Sorry for so many delays, and no pictures! maybe when i get back to the states for christmas/hannukah vacation.
Life has been pretty busy on the island, if you can believe it! I actually just got done with a bicycle tour around Lac Alaotra in the central highlands (where basically all of the rice in this country is produced; and in case you didn't know, people here eat rice 3X a day; they eat more rice per capita than any other country in the world; so long story short, lots of rice paddies). 20 volunteers and I road between 45min-5 hours everyday to different villages surrounding the lake and held "fety's" or little festivals and booths about HIV prevention and transmission. It was exhausting but a lot of good work! Here in Madagascar there are about 20,000 confirmed cases, but testing is super low. STIs are a major problem (syphilis especially), and people do not exactly respect the "sanctity of marriage," so Madagascar is a perfect breeding ground for an epidemic if they aren't careful.
Notes on 1/3 peace corps time, what i do to survive here: be innovative; be willing to make mistakes all the time and apologize and move on; smiling, smiling, smiling, even when you cry; and trying hard to see the good/best/kindness in everyone, even when they stare at you like an alien and have dollar signs for pupils. And PATIENCE. That's my problem, I have zero patience, but nothing ever happens here in a timely matter and there are many distractions along the way.
One other update: I have a thesis topic for my Master's program. I will be looking at different surveillance data for malaria incidence in Maevatanana district (where I live) to ascertain the trend in cases. It seems that malaria cases are increasing here instead of going down like in the rest of the country, though the same interventions (bednets, indoor spraying, prophylaxis for pregnant women, rapid testing, rapid treatment, and IEC) have been done all over the country. So I'm trying to figure out what's different about my home town and how these interventions can be improved here. I'm so excited because it has a lot to do with data and program improvement, which I feel much more comfortable with than going out and doing my own survey/quantitative/or qualitative research. It's too hard to set up a good study in 2 years when you are still learning the language!
I'm also hoping to start a SIDA (AIDS) girls club at the local high/middle schools. It will be pretty informal, but but i'm going to try and have them write letters to my World Wise school in Georgia that I am now in contact with. so exciting.
anyways, i'm good, life is good, i'm going to make it another 2/3..
more later.
Saturday, August 7, 2010
Sunday, June 20, 2010
Post 10: Back in the swing of things with great new projects!
It’s been three weeks since I returned to site from the last training, and it’s been a series of up and downs. I realized that things go entirely too slow at site, and it’s hard to plan because most people don’t really work (i.e. most of the government health bodies in my town). So, I’ve started working with two community health workers (CHWs) linked to my CSB (clinic) that live in communities about 6-10km away (and one I return home by canoe!!). I love these new projects! I’m working with very “mazoto” (put in a lot of effort, hard workers) women that want to better their communities. This past week I spent two separate nights at these women’s homes and ate with them, had meetings in which we did PACA (participatory analysis exercises), and just enjoyed each other’s company (including me getting my hair braided more than once…I look like Sean Paul says Devyn).
So after doing exercises in these two communities, here are the interesting project ideas they have to improve their lives (on a peace corps budget, and their own budget as well):
The first community, Ambodimanary (6km away from CSB) wants to form a women’s association in order to improve conditions in their community. They struggle with being hardworking in regards to community development. They are also interested in improving their farming output for rice as well as vegetables and fruits, so I’m going to try and get more material on farming in dry/red clay conditions and I’m going to invite an environment volunteer to my site to help. Finally, people in Ambodimanary are concerned about education: there is an EPP (elementary school) in their village, but will very little supplies, and then once kids finish there, they must commute or live in Maevatanana (my big town), where school costs and rent is high and teenage pregnancy is vast. These are the issues this community is struggling with, which I think would be perfectly addressed by forming a women’s association that could function as a communal bank that could raise money for projects and supplies.
In the second community, Manganoro (10km away from CSB, an hour up the river by canoe) already has a women’s association (so I’m thinking of inviting the CHW from Manganoro to Ambodimanary to talk about forming the association and making it work, since it’s been done there…cross collaboration is awesome!). But, there are still many issues this community is facing in terms of health and development. First of all, there are NO bathrooms at all there (and i'm not one to do well with shiting behind a tree). Also, there is very little gardening, except for a halucinagenic plant called "Paraky", which I have yet to try, but i am looking forward to it... ;)
Finally, again there are problems with the school system there: very few teachers, very few supplies, little space for learning, etc. Then the kids are sent to the middle school (CEG) in Maevatanana if they are lucky (money-wise and smart-wise).
So these are my two new project towns, and i'm so excited about them! i plan to visit one each week and spend the day/night and having meetings and start projects. Then, with the help of a doctor from the next town over, i hope to conduct a few interviews of community health workers in my area (there are about 20-30), and then a survey focusing on the challenges they face working, and the kind of work they have been able (and not been able) to do.
Otherwise, things are going well, i'm busy (if you can believe it!), i have many friends and lots of drama and lots of fun, so life is good in my silly town in Madagascar! More to come, as always (and pictures will be posted in July!).
So after doing exercises in these two communities, here are the interesting project ideas they have to improve their lives (on a peace corps budget, and their own budget as well):
The first community, Ambodimanary (6km away from CSB) wants to form a women’s association in order to improve conditions in their community. They struggle with being hardworking in regards to community development. They are also interested in improving their farming output for rice as well as vegetables and fruits, so I’m going to try and get more material on farming in dry/red clay conditions and I’m going to invite an environment volunteer to my site to help. Finally, people in Ambodimanary are concerned about education: there is an EPP (elementary school) in their village, but will very little supplies, and then once kids finish there, they must commute or live in Maevatanana (my big town), where school costs and rent is high and teenage pregnancy is vast. These are the issues this community is struggling with, which I think would be perfectly addressed by forming a women’s association that could function as a communal bank that could raise money for projects and supplies.
In the second community, Manganoro (10km away from CSB, an hour up the river by canoe) already has a women’s association (so I’m thinking of inviting the CHW from Manganoro to Ambodimanary to talk about forming the association and making it work, since it’s been done there…cross collaboration is awesome!). But, there are still many issues this community is facing in terms of health and development. First of all, there are NO bathrooms at all there (and i'm not one to do well with shiting behind a tree). Also, there is very little gardening, except for a halucinagenic plant called "Paraky", which I have yet to try, but i am looking forward to it... ;)
Finally, again there are problems with the school system there: very few teachers, very few supplies, little space for learning, etc. Then the kids are sent to the middle school (CEG) in Maevatanana if they are lucky (money-wise and smart-wise).
So these are my two new project towns, and i'm so excited about them! i plan to visit one each week and spend the day/night and having meetings and start projects. Then, with the help of a doctor from the next town over, i hope to conduct a few interviews of community health workers in my area (there are about 20-30), and then a survey focusing on the challenges they face working, and the kind of work they have been able (and not been able) to do.
Otherwise, things are going well, i'm busy (if you can believe it!), i have many friends and lots of drama and lots of fun, so life is good in my silly town in Madagascar! More to come, as always (and pictures will be posted in July!).
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
Post 9: After In-service training and gearing up for more work (and play)
So I’m am leaving IST (in-service training), which means that I have not ET’ed (early terminated) my peace corps service during one of the most popular times to do so. That’s a good start I guess! I mean, things have been good, but the kind of support you need is not always offered by the Peace Corps…and that’s all I will say on that matter. Anyways, all of my peace corps “stage” were reunited in our old training center in Mantasoa. It was quite a hectic time, all 34 of us there, with our “counterparts” (a chosen or assigned person in our communities that support our work). We attended millions of presentations on HIV/AIDS, on Bio-intensive gardening, small-business development, and a whole lot of other stuff. It was productive, great to see everyone speaking Malagasy, and great to hear about everyone’s stories and struggles. And you know what also was great?!?! The weather! It was cold! I haven’t felt sweat in almost three weeks! It’s amazing.
It’s been a great time to re-evaluate my work and come up with better ways to promote health in my community.
First of all, I met with the country representative of PSI (Population service international, www.psi.org) and he told me about research that this NGO was going to be doing in my region of Betsiboka, and I am hopefully going to help, and possibly use this work as my thesis for my masters program, yay!
Secondly, I have gotten some great ideas for health activities in my area:
-I’m going to start working with the community health workers to provide them with more health information, training from PSI, and broader recognition in the region. I hope to also start gardening and efficient stove-building projects there
-I’m also going to start preparing for an HIV/AIDS festival in my town that will mostly focus on the high school and middle school students, and will hopefully included speakers from the association of People living with AIDS (PLWA), Men who have sex with men (MSM), and commercial sex workers (CSW), who are active in the capital and promote HIV/AIDS prevention
-Ummm…I’m going to keep studying Malagasy, French, Spanish, and MCATs prep…but I won’t make any promises about the future yet.
