Bandits, breakdowns and bananas

After finishing an amazing few months at Akany Avoko, I'm now on holiday and seeing the most amazing sights of Madagascar. What an incredible place. And what adventures there are every day!

Four Akany volunteers hit the road a week ago. Taxi brousse journeys are known to be long, risky and tiresome, with the trip from Tana to Morondava last Saturday confirming this... Estimated time in the guidebook is 12 to 17 hours, and our timing was not bad considering we seemed to have the worst van on the road. There are bandit attacks on this route, so taxi brousses to Morondava leave Tana in the afternoon in convoy. Our van was being left behind the convoy by the other vans. It almost sounded like it was saying "I think I can" up the hills. There was almost enough room for your legs.  It's an overnight trip so breakdowns are dangerous. Police patrol the roads. So when we were woken by a loud clunking sound at midnight, we wished we were in a different car. Another car with a man and rifle pulled up and it wasn't until after the 5km per hour crawl to the next (very dark) village that it was explained that the man was accompanying us - yippee he was a policeman! So 2 of us naive vazahas needing a wee were heavily warned not to go out of sight of the group. It was cold. The clunking wheel and axel were pulled to bits by the light of our torches, the reconstruction didn't seem to contain all the same parts and some glue was used...but the clever driver come mechanic got us back on the road and we made it to Morondava in 20 hours.

10ish hours in a 4x4 gets you to the Bekopaka, the village at the entrance to the Tsingy de Bemaraha National Park. This road is only accessible in the dry season, which had not long started. It's a pretty rough road with 2 ferries across rivers and it's obvious why you simply would get stuck in mud in the rainy season. We were almost at Bekopaka when, upon rolling into a deep river almost up to the car floor, the car STOPPED. Our funny bastard driver Lulu waded out in his Timberlands and fixed the problem, a leaking radiator, well a band-aid fix probably, but it worked. 15 minutes wondering if we'd have to sleep on the shore and we hit the road again. Everyone helps each other though, the car in front stopped and waited to see we were ok and the 2 trucks whose road we were blocking offered help too. I guess we wouldn't really have slept on the shore...

But it really is worth the 3 days travel to get there. We felt like we were in a computer game for most of the time, it's so surreal! We explored the gigantic pointy rock formations, in and out of forests and caves, walked and climbed up and over more rocks, spotting lemurs, mongoose and gorgeous birds along the way. Food options are somewhat limited in Bekopaka, we got a bit tired of the "duck and pasta with butter" menu...but it is an isolated village, food transport is expensive, although the bananas here were the best I'd ever had! The honey for our breakfast was also incredible, drizzled on Malagasy moof gasy (rice bread) - like a crumpet and Denise-intolerance-friendly!

The children in Bekopaka are the sweetest, cutest, most interactive and least begging kids I have seen in Mada. I'd bought stickers before leaving Tana and was handing them out along the way. I gave 1 young girl carrying around her baby sister 2 stickers, which she kindly passed onto 2 other kids. We had Malagasy chats with them, taught them songs and took photos. They were adorable.

After a river trip, cave exploration and introduction to the Petite Tsingy on day 1, we planned to go on to the Grand Tsingy, a 1 hour squashy (taking a guide with us, we had 4 in the back) and bumpy ride. We fumbled about half awake after breakfast squabbling over the bill with the restaurant who seemed to think we were a bit rich and tried to charge us too much and thank goodness they did because we could have ended up in a sticky situation if we had left 3 minutes earlier.

As we started out on the road to the Grand Tsingy, another tourist car was coming back, eyes wide open and looking shocked. There was a man up ahead who had been shot by a bandit, a victim of zebu theft. They arrived 3 minutes after it had happened. They went back to tell the police, who never ended up turning up as they were too scared. A truck passed through carrying the man and apparently all his family, the wife wailing. They were taking him on the 10 or so hour trip to Morondava to hospital. The guides took a punt that the zebu theif would be concentrating on getting the animals out of the area rather than robbing the vazahas and we continued on our way. We passed 2 empty, broken zebu carts. It was eery. Then we got on with our crazy day in the Grand Tsingy, the creme de la creme of National Parks.

