing; so many varieties of vegetables, fruits and legumes are available. And to top it off, my host’s house had electricity and an indoor shower and toilet, and it was fairly private and quiet as well. The people in Andapa are very friendly and like to chat; however they are not overly aggressive but rather pleasantly easy going. I was surprised at how many people had such good English skills, but I suppose it makes sense given the number of private and public high schools and middle schools they had there. Overall, it was a nice change of pace and a very productive week.
Since I’ve been back at site, I’ve mostly been relaxing at my house or catching up with neighbors and friends in the village. There hasn’t been much to do since the doctor has been in Vohemar attending trainings for the upcoming health week. On Tuesday I helped with a cooking demo and baby weighing with the local nutrition worker and some mothers who live just down the road. Then in the afternoon I had another meeting with my Healthy Teen’s Club at the local middle school just up the road in the other direction. Unfortunately there was an unexpected day off from school, so we only had about ten people attend the meeting. I was still able to review HIV/AIDS transmission and prevention with them, and we also talked a bout STIs and some plans for the organization for future meetings. I was also able to visit with my friends in town where the middle school is, and they gave me some oranges and avocados to take home.
I love this time of year, when there’s so much fresh produce around: giant cucumbers, breadfruit, avocados, oranges, limes, tangerines, cherimoya and the few lingering mangoes and pineapples. Some kids came to my house and sold me a giant pineapple for the equivalent of 25 cents the other day! Thursday is immunization day, so I’m sure I’ll be busy helping organize vaccine distribution and helping with the nutrition organization’s baby weighing and cooking demonstration. I think we are cooking breadfruit this week, though I’m not sure what we’ll mix with it.
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