My Peace Corps Partnership Project has finally been posted.

https://www.peacecorps.gov/index.cfm?shell=donate.contribute.projDetail&projdesc=684-125

ZAHATRA is a local non-governmental organization operating in Madagascar, a nation that suffers from some of the highest rates of poverty and childhood malnutrition in the world. ZAHATRA means "raft" in Malagasy, and the metaphor is intentional: these families are waiting to cross the river to a better life, they just don't have any way to get there, ZAHATRA is their raft.

ZAHATRA's mission is to ensure that all children have the right to food, education, health and the opportunity for a better life. With support from local government and churches, ZAHATRA's dedicated Malagasy volunteers provide food and school supplies to vulnerable children and offer vocational training and social support to their parents or guardians.

20 children and their families are currently supported by ZAHATRA and are fed in the small home of the director. However there are many more families who are unable to adequately feed their children or send them to school. The organization is unable to assist other families due to a lack of space.

ZAHATRA plans to construct a center equipped with proper dining and lavatory facilities which will allow it to expand its services to 30 children and their families. This crucial intervention will not only restore the health of the children and give them the education they need to break the cycle of poverty, it will restore the dignity of their guardians by providing them with the vocational training, skills and materials they need to earn a living and provide for their children.

Please help this non-profit in my town build this community center.

To make an online tax deductible donation to this project, copy and paste this web address into a new browser

(https://www.peacecorps.gov/index.cfm?shell=donate.contribute.projDetail&projdesc=684-125)

Dear Family and Friends,

Hope you all had a blessed Christmas. My Christmas consisted of four hour church service followed by a four hour lunch party at my neighbors’ house to celebrate the first communion of their son. Part of the church service included a first communion ceremony for about 50 individuals; mostly teenagers, but a few adults as well. In addition they had baby dedications for a large number of babies and toddlers. It was very hectic to say the least, but at least the new wing of the sanctuary was finished to hold all the people. It was much needed as lots of people had family members visiting too. Despite all the added seating, I arrived an hour and half early to put down my stuff in order to save a seat by a window. Since I live so close to the church, I returned home to make Christmas Tree Pancakes(no I don’t have a mold, I just made big pancakes and then cut them in the shape of trees and then sprinkled powdered sugar on them) and opened my Christmas present from my Mom. Thanks Mom! The family who hosted the lunch had set up a big “tent” for the party. By hour four I was just melting, even under the tent, I was just cooking. I finally had to excuse myself and I left to finish opening my Christmas stocking while sitting in front of the fan in my house.

Definitely no White Christmas here, definitely a scorcher of a day. I know when Malagasies comment about the heat; it means it really is hot and it’s not just my low tolerance for heat. I try to do all my market shopping as early as possible as it can already be warm by 7am. One time I was at the market and a seller asked me why I arrived when not all the sellers had arrived and I told her it was to escape the heat. I don’t mind less selection if it means I can shop for produce while it’s cool.

In a cultural note, I am realizing that in a way I feel living here is almost more difficult the more I integrate. I thought that more integration would make everything easier, but in some ways life has more challenges as I feel more a part of the community. I find myself reacting differently to dissimilarities in cultural norms. The holidays are a great time to be a part of a community that is what really makes the holidays special. Being able to celebrate the joys such as a baby born at 2pm on Christmas Day, they gave him the middle name Noel. Being a community member also means also providing support in times of sorrow. I am sad to report that there were two fatal accidents near Christmas, one involving a child. Not the best way to end a post, but it was really moving to be there in support of the family. I may always be a Gasy Vazah(Malagasy foreigner), but more than ever, I felt truly integrated this past week.

On a happier note, I plan to spend New Year’s Eve celebrating with my friend’s Bible study group. She asked me to prepare a game and song for the party. I am not sure if I know all the words to the song Auld Lang Syne. I am wondering if I can I hum part of the lyrics? There will be close to 35 people and most of those will be children, it may be a long evening but it should be fun.

Love,

Teena

Dear Family and Friends,

I feel the holidays are a wonderful time to share American culture with my community. Yesterday I hosted a small dinner party for my friends. Thanks to items sent in care packages, I was able to make fudge. After dinner I introduced them to the White Elephant gift exchange game. It took a little time to explain the game, but once they understood, they were excited to “steal” gifts away from one another. Some items included small dessert bowls, Christmas candy, and photo album. Today a neighbor girl helped me make Christmas trees using pinecones, glitter, and ribbon.

The church choir has enjoyed caroling again this year and they’ve asked me to sing a Christmas Carol in English at the Christmas Eve service. I heard them practicing for the concert and they were singing Feliz Navidad in Malagasy. I think it’s fun to learn various Christmas carols in Malagasy. Below is the first verse to “Oh Come All Ye Faithful” in Malagasy. I finally got a copy of the song on my I-pod which helped me learn the words.

