Adventures in the village.

The church in Marotandrazana

Saturday morning we left early to head to the village of Marotandrazana. It’s the same village where I attended the 7 wedding celebration. 

Laundry day!

This village is around 1 1/2 hour drive, plus a ride on a ferry across the river. It normally wouldn’t take that long, but with the state of the roads, it takes a bit longer. After around the first 30 minutes, we came across a river that we have to cross. There is a ferry that cars are able to drive upon to be able to get across. They have canoes as well, for people, mopeds, bikes, etc. With the river being so low, we weren’t sure if we were really going to be able to make it across and back. Going across was fine, but we had a bit of trouble coming back. There were a couple of times that the ferry started to get stuck in the low areas, and so thankfully some of the guys from the village were with us and help push the ferry across the river. As we were getting closer to shore, those were weren’t pushing the ferry, got off and onto a canoe to get back to shore. Once we all got off, it didn’t take them much longer to reach shore again.

I snapped this my phone once I got to shore.

One goal of my time was to take photos of the church leaders with their families, which are around 10. I also wanted to get a little video footage, and photos of the village and it’ surrounding areas. 

One of the church leaders with his family. Their little baby is just under 1 month old!

Making coal.

When we arrived, we went into the church and visited a little bit with some of the leaders. After a while, along with a few of the leaders, Sharone (Victor’s oldest daughter) and I went with them to the other leaders homes and take their photos. The only thing I didn’t know (and neither did Victor) was that we were to walk up and down mountains and through rivers to get to the leaders. 

One of the leaders with his youngest of 5 children.

The church leaders that took Sharone and I all over the place! Thankful to Patrick for carrying my backpack for me!!

Over a period of 2 hours or so, we walked through the jungles of Marotandrazana stopping through a few other smaller villages. Each time we arrived at a home, they invited us in for a minute and I explained what I wanted to do. I took their photos just outside their homes, and than we continued on our journey. 

Another church leader and his family.

One point as we were walking up a mountain, one of the leaders took off on a side trail, and soon came back with a bunch of bananas to share. And in one of the smaller villages they offered us a fresh coconut to enjoy!

A machine to clean the rice. They just received this recently and had been praying for it for a while.

Even though it was hot at times, and I was tired from walking up mountains, the views were gorgeous and it was wonderful to visit the leaders homes and the rest of their families. 

Bright green rice field.

One time the mountain was so steep, I almost fell backwards twice and quickly grabbed the arm of one of the leaders. There were two different times we had to forge through two small rivers. The first one we went across, I ended up stepping in the wrong spot, and my right foot ended up falling in around 4 inches of mud. I couldn’t get my foot out with the flip flop on, so took my foot off to get it out of the mud, and I had to dig around for it. Since they were so slippery wet and muddy, and the mountain was steep, I went barefoot for a while until we reach the top. 

Sharone and I having fun in the jungle!

I think I will remember this day forever!

Street Photography: Tamatave

On the way to Las Palmas, since we had to pass through areas of town, I took this time as an advantage and captured some street photography.

The road leaving the center, heading to town.

Boys playing ball down a sandy dirt road near one of the churches Victor and his team started

'He found himself understanding the wearisomeness of this life, where every part was an improvision and a considerable part of one’s waking life was spent watching one’s feet' - Lord of the Flies, William Golding

Get your motor oil!

Rice, beans and other things.

Along a dirt road.

Sponges, rice, beans, brooms....

Wood, gravel and other building supplies.

Las Palmas Village

‘Be daring, be different, be impractical, be anything that will assert integrity of purpose and imaginative vision against the play-it-safers, the creatures of the common place, the slaves of the ordinary’ - Cecil Beaton

This past Saturday afternoon I had the privilege to visit the village of Las Palmas. It had been 2 years since I had been there, and it was great to be back again. Our time there was short, just a couple of hours, but even in that amount of time, we could bring smiles to the peoples faces, especially the kids.

Most of the people in the village remembered me visiting them back in 2013. One of the village leaders, Solo and his wife Zafteny, invited us into their small home to sit and chat a bit, as we arrived. I expressed to them how happy I was to be back and visit them. I told them how important I felt it is that I am able to visit them more than just one time. I told them I wanted to take photos for their families and get as many photos of the kids around as I could.

The kids seemed to have a lot of fun as I took their photos. I think the best part was when I would show them their photo, they would all burst out with this amazing laughter. I wish that I had thought of having someone video their laughter, it was priceless!!!

I had a lot of fun with this little guy (in photo above). I wasn’t sure if he would let me hold him, but he had no fear of new people, or white people. I carried him around for a while until I was offered some coffee by Zafteny, and than I put him down. Once I put him down though, he wasn’t very happy, he wanted me to continue holding him, so I picked him back up and we walked around. Later on, his mother was holding him. He noticed some of the bigger kids playing around in the back of Victor’s truck, and he kept reaching, and wanted to join them. I went and took him and brought over to the truck, and sat him in the truck bed. He loved it and was talking up a storm, telling me stories I supposed, in his own little baby language.