-I am going to be doing some traveling/working: first I’m going to be back in the beach town, Majunga, for a Peace Corps meeting in mid-June. Then I’m going to central highlands area, to a lake called Lac Alaotra, to do a bike trip to fight against HIV/AIDS in mid-July, then I will hopefully be back at Mantasoa to help train new peace corps volunteers in late-August/early-September, then hopefully doing some work in the east near the city of Moramanga and the Andasibe park, and then eventually, doing some work in my home of Maevatanana…I’m pretty busy for the next 4 months! And that’s how I like it!
It’s been a great time to re-evaluate my work and come up with better ways to promote health in my community.
First of all, I met with the country representative of PSI (Population service international, www.psi.org) and he told me about research that this NGO was going to be doing in my region of Betsiboka, and I am hopefully going to help, and possibly use this work as my thesis for my masters program, yay!
Secondly, I have gotten some great ideas for health activities in my area:
-I’m going to start working with the community health workers to provide them with more health information, training from PSI, and broader recognition in the region. I hope to also start gardening and efficient stove-building projects there
-I’m also going to start preparing for an HIV/AIDS festival in my town that will mostly focus on the high school and middle school students, and will hopefully included speakers from the association of People living with AIDS (PLWA), Men who have sex with men (MSM), and commercial sex workers (CSW), who are active in the capital and promote HIV/AIDS prevention
-Ummm…I’m going to keep studying Malagasy, French, Spanish, and MCATs prep…but I won’t make any promises about the future yet.
-I am going to be doing some traveling/working: first I’m going to be back in the beach town, Majunga, for a Peace Corps meeting in mid-June. Then I’m going to central highlands area, to a lake called Lac Alaotra, to do a bike trip to fight against HIV/AIDS in mid-July, then I will hopefully be back at Mantasoa to help train new peace corps volunteers in late-August/early-September, then hopefully doing some work in the east near the city of Moramanga and the Andasibe park, and then eventually, doing some work in my home of Maevatanana…I’m pretty busy for the next 4 months! And that’s how I like it!
Saturday, April 24, 2010
Post 8? things continue to happen...a routine is built!
Though i don't have a whole lot to report about, i thought i would update the blog so you all know that i'm still alive, still doing well, still making connections/teaching/making friends/hanging out/reading...i'm nearing the end of my "assessment period" (and to tell you the truth, i'm still painfully unaware about many things in my community, but oh well). i'm really excited that i have survived this long, without any sickness (knock on wood), without any major psychological breakdowns, and without giving up completely. it does help that a lot of the women here have also assumed a mothering role for me (the number of mothers for me has quadrupled! i can't seem to have too many mothers...even on the other side of the world).
so, a small recap, i've been teaching at the clinic, doing a radio show, teaching some english (not my favorite thing to do, but people really want to learn, though they never study...it's always the same thing every week...ugh), and doing a lot of my own stuff. i recently took a trip to the National Park near me called Ankarafantsika, which was amazing and beautiful and so much fun! we saw Baobab trees and a canyon...it was nice to get out of my truck stop town and back to nature! Then we went to Majunga, the beach town. I've decided that it's really not where i want to be...there are too many french ex-pats, and everyone speaks to me in french (even when i speak clear malagasy, and no real french yet), and it's just an annoying place, though beautiful in some places. we ate a lot of ice cream and pizza and seafood, and we took a little trip to a friend's post at Katsepy, a 1 hour ferry ride away. we sunbathed and had fresh coconuts and mangahazo (manioc) with coconut milk on the beach. it was great! we unfortunately had to take a long LONG boatride back with a bunch of chickens...the first time i've ever been seasick i think!
and now i'm back in maevatanana, hanging out, helping the doctors and health managers prepare for their party for the week of promoting women and children's health. my constant joke that no one else gets is..."how many doctors/managers does it take to hang up a sign?" many!!!! we have more managers of health workers than healthworkers! it's ridiculous, and it makes me feel super SUPER impatient. ugh.
welp, i guess that's it for now. more exciting things to come when i go for my first in-service training in mid-may. then we'll see what happens from there! miss you all and love you!!
so, a small recap, i've been teaching at the clinic, doing a radio show, teaching some english (not my favorite thing to do, but people really want to learn, though they never study...it's always the same thing every week...ugh), and doing a lot of my own stuff. i recently took a trip to the National Park near me called Ankarafantsika, which was amazing and beautiful and so much fun! we saw Baobab trees and a canyon...it was nice to get out of my truck stop town and back to nature! Then we went to Majunga, the beach town. I've decided that it's really not where i want to be...there are too many french ex-pats, and everyone speaks to me in french (even when i speak clear malagasy, and no real french yet), and it's just an annoying place, though beautiful in some places. we ate a lot of ice cream and pizza and seafood, and we took a little trip to a friend's post at Katsepy, a 1 hour ferry ride away. we sunbathed and had fresh coconuts and mangahazo (manioc) with coconut milk on the beach. it was great! we unfortunately had to take a long LONG boatride back with a bunch of chickens...the first time i've ever been seasick i think!
and now i'm back in maevatanana, hanging out, helping the doctors and health managers prepare for their party for the week of promoting women and children's health. my constant joke that no one else gets is..."how many doctors/managers does it take to hang up a sign?" many!!!! we have more managers of health workers than healthworkers! it's ridiculous, and it makes me feel super SUPER impatient. ugh.
welp, i guess that's it for now. more exciting things to come when i go for my first in-service training in mid-may. then we'll see what happens from there! miss you all and love you!!
Thursday, April 1, 2010
Post 7: Two months, beginning to do some real peace corps work!
It’s been a while since my last post, and believe it or not, a lot has happened! Most exciting was Women’s day, 8th of March, in which we, awesome women marched all over town and dressed in pink! Lots of fun to be out with my women in the health profession!
Then about 2 weeks ago, Devyn and I packed our bags and took off to Majunga, a northern port town known for housing lots of French Ex-pats (definitely not one of it’s perks) and hosting some decent beaches and in general a nice, laid-back atmosphere. Devyn and I decided to splurge a little on an amazing hotel with an Olympic-sized swimming pool and wireless internet! Definitely not your normal peace corps excursion, but sometimes you need a little pampering ;)
We ate wonderful food (cray-fish/shrimp the size of my head!), walked around, shopped, I met with potential health partners, and we swam and swam and swam at the pool and at the beach. We are probably heading back again in a few weeks since we can’t go to the capital (Antananarivo) because there are new protests by people now realizing the real effects of the “coup”: Madagascar has been excluded from many international trade agreements and has been denied some international aid as well. So, sucks, but we can’t go there (and therefore, can’t visit anywhere south of this country or east yet as well…since you have to go through Antananarivo to get pretty much anywhere in this crazy, road-less country)!
So that’s it for exciting stuff, and now my peace corps work is improving (I think). I’m starting to ask people about what they would like to learn about when I do health sensibilizations…so now people are a little more involved and excited to hear about what I have to say, instead of me just talking at them…
I’m also conducting interviews with people I have met in order to find out more about my new home. It’s actually quite interesting…and though I have felt that people really don’t want my help quite yet, I have found many potential projects that I will discuss at the next peace corps reunion and training in mid-May.
All about my new home, Maevatanana:
-The most important source of income here is Gold! People pan for gold (there is no company or mine as of yet…) on their own and sell it to a few buyers here who send it to the capital. “People here are poor, but there is gold,” is the message I’ve heard about this endeavor.
-Rice is the second most important source of income. People in Maevatanana city (Maevatanana is also the title of the district, holding about 16 little villages, centering in the city of Maevatanana where all the government agencies are) are the like the “middle-men”: they buy rice, manioc, and beans from the rural communities of the district of Maevatanana and then bring it to the city of Maevatanana to resell
-Water is the biggest health issue in Maevatanana. Most people get their water from a large well/pump known owned by Jirama (a government-owned company). The water is pumped out to water stations (or “pumpy” in Malagasy) where people line up and purchase water (15L for 30 ariary, or $0.015). There is “treatment” of the water at the well/pump, but it’s not very good and people are encouraged to use point-of-source treatment in their homes to clean the water (sur’eau, or chlorine drops). Unfortunately, nobody buys the sur’eau, which costs about $0.15 per small bottle. It’s not the price that’s the issue, says a government worker at the Regional Office of Agriculture, but that people are just set in their ways. They won’t boil the water either, he informed me.
-Only about 30% of the homes in Maevatanana district (including in the city) have their own bathroom (outdoor or indoor). People just tend to go wherever and whenever they need to.
-there is a “hungry season” in the Maevatanana region between January-March, in which little rice is produced. Rice is the major food that is consumed 3-times a day, and according to Lonely-planet, Malagasy people consume the most rice per capita in the world!