There was a Christmas concert last Saturday which was very entertaining as they had kids dressed up as a shepherd, angel, butterfly, and Santa dancing in front of the choir. I have to find entertainment where I can as I am sure I provide lots of entertainment to my neighbors while fetching water, shopping at the market, riding on my bike, ect. During the concert they also had a raffle fundraiser for the building of an addition to the church. I think it’s the first time I’ve seen ducks, geese, and cows as raffle prizes in addition to stuffed animals and hairdryers.

Merry Christmas,

Teena

“Oh Come All Ye Faithful”

Avia, ry mino!

Hifaly sy hihoby,

Avia, avia hankany Bethlehema;

Teraka Jeso,

Tompon'ny anjely

Avia hitsaoka Azy(X3)

Izay Tomponao!

Dear family and friends,

Tis the season to go Christmas Caroling. Since I returned from my mid-service conference and vacation, I’ve had three people ask when we can go caroling. I guess that was a memorable event for them last year. I am glad as this was one of my most fun cross-cultural activities. The volunteer who lives nearest to me is going to visit today and we plan to have a mini Christmas celebration early as she’s going to a conference and then will be traveling on vacation over the holidays. It’s always nicer to do Christmas decorating with others. I am just hoping my neighbor is successful in fixing my outlet so I can have Christmas lights on the tree.

I just returned from my Thanksgiving vacation to Majunga (in the NW) part of Madagascar. It is a nice town, known for its mangoes. So, I didn’t end up eating turkey for Thanksgiving but I enjoyed a nice meal of Indian food. Can’t say I missed the mayhem of Black Friday. Instead of shoving past a crowd of anxious shoppers and waiting in long lines to save a few dollars; I sat on the beach eating mangoes. Best day after Thanksgiving ever!

Happy Holidays,

Teena

Dear Friends and Family,

I am in the middle of a couple of volunteer meeting events. We just had regional volunteer meetings. For our region we went to Andreba Gara which is next to the lake. This is the site of gentle lemur. On the BBC website (http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/life/Lac_Alaotra_Bamboo_Lemur) there is information and video of the lemurs which is a part of David Attenborough’s Madagascar video collection. According to the BBC website, the lemurs eat papyrus and reed leaves. We traveled in the morning on the lake and were really lucky to see them as they are hard to spot in the reeds and it was really muddy in that part of the lake. We spotted a group of them in the trees but as we got closer a few of them scattered. There was one mother lemur with two of her lemur babies on her that stayed. I climbed out of the canoe and stood on the shore to take the photo above. It was really exciting.

I am currently in the capital on my way to a Malaria & Nutrition training and then we will have our mid-service conference to mark our one year mark in country. After this conference I plan to vacation to the north. Check out my fb profile for more photos from the last week.

Take Care,

Teena

With the help of two former volunteers I’ve just submitted a funding proposal to build a community center for a local non-profit named Zahatra ZAHATRA (pronounced zah-ha-tra). Below is some information about this non-profit that was included in the project proposal(written in collaboration with Corey Pargee).

ZAHATRA is a local non-governmental organization operating in a small village outside my town. ZAHATRA means “raft” in Malagasy. The mission of this organization is to protect and ensure the human right to life, education and to earn a living and protect the rights of children and reduce the instances of child labor. With support from local government and churches, ZAHATRA’s dedicated Malagasy volunteers provide food to vulnerable children and offer vocational training and social support to their families. Thanks to the generosity and devotion of the organization’s founder and director; Henry RABESALAMA; over 20 children are currently fed in Henry’s own home. However, there more children are in need and a center would allow the non-profit to serve more kids and increase vocational trainings they provide. I’ve visited a couple times to teach health lessons about hand washing and eating healthy foods.

My region is called the rice basket of Madagascar. Rice farming is seasonal work and families that do not own land must often send their entire family, including children, to work in the fields. The non-profit believe that in a region known for rice production, no child should go hungry or be deprived of an education because they must work to feed themselves. Undernourished children have weak immune systems and are very susceptible to disease; their health is always precarious and when they become sick, it isless likely that they wll recover. Malnutrition is the underlying cause of over ½ the deaths of children under 5 in Madagascar.

We are hoping that with this new center the non-profit will be able to secure more resources from community partners in an effort to serve more children and their families. I will post an update once the proposal is reviewed and is online to receive donations. Thanks in advance of your support of this project!

Check out the article I wrote for the Teens In Public Service(TIPS) Newsletter! You can see the photo of me helping out at the local health center here: http://www.teensinpublicservice.org/alumni/)

I am really proud to be a TIPS alumni and encourage you to show your support for the organization by attending the Fall Annual Luncheon on Nov 10th where you will be able to see a brief video welcome from me!

TIPS Alumni, what are they doing NOW?

