Washing Zebu
After I had come up with a proposed itinerary for our trip, I sent inquiries to different Madagascar tour companies and individuals to see what they could do for us. I only sent my inquiries to Madagascar agencies and people because we like to support the local economy, and feel that dealing with a local company means more of our money stays in the country. One of the people I sent an inquiry to was Ony Rakotoarivelo, recommended in our Bradt Guide. In the end, it wasn't a good fit for this itinerary, but in our discussions Ony had asked if we would be interested in spending our first day visiting the school she worked with which helped disadvantaged and abused children, primarily young girls. We decided to do this. Dona is a retired professor of Biology, and we enjoyed our time teaching in Namibia, and have enjoyed working with refugee children here at home in Missoula.
Only sent us a list of school supplies the children need, and we tried to make room for as much as we could carry in our small bags.
So on our first morning, Ony picked us up at our hotel. Our driver, Manana, was a former student from the school we would be visiting, a wonderful example of what can happen when you get a little help.
We knew from reading that cattle, "Zebu," are a measure of wealth in rural Madagascar, and as we drove outside of Antananarivo, we saw ample evidence of this. I was surprised to see a man washing his prize Zebu in a puddle alongside the road.
When we looked out on the rice fields in the valley bottoms, we noticed large piles of something. Ony explained to us these were bricks. The soil in this region is mostly clay. When digging and cleaning the irrigation ditches which channel water to the rice paddies, instead of disposing of the material dug from the ditch, people form it into bricks. The bricks are piled up in a manner in which air can circulate through the pile. At some point, a fire is started in the pile and kept going for about three days, firing the bricks.
We arrived at the school, where we met the head-mistress. We delivered our spiral bound notebooks, pencils, erasers, protractors and rulers. After introductions, we were shown into a classroom. The kids were shy and well-mannered, but all attention. The teacher explained where we were from, and that we had come to see them.
Madagascar is one of the poorest countries in the world, and these kids were some of the poorest. As in many schools in lower-income countries, the kids have no books, and the teachers have few teaching aids. Instead, instruction amounts almost exclusively to lectures; the kids create their own books by copying down the lecture notes in their notebooks. If that is the only tool the teacher has, it's a difficult way to learn.
Dona has made lots of jigsaw puzzles for our grandkids, and when we went to Namibia she made puzzles of Africa and Namibia. They were a big hit, even with the teachers, whose knowledge of geography was not as good as it should have been. But except for geography, social-studies and civics teachers in the United States, I doubt if our teachers' knowledge of African geography is much better. So she made a puzzle of Africa with individual pieces for all the countries, and two of Madagascar, one showing all the provinces, and a simpler one showing the primary regions.
As soon as we brought out the puzzles, the kids went bonkers. It was such a delight to be able to provide them with something besides writing on the chalkboard. When we do the puzzles at home, we try to make our grandkids say the names of each place before they put it into the puzzle, as an aid to learning. Ideally, they would study the shape of the piece as well. But just the process of handling the pieces and making them fit helps.
The school we visited is a satellite school for Ankizy Gasy. The first school was opened in 1956, founded by two Polish women. Ony started volunteering with them in 1998. At that time this school had 24 kids, in grades 5 - 10. There are now 150 students, mostly girls, with some younger boys.
After our visit we drove back to Tana, where we were treated to a delicious lunch of rice and pumpkin and carrot soup. It was the best soup of our whole trip!
After lunch, Dona and Sid were tired and went back to the hotel to rest. I toured the main Ankizy Gasy school complex in Tana with Kasha, one of the two original founders. She spoke impeccable English and was extremely well informed. The organization has solar panels at one of their satellite schools, and some bio-gas generation at the main facility. She said they are working on 1.5m diameter parabolic mirror rice cookers for some of the family homes. They are currently evaluating a solar powered refrigerator-sized industrial steamer which can cook rice for the whole school. I asked what happened in the rainy season, and she said there is actually more sun in the rainy season than in the dry season — it rains a lot but then clears up. In the dry season all the dust, haze, smoke and fog results in poor solar gain.
We had dinner with the son of some friends in Montana and his family. It was delightful and delicious, with great conversation. Tom regaled us with tails of world and Madagascar travel, although his wife and two beautiful, well-mannered young girls had their own thoughts as well.
After dinner our driver delivered us back to our hotel, where we crashed. We were still adjusting to jet-lag — Madagascar is clear on the other side of the world from Montana, about as far as you can get; and we had to get up early to begin the rest of our trip.
Next up: Peyrieras Wildlife Park and Mitsinjo National Park.