It is crazy that
it is already July! The second half of June was filled with traveling which
made it absolutely fly by. The first trip came as a surprise – my counterpart
organization, Prosperer, informed me and the two other volunteers in my region
with three days notice about a business trip to visit Prosperer offices and
co-workers up north to promote cooperation and communication between regions. I
was unsure if I wanted to go at first at such short notice, having planned
other activities for that week and worried about language and community
integration. However, I decided to go and am so glad that I did. The north is
like another world from the highlands. I am beginning to learn why some people
call Madagascar “the eighth continent”. It was not only interesting to see how
the landscape changed during the 700km trip to Antsohihy, but also to see how
different the culture seemed once we arrived. Not only is the language
different, as the people speak a different dialect of Malagasy, but I couldn’t
help but notice the culture felt much more African. I found myself being
reminded of my time in Senegal – something I had experienced living in the
highlands but to a much lesser extent as the culture reflects a more Asian
influence.
The “business”
part of the trip was great. It consisted of visiting various MERs, or
Micro-Entreprises Rurales (Rural Micro-Enterprises), who are the primary
beneficiaries of Prosperer activities and include blacksmiths, basket weavers,
beekeepers, and seamstresses among others. It was interesting to see other
projects and get some ideas for projects I can try to incorporate in my work in
Ampefy. I also loved getting to know my Malagasy co-workers and counterparts.
Nothing like long car rides and late nights singing Malagasy songs (or
listening, in my case) to bring people closer together. Many times I found
myself thinking, this would never happen on a business trip in the states!
Though I have to say, one of the highlights of our time in Antsohihy was the
coconut sauce. Coconuts abound up north, and they make an absolutely delicious
sauce that is even better when paired with freshly caught ocean fish in which I
indulged several times over a 24-hour period.
On the way back
down south, we stopped in a town called Port-Bergé for some more visits. We had
a bit more time to wander and explore the town, which was a nice respite from
sitting in a car all day. It was interesting to chat with people from the town,
both to hear just how different the language is (and see just how little I
could understand) and to learn a bit about culture in the north. Every evening
for the two weeks leading up to the fetim-pirenena (independence day) in
Madagascar, which was on June 26th, there is a type of boxing called
Morengy (sp?) that takes place in the town center of Port-Bergé. Men, women and
children alike seek out opponents by strutting around the makeshift arena,
sizing up their competition until they find a suitable match. While the
fighting is normally a form of good fun and healthy competition, it did
occasionally turn ugly prompting the local police to get involved and break it
up. I have posted some pictures that only begin to capture the atmosphere of
the event, but at least do justice to its scale.
