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.
Saturday 10 March 2012
Saturday 25 February 2012
WEEKS FIVE TO EIGHT: PAINTING AND PARADISE
We are back in Fort Dauphin for a few more days off following three weeks in the bush. Next week we leave for Mahialambo where we will be for the remainder of the scheme, sadly without three of our fellow Pioneers. Sue left us almost two weeks ago and Josh and Jeremy's departure is imminent. It will be quite different with just us four girls. Although we will still have a few of our Malagasy crew, we will miss those who aren't moving to the next site with us.
A TASTE OF THE ACP PROGRAM
I felt very fortunate that we were given the opportunity to sample the work done by the conservation volunteers, even if we did have to walk the 15km to St Luce and back - in the sweltering heat on the day we left and in torrential rain the day we returned.
We participated in:
Unlike Mahatalaky where most of the forest has been cleared, St Luce is a little slice of paradise: littoral forest fragments teaming with wildlife (we saw all four types of lemur in the area including the nocturnal woolley, mouse and fat-tailed dwarf lemurs), stunning beaches, delicious tuna and lobster and picturesque hamlets.
Mining rights have been granted over much of the area and although some areas have been ear-marked for conservation, change is coming.
SCHOOL BUILIDING IN MAHATALAKY
From the time we arrived in Madagascar, there had been some doubt that we would complete the school. So, although it is a little disappointing that we were not in a position to hand it over to the community, we have come a long way and the work we have done is visible - particularly our mural.
We had a very enjoyable leaving do. The mayor and a few other important people attended in the afternoon along with lots of kids who performed a few dances for us. In the evening it was our turn to hit the impromptu dance floor where we boogied away with the construction team... in the pouring rain.
WEATHER
When the sun is out, the days are scorching and it can be very hard to do anything particularly with sweat and sunscreen dripping into my eyes. We were lucky it was a bit cooler in January when we were doing the heavier work.
Numerous cyclones have threatened Madagascar since we have arrived. The most recent saw the Peace Corp volunteers evacuated to Fort Dauphin, while we all packed up and retreated to the solid comfort of the school buildings. The storm didn't amount to much in the end.
There seem to be a lot of storms about but we don't generally see much of them, other than a bit of wind and the odd down pour. Many nights we look up at the clearly visible Milky Way while along the horizons, lightning flares over far away villages.
A TASTE OF THE ACP PROGRAM
I felt very fortunate that we were given the opportunity to sample the work done by the conservation volunteers, even if we did have to walk the 15km to St Luce and back - in the sweltering heat on the day we left and in torrential rain the day we returned.
We participated in:
- lemur behavior - follwing a lemur for 1.5 hours and taking note every 5 minutes of its behaviour, location and type of tree it was in. Our red ruffed brown lemur rested and slept for a good hour so not too much bush bashing was required to keep up with him.
- herps - taking a night walk to a swamp where we located and identified various reptiles and amphibians, which were mostly frogs but also a type of snake not previously seen by the Azafady researchers in that forest fragment.
- stove building - installing two clay stoves for local residents.
- conservation club - playing and singing in environmental themed lessons for 150+ local kids on Saturday morning.
Unlike Mahatalaky where most of the forest has been cleared, St Luce is a little slice of paradise: littoral forest fragments teaming with wildlife (we saw all four types of lemur in the area including the nocturnal woolley, mouse and fat-tailed dwarf lemurs), stunning beaches, delicious tuna and lobster and picturesque hamlets.
Mining rights have been granted over much of the area and although some areas have been ear-marked for conservation, change is coming.
SCHOOL BUILIDING IN MAHATALAKY
From the time we arrived in Madagascar, there had been some doubt that we would complete the school. So, although it is a little disappointing that we were not in a position to hand it over to the community, we have come a long way and the work we have done is visible - particularly our mural.
We had a very enjoyable leaving do. The mayor and a few other important people attended in the afternoon along with lots of kids who performed a few dances for us. In the evening it was our turn to hit the impromptu dance floor where we boogied away with the construction team... in the pouring rain.
