Vaovao

*I wrote this about 4 days ago when my computer battery was dead, we have since successfully taught our first English course for the village, and am in currently in Manakara attempting to fully charge up all electronic devises before going back to Anosimparihy on Sunday.

Creating an "affiche" advertising free English course

 Well its been a while. I don’t really know where to start. How about now? I have gold dust on my ankle, mixed nicely with a smudge of dirt. Did I already mention that there’s gold in the river here? You get little flakes of it that stick to you when fetching water, and you can see it sparkling in the sand alongside the river. Some of the people here spend their time in the river searching for gold when the river is low and season is wrong for bringing money from their crops.

One of the rainy days in Anosimparihy

What else? Today is hot. One of the hottest days since I’ve been here, about 90 degrees F inside. I don’t think it’s just because of my Oregonian background that I’ve usually enjoyed the times it rains here. The rain also means we rush to put buckets outside under holes in the gutter of the school building. And on a good day, that means we won’t need to go to the river to fetch water.

My English class of 3ieme

I’m done as the teacher for the class of “3ieme” for the time being. We will start doing an English class for the general public this Friday and I’m slightly terrified, but it’s great to see how much interest there has been. The results of my teaching (although most of the credit goes to the other teachers here) was a success in respect to the standard “BEPC” test that my students were preparing for. This was the first time there has been a class of 3ieme in Anosimparihy. 7 out of 9 students passed, a result everyon was pleased with- including an organization of parents, whose “thank you” to the teachers included a quantity of toka gasy.

Fete for the teachers, for the success of the class of 3ieme

We’ve been able to spend some time talking to the mayor and fokontany (sector) president about what development issues there are in Anosimparihy, and what kind of projects have already been undertaken. From this we’ve learned that potable water is a big issue here. While there aren’t too many problems using the river water now, then the rainy season comes, the water level rises so much that the village becomes an island at times. The name Anosimparihy literally translates to mean “island of the lake” (anosy= island & farihy= lake). When the river is high, the water gets contaminated and leads to health problems in the village.

Maka rano (fetching water)

 We also finally got the chance to visit Ambalona, the village where most of Hope for Madagascar’s projects are targeted. We joined a going away get-together for a Peace Corps volunteer, Rebekah, who has been helping with Hope for Madagascar’s projects in Ambalona. Between visiting Ambalona and the discussions in the village, we have something of a better idea of what we’re doing here in Anosimparihy.

Laundry in the river

 

I can’t believe it’s September already, and that I’ve been living here for over a month. It’s been enough time that I understand maybe the topic of conversations in Malagasy, maybe 50% of the time. We’ve had the occasion to eat copious quantities of bananas, try a “pocannelle” and pick a few raspberries off of bushes that grow alongside some of the paths. I’ve also now done laundry in the river several times, and seen coffee trees bloom and then wilt, three days later. I never knew that coffee flowers are incredibly fragrant until walking through a coffee plantation in full bloom on the path to Bac Namorona.

Tropical fruit galore: pocannelle, bananas, Jackfruit

I still haven’t gotten my bronze bracelet to swim in the river (they were apparently lany or gone when we searched for them in the city of Manakara the last time), and luckily haven’t spotted any crocodiles in the river either.

Banana pancakes, pineapple, jam & coffee for breakfast= : )

I’ve gotten really good at creative baking for the village kitchen. Besides frequent pancakes and crepes, I’ve also managed to figure out baking a basic scone in the marmite (pot), as well as an invented banana cake for breakfast this morning, which turned out quite well despite having no eggs.

We were also happy to discover that you can purchase films to put on a flash drive for 1000 Ariary (50 cents), at the video clubs that sell CD’s of pirate movies. The films are often translated into French, or poorly translated into Malagasy- meaning that I’ve now seen The Matrix and How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days in French, while in the village.

So there you have it, the vaovao (news) from Anosimparihy. Gotta find a way to charge my computer battery so as to put this online. Until next time, hopefully sooner than this time. Veloma!

A very full classroom for our first general English course