-In the city of Maevatanana, women have about 3-10 children, a pretty wide range. Childbearing begins at around 17/18 y/o and continues until 35/40 y/o. In the smaller villages in Maevatanana district, the number of children per family narrows to around 7-14, with childbearing beginning when women are as young as 13.
-There are both public and private schools here, but only half of the students continue on to University (located in bigger cities, not here) after high school.
-There is a lot of malaria here, most during the rainy months. People are starting to use bed-nets, but it’s not wide spread yet. This time the cost of a bed net (about $1.50) is probably a cause for concern.
-there is not a lot to do in the evening here, but at least there are no mpamosavy’s (witches). In other parts of Madagascar (actually in most of Madagascar) people believe that there are witches that haunt the night and therefore people must get in their houses at sun-down and shut and lock all doors and windows. But because this is the hottest place in Madagascar, people can really only be outside during the morning and evening, so they disregard the worries about witches in my town. But there is a real worry about cow-robbers…right now while the economy is super bad here and politics are still disorganized, there have been lots of cow-robberies, since cows are very profitable/goldmines! This happens a lot on the road out of my city towards Antananarivo (capital of Madagascar).
And I guess those are the highlights thus far…I’m trying to improve my community center (and putting a health spin on it, we’ll see how it goes), and I’m also teaching a lot of English…that gets old for me pretty quick, but I know that living standards are higher for people who know English…can’t fight the statistics!
Hatramin’ny manaraka! (Until Next time)!
Then about 2 weeks ago, Devyn and I packed our bags and took off to Majunga, a northern port town known for housing lots of French Ex-pats (definitely not one of it’s perks) and hosting some decent beaches and in general a nice, laid-back atmosphere. Devyn and I decided to splurge a little on an amazing hotel with an Olympic-sized swimming pool and wireless internet! Definitely not your normal peace corps excursion, but sometimes you need a little pampering ;)
We ate wonderful food (cray-fish/shrimp the size of my head!), walked around, shopped, I met with potential health partners, and we swam and swam and swam at the pool and at the beach. We are probably heading back again in a few weeks since we can’t go to the capital (Antananarivo) because there are new protests by people now realizing the real effects of the “coup”: Madagascar has been excluded from many international trade agreements and has been denied some international aid as well. So, sucks, but we can’t go there (and therefore, can’t visit anywhere south of this country or east yet as well…since you have to go through Antananarivo to get pretty much anywhere in this crazy, road-less country)!
So that’s it for exciting stuff, and now my peace corps work is improving (I think). I’m starting to ask people about what they would like to learn about when I do health sensibilizations…so now people are a little more involved and excited to hear about what I have to say, instead of me just talking at them…
I’m also conducting interviews with people I have met in order to find out more about my new home. It’s actually quite interesting…and though I have felt that people really don’t want my help quite yet, I have found many potential projects that I will discuss at the next peace corps reunion and training in mid-May.
All about my new home, Maevatanana:
-The most important source of income here is Gold! People pan for gold (there is no company or mine as of yet…) on their own and sell it to a few buyers here who send it to the capital. “People here are poor, but there is gold,” is the message I’ve heard about this endeavor.
-Rice is the second most important source of income. People in Maevatanana city (Maevatanana is also the title of the district, holding about 16 little villages, centering in the city of Maevatanana where all the government agencies are) are the like the “middle-men”: they buy rice, manioc, and beans from the rural communities of the district of Maevatanana and then bring it to the city of Maevatanana to resell
-Water is the biggest health issue in Maevatanana. Most people get their water from a large well/pump known owned by Jirama (a government-owned company). The water is pumped out to water stations (or “pumpy” in Malagasy) where people line up and purchase water (15L for 30 ariary, or $0.015). There is “treatment” of the water at the well/pump, but it’s not very good and people are encouraged to use point-of-source treatment in their homes to clean the water (sur’eau, or chlorine drops). Unfortunately, nobody buys the sur’eau, which costs about $0.15 per small bottle. It’s not the price that’s the issue, says a government worker at the Regional Office of Agriculture, but that people are just set in their ways. They won’t boil the water either, he informed me.
-Only about 30% of the homes in Maevatanana district (including in the city) have their own bathroom (outdoor or indoor). People just tend to go wherever and whenever they need to.
-there is a “hungry season” in the Maevatanana region between January-March, in which little rice is produced. Rice is the major food that is consumed 3-times a day, and according to Lonely-planet, Malagasy people consume the most rice per capita in the world!
-In the city of Maevatanana, women have about 3-10 children, a pretty wide range. Childbearing begins at around 17/18 y/o and continues until 35/40 y/o. In the smaller villages in Maevatanana district, the number of children per family narrows to around 7-14, with childbearing beginning when women are as young as 13.
-There are both public and private schools here, but only half of the students continue on to University (located in bigger cities, not here) after high school.
-There is a lot of malaria here, most during the rainy months. People are starting to use bed-nets, but it’s not wide spread yet. This time the cost of a bed net (about $1.50) is probably a cause for concern.
-there is not a lot to do in the evening here, but at least there are no mpamosavy’s (witches). In other parts of Madagascar (actually in most of Madagascar) people believe that there are witches that haunt the night and therefore people must get in their houses at sun-down and shut and lock all doors and windows. But because this is the hottest place in Madagascar, people can really only be outside during the morning and evening, so they disregard the worries about witches in my town. But there is a real worry about cow-robbers…right now while the economy is super bad here and politics are still disorganized, there have been lots of cow-robberies, since cows are very profitable/goldmines! This happens a lot on the road out of my city towards Antananarivo (capital of Madagascar).
And I guess those are the highlights thus far…I’m trying to improve my community center (and putting a health spin on it, we’ll see how it goes), and I’m also teaching a lot of English…that gets old for me pretty quick, but I know that living standards are higher for people who know English…can’t fight the statistics!
Hatramin’ny manaraka! (Until Next time)!
Saturday, March 6, 2010
Post 6: Up to 5 weeks in counting! It feels like five years….
Things have been good here in my bustling town of Maevatanana. I’ve settled into some sort of routine, which is ever changing because of people’s strange work schedules here (also known as “fotaona gasy” which means “Malagasy time”). Every morning, I wake up and sweep…this is around 6:30ish (unless I go running, which is an early call of about 5:00am because that’s the coolest time of day, and with the fewest number of people staring). Then I feed my cute kitty, who doesn’t have a name yet, but responds to kisses and “kitty kitty!”, then I eat…people here still ask me what I eat every day, since I don’t seem to cook rice, but these days I’ve been eating a lot of sweet potatoes, tomatoes, onions, skillet bread, pancakes (I miss my dad and Saturday pancakes, and maple syrup!), skillet cornbread, stir-fry, and peanuts! Every so often, I buy ground beef or sausages and make meatballs…which reminds me of my Italian roots. And just yesterday I made French toast, though probably not as good as the amazing Challah French toast that my uncles are famous for!
After hallucinating about supermarkets and the amazing restaurants and food in the US as I eat my leftover rice with bananas and raisons, I get ready for work! Every morning I do a “sensibilization” (Peace Corps word for teaching normal people at odd places and at odd times about good things) about a health topic (here it’s mostly about preventing malaria or “tazo moka” in Malagasy, or preventing diarrhea or “aretim-pivalanana”) which also involves singing songs about the health problems or how to prevent disease (I’ve even written a song about malaria that goes to the tune of “twinkle twinkle little star”! I can’t wait to get my guitar and then I’ll be jamming about health all the time!).
Then I go shopping. Every day I have to go to the market (which is huge here, since I live in the “banking town” where other people have to come in from their small villages to get money and shop for bigger things). I don’t have a refrigerator yet, so I have to buy fresh food every day at a market that is really ridiculous…there are millions of venders that sell the same thing, and it’s really messy and kinda gross at first, but you get used to it.
Then I do some household chores, chatting with locals, preparing lunch, and then from about 12-3pm, everyone is out of commission because of lunch and the heat. It’s a great time of day…which I just sit and read books, sleep, relax…I like siestas! Then the afternoon is normally free to me, unless I’m teaching English to the doctors that work at the regional health center, or teaching English to the government workers at the department of agriculture office here (I’m trading English for involvement in their projects right now…soon we will start small gardening demonstrations in neighboring communities and here in Maevatanana), or when I have my radio show about health on Thursdays (I even sing! Can you believe it???), or when I teach sex-ed at the local middle school or healthy foods at the local elementary school. It would appear that I am very busy, but I’m not really…there is plenty of time for my epic bike rides that take me away from this crazy, kinda ugly city, and to the beautiful surrounding villages and rolling hills.