We delivered a football to the Bekopaka secondary school and watched their PE lesson, they were practising high jump and the teens thought it was hilarious that vazahas find them so interesting. They were very thankful for the football. We delivered 2 more footballs to schools en route, 1 school was about 20 kids in a shack the size of our large hotel room in Bekopaka.

Our trip back to Morondava was eventful. A car in front of us had a flat tyre and no spare, so we gave them ours. Hmmmm I guess someone would have to do the same if we also got a flattie?! The road is only wide enough for 1 car at time and our driver was flooring it (but safely) to get us back to the Avenue of the Baobabs in time for the sunset. A car coming the other direction on a bend wasn't so careful and although our driver braked fast, the other car wasn't so onto it and we ended up in a head on, as there was simply nowhere to go. There was only a broken light on the other car, and we had slowed enough for there to be very little impact so everyone was fine. Sooooo....insurance details exchanged? No such thing. They all know each other on this road and just decided to continue the day.

Then there was the policeman who waved us down. He needed a lift to Belo, the village 3 hours away. We had a seperate compartment in the car with all our luggage and where the spare tyre should have been. Would we mind if we take him? Of course not, he's a policeman, and he has a rifle, but that will keep us safe, right? Then another guy appeared and climbed in as well. Why were there 2 rifles in there with them? It must have been a super uncomfortable ride for them, lying on empty water bottles on that bumpy road. We were about to offer them a banana each when Katherine, our French speaking comrade, scared us with her eyes wide while Lulu told her about the men in the back. The policeman had arrested a bandit, and had confiscated his gun, that's where the other gun was from. The other guy was the bandit. We had a bandit in our car for 3 hours. Under arrest of course, but still... He had been arrested for zebu theft but it wasn't the guy from Bekopaka. The policeman and the bandit seemed to be having a right old good chat in the back, while we kept suspicisously looking around. We dropped them off and I felt more than just their physical weight lifted from the car.

Guitar heros

Andy White – I have some news for you. Not only will Madagascar be the next big thing in football due to the generous donations from my friends, colleagues and family, but they might also become the best guitarists on the planet and sweep up all the folk awards – whatever awards there are for folk…or maybe they’ll be more interested in rock, but whatever the weather, they LOVE the guitars I bought for Akany. Locally-crafted in Tana, I got a nice deal on two beautifully toned guitars. Now every kid at Akany wants to be a rock star. Some are keen to get technical, learn the chords and build up their callouses – others ignore my instructions on chord formations, but have excellent natural strumming technique so they just sit back and imagine themselves sounding really really good. 

But to build up those callouses takes time and I remember what it was like ie. HURT LIKE HELL and it still does if I don’t pick up a guitar for a while. So it’ll be slow going and there may not be time for everyone to have a go, but I’m so happy to be making some of them feel a wee bit rock star. Even before the formal lessons, I’d take the guitars onto the lawn in front of the volunteer house and leave them with their audience of each other, strumming away tune-lessly but all eager to have a go “Because I’ll DEFINITELY sound better than her” and then not sounding any better but loving the five minutes of fame.

A mighty good investment for the entertainment and happiness of the children at Akany. Thanks for your donations everyone!

Redemption

Teaching teenagers can be challenging, as you may imagine (or in my case, remember what a nightmare I personally was at school!). There are the academics and the non-academics. I categorise myself in the latter, so have sympathy for the vocational training girls who were a little raucous in class and were asked to think about their actions. Fair enough, study sucks in my eyes too, but I didn’t come to Madagascar to raise my voice at children. Eight very solemn girls waited in the evening for me to finish teaching guitar to the boys and upon my exit, grabbed my attention to read out an apology, so thoughtful, sweet and genuine I almost cried. “Dear Denise, we are terribly sorry for being wrong in class. We wont do it again and we are very sorry Denise. The CAMS girls.” There was a sincerity I have never seen before. Needless to say, they were most obliging when I taught them guitar today, all very patient and helping each other with learning chords and strumming. And they made some beautiful pressed flower paper for me. A mutual respect seems to have developed – now that’s what I call redemption..

