hello loved ones, So in an effort to assist my family and friends in shipping me things, I have devised a list of items that I would want. Now, as this list may sound a little strange it is because I do not eat cheese and/or anything with flavor. (Flavorful cheese would be wicked awesome) [...]

Akory aby Raffaele! Alefa, mahira hira anglisy! I hear this phrase very often. Hello Raffaele. Go ahead, sing a song in English! They say this so they can hear English and what eventually comes about, is an uproar in laughter. Now when they first asked me, I had to think about it. It has been [...]

So as I have been in country for a few months now as a “student;” learning the culture, language, fomba of my community (ways of my community) I now know what issues are most important and what issues are viewed by community members themselves. I recently presented my Community Diagnostic Survery (CDS) with help from [...]

Four weeks ago four other Health PCVs and I embarked on a trip the the South of Madagascar. The purpose: to stop along the way and educate other Education Volunteers’ classrooms about HIV/AIDS, STIs and condom use. We would end our trip in Fort Dauphin, which just so happens to be paradise, and spend the [...]

Greetings fellow Americans. I have returned to Madagascar after a vacation to America. My trip was from December 27th to January 7th, so about two weeks. So I missed my connection in the Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris because by the time I got to the terminal the plane had left, why is the [...]

From my experiences working with children in many different areas I have come to realize that they all need the same thing. On December 19th a few of my fellow Peace Corps Volunteers and I went to a local orphanage in the outskirts of the capital of Antananarivo. At the time I wanted to post [...]

Since my last post a lot has happened, a lot has been seen and a lot has been done. Again, where do I begin? I have seen close to 100 pregnant mothers wait all day for vaccines, and then told to come back later in the week because the vaccines ran out. I have slept [...]

In the Malagasy culture when one goes on a trip or excursion, if you will, you have the option to bring back a gift for the ones you love (for me – it’s my host family). In particular to the region you just visited. The South East region is where I just came from. In [...]

The phrase ‘Where do I begin?’ has started a lot of my thoughts, journal entries and now blog posts. I arrived in Madagascar July 22nd (I had to look at a calendar because at this point, the minutes and the hours and the days and the weeks all run together.) I hadn’t been by a [...]

Monday July 19th marks the day of a new journey. As I pack for two years, with only 80 lbs to bring, I wonder…do I have enough clothes, toothpaste, socks. I’ve never had to pack for a two year trip before…neither have many others, so you can feel my frustration. But then I think to [...]