WEATHER
When the sun is out, the days are scorching and it can be very hard to do anything particularly with sweat and sunscreen dripping into my eyes. We were lucky it was a bit cooler in January when we were doing the heavier work.
Numerous cyclones have threatened Madagascar since we have arrived. The most recent saw the Peace Corp volunteers evacuated to Fort Dauphin, while we all packed up and retreated to the solid comfort of the school buildings. The storm didn't amount to much in the end.
There seem to be a lot of storms about but we don't generally see much of them, other than a bit of wind and the odd down pour. Many nights we look up at the clearly visible Milky Way while along the horizons, lightning flares over far away villages.
Thursday 2 February 2012
WEEKS TWO TO FOUR: SCHOOL BUILDING
I am back in Fort Dauphin today after spending 22 days in the bush just outside of Mahatalaky working on a school building project. We are in town for a few nights where we plan to eat all sorts of things, swim at the beach, get some cash out and stock up on clothes and shoes (ours are fairing badly) and spices we can add to rice and beans. We are also heading to Berenty on Saturday to see some of the spiny forest and more lemurs.
A typical day
I wake up at about 5.15am. If I haven't made a moonlit visit to a nearby tree and have only woken once or twice to adjust my sleeping position, sleeping bag or liner, I consider it a good night's sleep. I turn on my mobile phone to check the time and if it is not too hot I will snooze or write in my diary until the alarm goes off at about 6am.
I visit the long drop (if it is not raining and there is toilet paper, this is another sign of a good day) and then go down to the well to pump a bucket of water. Back by my tent, I wash my face and then do a bit of handwashing (I'm clearly not doing a very good job as everything has taken on an orange tinge), keeping an ear and an eye out for the flock of green parrots that zoom past each morning.
When I hear the call of "breakfast ready" I trot the 60 metres or so up to the dining are for coffee or lemon grass tea, rice which I mix with condensed milk and banana, steamed banana cake and 2 deep fried dough balls (delicious with the jam I bought which is made locally, and equally, with marmite - there is no vegemite but if there was I'm sure it would be even better), topped off with a multivitamin and malaria tablet. Most days we see a boys herding their family's zebu along the path through camp, taking them out to find a place to feed for the day. Every third day Jay and I wash up the camp's dishes after each of the three meals. It is hard to say how many people are in camp as it is quite fluid, although I would say there are around 25 people.
Five days a week (we teach on a sixth day, generally having Mondays off), weather and supplies allowing, we start work at 7.30am. The work varies day to day. We have done a lot of work on the floor of the 4th school building which has involved rock weaving (carrying big rocks then fitting them together like a jigsaw) and cementing - I'm not sure what is worse: mixing cement or carrying it to where it is required. We have also been painting and sanding windows and doors and generally tidying up. It is starting to take shape, but there is still a long way to go. We work alongside the Malagasy construction team who are all lovely and up for a laugh.
Just before lunch our brilliant Malagasy guides will give us a Malagasy lesson if we are up for it and then it is time for rice and beans which could be kidney, butter (my least favourite), like baked beans, lentils, funny ones I've never seen before or black eyed peas.
The lunch break lasts until 2pm to avoid the heat of the day. A few days a week we teach English to those who are interested from the construction team and kitchen crew and we tend to learn as much from them as they do from us. On other days we lay in the shade on hand woven straw mats (bought for 1 pound, they smelt so nice when they were new) and read, write or nap.
At 2pm it is time to get back to work, weather depending. There were a few raining afternoons particularly when we first arrived so we planned English and environmentqal lessons for the local primary school. We went one Friday to teach the grade 1 and 2 classes. The kids (in class and outside of it) are plentiful, super cute and well behaved. Unfortunately the following Friday the school was closed due to a funeral.
We usually finish up at about 5pm and perhaps learn a bit of Capoeira from our guides Claude and Eric. Then it is time to hit the showers, or rather carry or bucket of well water into the field where some poles and plastic offer a little privacy. Personally I think privacy is a bit overrated and prefer the third shower with views of the creek (the preferred washing place for some - in a spot I can see quite clearly from my tent but not from the shower).