The wilderness and the wildlife

Madagscar’s national parks have many different landscapes and terrains. There’s also the most incredible fauna diversity; when it comes to figures, I can never remember, but it was pretty evident just walking through the tropical rainforest and dry national park over 4 days that chameleons are plentiful, lemurs are something to behold, and frogs are, well, just everywhere. Lemurs aren’t that shy in these parks as they’ve become accustomed to the human invaders, so it is quite a sight to see them jumping about less than a meter away from you through the trees, stopping occasionally when they find a good leaf or two to nibble on. Our guide said they like bananas, then walked on ahead, so being the naïve lay-people we are, the thought of enticing a lemur down from the trees with a banana on a stick seemed like a good idea. The lemur thought it was a great idea – until the banana (via stick) MOVED DOWN THE TREE!!! “How did that banana do the that? Bananas don’t move! I don’t like this at all. But that banana does smell nice. I wonder if I could just grab- OW it moved again! This is not usual. I’m abandoning banana mission, I think it must be controlled by aliens or something, hey other lemur, watch out for that moving banana. There’s something very suspicious going on here.”

The trademark ravanala (traveller’s tree) spans itself across the skyline like a rising sun, canyons hide the most beautiful treasures of delicate, picturesque waterfalls, a boa constrictor curls motionless next to the entry point of the swimming hole, and tiny frogs jump out right from under your feet as you tramp through puddles. And then there’s the beach. I don’t know what I was expecting, but I at least expected a clothes shop. Mangily is an hour’s 4x4 drive from Toliar, on the south west coast. The lack of fresh vegetables on this sandy village was made up for by the steady supply of meaty fish called Margarette andd langoustine. Fish at least twice a day and I didn’t get tired of it for the 4 days of beach bumming we did after 4 days hiking through those tough trails which rewarded us with their incredible diversity and beauty. 

Even the animal parks in Madagascar are excellent. The Lemurs Park near Tana is a lemur refuge where they aren’t in cages, they have territories and run wild, great for getting up close and personal with them. Lemurs do bite though, so there are guards to shoo the ones with reputations away from the paying tourists and there really is no way to contain them within the park except to chase them, so there are also guards for that. We saw several dancing Sifakas bound over the high wall with ease, the road is not too far away so I hope they have at least learned the road rules ie. Don’t dance in front of a truck!

Factories but not as we know them

I had a tour of an aluminium smelting factory which I thought might be a bit boring, but was astounded at the skill and precision required to create all sorts of cooking pots and utensils. Moulds are made out of sand in boxes followed by pouring of recycled melted aluminium into the mould, where it cools rapidly and is finished on a spinning wheel to smooth the edges. These guys work so fast, I always thought that stuff was made by machines...

Then I went to the popcorn "factory"...

Small metal containers are spun at top speed by one person while another stokes the fire underneath. This happens for exactly 7 minutes, after which the lid is pull off and the popcorn literally explodes into a little wooden shack. Trying to get a photo and cover my ears at the same time didn't happen, it was so loud I thought the corn was popping inside my head! The product is then swept up off the floor and packaged into bags for sale... a bit of dirt never hurts.

Akany Avoko - village life

At the moment I am the only volunteer living at the centre, although the lovely Paulina and Patty from Poland live down the road for the next week and a half. There are other volunteers coming, but it's nice to get settled in on my own to start with. Also nice to be able to have the big bright double room until it's next required by a couple! The volunteer house sleeps 6. The first week I did spring clean with the help of the fabulous Lorna and the gorgeous CAMS girls (6 vocational training teens). The kitchen is a little dark but that's made up by the fact that the there is a balcony with a hammock on the first floor, overlooking some buildings and tropical plants, palm trees and bright flowering hedges. The sun setting behind the main office building is a beautiful way to watch the day end.

