the color green...part 2

The last weekend of February I was able to go to the countryside again with my friends. I loved visiting the area so much back in January, I told them if I get the chance again, I will definitely go again! I love going on countryside adventures!

Manovo and Mihary in the rice fields.

We left in the morning and went straight to church. After church, some of the kids and I walked down to the rice fields to walk around, explore and get some photos. 

My friends church in the countryside.

Manovo

Mihary jumping across the fields.

The boys loved jumping back and forth for the rice fields to the large rocks we were standing on. Though Mihary (in above photo), lost his balance and flew into the muddy rice fields a couple of times. 

Manovo jumping across the fields.

My friends and all their family.

After lunch time, we all went out walking and exploring the area. We walked up and down hills, through peanut fields, and through rice fields. We had a lot of fun and the beauty around me was amazing. 

My friends sweet parents in the countryside.

This (photo above) is my friends family house in the countryside. They also have a store, as you see in the photo above (the window to the right), where they sells snacks and other little things. 

Take by Fita's cousin, Hasina.

The teens had fun either taking my iPhone or my camera at times to get photos of each other. This photo above was taken with my camera by Fita's cousin Hasina. 

Fita's cousin Hasina.

I might have mentioned this before, but I love the sibling relationship between Sahaza and her brother Fita. To me, they are like best friends, which they probably are. I can see how much they love each other and how close they are. 

Sahaza full of smiles!

Manovo chilling in the bus before we left.

Thank you so much Lalaina and family for letting me come along with you guys both weekends. I had so much fun!

One memory that I will never forget, though it wasn't the best...I was bit by some type of small insect, similar to a bee. It was the most painful bite ever, and had to take off my pants for a minute, to make sure the singer wasn't somewhere in my jeans. It eventually was swollen, itchy and theres still a scar on my leg from the bite. 

Ambohitriniandriana...beautiful countryside...part 2.

So here's part 2 of this latest blog!! I hope you all enjoyed part 1!

While there, I did a bit of exploring around the area. I didn't have to go too far to see so many cool places! The rice fields, which are all over, were incredible!! This was one just down from the school. The photo above is my favorite! I love the bright green fields and the awesome clouds. 

I went those these rice fields two days in row. One, because they are so amazing, and two, because I wanted to bring a different camera each time. Both times the two women were working in the fields. And the second day, their daughters were there as well. The younger of the two talked to me almost the whole time I was there. They both attend the school and remembered me. 

Sometimes it's good to change your point of view when you are looking at things! When I showed my friends this photo, they thought it was coolest thing and had never seen the rice fields at that angle. 

Faly is shucking beans that they have harvested. He said they have been growing these beans for years. He also shared with me that he has been blessing those in the village with these beans, have been planting them all around. He hopes that in the coming years, everyone in the village will have access to these beans to enjoy!

By the second or third day of visiting the school, whenever the kids were out on recess, I could hear my name being said all around me, wanting photos with their friends, with their classmates. 

I love black and white photos, and I love black and white photos of kids laughing and smiling! These girls were so funny...I think I took close to 10 photos of them, in different poses. I took one and they said, another, another! This one was my favorite of them all!

These students were learning to play basketball during their recess. Some of the were really good. Later on, in the afternoon, some of jr high students were out playing and I joined in. I hadn't played basketball in years, but it was a lot of fun. As you see in the photo above, many of the kids played barefoot. The ground was pretty dusty. I had never played basketball barefoot before, just soccer. As I was playing, just in my flip flops, they kept flying off. I ended up tossing them off and it was a lot easier!

Of course the kids were playing soccer at every recess! They really good at this game! And very creative as well, as you see the ball is made up of plastic bags tied all together into a ball. 

I love being able to capture pure joy and laughter through my photos!!

This girl pictured above, she became my little buddy that week. From the first day she would call out my name, she would run up to me and give me a big hug each time we met. She would want me to take her photos, especially when she was eating something! When I left I had to make sure I said goodbye to her. I gave her a big hug! Her Mom (who’s a teacher at the school), asked her if she was going to miss me…she nodded yes. She was really the sweetest little thing!

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

"Do all the good you can, by all the means you can, in all the ways you can, in all the places you can, at all the times you can, to all the people you can, as long as ever you can"  - Charles Wesley

"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

Thank you again Faly and Clara for letting me come and spend 8 amazing days with you and your family!! 

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the color green.

Sunday I spent the day in my friends countryside. We left in the morning to be able to get to church in time, as it took a bit over an hour to get there. My friends own a bus that usually runs daily, taking people to town and back. But on Sundays, they use the bus to go to church in their countryside. 

Sahaza hanging out on the bus.

Sisters, Sitraka and Tella.

Fita looking cool on the bus!

Brothers!!! Mihary (back), Fita, and Manovo

Their church in the countryside.

After church let out, me and few of the younger kids walked down to the rice fields that were close by. We took a bunch of photos and Manovo took some videos with my phone. 

It was so beautiful and green all around, I loved it!! I could just gaze at all the beauty around me for hours. 

Sitraka walking through the rice fields.

I love this photo above...the rice fields, the large open garden, the bright red dirt and the river running through. 

Sahaza down by the river.

Sahaza jumping for joy!

Manovo taking a ride on his grandpa's bike.

Later in the afternoon, some of us went on another walk up the hill a ways, and found more beauty around us!

Nothing more fun than dancing on the road in the countryside!

Love this shot of Fita riding his grandpa's bicycle!

Down by the river. Thanks Sahaza for taking this!

This shot below I think is my favorite shot I took, with my iPhone. It was in the afternoon, right before it started raining. Ten minutes later I started to rain a little bit. I was concerned because I had my camera with me and no protection from the rain with me at the time. We still had about a 5 minute walk back to the house. Thankfully we had the bicycle, so I jumped on that and raced back to the house before my camera got wet. 

If I get the chance again before I head home, I hope to get back here again and go on some more adventures and explore new areas of the countryside. 

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!

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

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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