Reasonably clean it is time for more reading and chatting and perhaps a well deserved room temperature (more than 20°C) THB - Three Horse Beer, a Malagasy Pilsner. During the day, whistling and iPods and the speaker when it is charged are popular (there some good solar panels around), but in the evening the camp is often enlivened by the sound of guitar, bongo and singing. Dinner could be spaghetti or rice with one of pumpkin, freshly killed chicken, vegetables or if we are lucky fish (could be from a nearby river or carried 15km from the coast) or zebu. We are very spoilt by the kitchen team and while monotonous and simple the food is really good, so good that when we ate out at a restaurant in Mahatalaky we were disappointed. Most nights we have pineapple for desert. The pineapples here are truly amazing, very sweet and juicy and cost only 800 Ariary (25p).
After dinner, we might have a game of cards or dice before bed time which I consider to be anytime after 7.30pm. Back in my tent I use my light to lure the bugs that somehow got in during the course of the day so that I can kill them and sleep easy. The inner of my tent is like a bug graveyard which you would think would serve as a warning to the others...
Health
So far the Pioneers, our guide and coordinator (12 people) have endured:
A typical day
I wake up at about 5.15am. If I haven't made a moonlit visit to a nearby tree and have only woken once or twice to adjust my sleeping position, sleeping bag or liner, I consider it a good night's sleep. I turn on my mobile phone to check the time and if it is not too hot I will snooze or write in my diary until the alarm goes off at about 6am.
I visit the long drop (if it is not raining and there is toilet paper, this is another sign of a good day) and then go down to the well to pump a bucket of water. Back by my tent, I wash my face and then do a bit of handwashing (I'm clearly not doing a very good job as everything has taken on an orange tinge), keeping an ear and an eye out for the flock of green parrots that zoom past each morning.
When I hear the call of "breakfast ready" I trot the 60 metres or so up to the dining are for coffee or lemon grass tea, rice which I mix with condensed milk and banana, steamed banana cake and 2 deep fried dough balls (delicious with the jam I bought which is made locally, and equally, with marmite - there is no vegemite but if there was I'm sure it would be even better), topped off with a multivitamin and malaria tablet. Most days we see a boys herding their family's zebu along the path through camp, taking them out to find a place to feed for the day. Every third day Jay and I wash up the camp's dishes after each of the three meals. It is hard to say how many people are in camp as it is quite fluid, although I would say there are around 25 people.
Five days a week (we teach on a sixth day, generally having Mondays off), weather and supplies allowing, we start work at 7.30am. The work varies day to day. We have done a lot of work on the floor of the 4th school building which has involved rock weaving (carrying big rocks then fitting them together like a jigsaw) and cementing - I'm not sure what is worse: mixing cement or carrying it to where it is required. We have also been painting and sanding windows and doors and generally tidying up. It is starting to take shape, but there is still a long way to go. We work alongside the Malagasy construction team who are all lovely and up for a laugh.
Just before lunch our brilliant Malagasy guides will give us a Malagasy lesson if we are up for it and then it is time for rice and beans which could be kidney, butter (my least favourite), like baked beans, lentils, funny ones I've never seen before or black eyed peas.
The lunch break lasts until 2pm to avoid the heat of the day. A few days a week we teach English to those who are interested from the construction team and kitchen crew and we tend to learn as much from them as they do from us. On other days we lay in the shade on hand woven straw mats (bought for 1 pound, they smelt so nice when they were new) and read, write or nap.
At 2pm it is time to get back to work, weather depending. There were a few raining afternoons particularly when we first arrived so we planned English and environmentqal lessons for the local primary school. We went one Friday to teach the grade 1 and 2 classes. The kids (in class and outside of it) are plentiful, super cute and well behaved. Unfortunately the following Friday the school was closed due to a funeral.
