32 Hours 25 Meters

I have a lot of photos to down load but the internet connection is awful and I was not able to download. I hope to add them later My phone is not working at the moment and again I will hopefully get that resolved soon.

From the time, I stepped on to a bus in Philadelphia until I stepped off a bus in Manasoa where the Peace Corps Training Center is, 32 hours had passed. This included the 2 hours in the Antananarivo (Tana) Airport waiting for our luggage which did not come for several days and a 3.5 hour bus ride to the PC training center which was only 60 kilometers away.  This should give you an idea of the road conditions.

Beautiful, lush hill sides, green rice paddies in various stages of growth, colorful flowers of every kind and variety. Lots of chickens, roasters, cows, oxen, cats, and dogs roaming about. The roads are full of life- mothers, children, vendors, animals all walking at a slow pace with a purpose. It was truly breathtaking. The sights were not unlike what I had experienced in my travels in Central America, but Madagascar is the most picturesque and seems to have a special magic.

When we got off the bus at the Peace Corps Training Center, dinner was waiting for us and when we entered the “mess hall” the Malagasy workers started clapping, the kitchen help jumped up and down at seeing us and greeted us warmly with big smiles, shouting “Tonga Soa”- welcome. I was beyond touched and the tears flowed. I have not been welcomed like this in a long time.  There was a time when my children were young that they would shout for joy and run and hug me when I came home, but they have not jumped up and down clapping upon seeing me in a while.  ( please take note here guys)

I remembered a framed saying in a meditation room at Our Lady of Peace Monastery in Columbia that read:

“Just to live is holy, Just to be is a blessing.”  The Malagasy team made us feel that our mere presence was such a blessing to them.  What an amazing feeling to know you are a blessing in someone’s life.

We were assigned dorms and my new friend Kathy roomed with me. We all shared a large bathroom. The younger generation is accustomed to entering a communal bathroom and seeing men and women side by side wrapped in towels, but it was always a shock for me to walk in and see some young man in a bath towel shaving. The first few times I walked out and said I would come back. I am slowly adjusting.

The next 3 days were nonstop to prepare us for living with host families. A crash course to learn a few Malagasy phrases, meeting our Medical team who gave us vaccines – we receive two a week for the next 4-5 weeks, presentations on how to filter and clean our water and an overview of the goals of Peace Corps and our commitment to service. The most important goals being peace and friendship to the countries we serve and to assist with the technical training we are given, for us as Americans to learn more about the culture we are in and share that message back home, and for us to help the Malagasy people understand Americans.

The Peace Corps Director shared a story that is worth repeating.  A few years ago, President Obama invited all the heads of the African countries to a summit. The president of New Guinea arrived late because of problems within his country.  He was to meet the head of Peace Crops before meeting the President. Knowing he arrived late, had a long flight and was most likely very tired the Peace Corps director sent a courtesy message to his hotel stating they could postpone the meeting so he could prepare for his meeting with the President.  The New Guinee president insisted on keeping the appointment.  Upon meeting, he told him that when he was a young boy in New Guinee, a Peace Corps volunteer was sent to his small village.  That Peace Corps volunteer helped him study every night by kerosene lamp.  Because of his help, he not only finished high school, but finished with such high marks he was offered a scholarship to a university in Europe.

And because of his excellent education he came back and became involved in his government and is now president. His only request for the Peace Corps director was “Please send more volunteers to our country.”  This is one extraordinary example, we will not all be mentoring future presidents, but hoping to do some good in the village we are placed.

On day 3 we were driven about 15 minutes away to our host families.  Again, when we pulled up in our bus with our luggage there was a crowd of Malagasy families, smiling, clapping and welcoming us!  The children were excited and a little scared upon seeing so many white faces.  And tears flowed again, I think I am getting too old for all this.

My host family is a man and wife about my age- 58 – they have 5 children- 3 boys and 2 girls and 5 grandchildren. The children and grandchildren all live in the capital-abbreviated Tana. They are wonderful and help me with my Malagasy every day.

All the volunteers have their own room, which is small and consist of a single bed, a small table and chair and our water filters.  The host families are compensated for the rent and food they give us.

I am very lucky, I have electricity and a single light bulb dangling from my ceiling in my room. It is rainy season now until April so in the evening the electricity frequently goes out.  The best part is that my water is only 25 meters away.   I don’t have to walk far to get water.

A typical day in training is waking at 4:45 with the rooster next door, read, study and exercise a little in my room. Brush my teeth outside my door and then take my chamber pot (called a PO) to the outhouse and dump it and clean it.  My host mother heats a small amount of water on her hot plate and I mix it with the cold water from the outdoor well. Then I take a bucket bath in the La Douche outside. Always careful to look for spiders or any other critters hanging in the dark cool corners of the outside shower.

Breakfast is at 7:00 and is always the same – rice.  For breakfast, we have a watery rice with homemade peanut butter. It is actually very good – followed by “mofo” – fried bread, so greasy the oil drips off when I bite into it.  Coffee and a piece of fruit – pineapple, banana, mango and a few strange fruits I have never seen or heard or eaten which are “eo-eo” which means so so.

I then walk to an old French army barracks, now being used for our lessons. From 8-12 we have  Malagasy lessons with our teachers – 3 to 4 in a group. Afternoons we have more cultural training, technical training or medical training.  I walk home at noon and have lunch- rice again– always rice and vegetables, sometimes beans. If there is meat it is a very small amount mixed in with the vegetables.

I have a short nap until about 1:45 and then head back for more training. Classes end at 5:00 pm and I walk home with other volunteers. Dinner is at 7:00 pm and guess what I eat!!  If you said rice you win! Lots of rice, vegetables and a little meat or beans. I remember writing a letter to my parents back in 1980 when I worked in Honduras.  I wrote “Mom we eat beans and rice every day at every meal, every now and then they mix it up and serve rice and beans.”

After dinner, my host mother “tucks me in.” She walks me to the back of the house where I have my own entrance, and makes sure I am locked in.  I am not allowed to use the “Kabone”( outside bathroom) after dinner or during the night – hence the chamber pot.(Po)  The reason is that it is dark at 6:30 and there would be rats, snakes, spiders and who knows what else in the dark outhouse far from the house.

I watched all the Little House on the Prairie shows and I don’t remember mention of rats in the outhouse or carrying buckets of water to the house.  I try to tell myself that I am living a Laura Ingalls life, with a twist and without Michael Landon, and to enjoy the adventure.

This is the nuts and bolts for now, I hope to have more personal stories in the weeks to come. I feel a bit brain dead in my blogging. I am so tired that it is hard to write. The language is killing me, but I see small improvements each day. ( more on that later)  We go back to the training center every Thursday for vaccines and technical training.

Do small things in this world with great love.  Mother Theresa

   

 

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