WEEKS NINE TO TEN: STOVES IN MAHIALAMBO

We did not get off to the best start in Mahialambo.  A giant tropical depression was in the area which meant the rain and wind was expected to continue for five days after our arrival.  A tent pole snapped while pitching my tent.  It got flooded with water and to make matters worse, the ground was covered in Shy Lady, a plant I normally like, but not so much when its thorns were poking holes through my floor and embedding themselves in my hands and feet.  I moved my tent to the shelter of the fruit trees in amongst the little wooden houses and things improved from there.

We couldn't build stoves the first three days after our arrival due to the weather, but we did do some stove monitoring.  Half of us headed for the furthert hamlet which we were unable to reach with the road flooded and the river crossing swollen and fast flowing.  So instead we headed to the hamlet of Andranotsiriry.  I slipped while wading across the river, but thankfully Yvon and Joe had hold of me so I didn't wash away.  Once there we spent a very enjoyable day visiting households that already had stoves and speaking with them about their experience with the stoves.  A common theme was that they were glad the stoves could be left unattended while cooking as the fire was contained inside.  Cassava, a staple, takes 2 to 3 hours to cook, so this allowed people to make use of their time tending their fields or performing other income generating activities.  The hills behind Mahialambo are still forested, but the cleared land is creeping upwards.  So it is important that the stoves use 3 sticks of wood per meal as opposed to around 20 sticks on an open fire.

Thankfully Sunday was very fine, so Monday we could start work on the stoves.  Our aim was to build 20 stoves, completing 3 to 4 per day.  Worried the weather would turn, we blitzed it in 3 days and 2 hours.  Stove building is great fun.  Take clay, sand and zebu poo.  If necessary add a touch of water.  Beat it all together in a giant mortar and pestle, then fling chunks into the mould.  There was a good bit of splattering so it is likely I have a bit of this mix.  Mmmm, tasty.

Thursday, to mark International Women's Day and the completion of the stove building and Moringa planting projects, we marched through town and up to the school with the children and ladies.  We planted Acacia (a fast growing Australian native that can be used for firewood in place of the natural forest).  There were speeches by the Azafady team, the vice Chef of Mahialambo, the Major of Mahatalaky and the Presidents of the Women's Clubs.  The Major noted Mahialambo (literally skinny pig) had been left behind but with Azafady's help, and the community's enthusiam and motivation, the skinny pig was getting fatter.

Mahialambo is an idyllic place and I loved my time there, from the beautiful sunrises and full moon rises, to the  streams dividing the small clusters of houses, and the piles of avocados, custard apples, green oranges and guavas that we gorged ourselves on daily.  There was also a bit of drama - my first parasy was successfully removed by Tinahy, I have the dubious distinction of being perhaps the only Australian to be bitten by a tenrec (like a hedgehog) and I was chased from the bushes while peeing by a herd of zebu.  It was a fabulous end to Pioneer scheme.  I head off in the next day or two for my travels around Madagascar and can only hope the people we meet along the way are half as wonderful as those in this somewhat neglected corner of the country.

CHICKENS

Chickens have proven to be our alternative to television.  They are endlessly entertaining.  We have somewhat cruelly eaten two chickens we had considered pets: Speckles, who died by a plank to the head during an unusually brutal chicken roundup for Sue's leaving do (we realised the next day that Jeremy had eaten Speckle's testicle, having discovered only the day before that Speckles was a rooster as he had grown a comb and started crowing) and Izabella, a gift from Mbelo that we held and stroked until Liv cut off her head and she proved to be particularly delicious.