We usually finish up at about 5pm and perhaps learn a bit of Capoeira from our guides Claude and Eric. Then it is time to hit the showers, or rather carry or bucket of well water into the field where some poles and plastic offer a little privacy. Personally I think privacy is a bit overrated and prefer the third shower with views of the creek (the preferred washing place for some - in a spot I can see quite clearly from my tent but not from the shower).
Reasonably clean it is time for more reading and chatting and perhaps a well deserved room temperature (more than 20°C) THB - Three Horse Beer, a Malagasy Pilsner. During the day, whistling and iPods and the speaker when it is charged are popular (there some good solar panels around), but in the evening the camp is often enlivened by the sound of guitar, bongo and singing. Dinner could be spaghetti or rice with one of pumpkin, freshly killed chicken, vegetables or if we are lucky fish (could be from a nearby river or carried 15km from the coast) or zebu. We are very spoilt by the kitchen team and while monotonous and simple the food is really good, so good that when we ate out at a restaurant in Mahatalaky we were disappointed. Most nights we have pineapple for desert. The pineapples here are truly amazing, very sweet and juicy and cost only 800 Ariary (25p).
After dinner, we might have a game of cards or dice before bed time which I consider to be anytime after 7.30pm. Back in my tent I use my light to lure the bugs that somehow got in during the course of the day so that I can kill them and sleep easy. The inner of my tent is like a bug graveyard which you would think would serve as a warning to the others...
Health
So far the Pioneers, our guide and coordinator (12 people) have endured:
- (I have been badly hit by) an epic 8 day bout of diarrohea, a cold, a burnt finger, a pinapple thorn lodged in my hand and on the same day, stinging sugar cane hairs in the elbow;
- (most of us have had) some combination of mozzie bites, cuts, scratches and bruises;
- constipation;
- vomitting and diarrohea;
- sunburn with blistering and peeling;
- a painful bite to the ankle that became massively swollen and weepy;
- splinters;
- 4 parasy (jiggers)
- 4 nails were trod on, 3 times saved by hiking boots but flip flops did not save the 4th; and
- a spider bite that was not particularly nasty, but scary as the culprit was a black spider and the bite happened less than 2 hours after a black widow was found in the middle of the construction site (on a brick our guide Yvon was holding).
Tuesday 10 January 2012
WEEK ONE: AN INTRODUCTION
It has been less than a week since the plane touched down in Antananarivo and I already love Madagascar despite the slight dodgy belly, torrential rain brought in by a cyclone in the western channel and wet sleeping mat due to leaky tent (user error - better to learn from my mistakes now while we are in Fort Dauphin).
Air Madagascar changed the flight time for the internal trip to Fort Dauphin no less than 3 times and we arrived in Fort Dauphin late Friday afternoon (much more civilised than the original 6.40am arrival) to begin the Pioneer scheme.
P.S. I am typing this with great difficulty on a French style keyboard so please excuse any typos. I am also having problems uploading photos and will try next time.
Air Madagascar changed the flight time for the internal trip to Fort Dauphin no less than 3 times and we arrived in Fort Dauphin late Friday afternoon (much more civilised than the original 6.40am arrival) to begin the Pioneer scheme.
I have learnt so much about Azafady over the past few days and I am feeling very inspired and excited to head into the bush tomorrow for the school building project. While 35km from Fort Dauphin does not sound terribly remote, the trip will take us about 2 hours.
We have already done a little work in the tree nursery filling 401 small bags with soil ready for a seed to be planted in each. Agro-forestry is really important as rather than using the forest, these plants provide an alternative source of firewood and building materials. This is critical as Fort Dauphin consumes150 tonnes of charcoal per month.