Soon before we left, I sat down by Zafteny who was shucking beans for their dinner. I asked if they grew the beans there, she said they do. They don’t grow them right now to sell, but just enough to have for themselves for meals. 

I started shucking the beans along with her, and Victor snapped a shot of us.

The local store in Las Palmas

Local church in Las Palmas

While there in the village, I was really in my element, I loved every bit of it, taking it all in. I can’t wait to get back to Las Palmas again and give them copies of some of their photos and get to the next village. 

‘You have not lived until you have done something for someone who can never repay you’ - John Bunyan

Mr. DJ, can you play my song?

I thought these photos deserved their own blog!!

I had this idea for Jo, and of course he loved it!!

I let his personality totally come out in this session!!

This kid is seriously the funniest little 3 year old ever!!!

And he loves looking at his photos...he smiles and gives a little laugh. And whenever he sees my headphones that he sued in these photos...he tells me, those are the things I was listening to music with!!!

Beach life.

I have been to the beach a couple times now since I’ve been here. Most was just to bring the kids and play in the sand. 

The other evening though I went with my friend Douce and the kids to walk along the shore. It was about sunset, the weather was beautiful, the sun was about to set and I loved hearing the waves crash against the sand. This was the first time I took my camera along. Even though my battery died before We got back home, I still was able to get some great shots of the beach. I look forward to getting back soon and get some more shots.

I could go to the beach every day and not get tired of it. Being in Tennessee we don’t get to the beach as often as we would like, so to have it here so close, I try to go as often as I can. 

We had a bit of an adventure though at the end of our walk. I wish that my battery hadn’t died, so I could have gotten it on film (next time I need to check my battery life:).

As we were about to head back home, we noticed a couple of guys that had been walking their small herd of zebu, there on the beach. We weren’t super close to them, but one started getting upset, started jumping around and running away from the guy. As we weren’t sure which direction the zebu was headed, we ran the opposite direction, as fast as our feet could take us. 

Photo above: Jo, Ariel, Sharone and Douce

Some of us were laughing, some screaming and some were tripping and falling in the sand. We go far enough away from the zebu to be out of harms way, though we kept looking back every few seconds to make they weren’t coming back in our direction. 

We laughed about it all once we got home and were thankful that nobody was hurt.

Another day while I was at the beach, and this time there weren’t any zebu’s running wide this time, but I fell into a booby trap. It was literally a booby trap!!! I was walking in the sand and all of a sudden my right leg fell into a large hole in the sand. It was up past my knee. As I had help getting out of the hole, there were some small pieces of wood in the hole and pieces of plastic as well. Those things were covering the hole, so all you could see was the sand. As I pulled my leg out, my sandal had fallen off and we had to dig to find it. 

Fun times at the beach here in Tamatave!

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homesick.

Have you ever been to a place, a home, a city, anywhere? And once you left, you wish you could be there again? You wish you could just teleport yourself to that specific place? That's how I've been feeling lately. There are times when I miss a specific place, I miss the smells, I miss the views, I miss the people, I miss my friends...and lately, that place has been Madagascar. More specifically, Tamatave, at the place where I was last year for three months, with my friends Victor and Douce, and their three kids. 

Douce (far left) and Victor (far right with Jo) at a small market in one of the villages we visited.

I miss waking up in the morning, having breakfast with them, watching the kids get ready for school, and either getting ready myself for a day in a village, or just staying at the base, working on communication stuff for my friends. 

A little boy in one of the villages I visited.

I love the days when I would play for hours outside with the kids around the base. I would teach them some games, and they taught me some as well. They would sing, dance, and they loved having their photos taken, and videos. Pretty much after every photo or video I took, they would run up to me, asking to look at themselves. And of course they loved it!

Sina, Petro, Sharone and Ariel jumping

I remember little Jo, he loved playing with my phone and looking at his photos. Whenever I came into the room, he would ask 'Where's Jo' ('Aiza Jo')? I would sit with him on my lap and go through the videos or photos of him and he would love it! It would always bring a smile to my face. And if for some reason I put my phone away, he would continue asking 'Aiza Jo' until I brought out the phone again. 

Little Jo, posing for the camera. He's a natural!

When I was on my flight back to the states, after my time in Madagascar, last year, I wasn't sure if I was able to do it again. I wasn't sure if I could make that long flight again. My flight coming home was longer than normal, but I just wasn't sure if I could make it again like that. But you know what, at the beginning of the year, I couldn't help but think, 'when am I going back to Madagascar'. I don't think too much about the flying, yes, I wish I could teleport myself back there in an instance, but things doing work that way. But my love for this country, for the people, is stronger than my thoughts of having a to take a long travel back. I do plan to go back, and I hope soon. Though the travels may be long, those feelings soon dwindle away once I step onto the big red island and let the adventures begin!

Be ready Madagascar, I will be back!

Me and Petro

'Don't ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive and go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive' -H. Thurman

Crossing a bridge, going to a village in Tamatave.

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