Trouble in Paradise

The last few weeks in Madagascar have been fairly tumultuous politically as I’m sure many of you have been made aware by the press. A potted history of the situation is that the mayor of Tana (who is reported to be backed by the ex-dictator of Madagascar) has accused the President of Madagascar of stealing public funds. There’ve been lootings of the Presidents’ shops and businesses across the country since evidence emerged that indeed the President has been stealing public funds (to finance a private jet amongst other things). The mayor has since attempted to take power from the President. The situation is still fairly fluid and nobody’s sure what will happen over the next few days. But Azafady are keeping a really close eye on the situation and we’ll just have to see how it all pans out over the next few days. I am delighted to say that touch wood, none of the troubles in Tana have filtered down to Fort Dauphin at all. Have to see how the big boys in Tana work it all out.

This whole situation has really highlighted just how much of an affinity to Madagascar and the Malagasy people I’ve developed over the past few months. It’s very rare that I hear news and it really gets me in the back of my throat but I’m not ashamed to say that this really has. Seeing the effect that it’s had on Malagasy friends and how so many completely innocent and unarmed people have been caught up in the crossfire of this power struggle is heartbreaking.

The long term implications of this for Azafady and Madagascar as a whole is still unknown. If people perceive Madagascar to be an unsafe place then international aid, foreign investment and tourism will dry up. The sad fact of this is that as ever, it’ll be the poorest people who are affected the most by all this. In the south, where there are already early indications of famine and escalating food prices this is not great news. All in all a truly tragic few weeks for Madagascar.

Meanwhile, back in the bush and blissfully unaware, January 2009 team were ploughing ahead with the work and building a school fit for a king at Agnena. We managed to finish it early which meant we had time to make a football pitch (complete with corner posts, goalposts and dug outs for both teams), a swing set and a few benches to act as a spectators gallery. It looks awesome.

Swingset being broken in.

Football pitch

Old School

New school by moonlight

I’ve found being in Agnena really peaceful. The work has gone exactly to plan which has meant free time has been very relaxed. Lots of yoga, watching the guides doing capoeira as the sun sets (one of my new favourite activities), listening to a constant stream of music from the guides, consuming books and doing a lot of writing. It’s so good having the spare time to let your brain relax enough to engage in more creative things. Something I’m going to really try and maintain when I get back.

Maybe we had a bit too much spare time on our hands

Claude the team leader getting in touch with his feminine side.

I managed to sneak away from the pack for a few days for one of Matt’s many leaving parties. This one was being hosted at the Azafady campsite at St Luce. Matt’s been at Azafady for about 3 and a half years and is one of the lynch pins of Azafady doing all manner of tasks from accounting to planning emergency procedures. I know that he’ll leave a big hole in Azafady and I’m definitely going to miss seeing his cheeky face around town.

Matt all dressed up in his party outfit.

The weekend revolved around eating, drinking, dancing and swimming in the setting of a rainforest. Not a bad way to spend a weekend really!

Saturday night saw us all take to the dance floor in an open area near the camp site. The local band and dancers were hired and under the threatening storm clouds we kicked up a dust storm. It was incredibly dusty. It was so dusty that when Gaby turned and grinned at me, her teeth were all coated in black dust. Tasty. It was a great sweaty, dusty and boozy evening.

Waiting for the pirogues to take us across the channel to S17.

The beach at S17. It's possible to walk all the way along the coast from St Luce to Fort Dauphin in about 2/3 days. A project for when somebody visits me thinks.

Palm trees.

On the Sunday we hired pirogues (dug out canoes made from tree trunks) to take us over to the romantically titled S17 rainforest fragment. Despite its’ name, S17 is one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen. Pristine littoral rainforest which can only be accessed by boat, not a single soul there and gorgeous beaches. We bought some lobster and fish from fishermen who’d just landed their catch and cooked it up on the beach. I consumed the last few pages of my book and dozed under the palm trees. The only downer from the whole weekend was grazing my knee as I gracefully belly flopped into the sea. This tiny graze subsequently became infected. The infection spread into my lymph nodes giving me a nasty temperature and caused me to feel very sorry for myself for a few days. Lesson learned: sea water alone does not clean a graze in Madagascar!

Baby gecko

I’ve done a hell of a lot of reading since I’ve been here and I thought I’d share some of the titles of books I’ve REALLY enjoyed and can’t recommend enough.

The time traveller’s wife (don’t read it if you’re already having an emotional time!)
The life of Pi
Salmon fishing in the Yemen
Shantaram
Tuesday’s with Morrie
Three cups of tea
The butterfly box (Annie you would love this…this one’s definitely for you)

We’re in town until the 17th Feb then back out to the bush for 3 weeks which will take us almost to the end of the second scheme. This scheme really is flying by. If only time would slow down a little!