So things are going pretty good, and I’ve been able to build some relationships beyond my little clinic, and I think I’m slowly making some friends, though I depend a lot on my amazing family (the doctor’s family with whom I work) who live right next to me; and I also depend on my good friend Devyn, the other peace corps volunteer who lives nearby. It is a struggle to stay positive all the time here though. I sometimes find myself wanting to run over people with my bike or yell when people scream “Vaza!” which is the equivalent of saying “hey, white person!” or “hey foreigner!”, or when I try to work with government officials who don’t really work but just push paper around and ride around in cars. But then there are amazing times when I meet someone new who is super nice and practices Malagasy with me, or when I hang out with my doctor’s family and paint or chat or watch movies, or when I teach about health or English and get to talk to new people, or when I take epic bike rides (I’m up to 30km! or 18 miles for you Americans…I’m hoping that I’ll get really good at biking and then maybe to the Seattle-Portland ride when I return to Seattle!), or when I’m able to take apart and put my own bike back together…Dan would be so proud! I know this is really hard for me, and for many people that I love, but I guess I kind of belong in this life.
Ok, so I want to keep up with my book reviews as well, and I just finished this amazing book called “Oil on the Brain,” by Lisa Margonelli. Basically, as a review on the back cover says, “IF YOU DRIVE A CAR, YOU MUST READ THIS BOOK!!!”
This was such an amazing book because it was written in the hilarious and inquisitive style of a very intuitive author. Margonelli looks at oil from the gas pump at the gas station (and talks about the hard work of gas station owners to save pennies, promote convenient store items, and she also describes the battle between independent and brand gas stations), to the tanker drivers (who battle traffic, battle cancer, and battle the rising and falling of gas prices and the politics of who to deliver that gas to), to the refineries (that battle with enormous need of the United States consumers who want more and more…all refineries are operating to the max and there are many accidents because of this), to the oil rigs in Texas (when she talks about the history of oil discovery and drilling that got the US fixated on cheap oil and big cars), to the NYMEX oil market (where she talks about how oil prices are made, and how little connection we have to the price of oil and the way it is brought to us…mostly through war/violence), to the oil producing countries or “petrostates” of Venezuela, Chad, Nigeria, and Iran (where she talks about how the countries function, or don’t; and how they struggle to provide for their own people and for the US’ and the world’s oil needs), to China (where there is huge innovation occurring to make oil dependency around the world a thing of the past).
I absolutely loved this book and I really think that you should all read it!
And I guess that’s it for now! Please keep emailing me (or start emailing me) because I love to hear from you all and keep up with all the happenings! Love you all so much and talk to you soon!
After hallucinating about supermarkets and the amazing restaurants and food in the US as I eat my leftover rice with bananas and raisons, I get ready for work! Every morning I do a “sensibilization” (Peace Corps word for teaching normal people at odd places and at odd times about good things) about a health topic (here it’s mostly about preventing malaria or “tazo moka” in Malagasy, or preventing diarrhea or “aretim-pivalanana”) which also involves singing songs about the health problems or how to prevent disease (I’ve even written a song about malaria that goes to the tune of “twinkle twinkle little star”! I can’t wait to get my guitar and then I’ll be jamming about health all the time!).
Then I go shopping. Every day I have to go to the market (which is huge here, since I live in the “banking town” where other people have to come in from their small villages to get money and shop for bigger things). I don’t have a refrigerator yet, so I have to buy fresh food every day at a market that is really ridiculous…there are millions of venders that sell the same thing, and it’s really messy and kinda gross at first, but you get used to it.
Then I do some household chores, chatting with locals, preparing lunch, and then from about 12-3pm, everyone is out of commission because of lunch and the heat. It’s a great time of day…which I just sit and read books, sleep, relax…I like siestas! Then the afternoon is normally free to me, unless I’m teaching English to the doctors that work at the regional health center, or teaching English to the government workers at the department of agriculture office here (I’m trading English for involvement in their projects right now…soon we will start small gardening demonstrations in neighboring communities and here in Maevatanana), or when I have my radio show about health on Thursdays (I even sing! Can you believe it???), or when I teach sex-ed at the local middle school or healthy foods at the local elementary school. It would appear that I am very busy, but I’m not really…there is plenty of time for my epic bike rides that take me away from this crazy, kinda ugly city, and to the beautiful surrounding villages and rolling hills.
So things are going pretty good, and I’ve been able to build some relationships beyond my little clinic, and I think I’m slowly making some friends, though I depend a lot on my amazing family (the doctor’s family with whom I work) who live right next to me; and I also depend on my good friend Devyn, the other peace corps volunteer who lives nearby. It is a struggle to stay positive all the time here though. I sometimes find myself wanting to run over people with my bike or yell when people scream “Vaza!” which is the equivalent of saying “hey, white person!” or “hey foreigner!”, or when I try to work with government officials who don’t really work but just push paper around and ride around in cars. But then there are amazing times when I meet someone new who is super nice and practices Malagasy with me, or when I hang out with my doctor’s family and paint or chat or watch movies, or when I teach about health or English and get to talk to new people, or when I take epic bike rides (I’m up to 30km! or 18 miles for you Americans…I’m hoping that I’ll get really good at biking and then maybe to the Seattle-Portland ride when I return to Seattle!), or when I’m able to take apart and put my own bike back together…Dan would be so proud! I know this is really hard for me, and for many people that I love, but I guess I kind of belong in this life.
Ok, so I want to keep up with my book reviews as well, and I just finished this amazing book called “Oil on the Brain,” by Lisa Margonelli. Basically, as a review on the back cover says, “IF YOU DRIVE A CAR, YOU MUST READ THIS BOOK!!!”
This was such an amazing book because it was written in the hilarious and inquisitive style of a very intuitive author. Margonelli looks at oil from the gas pump at the gas station (and talks about the hard work of gas station owners to save pennies, promote convenient store items, and she also describes the battle between independent and brand gas stations), to the tanker drivers (who battle traffic, battle cancer, and battle the rising and falling of gas prices and the politics of who to deliver that gas to), to the refineries (that battle with enormous need of the United States consumers who want more and more…all refineries are operating to the max and there are many accidents because of this), to the oil rigs in Texas (when she talks about the history of oil discovery and drilling that got the US fixated on cheap oil and big cars), to the NYMEX oil market (where she talks about how oil prices are made, and how little connection we have to the price of oil and the way it is brought to us…mostly through war/violence), to the oil producing countries or “petrostates” of Venezuela, Chad, Nigeria, and Iran (where she talks about how the countries function, or don’t; and how they struggle to provide for their own people and for the US’ and the world’s oil needs), to China (where there is huge innovation occurring to make oil dependency around the world a thing of the past).
I absolutely loved this book and I really think that you should all read it!
And I guess that’s it for now! Please keep emailing me (or start emailing me) because I love to hear from you all and keep up with all the happenings! Love you all so much and talk to you soon!
Monday, February 15, 2010
Post 5: Summary of Second week, I think that I’m getting used to this life!
So I just want to say that I am one of those people that worry constantly, about work, about other people’s approval, about my life, all those things that I have no real control over. Anyways, I was just a little worried about what I would do with myself for these next 3 months at post, when I’m supposed to be “assessing” my community, doing health sensibilizations, and getting ideas for health projects. So I’m not going to lie, but this assessment period includes a lot of hanging around, observing, meeting people, going on long bike rides, and studying Malagasy (as well as exchanging Malagasy for English). I’m trying to do sensibilizations everyday, as well as make arrangements to teach health classes at the local middle and local elementary school….but this past week, I was completely unsuccessful in all of my scheduling, falling victim to “Malagasy Time.” This past week included a break from school, required 3 days off of work for my fellow peace corps volunteer teaching English here, and also a tree-planting day. All of my extra meetings to tutor in English, teach about safe sex in the middle school, and doing nutrition and hygiene education sessions, were cancelled because of “fety’s” and tree-plantings…good times, but leaving me with not very much to do while here these days. But I have been biking, reading, watching interesting sitcoms at night, and taking care of a new kitty.
I’m still wondering about what I am doing here, but I’m pretty sure it will all come together soon. I am trying to do some work, and trying to make friends, and trying to go on more bike rides. I would say that I’m pretty happy these days
Miss you all!
Saturday, February 6, 2010
Part 4: Summary of Swear-in, Installation, and the first week in my new home!
Hi everyone, so as many have heard, I have been installed in my new town, and low and behold, there is some internet (I say “some” internet because the deal is that I exchange English with a telephone company operator for internet use once a week…). But it works out. It feels like weeks since I left for site, but it’s just been one week, one long, emotional week.