I have been suprised at the number of similarities between this region and Queensland:
- There are the obvious things like the weather and the beaches (we went for a swim at beautiful Libanona and just after we got out of the surf, fishermen arrived in a lankana (like a wooden canoe) and carried up into town a four metre tiger shark);
- There are many of the same plants like mango, pawpaw, banana (I was told they have a type here where you need to kick the trunk for the fruit to ripen, although I suspect my leg was being pulled there), travellers palms and fast growing Aussie imports that can grow in difficult conditions including eucalypt for wood and citronella, acacia for firewood and paper bark used as loo paper;
- There are also some of the same social issues such as how to attract teachers to work in the bush and the interplay between mining, the local population and the environment:
The wildlife however is very different. We have seen lots of wildlife already: chameleons in the garden of the airport hotel, red parrots and green lizards (which may or may not be giant day geckos) at our campsite and last but by no means least, four types of lemur at Nahampoana Reserve including a troupe of ringtails, brown lemurs, startled looking sifakas and a few reclusive bamboo lemurs.
I will be back in town in early February so keep an eye out for a further update.
Wednesday 4 January 2012
D-DAY: HEADING OFF
Today is the day. I am a little nervous, but very excited. In a few hours I am planning to meet up with two of my group at Heathrow which will be great, and I will be in Madagascar by this time tomorrow. Let the adventure begin!
True to form, I have only just finished packing and now have only a few minutes until I need to start getting ready to go. I checked, and fortunately the clothes I had set aside still fit despite the few celebratory kilos I have piled on and am ready to work off.
I am looking forward to volunteering with Azafady, winner of Best Volunteering Organisation in the 2007 Responsible Tourism Awards. In the past two years, Pioneers have helped build 6 schools allowing access to education for some 1,800 children who previously had no educational opportunities and with Pioneer assistance, Azafady now has 10,000 seedlings of two critically endangered species in its nurseries. It will be wonderful to be a part of these projects.
I will write when I can so keep an eye out in about a week, and then in early February and early March and sometime in April when I am back in Europe.
Thursday 29 December 2011
ONE WEEK TO GO: THE FINAL COUNTDOWN
At around this hour in only six days time, I will be leaving home, back packs on front and back and dragging another 20kg bag with wheels through the streets of Reading. My packing skills are not quite as bad as they sound as the last bag is to assist Azafady in getting essential equipment to Madagascar. Fortunately it is not too long a walk to the bus, and then it is a direct trip to the airport.
As I spent five of the last seven days in Germany, I cannot claim to have done much in the way of preparations in the past week. But I did manage to:
- Go to the dentist. I won’t commit to writing how long it had been between visits, but no dramas are anticipated teeth-wise in the next three months and I have now added floss to the “to pack” list.
- Conduct various successful patch tests on myself - 50% DEET mozzie spray is fine by me and even a few of the band aids seem to be okay.
- Drag out a camping lamp and sleeping mat (eek, it’s bigger than I remembered) from under the stairs, where I also found my thongs (flip flops for those in the UK) which was just as well since I have been looking in the shops and there are none on the shelves.
I was also delighted that my various mail order goods fit through the letter slot and were waiting for me on my return.
It has been a bit chilly (icy when the wind is up) in both the UK and Germany, so I am pleased to report that the current temperature in Fort Dauphin is in the 20s, day and night. Bring on summer! And on that note, I must go and chase up those adventure sandals…
Thursday 22 December 2011
TWO WEEKS TO GO: ALMOST READY
Firstly a big thank you from me (and the lemurs) to everyone who has donated and/or shared a link to this blog.
Details of my preparations for this adventure aside, I hope that you have learnt something new about Madagascar and Azafady, for example, that most of the Malagasy people rely on subsistence slash and burn agriculture, which involves clearance of remaining forest (already down to around 10%) to plant crops. Azafady works closely with communities helping them with income generation activities and to manage their resources in a sustainable manner.
I am feeling surprisingly organised. I have had the last of my vaccinations, and there is now a very big pile of stuff I have set aside, including my many prescription medicines and an enormous pile of over the counter tablets and creams. Just out of interest I weighed these with my toiletries. It came in at a bit over 4kg and the collection is not quite complete… There are a few other bits and pieces I have ordered online and in store so fingers crossed these arrive on time, especially the adventure sandals and spare camera batteries – living without electricity poses a small dilemma in this digital age and I would hate to miss the perfect lemur snap.
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