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.

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.

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.

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. 

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…

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.

THREE WEEKS TO GO: CAMPING AND KINDLING

Now is the time to donate if you have not yet gotten around to it, as I only have around 24 hours to go to reach my fundraising target.

To read more about the wonderful lemurs and the threats they are facing, see this article published today by the BBC.  It is a very sad tale with no simple solution: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-16138206

On a lighter note, Azafady has posted some great pictures sent in by former volunteers: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150415149378603.362616.18672113602&type=3

I have now bought a tent which I hope will be storm resistant, and also well ventilated (I am trying to be optimistic here, but suspect it will go one way or the other).  According to online reviews, the tent can be set up in 3 minutes by even a novice camper.  I didn't want to get the tent wet and dirty by pitching it outside - I'm sure plenty of water and dirt will be headed its way soon enough - so I tried to test this assertion by erecting the tent in the spare bedroom .  It was not a successful mission as the bedroom was too small for the poles, but all the same, I suspect it is going to be more than a 3 minute job for me.

In preparation for long flights (and I am hoping there will be some down time in Madagascar), I have loaded up my Kindle with books from BBC’s top 100 list, and as it is likely I will find a good few of those hard going, books 1 and 2 from the Game of Thrones series.

I feel that I made some good progress this week in my pre-trip preparations, which is probably just as well since I fly out in just three weeks time. 

FOUR WEEKS TO GO: LAST CHANCE TO DONATE

There is only one week to go to reach my fundraising target of £2,000 (by 16 December), so if you have not yet donated your pennies or cents or spammed your contacts with a link to this blog, please do so now.  If I have not given you enough reasons already, here is a bit more about where your money will go.

In Madagascar, 1 in 10 children die before the age of 5 as a result of what are largely preventable diseases such as cholera.  In rural areas 71% of people have no access to safe drinking water.

Through Azafady’s work last year alone it: 

• gave access to clean drinking water to approximately 4,000 people by building wells
• gave access to basic health care to at least 10,000 people
• planted thousands of trees 
• assisted in the creation of numerous gardens and small income generating industries in over 5 villages.

In the past week, I had two more needles, one in each arm. So I ended up with two sore arms and no lollipop.  I did however get my prescription for anti-malarial tablets.  Faced with the unattractive options of: 1) blistering in the sun; 2) risking a psychotic episode (which granted should it happen, would probably bother those around me rather than the psychotic version of me); 3) paying £2.28 per day for tablets; I went with option 3 as it would seem money can buy health.  It is not lost on me that one malaria tablet will cost more than the food I will consume during my average day in Madagascar.

I have also started packing (setting aside may be the more correct term).  Stock cubes, head torch, journal – check.  The big item I am missing is a tent.  I had better go and make some progress on that front…

FIVE WEEKS TO GO: MY ITINERARY

There is less than two weeks to go to reach my fundraising target so please donate your moolah and/or your contact list.  For those in or around Reading I have a bit of spare time so I could walk your dog, clean your car or partake in a bit of gardening or painting in exchange for a donation – make me an offer!

This has been a big week.  I had the first of my 5 jabs on Monday, and can’t wait to get another two Monday coming.  The very exciting news is that I received my draft itinerary.  I will be spending a few days helping out at the Azafady Tree nursery with the ex-situ conservation of critically endangered plant species.  Later in the program I will be spending a week or so working with the community of Mahialambo to make stoves from clay and zebu poo.  These stoves are really important as when compared with open stoves there is a reduced fire risk and being more fuel efficient, less fuel (wood) is needed which protects the forests.  See these links for more information: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pc6YTVz3_uw, http://azafady.us/blog/?p=693

But the project most of my time will go to is the completion of a school in the rural commune of Mahatalaky.  There is an obvious need for education facilities in both rural and urban areas of Madagascar. In the Mahatalaky and Labako communes combined there is only one middle school (Mahatalaky CEG) serving 26 primary schools. At this moment in time, Mahatalaky CEG has no premises of its own and so the local community approached Azafady NGO to help them build four school buildings, a latrine and a well to provide safe drinking water.

The CEG has four year groups with students typically ranging from 11 to 15 years old, however often the year groups can be mixed with ages from 10 to18 due to many people starting education late because of other commitments such as helping family businesses.

My job will be to help build one school building with two rooms in Mahatalaky. This will be the final building in the year long project to build the new CEG and it is expected that my group will have the honour and privilege of being in Mahatalaky when the CEG is handed over to the community.  I get a bit teary just thinking about it, so expect I will be a right mess on the day.  I’ll let you know.