First, we spent 2 days in Antananarivo, where we had very little time to do any site-seeing as health volunteers..we were shuffled off to visit the offices of different health organizations there: The Ministry of Health-Initiative on SIDA (HIV/AIDS), the office of PSI (Population Services International, very interesting, though among those organizations that believe that if people don’t pay for products related to health (i.e. a mosquito net) then they won’t get it and actually use it….which in my community seems to NOT work when everyone seems to complain about how expensive the mosquito nets are (3,000 Ariary, about $1.5, but somewhere where people spend less than 50 cents a day…) and therefore do not get them. And then almost every day there are 20 or so people that come to my clinic to get tested for malaria and almost half of them are positive! Sorry for the rant…), and finally we saw the USAID group working in Madagascar.
Then on Tuesday the 26th, we were sworn is a volunteers…it was great! First of all, we had amazing speeches made by the Peace Corps Country Director, Dan Evans, the Ambassador, and my fellow site-mate Devyn, and there was also a special guest of a huge pet tortoise! Then a few of us (including yours truly ;) ) were interviewed by the local Malagasy TV stations, and then there was PIZZA and a POOL! Oh the perks of getting a 1 day trip to the Ambassador’s house ;)
Then we had a hurried chance to do some shopping for our sites…and then a few of us went dancing/karaoke singing with our language instructors, lots of fun!
Wednesday morning, bright and early, Devyn, Ester (living in a village 2 hours south of us), and I piled our stuff and ourselves in a car with the most amazing Peace Corps installers ever: The Peace Corps Madagascar Current Country Director Dan Evans (who was the CD of Guinea, which was recently closed), Hari, a Malagasy man and 10 year veteran of the Peace Corps Office, and Donnie, our driver and master handy-man (I don’t mention their last names because Malagasy last names are soooooooo long, like 20 letters at least, and easily forgettable (as I’ve already forgotten theirs!)). Here, the basis of name-calling is asking, “what is your name?”, response: “something really long and ridiculous”, “Awesome, what would you like to be called?”
We had an awesome three days getting to know Ester’s small, cute village, then getting to know our rumbling medium-sized town. I won’t lie, but I was kind of shocked when first arriving because there is just so much disorganization and trash here…which I guess is normal. I was worried about how I would like it, but so far, things have been fine. I live in a pretty big house next door to the doctor with whom I work at the CSBII (the centre de santé de base II), which is down the street from the market area. I have electricity, a fan, an amazing gas stove, a private outdoor squat toilet and bucket bath space, and I guess it couldn’t get much better than this! Funny though, I was so ready to move out of my host family’s house because I just can’t stand being observed that closely, but now I’m kinda lonely in this “big town” without a family caring for me…I also realize just how hard it is to cook for myself! I love to cook, but you really take for granted RUNNING WATER. Holy shit! I can’t believe it how good all of you have it at home! I go through about 20 L of water every 2 days or so and then have to go get more…it’s kinda annoying. And then you have to clean everything immediately after eating because of the bugs. If only my mother could see how clean I am now!
Now about the work: thus far, I’m going to the CSBII every morning to watch what’s happening and also to give a sensibilisation about some health topic. It’s been ok, but I really feel like such an alien here…people are just shocked that I can speak Malagasy…and most of the time they just greet me with “Bonjour,” because of course we couldn’t be American…
I am also trying to set up a schedule with the local high school and elementary school in order to teach sensibilisations there too. I kinda want to recreate some of the work I was doing in Guatemala that was so great, though it’s hard to start it off by myself without adequate knowledge of the language…I guess I’m still getting ahead of myself! Patience, Patience.
And I guess that’s it. First week as a Volunteer, and I guess I’m feeling a little more homesick than normal but I know I’m strong enough to get through it (but the question is can I get through a week of diarrhea???). Being at my new post has its fair share of challenges!
Anyways, don’t hesitate to send an email/letter/text (011-261-34-189-0600)/or call my way! Miss you all sooooo much!
First, we spent 2 days in Antananarivo, where we had very little time to do any site-seeing as health volunteers..we were shuffled off to visit the offices of different health organizations there: The Ministry of Health-Initiative on SIDA (HIV/AIDS), the office of PSI (Population Services International, very interesting, though among those organizations that believe that if people don’t pay for products related to health (i.e. a mosquito net) then they won’t get it and actually use it….which in my community seems to NOT work when everyone seems to complain about how expensive the mosquito nets are (3,000 Ariary, about $1.5, but somewhere where people spend less than 50 cents a day…) and therefore do not get them. And then almost every day there are 20 or so people that come to my clinic to get tested for malaria and almost half of them are positive! Sorry for the rant…), and finally we saw the USAID group working in Madagascar.
Then on Tuesday the 26th, we were sworn is a volunteers…it was great! First of all, we had amazing speeches made by the Peace Corps Country Director, Dan Evans, the Ambassador, and my fellow site-mate Devyn, and there was also a special guest of a huge pet tortoise! Then a few of us (including yours truly ;) ) were interviewed by the local Malagasy TV stations, and then there was PIZZA and a POOL! Oh the perks of getting a 1 day trip to the Ambassador’s house ;)
Then we had a hurried chance to do some shopping for our sites…and then a few of us went dancing/karaoke singing with our language instructors, lots of fun!
Wednesday morning, bright and early, Devyn, Ester (living in a village 2 hours south of us), and I piled our stuff and ourselves in a car with the most amazing Peace Corps installers ever: The Peace Corps Madagascar Current Country Director Dan Evans (who was the CD of Guinea, which was recently closed), Hari, a Malagasy man and 10 year veteran of the Peace Corps Office, and Donnie, our driver and master handy-man (I don’t mention their last names because Malagasy last names are soooooooo long, like 20 letters at least, and easily forgettable (as I’ve already forgotten theirs!)). Here, the basis of name-calling is asking, “what is your name?”, response: “something really long and ridiculous”, “Awesome, what would you like to be called?”
We had an awesome three days getting to know Ester’s small, cute village, then getting to know our rumbling medium-sized town. I won’t lie, but I was kind of shocked when first arriving because there is just so much disorganization and trash here…which I guess is normal. I was worried about how I would like it, but so far, things have been fine. I live in a pretty big house next door to the doctor with whom I work at the CSBII (the centre de santé de base II), which is down the street from the market area. I have electricity, a fan, an amazing gas stove, a private outdoor squat toilet and bucket bath space, and I guess it couldn’t get much better than this! Funny though, I was so ready to move out of my host family’s house because I just can’t stand being observed that closely, but now I’m kinda lonely in this “big town” without a family caring for me…I also realize just how hard it is to cook for myself! I love to cook, but you really take for granted RUNNING WATER. Holy shit! I can’t believe it how good all of you have it at home! I go through about 20 L of water every 2 days or so and then have to go get more…it’s kinda annoying. And then you have to clean everything immediately after eating because of the bugs. If only my mother could see how clean I am now!
Now about the work: thus far, I’m going to the CSBII every morning to watch what’s happening and also to give a sensibilisation about some health topic. It’s been ok, but I really feel like such an alien here…people are just shocked that I can speak Malagasy…and most of the time they just greet me with “Bonjour,” because of course we couldn’t be American…
I am also trying to set up a schedule with the local high school and elementary school in order to teach sensibilisations there too. I kinda want to recreate some of the work I was doing in Guatemala that was so great, though it’s hard to start it off by myself without adequate knowledge of the language…I guess I’m still getting ahead of myself! Patience, Patience.
And I guess that’s it. First week as a Volunteer, and I guess I’m feeling a little more homesick than normal but I know I’m strong enough to get through it (but the question is can I get through a week of diarrhea???). Being at my new post has its fair share of challenges!
Anyways, don’t hesitate to send an email/letter/text (011-261-34-189-0600)/or call my way! Miss you all sooooo much!
Post 3: Summary of last 3 weeks….and excitement about the beginning of service!
Post 3: Summary of last 3 weeks….and excitement about the beginning of service! Swear-in is Tuesday January 26th!
Ok, so it’s been quite a time these last three weeks! We moved in with host families close to the training center in Mantasoa. The health volunteers lived about 10km (and down a pretty scary road) from the training center in a town called Lohomby. It was amazing! I lived with the Mayor of Lohomby, in a two story house overlooking an amazing view of rice paddies and rolling hills. It was so lovely to get to know a family, and learn how to cook, clean, wash cloths, argue in the markets…and all those necessary skills to survive in are new homes in Madagascar.
It was a pretty intense homestay, since every day we took Malagasy classes then took tech classes on health topics and how to present on different health issues in diverse locations. My favorite tech session was on building a cook stove out of red clay, ash, and the shells of rice. It was amazing! I plan on making dozens of them in my new home for the first few months because it doesn’t require very much Malagasy (and I’m still a beginner…but “Intermediate High” Hell yeah!) and it’s a great way to get people involved and learning about ARIs and cooking hygiene and safety.