I wake up around 5am with the sounds of people stiring and getting ready for the day ahead, kids playing, showering, washing clothes...they are day people, night time is for sleep! So I read or doze for a couple of hours and my alarm goes off, I make porridge with banana, have a glass of vazaha-priced juice and go to the market, or riding. I go up to the childcare centre and play games and read to the babies, who are just soooo gorgeous. It's a bit like being in a house full of crazy people, they way they act sometimes, there is a lot of jealousy and grabbing going on for adult attention, undestandably, as there are about 10 or so of them. My second visit there I encountered Sanja, 4 or 5, I'm not sure, Malagasy kids are smaller than Vazaha kids, she was rocking on her feet with a big grin singing "Od Macdonal adafar E I E I O Moo moo here adamoomoo dere hereamooderamooevewhereamoomoo". The sweetness of children.

I start lessons at 11.30 with the on-site primary school, 4 classes. I will next week be allocated activities with different age groups, then at 4 I teach teenage boys from the boys home down the road. 6 of them help around Akany, kind of vocational training, and they seem to really enjoy the lessons. After playing English word Bingo with them the other day, they yell out "Bingo!" when they see me. Teaching the older girls and staff with songs seems to be the way to go, thanks to my wonderful mate Ali for giving me those ace songs sheets!

Equestrian happiness :)

Centre équestre du Rova d'Ambohidratrimo is an amazing horse facility, expertly run with quality horses and fabulous staff. Andre the owner speaks good English and wants me to try all his horses. We went for a long ride on the weekend with Zu, a VERY good rider, who doesn't speak English but gives me excellent instruction through Andre's translation. I can't believe I've found somewhere in Madagascar with a menage and well trained horses in dressage and jumping. I jumped a 2ft double for the first time since I was a teenager yesterday! I know, only little stuff, but maybe I'll go bigger next time.

After my 7.45am Preschool English lesson, I stroll to the centre in 20 minutes, through cobble-stoned villages, picking up some rice cakes along he way. There are a few "Vazaha" callouts, but mainly people politely say "Bonjour Madame". They are used to us whiteys in Ambohidratrimo (pronounced Amboodatrim) as Akany usually has up to 8 volunteers at one time, so it's mainly the children being sweet. Refreshingly, there are very few beggars here, which is probably down to the fact that it is a fairly affluent area.

Rice, the fried stuff and rhum (YUM!)

The majority of Malagasy eat rice 3 times a day. The price of rice to them is like the price of oil to us. Wet rice in the morning, dry rice for lunch, then any combination of the 2 for dinner. With veg and meat if you can afford it. I eat lunch at Akany every week day, so get my fair share of rice, and am findng myself craving it sometimes in the evenings as well. There have been a couple of occassions where I've had left over rice for breaky too! Sounds healthy BUT most of it is white rice, so pretty junky really. So I try to get my wholegrains from oats in the morning instead.

Most little shops in villages sell some form of fried stuff. sweet, savoury, in between, battered fried veg, potato cake things with or without curry, Moof balls (like a doughnut really), deep fried bananas, and my favourite wheat free options, little cakes made of rice or casava flour. Yet to find one in Ambohidratrimo to top the awesome ones in Ambatolampy though. For 1.6p you can buy one, but it's hard to carry that denomination of coin around with you, so I ususally buy 10 at a time and stuff myself silly. Coffee shops are a little walk in store where you stand to drink your coffee with condensed milk and stuff yourself with fried cakes. I am in my no coffee phase right now, so haven't had the pleasure (or opposite, I've heard mixed reviews!) of the Madagscar coffee experience. Choclate on the other hand, MY OH MY they make good chocolate here! Must be the vanilla.

The rhum (rum) is Mada is AMAZING. So good it's dangerous. Of course you mix with coca cola, so, once again, how healthy! 1 pound 50 will buy you 500ml rhum and a big bottle of coke - although I haven't yet drank 1 of these to myself luckily. I'm glad I have good toothpaste with me.

So, despite having good intentions of a good vegetable rich diet here (which, apart from all the afore mentioned calories, I do!), I will probably leave Madagascar with a few extra kgs. Oh well, gotta get into the local scene!

