It’s been a fair while since I last blogged and so much has been going on that I think I have at times lost sight of the bigger picture, not seeing the wood for the trees and all that.
So, back to Belavenoka and the story behind why we were there and why I was in need of some R&R. The first bush placement for scheme 3 was back in Agnena to build a latrine (where we built a school last scheme). It was really great to be back there. Agnena is a magical place and it gave me a warm fuzzy feeling inside when I was greeted by a chorus of eager, grubby faces chanting my name as we arrived.
The weather had been fairly stormy during the first week of the scheme in town. We hadn’t been in Agnena 24 hours before a cyclone warning was issued for the Fort Dauphin area and the decision was made to bring us back to town (I’d managed to leave my tent back in Fort Dauphin so was quite glad to be able to get back to town to pick it up!). All was going to plan. We’d loaded the camion before the worst of the weather hit and we were homeward bound. Sadly, 5 minutes after leaving Agnena we got stuck in a marsh. When it became clear that we weren’t going to be able to rev our way out of the hole we all jumped off ready to push/pull our way out. I knew it would be a struggle when the water level almost reached to my knee as I jumped off the camion…
However, never, EVER underestimate the pulling power of 12 desperate pioneers, assorted Azafady staff members and near suicidal camion boys (who were seen pretty much sat under the wheels of the camion jamming branches and dry sand into the holes trying to give us more purchase on the ground…crazy). 3 hours later a jubilant hurrah went round as the camion was lurched out of its muddy pit by pure muscle power and roared up the drier road ahead.
The camion ride back was incredibly surreal. The stormy weather was yet to hit and there was an incredibly bright full moon. The landscape all the way back to town was lit by a very ethereal silvery light and since everybody was dozing or very much absorbed in their own thoughts of bed and warm drinks it felt very much like a waking dream. It was almost worth the 3 hour delay in the middle of nowhere.
Once the storm had passed through, we shipped back out to Agnena and got stuck right in to make up for lost time. This is the first time I’ve built a latrine and I am very glad we’re doing it at a cooler time of year. We have to hand-make the best part of 1000 cement bricks and mix a hell of a lot of concrete too. Previous pioneers who’ve had the pleasure of mixing cement by hand will know how hard it is. To build a latrine, you have to mix cement all day, every day for the whole time you’re there. Hard work but incredibly satisfying when you see your very own terracotta army of bricks lined up basking in the sun at the end of every day.
Latrine almost done
Lomba's hair tries to escape
As a treat for all their hard work, we had a day trip to the fishing village of Itapera out on the coast a few hours walk from Agnena. We took a pirogue (dug out canoe) half way there which in itself was quite an adventure. We had 3 pirogues which were held together by a plank. It was a very stable structure with the two outer pirogues acting as outriggers. Despite dodgy appearances we still managed to fit 20 people on our raft! 
Itapera (above and below)
So that pretty much bring us back to Katie and I sat on a grassy verge at Belavenoka.
Aside from the work being very physical, I’ve been struck down with various stomach afflictions. The latest addition seems to be some form of worm. Brilliant. My tent has also completely broken and on a more personal level, things have been pretty difficult. A combination of all these things caught up with me during the latter stages of last week and I was feeling exhausted. Katie, who is the big sister I never had, swung in to full coordinator mode when she arrived at Agnena and insisted that she was taking me back to town for a few days proper rest. The only problem was finding transport to get us back to town.
We walked from Agnena to the village of Belavenoka on the main road where this blog entry began and waited for a friendly lobster car or taxi brousse to take us back to town. I don’t normally like waiting but in rural Madagascar, it’s not so bad. We were of great interest to all the passing foot traffic and a group of kids who lived in the house opposite where we were sat. We whiled away the time with a classic game of “What is…in English” which lasted a good while. A group of local ladies who were weaving baskets came and sat with us and chatted in the shade for a few hours. We ate a lot of sweets, got a bit giddy on sugar then dozed when the sugar rush wore off. An incredibly kind local guy saw Katie and I sat on the side of the road and around lunch time, he appeared with a huge bowl of steaming cassava for us to eat.
Sadly, it started to get dark and six hours after we first took up our vigil on the grassy verge there was no lift to town for Katie and Sarah. We decided to head back to Agnena that night and try again the next day.
And we were in luck! After only 4 hours of waiting the next day (and another impromptu meal from the wonderfully kind family who lived opposite our make shift look out post) a lobster car pulled up that was happy to take us back to Fort Dauphin. As is often the way in Fort Dauphin, he was the relative of somebody who worked for Azafady and was happy to help a friend out. It felt really good to be on the way back to town for a few days of complete rest before the pioneers head back.
Through being forced to sit still, sit back and wait, those many little gestures of kindness from everybody we saw in the many hours of sitting at the roadside really helped to snap me out of my somewhat zombiefied state. You’re forced to see life at the pace of the local Malagasy and when you’re in the same place for so long, you can build up a pretty accurate picture of a community. Life is very hard out here. I don’t even understand the half of what the local Malagasy have to do every day to put a meal on the table and there are still days when I feel completely broken. But, in spite of the daily assault that Madagascar places on your mind, body and soul this is still the life I want to be living and it was really good to get a reminder of that. It couldn’t have come at a more opportune moment.
Gecko which was living between the layers of my tent 
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