Otherwise, it’s all about language learning and government bureaucracy…We also had a security talk about the political situation in Madagascar, which seems pretty dire with a huge increase in crime over the last two months as international funding is being cut and trade agreements are aborted. It stinks! But I’m not too worried, though there has been a few attacks on embassy workers here (mostly robberies), but it does make me worry about my security, especially as the elections for the new president are coming up in March…
Anyways, other happenings…I gave 3 speeches in Malagasy on different health topics, one in front of the training staff about safe pregnancy, one in a high school classroom on STIs and Condom Demonstration, and then a final presentation on ARIs and how to build cookstoves to my homestay community. It was stressful, but amazing. I can’t wait to get started in my new home and in my new clinic. I also had time to finish another amazing book that I will tell you about: “The Cups Of Tea” (www.threecupsoftea.com) which depicts the work ofGreg Mortenson, who was a nurse and a mountaineer who decided to give back to the small village of Korphe in the mountains (K2 specifically, second highest mountain in the world) of northern Pakistan by building a school, and then moving on the create an non-profit that builds schools along the borders of Pakistan/India/Afghanistan. It was a really interesting book about the area, about the culture there, as well as its political/cultural relationship with the United States during the early “war on terrorism” years. One part that was most astounding was that the US had promised rebuilding money that never reached Afghanistan or Pakistan, and therefore instead of improving conditions in the Middle East after bombing it to death, the USA was angering people creating more enemies. Greg Mortenson built schools, specifically for girls, and the big point of the book was that he was “fighting terrorism” by providing an education to poor people in the Middle East (Interesting, though you know me…I hate to define “terrorism” without including some of the atrocities that the USA has committed…). It was also a great read because of the mountain climbing trips he describes…which makes me want to try, though that’s how I feel about almost anything that excites me! Anyways, I would put him up there as the Paul Farmer of Pakistan, and his work and commitment was really impressive, a definite read!
Now back to the homestay….
At the end of the homestay, we had a large cocktail party at the training center and ended up doing traditional Malagasy dancing with the homestay families. It was amazing! The music here is amazing, and the people are amazing dancers and singers…I’m excited to exchange English or Spanish for dancing and singing classes!
Now we are on the last leg of our training journey…3 months later… and we are spending a few days in the capital city of Antananarivo in order to swear-in at the US Ambassador’s house (videotaped, and broadcast nationally, I will try to find an internet link) and shopping for roosting in our new homes. I’m so excited! The Country Director of Peace Corps Madagascar is going to be taking me and my friend to our site in the city of Maevatanana. I’m so excited to get out into the community to do ACTUAL work…I’m getting angsty after a long time in training….
More news to come about how hopefully AMAZING my site is and how much work I’m doing and fun that I’m having! Hope everyone is well!
Ok, so it’s been quite a time these last three weeks! We moved in with host families close to the training center in Mantasoa. The health volunteers lived about 10km (and down a pretty scary road) from the training center in a town called Lohomby. It was amazing! I lived with the Mayor of Lohomby, in a two story house overlooking an amazing view of rice paddies and rolling hills. It was so lovely to get to know a family, and learn how to cook, clean, wash cloths, argue in the markets…and all those necessary skills to survive in are new homes in Madagascar.
It was a pretty intense homestay, since every day we took Malagasy classes then took tech classes on health topics and how to present on different health issues in diverse locations. My favorite tech session was on building a cook stove out of red clay, ash, and the shells of rice. It was amazing! I plan on making dozens of them in my new home for the first few months because it doesn’t require very much Malagasy (and I’m still a beginner…but “Intermediate High” Hell yeah!) and it’s a great way to get people involved and learning about ARIs and cooking hygiene and safety.
Otherwise, it’s all about language learning and government bureaucracy…We also had a security talk about the political situation in Madagascar, which seems pretty dire with a huge increase in crime over the last two months as international funding is being cut and trade agreements are aborted. It stinks! But I’m not too worried, though there has been a few attacks on embassy workers here (mostly robberies), but it does make me worry about my security, especially as the elections for the new president are coming up in March…
Anyways, other happenings…I gave 3 speeches in Malagasy on different health topics, one in front of the training staff about safe pregnancy, one in a high school classroom on STIs and Condom Demonstration, and then a final presentation on ARIs and how to build cookstoves to my homestay community. It was stressful, but amazing. I can’t wait to get started in my new home and in my new clinic. I also had time to finish another amazing book that I will tell you about: “The Cups Of Tea” (www.threecupsoftea.com) which depicts the work ofGreg Mortenson, who was a nurse and a mountaineer who decided to give back to the small village of Korphe in the mountains (K2 specifically, second highest mountain in the world) of northern Pakistan by building a school, and then moving on the create an non-profit that builds schools along the borders of Pakistan/India/Afghanistan. It was a really interesting book about the area, about the culture there, as well as its political/cultural relationship with the United States during the early “war on terrorism” years. One part that was most astounding was that the US had promised rebuilding money that never reached Afghanistan or Pakistan, and therefore instead of improving conditions in the Middle East after bombing it to death, the USA was angering people creating more enemies. Greg Mortenson built schools, specifically for girls, and the big point of the book was that he was “fighting terrorism” by providing an education to poor people in the Middle East (Interesting, though you know me…I hate to define “terrorism” without including some of the atrocities that the USA has committed…). It was also a great read because of the mountain climbing trips he describes…which makes me want to try, though that’s how I feel about almost anything that excites me! Anyways, I would put him up there as the Paul Farmer of Pakistan, and his work and commitment was really impressive, a definite read!
Now back to the homestay….
At the end of the homestay, we had a large cocktail party at the training center and ended up doing traditional Malagasy dancing with the homestay families. It was amazing! The music here is amazing, and the people are amazing dancers and singers…I’m excited to exchange English or Spanish for dancing and singing classes!
Now we are on the last leg of our training journey…3 months later… and we are spending a few days in the capital city of Antananarivo in order to swear-in at the US Ambassador’s house (videotaped, and broadcast nationally, I will try to find an internet link) and shopping for roosting in our new homes. I’m so excited! The Country Director of Peace Corps Madagascar is going to be taking me and my friend to our site in the city of Maevatanana. I’m so excited to get out into the community to do ACTUAL work…I’m getting angsty after a long time in training….
More news to come about how hopefully AMAZING my site is and how much work I’m doing and fun that I’m having! Hope everyone is well!
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
More Summaries of the Past 2 weeks and holidays (and birthday!) in Madagascar!
Last time I posted, I had about 40 minutes to do as much as I could on the slowest internet system possible. In that time, I was able to send 1 email, upload one blog post, and update my facebook status (I think..), all that in forty minutes! Suffice to say, internet may be quite a challenge on this beautiful island country.
Otherwise, things have been about the same here for the past 3 weeks. Our daily schedule consists of a couple of language classes, tech classes on health promotion and project ideas, and then informational sessions on our mental and physical health and safety while in country. It’s been pretty busy…and it feels like so much time has gone by, but I know it has been only a few weeks.
Thus far in our tech sessions on health, we have learned about doing health education on nutrition, family planning and birth spacing, health pregnancies and STIs/HIV, and more. We have been encouraged to apply for grants in order to do projects on HIV/AIDS and in order to do secondary projects. I’m super excited! Projects that I hope to get funded include school gardens, AIDS festivals and testing events, outdoor recreation spaces, and maybe a kids health clubs…there are so many different options!
We have also had important sessions on the history of Madagascar, which unfortunately, we don’t know very much about because we were all prepared for Niger. But I’m excited to learn more about this country as well as more about the health system here, and I have 2 years do it!
So maybe I’ll recap on some of the activities from the past few weeks. After an amazing Christmas filled with all of the amazing food ever (and I guess I’m still amazed with the availability of so much food after having been in Niger!), we took off the next morning to the Andasibe national park that has 6 types of lemurs! It was amazing! The lemurs made calling noises like whales and they hopped from tree to tree both deep in the forest as well as right along the road. It was so amazing, and a few volunteers are going to be posted near this park, so I’ll hopefully see it again soon!
We had another few days of regular schedule, and then we had a talent show/dance party with the volunteers and staff at our training center on New Years Eve-Eve. We performed American and Malagasy songs as well as hilarious skits about our peace corps group and our experience in Niger and Madagascar. It was amazing and hilarious! I’m going to try and post a clip from it for you all to watch… Then we danced the night away to Malagasy and American (as well as Latin) music!
Then after partying so much on New Years Eve-Eve, we ha a New Years Eve party the very next night…so basically, we’ve been a little tired for the last few days.
Sadly, though we have been having soo much fun here in Madagascar in our paradise training center, we are going to be losing 2 of our favorite people from Niger, Tondi and Souleyman, the training manager and Health director, who came with use to Madagascar in order to help us transition from Niger to Madagascar.