Akany Avoko - Ambohidratrimo

My new placement is with Akany Avoko, 45 minutes north of Tana. It's a children's centre for approx 140 kids and teenage girls awaiting decisons by the court on their various family situations. It's gorgeous here, such a nice atmosphere. Volunteers live on site in one of the buildings, it feels like it's own little village. This week is induction, so I've been hanging out with the babies and little kids, just getting a feel for the place.

Ambohidratrimo is more suburban than Ambatolampy. I haven't seen a zebu cart here, although in a village halfway between here and Tana, zebu seem to take themselves for walks down the main street. The market is very civilised and they are used to vahaza here as there are often volunteers at the centre.

I will be teaching English and music and my schedule for next week is looking pretty chockers, looking forward to being ultra busy! http://www.akanyavoko.com/

Teaching is fun!

My 20 minute lessons with the grade 4, 5 and 6 years olds are always good fun. There's really nothing like a classroom full of  40 beaming faces greeting you with a loud "Hello!" and waving madly, obviously ecstatic to see you again. I respond with "How are you today?" and the reply "I'm fine thank you!" in metered chorus. They are total parrots, teaching them words such as window or door, then pointing to a chair and asking "What's this?" inevitably begs the repsonse "What's this!" so back to basics, I need to play out their response and walk through the motions. We are now onto the difference between "This is" and "That is", with me sitting on a chair, patting it rhythmically to the words "This-is-a-chair" and then they copy, I walk away from the chair and throw my arm rhythmically at the chair saying "THAT-is-a chair" - total basics, I have been taking the English language for granted for so long, I never even noticed all these differences in how we say things. Learning French on the other hand, with all these masculine and feminine differences - what's that about?! Glad I don't have to teach that but it's hard to learn.

I took an English club last week of fifteen17-21 years olds, beginners, the teacher explained to them that I don't speak English or French, and then LEFT THE ROOM. I couldn't believe my eyes. But it was great, somehow I had them playing Simon Says using "Please", referring to my French dictionary intermitently, smiling faces of "he" and "she" on the board and hand signals, we got through a lot. I wasn't prepared, however the English club yesterday, 100 pupils. Somehow I fudged through the half hour but I really don't know how half an hour in a class as big as that can be of much benefit to them since they get no individual attention at all.

Teaching is kind of like being on stage, I think I like it!

Dodging zebu carts

 Zebu are a hump-backed cow which are sacred in Madagascar in many tribes. They are used as beasts of burden, as you can see here, again, out my back door. This is the RN7, the main road through the South of Mada. As well as the semi-trailers, crazy taxi-brousse drivers, the chickens and the pedestrians, I am constantly faced with these possibly ferocious bull creatures. I haven't looked too hard to be honest, but I assume the bulls are the strongest, so I haven't yet been up to pat one - apart from a calf - photo to come, but dodgy internet connection is impeding the upload!

I also see them a lot out riding. I ride twice a week at Rodeo Grill with my guide, Eddie, taking me through the most beautiful landscapes of rice paddies, eucalypt plantations, rural villages of mud brick houses and thatched roofs, children staring at the odd sight of a horse, people asking Eddie how much I pay him for this luxury...it's about 6 pounds fifty for an hour's ride, the equivalent of about 2 months private school education in Ambatolampy. Yesterday we passed a particularly large, muscular bull tethered by it's horns to graze and I noticed with the length of the rope available to him, he could have reached us. He seemed interested in my horse and proceeded to move quickly to greet us, luckily my horse (Lady Fountain, a 20 year old ex-racehorse) is quite responsive and I kicked her into a fast trot to dodge the beast. We could have been mince meat man. The zebu carts cause constant diversion of our trail, especially on Thursday, which is market day, when the farmers travel for hours to sell their wares in the bustling market in Ambatolampy. Eddie and I attempt conversations in my crappy French and few Malagasy words, and his stunted (but ever improving with my assistance!) English. Our catch cry after a long gallop is "Tsara be!" "Very good!". We have many discussions about mud and rain, which affects where and how fast we ride.

 

The view out my back door and over the back wall.