On another note, I’ve been doing a lot of reading a long with Malagasy language study. I recently finished “Eat, Pray, Love,” which has inspired m to do some soul searching and some practice meditation. I’m now currently reading “Three Cups of Tea” about schools being built in a very remote and mountainous part of Pakistan. I’m enjoying this time reading for FUN and learning at my own pace…though eventually I have to get back to research in public health! But I’m definitely enjoying this little break from grad school and school in general :)
But because I’m still a super dork, and I want to take this opportunity over the next two years to do some self-study, I will be periodically posting book reviews of the latest, greatest books I’m reading while spending oodles of time in the field here in Madagascar!
The first book that I finished in Niger, and which was a hot topic for that country, was “World Hunger: 12 myths.” A book on loan from my father, it was an amazing and fairly easy read. It was written and published by this activist group, Food First: The institute for food and development policy by Frances Moore Lappé, which I’m not sure is still active an all, but as soon as I get some sustained internet access, I will know, but I think that you should check it out and not wait for me ;)
Anyways, what are those 12 myths? You may ask. I will number them off for you:
1. There ‘s simply not enough food: this isn’t true for the whole world, but for Niger, it is definitely a problem. The best example of this is when many countries that host some of the most malnourished people continue to export food to countries that host many of the most well off people in the world….what the f*** is that about?
2. Nature is to blame: in Niger, this could be also true because of the very harsh climate and the frequent droughts, but it doesn’t really add up all over the rest of the world (especially in Madagascar, where the food reserves and potential is bountiful, yet the percentage of children malnourished children is higher than in Niger…statistics are confusing sometimes!). The book argues that it’s not the weather than makes people hungry, but the fact that people are made more vulnerable over time (through loss of land in this horrible market system, or through dependency on cash crops, pesticides/fertilizers, exhaustion of cropland, etc.), and therefore when nature shows it’s ugly face (though we’ve contributed a lot to that as well, what with global warming and pollution) people are more drastically impacted.
3. Too many mouths to feed (aka the “overpopulation” argument, that I truly hate!): first of all, this world can support the number of people on it thus far, and any “population control” schemes (such as the one done in Puerto Rico that left about 1/3 of the women sterilized, many times forcibly), has not really helped feed the starving people as only the number of births decreased, and their ability to purchase or acquire food did not improve.
4. Food vs. our environment: the idea that the production of food is ruining the environment, which could be true if you take into account the number of fertilizer and pesticide companies that are making a “killing” off “killing” the environment and the people that labor in it. And actually, the damage to the environment is more felt when logging, ranching, and tree plantations are done, industries that direct the flow of power and money towards the economically powerful.
5. The green revolution is the answer: the people who wrote this book focused on the first green revolution that occurred in the 60s and 70s, but there is actually a new green revolution brewing for many African countries, supported by our beloved Seattle hero, Bill Gates (or at least the Bill and Melinda Gates’ Foundation). The green revolution focused on increasing production (specifically the production of cash crops) which isn’t exactly the problem, since production is already high (and waste of food is already occurring), but the hungry aren’t able to access it. The green revolution also had a tendency to favor larger (richer) landowners who were able to afford special seeds as well as the equipment to produce more efficiently (or at least, more quickly). Obviously not helping the people on the bottom of the totem pole. Also, more production brought the prices down, thus further hurting the small farmer who couldn’t even make any profit because of over production.
6. Justice vs. Production: the argument is that people think that the redistribution of the land would take land away from people who know how to use it and give it to people who don’t, which isn’t true at all since many small farmers are able to be more resourceful, less wasteful, care for the land better, and not start the endless cycle of more and more pesticide use. Like the authors state, “The question must not be what system can produce the most food but under what system—elite-controlled or democratically controlled—is hunger most likely to be alleviated.”
7. The free market can end hunger: my father like’s to compare the market system to religion sometimes…I mean we have such “faith” that it works (or exists), it’s hilarious. But, the thing is that the market “does not respond to individual preferences—or even needs. It responds to money.” So it won’t end hunger, period! (actually, that’s an exclamation point, but I mean it!). I like this quote as well: “The more widely dispersed purchasing power is, the more the market will respond to actual human preferences and needs and the more power the market will have to end hunger.” If only!
8. Free trade is the answer: this has a lot to do with the last myth, but it’s still worth mentioning that making free trade economies gives power to corporations and not to the people, and corporations then get to move from country to country exploiting the labor to make productions/food for richer countries….argh! it makes my blood boil! Also, all countries that are invited (or forced?) to join must then accept all of the US’s cheap food products that are subsidized by the government…sucks for you Mexico!
9. Too hungry to revolt: they maybe poor and starving and downtrodden, but poor and hungry people all over the world (and in the US, they do exist!) have organized and fought back in many different ways! Represent!
10. More U.S. Aid Will help the hunger: this is a current debate today! First of all, aid is not distributed to many of the countries that need it (Niger, for example, is not a priority, though it’s basically the poorest country in the world). Aid, in the past has been used to install the famous SAPs (structural adjustment programs/packages, for those that have not taken a class with Prof. Gloyd). Food aid can also thwart agricultural development in poor countries. And one of my favorite quotes in this section: “foreign aid is only as good as the recipient government. Foreign aid only reinforces the status quo.”
11. We benefit from their hunger: morbid and sad…and it’s not true! There is plenty of food to go around, and persisting inequality and hunger only increases our exploitation of the earth and continued war and poverty…just to be dramatic!
12. Food vs. freedom: this chapter says that people worry about dramatic changes in society that would have to occur in order to end hunger. DUH!!!! But we need to rethink what our “freedoms” are: freedom to accumulate? Or freedom to be secure in one’s life? Freedom to own the world? Or freedom to share it and care for it?
Anyways, great book and I recommend it to everyone!
The second book that has been quite moving is Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert. This was a fun read that involved following a 30-something year-old lady on her journey to find herself, and inner peace. She goes from a divorce and broken relationship to a yearlong trip in Italy, India, and Indonesia. I liked this book because it involved a great, analytical woman who tries to figure out balance between the earthly world (and the pleasures and pain it involves) and the spiritual and inner-peace world (that involves devotion, patience, forgiveness, and understanding). In order for her to figure out her life, she travels to these different countries and journeys (through experiencing pleasure, devotion, and balance). As I read the book, I thought a lot about whether I was in Italy (experiencing pleasure, as I am now living at the training center in a tropical paradise), or in India (practicing meditation or prayer…I mean, I hope to be here at some point in the next 2 years), or in Indonesia (balancing the earthy and spiritual parts of my being in balanced unison…also something I hope to at least to begin in the next two years). Anyways, another must read in my opinion!
The only other book that I’ve read was the enjoyable “Divine secrets of the Ya-ya sisterhood,” which is much better than the movie, and another must-read for ladies who want to think about their relationships with their mothers…or something like that! And there have been other books, like Lonely Planet-Africa and Bradt travel-Niger, but I’m sure you’re not interested in that (unless you decide to visit/travel with me, wink wink!).
Some people here are doing an Amazon wish list for those who are thinking about sending me something (also greatly appreciated). So I might just do that (or you could raid my huge library at my mom’s loft, which has hundreds of books I haven’t completely read (or at all…oops!)). Also, I’ve found out that I have a passion for watching television series…mostly notably Grey’s Anatomy (sessions 3-current), Dexter (seasons 4-present), True Blood (seasons 2-present), Weeds, and any other HBO/Showtime series…they are amazing! If you are interested (or have excellent downloading skills), feel free to send me DVD’s with episodes on them…or movies, or a slide-slow of pictures of your lives at home!
That’s all for now! Miss you! Love you! Will post soon!
Otherwise, things have been about the same here for the past 3 weeks. Our daily schedule consists of a couple of language classes, tech classes on health promotion and project ideas, and then informational sessions on our mental and physical health and safety while in country. It’s been pretty busy…and it feels like so much time has gone by, but I know it has been only a few weeks.
Thus far in our tech sessions on health, we have learned about doing health education on nutrition, family planning and birth spacing, health pregnancies and STIs/HIV, and more. We have been encouraged to apply for grants in order to do projects on HIV/AIDS and in order to do secondary projects. I’m super excited! Projects that I hope to get funded include school gardens, AIDS festivals and testing events, outdoor recreation spaces, and maybe a kids health clubs…there are so many different options!
We have also had important sessions on the history of Madagascar, which unfortunately, we don’t know very much about because we were all prepared for Niger. But I’m excited to learn more about this country as well as more about the health system here, and I have 2 years do it!