The rat in Ambatolampy

I'd already seen a Malagasy rat in the lodgings in Tana, but it didn't surprise me any less when I opened the bathroom door to see one scampering between the shower and toilet room. I am the sort of person who screams in that specific high-pitch so often seen in cartoons, and, like the elephant also in cartoons, I leap up onto the nearest chair for fear of the rodent climbing up my leg. It had come through the drain from the shower, a small hole just the right size for a Malagasy rat, which are much smaller than I've seen in Aus and the UK and they actually look friendly and kind - it must be a Malagasy thing. So Hary checked again and said the rat had gone, so I stuck a stick in the hole to prevent it coming back.

3 days later I opened the toilet door, to see the rat again but this time, quite dead! I had squashed him somehow in the door and I wont go into detail but I think it must have been painful...so there was the poor rat, probably half starved as I must have locked him in the bathroom with no way out for 3 days, I know this as his droppings were everywhere - why I hadn't noticed this before...

So, half disgusted that I had to pick a dead body up and half guilty for taking the friendly-looking rat's life, I did the minimum burial service possible and chucked him in the garden with the rubbish. He was gone the next day.

Ambatolampy, teaching and the friendly Malagasy people

I've now moved to Ambatolampy, my placement for 2 months. I taught my first lessons this morning at the primary school across the road from the little house I am staying in. There is no guard, no need for any worry, I feel safer here than in London, although I wouldn't walk in the village by myself at night. I'm by myself for the first 2 weeks and then will be joined by 2 other volunteers.

Tina and Hary of The Dodwell Trust settled me in for the first 3 days and introduced me to the primary school and high school. I will teach 5 primary classes 2-3 times a week, 20 minutes per class. It doesn't sound like much, but they children take in a lot in that time and at that age, they can only do short lessons. At the Cathlolic high school I will take a 2 hour English club once a week and may also be asked to help out in advanced English classes as well.

Getting used to the slow pace, especially the internet! Constant power failures and dial up speed I remember from 12 years ago. The internet is in the Catholic school across the road, so there is constant "Sssssss" from the librarian.

A busy main road runs through the village, cars and taxi-brousses don't slow down for pedestrians, there was  child hit by a car recently, that's how ruthlessly they drive through here. I have struggled my way through buying food at the market, a combination of hand signals, very bad French and Malagasy combinations on my part and my new Malagasy friends helping me when I run into them at the market. Mango yesterday was 30p - very expensive because 1. I am VAZAHA (European) and 2. they are almost out of season. I don't mind being ripped off really, but I am inclined to go back to the stall holders who seem the most honest.

Yesterday (Sunday) I had said goodbye to the lovely teenagers of my host family after they had stopped by for lunch, and there was a knock at the door. 3 girls, 11 and 12, started asking me questions in good English. They wanted something but I couldn't work out what. When they asked to come inside and I siad no, there seemed nothing left to say, so I said goodbye and thought that would be that. But no - I was haunted by these children for the next hour, knocking on the doors, front and back, peering through the windows and generally making a bit of a nuisance of themselves. I really just wanted to read, but as soon as it started to get annoying, I noticed they had left me bright flowers on my front door. I opened the window, said thanks and left them a banana each. That still wasn't enough attention for them, so they covered my door in flowers of all colours, it was beautiful! I couldn't resist, I had excess rice left over from lunch anyway, so gave them a little bag of rice each. They were finally satisfied and went home in the pouring rain.

 Tina and Hary, my faithful Dodwell Trust agents, they did an amazing job of settling me in here.

Antananarivo

I landed safely yesterday and  was  picked up by a Dodwell Trust rep Tina. The airport was teeming with porters  trying to take my luggage to the car to earn an easy coin but since I hadn't yet got any money, I didn't  want them to bother as I simply couldn't pay them!

Tina told me in the car that the local rice farmers have a taboo about growing green onions. They say              the onions bring hail storms and ruin their rice crops, although opinions are changing  and more modern thinking farmers don't think this. Taboos are common in Madagascar and they are often localised with tradtions changing from village to village.