So maybe I’ll recap on some of the activities from the past few weeks. After an amazing Christmas filled with all of the amazing food ever (and I guess I’m still amazed with the availability of so much food after having been in Niger!), we took off the next morning to the Andasibe national park that has 6 types of lemurs! It was amazing! The lemurs made calling noises like whales and they hopped from tree to tree both deep in the forest as well as right along the road. It was so amazing, and a few volunteers are going to be posted near this park, so I’ll hopefully see it again soon!
We had another few days of regular schedule, and then we had a talent show/dance party with the volunteers and staff at our training center on New Years Eve-Eve. We performed American and Malagasy songs as well as hilarious skits about our peace corps group and our experience in Niger and Madagascar. It was amazing and hilarious! I’m going to try and post a clip from it for you all to watch… Then we danced the night away to Malagasy and American (as well as Latin) music!
Then after partying so much on New Years Eve-Eve, we ha a New Years Eve party the very next night…so basically, we’ve been a little tired for the last few days.
Sadly, though we have been having soo much fun here in Madagascar in our paradise training center, we are going to be losing 2 of our favorite people from Niger, Tondi and Souleyman, the training manager and Health director, who came with use to Madagascar in order to help us transition from Niger to Madagascar.
On another note, I’ve been doing a lot of reading a long with Malagasy language study. I recently finished “Eat, Pray, Love,” which has inspired m to do some soul searching and some practice meditation. I’m now currently reading “Three Cups of Tea” about schools being built in a very remote and mountainous part of Pakistan. I’m enjoying this time reading for FUN and learning at my own pace…though eventually I have to get back to research in public health! But I’m definitely enjoying this little break from grad school and school in general :)
But because I’m still a super dork, and I want to take this opportunity over the next two years to do some self-study, I will be periodically posting book reviews of the latest, greatest books I’m reading while spending oodles of time in the field here in Madagascar!
The first book that I finished in Niger, and which was a hot topic for that country, was “World Hunger: 12 myths.” A book on loan from my father, it was an amazing and fairly easy read. It was written and published by this activist group, Food First: The institute for food and development policy by Frances Moore Lappé, which I’m not sure is still active an all, but as soon as I get some sustained internet access, I will know, but I think that you should check it out and not wait for me ;)
Anyways, what are those 12 myths? You may ask. I will number them off for you:
1. There ‘s simply not enough food: this isn’t true for the whole world, but for Niger, it is definitely a problem. The best example of this is when many countries that host some of the most malnourished people continue to export food to countries that host many of the most well off people in the world….what the f*** is that about?
2. Nature is to blame: in Niger, this could be also true because of the very harsh climate and the frequent droughts, but it doesn’t really add up all over the rest of the world (especially in Madagascar, where the food reserves and potential is bountiful, yet the percentage of children malnourished children is higher than in Niger…statistics are confusing sometimes!). The book argues that it’s not the weather than makes people hungry, but the fact that people are made more vulnerable over time (through loss of land in this horrible market system, or through dependency on cash crops, pesticides/fertilizers, exhaustion of cropland, etc.), and therefore when nature shows it’s ugly face (though we’ve contributed a lot to that as well, what with global warming and pollution) people are more drastically impacted.
3. Too many mouths to feed (aka the “overpopulation” argument, that I truly hate!): first of all, this world can support the number of people on it thus far, and any “population control” schemes (such as the one done in Puerto Rico that left about 1/3 of the women sterilized, many times forcibly), has not really helped feed the starving people as only the number of births decreased, and their ability to purchase or acquire food did not improve.
4. Food vs. our environment: the idea that the production of food is ruining the environment, which could be true if you take into account the number of fertilizer and pesticide companies that are making a “killing” off “killing” the environment and the people that labor in it. And actually, the damage to the environment is more felt when logging, ranching, and tree plantations are done, industries that direct the flow of power and money towards the economically powerful.
5. The green revolution is the answer: the people who wrote this book focused on the first green revolution that occurred in the 60s and 70s, but there is actually a new green revolution brewing for many African countries, supported by our beloved Seattle hero, Bill Gates (or at least the Bill and Melinda Gates’ Foundation). The green revolution focused on increasing production (specifically the production of cash crops) which isn’t exactly the problem, since production is already high (and waste of food is already occurring), but the hungry aren’t able to access it. The green revolution also had a tendency to favor larger (richer) landowners who were able to afford special seeds as well as the equipment to produce more efficiently (or at least, more quickly). Obviously not helping the people on the bottom of the totem pole. Also, more production brought the prices down, thus further hurting the small farmer who couldn’t even make any profit because of over production.
6. Justice vs. Production: the argument is that people think that the redistribution of the land would take land away from people who know how to use it and give it to people who don’t, which isn’t true at all since many small farmers are able to be more resourceful, less wasteful, care for the land better, and not start the endless cycle of more and more pesticide use. Like the authors state, “The question must not be what system can produce the most food but under what system—elite-controlled or democratically controlled—is hunger most likely to be alleviated.”
7. The free market can end hunger: my father like’s to compare the market system to religion sometimes…I mean we have such “faith” that it works (or exists), it’s hilarious. But, the thing is that the market “does not respond to individual preferences—or even needs. It responds to money.” So it won’t end hunger, period! (actually, that’s an exclamation point, but I mean it!). I like this quote as well: “The more widely dispersed purchasing power is, the more the market will respond to actual human preferences and needs and the more power the market will have to end hunger.” If only!
8. Free trade is the answer: this has a lot to do with the last myth, but it’s still worth mentioning that making free trade economies gives power to corporations and not to the people, and corporations then get to move from country to country exploiting the labor to make productions/food for richer countries….argh! it makes my blood boil! Also, all countries that are invited (or forced?) to join must then accept all of the US’s cheap food products that are subsidized by the government…sucks for you Mexico!
9. Too hungry to revolt: they maybe poor and starving and downtrodden, but poor and hungry people all over the world (and in the US, they do exist!) have organized and fought back in many different ways! Represent!
10. More U.S. Aid Will help the hunger: this is a current debate today! First of all, aid is not distributed to many of the countries that need it (Niger, for example, is not a priority, though it’s basically the poorest country in the world). Aid, in the past has been used to install the famous SAPs (structural adjustment programs/packages, for those that have not taken a class with Prof. Gloyd). Food aid can also thwart agricultural development in poor countries. And one of my favorite quotes in this section: “foreign aid is only as good as the recipient government. Foreign aid only reinforces the status quo.”
11. We benefit from their hunger: morbid and sad…and it’s not true! There is plenty of food to go around, and persisting inequality and hunger only increases our exploitation of the earth and continued war and poverty…just to be dramatic!
12. Food vs. freedom: this chapter says that people worry about dramatic changes in society that would have to occur in order to end hunger. DUH!!!! But we need to rethink what our “freedoms” are: freedom to accumulate? Or freedom to be secure in one’s life? Freedom to own the world? Or freedom to share it and care for it?
Anyways, great book and I recommend it to everyone!
The second book that has been quite moving is Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert. This was a fun read that involved following a 30-something year-old lady on her journey to find herself, and inner peace. She goes from a divorce and broken relationship to a yearlong trip in Italy, India, and Indonesia. I liked this book because it involved a great, analytical woman who tries to figure out balance between the earthly world (and the pleasures and pain it involves) and the spiritual and inner-peace world (that involves devotion, patience, forgiveness, and understanding). In order for her to figure out her life, she travels to these different countries and journeys (through experiencing pleasure, devotion, and balance). As I read the book, I thought a lot about whether I was in Italy (experiencing pleasure, as I am now living at the training center in a tropical paradise), or in India (practicing meditation or prayer…I mean, I hope to be here at some point in the next 2 years), or in Indonesia (balancing the earthy and spiritual parts of my being in balanced unison…also something I hope to at least to begin in the next two years). Anyways, another must read in my opinion!
The only other book that I’ve read was the enjoyable “Divine secrets of the Ya-ya sisterhood,” which is much better than the movie, and another must-read for ladies who want to think about their relationships with their mothers…or something like that! And there have been other books, like Lonely Planet-Africa and Bradt travel-Niger, but I’m sure you’re not interested in that (unless you decide to visit/travel with me, wink wink!).
Some people here are doing an Amazon wish list for those who are thinking about sending me something (also greatly appreciated). So I might just do that (or you could raid my huge library at my mom’s loft, which has hundreds of books I haven’t completely read (or at all…oops!)). Also, I’ve found out that I have a passion for watching television series…mostly notably Grey’s Anatomy (sessions 3-current), Dexter (seasons 4-present), True Blood (seasons 2-present), Weeds, and any other HBO/Showtime series…they are amazing! If you are interested (or have excellent downloading skills), feel free to send me DVD’s with episodes on them…or movies, or a slide-slow of pictures of your lives at home!
That’s all for now! Miss you! Love you! Will post soon!
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