I stayed in the  flats below the Dodwell office last night, there was music until about 8pm, with the Presbyterian church next door, the songs never seemed to endm instead going seamlessly from one tune to the next. After they retired for the day, Dolly Parton followed, which made me happy!

I will be moving tomorrow by taxi brousse to Ambatolampy, 2 hours south of Tana. I'm not sure there is internet there so it may be a while until I get back on here. I can be contacted on +261346889664. Please text, I'd love to hear from you!

Donations and how they are being spent

Donations

Steve Winter: £50
Andy White: £50
Tony Llewellyn: £50
Paul Lewis: £20
Ali MacKenzie: £5
Elsie Mae Pearson: £20
Tamara Justice: £20
Vera Hartmuth: £10
The Kirby's (family) Christmas money: AUS$200
Jill Tipping: £20
Jess Power: £20
Karen Conway: £20
Jo Van Der Linde: £5
Louise Barth: £20
Phil O'Connor: £20
Paul Farey: £20
David Rees: £10
Stuart Bartlett: £10
Tim Jackson 20 pounds

Total donations as at 11/1/11 = £390+AUS$200

Spent

Cheap footballs x 4 (eBay): £20
Mitre Calcio training footballs x 10: £61.50
10 x children's books from charity shop: £5
Football pump needles x 2: £1.50
Mitre Calcio training footballs x 10
- sent to Yuji Lloyd (volunteer) to take to Mada in Feb: £61.50
Mitre Calcio footballs x 30 sent to Christina Dodwell to take to Mada: £160

Total spent as at 11/1/11 = £309.50

Left to spend: £80.50+AUS$200

80.50 pounds = approx 261,000 Ariary
200 AUS dollars = approx 407,500 Ariary
TOTAL = 668,500 Ariary

Madagascar spending:
2 x locally crafted guitars and carry bags for the children of Akany Avoko: 380,000 Ariary
Spare guitar strings: 95,000 Ariary

TOTAL LEFT TO SPEND = 193,500 Ariary

Non-monetary donations

Louise Barth: Children's books x 8: Given to Akany Avoko's library
Jane Elsmore: Football x 1
2 x disused cameras from Davis Langdon: Given to the Social Work team at Akany Avoko to take record photos on home visits

The Dodwell Trust

The Dodwell Trust

How Dodwell Trust volunteers can help Madagascar

The most recent statistics from the World Bank say that 68.7% of the population is below the national poverty line. Literacy rate in the adult population is just 71%. http://data.worldbank.org/country/madagascar

English is the third national language, after French and Malagasy. Lack of English reduces options to trade with other countries; by enhancing the English language in the country, we can bring indirect benefits to Madagascar's economy. Also considering how much Madagagascar relies on tourism and eco-tourism, the learning of English is vital to nature guides since it is the major international language. Since few teachers speak much English, it is difficult for the next generation to learn. Dodwell Trust volunteers help teachers in classes and hold English clubs in the community.
The Trust set up a radio project in the country some years ago with a network of collaborating radio stations. Volunteers can do radio shows, to further increase the spread of the English language. I plan on taking Beatles songs to play over the radio and discussing the lyrics.

With the assistance of the local Dodwell Trust volunteer co-ordinators, I hope to find the best way to spend the money I have fundraised in the community I will be working in. My initial idea is to use it to create or enhance sports facilities.

Leaving the UK!

17 days til I leave the UK! Packing my backpack with footballs and children's books. I've had some amazingly generous donations. I have spent some of this money on footballs and books, and will take what's left over to my posting in Ambatolampy to find the best way to use it to assist with improvement. My initial thought is to use the money for sports facilities, sticking with the football theme. But until I get there, I wont know what is most needed, perhaps a radio project might require improvement.

What I'll be doing:
This wont be fully established until I arrive in Antananarivo (Tana - the capital) at the head office for The Dodwell Trust. Teaching English will be first and foremost, but I also hope to get involved with the radio programs the charity has previously set up, now run by the locals. There is also an option to volunteer at the zoo in Tana, so my extensive pooper scooping experience will come in handy!