Teena Curry, former TIPS Intern and Boardmember, continues her community service in Madagascar

As I travel daily to my site as a Peace Corps Volunteer, I pass by kids playing soccer with a ball made of old rags, a woman selling bread on the road, and a cow herder leading his cows out to the rice fields. I am reminded of my daily commute to the Atlantic Street Center via the Metro bus when I was a Teens In Public Service intern in 1999, even though these experiences are quite different. What is similar about these two organizations is the important role community service plays in building bridges of understanding among an ever increasing global community.

As a health volunteer living in Amparafaravola, Madagascar, I am able to experience the challenges of global health on a personal level. Most mornings I help out at the local health clinic in my town where I weigh babies, talk to mothers about the importance of nutrition, and help distribute mosquito nets. In addition, I am helping a local organization with project planning for a training center and school room. Now that school is back in session, I will be traveling to different schools to teach lessons about healthy foods, the importance of hygiene, and warning signs of various diseases.

I continue to be amazed by how far social-networking has reached. Even here, where I live an hour and a half from a bank and other volunteers, I am able to update my FB status by text and now have a modem which allows me to get wireless internet in my house which allows me to update my blog (http://teenastravel.blogspot.com/). It is amazing how technology really does bring the world so much closer together.

I am excited to welcome Ellen Miller; who was a Teens In Public Service Intern at ROAR of Washington in 2005; as one of the newest Peace Corps Volunteer in September. She serves as a community health volunteer as well and her site is located in the northern region of Madagascar.

Written by: Teena Curry

Dear Family and Friends,

The mornings are one of my favorite times to walk through my town, not only just because I am able to escape the sweltering heat at that time, but also because I always enjoy the sights, sounds and smells of daily life. The following is an account of my walk around town this past Saturday, but it is characteristic of most mornings.

Like always I woke up to the sound of chickens crowing outside my door and then dragged myself out of bed so I could go to the market for fresh bread. As I left the hospital compound; where my house; is located I saw a woman using a broom made of little twigs to sweep the dirt path in front of the church. Further down the path I heard a group of kids waving shouting my name(I call them my fan club). I stopped to greet them and ask them how they were doing. As I turned back to head toward the market I caught the wiff of burning garbage.

I headed down the hill and as I passed the house where the baker was making the bread I stopped to enjoy the aroma of freshly baked bread. I saw his son outside with a large basket full of bread attached to the back of his bicycle. He was on his way to sell the bread to small corner stores out in the smaller villages. From the house next to the baker I could hear a radio blaring with a popular Malagasy pop song. Often I can listen to the entirety of a song on my walk to the market as many people listen to the same radio station. They find it funny if I attempt to sing along.

I passed by the post office to drop off a letter. On the road from the post office to the market I passed by the basketball court where a group of teens were cheering on their friends in a match. Off in the distance I saw a group of women carrying baskets of produce from the fields headed to the market. There is a lot of produce every day of the week, but Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays are the official market days so many more food sellers come from far away villages to sell in my town.

Upon entering the market I head the sizzling sound of makasoka(bread cut into slices, dipped into a bread batter, then fried in an pan of oil). While makasoka is often a post jogging snack for me, I resisted and went further down to pick up mofoboda(small loaf of bread). On my way back home I heard the tapping of rocks, I looked over to the side of the path to see a group of small kids playing a rock story telling game where they pretend the stones are people in a make believe story.

I returned home to hear my new kitten(Peanut) meowing at the door. I think he was happy that I was back from my walk around town.

Love,

Teena

Dear Friends and Family,

So the last posting was a bit of a long entry, and this one will be a bit of a rushed entry as I am heading back on the bus this morning after being away from my site for quite some time. I left about 2 weeks ago to go on the Tsirabina River Trip to visit the Tsingy and then the Baobob trees. The canoe(pirogue)trip down the river was really nice and relaxing. There were lots of beautiful birds to see, sun to soak in, and people on the shore greeting us.

Often the people on the shore were little kids asking us to give them any number of items we had; empty water bottle, candy, umbrella; if they could see it, then they asked for it. We only saw a couple aligators in the water from a distance, but out canoe paddler took us to a small island in the middle of the river where a dead aligator had washed up on shore. We wanted to collect some of the teeth to make necklaces as kids in the town where we stopped for lunch one day said that they were not afraid of aligators as long as they had necklaces with a tooth of a aligator.

The day we visited the Tsingy was a long tiring day as we climbed in and around the jagged rocks for several hours in the morning and then a couple more in the afternoon. It was fun to climb into the cave of the Tsingy as well as to see it from above. We took a 4X4 on the road to Morondava to see the Avenue of Baobobs at sunset. The effect of the setting sun made the tree trunks look a deeper shade of red. It was really beautiful and a perfect ending to a long day of driving.

Take Care!

Teena

Dear family and friends,

Azafady,(Sorry) for the delay in putting up another post. I didn't realize it had already been over a month, but that makes sense as I don't always get to use the internet more than once every 4-6 weeks. I am hoping that my blog updates will be lengthier once I have my computer and I won't be so rushed to try to type it at the internet cafe using a French keyboard. So if there are typos in any of my previous posts; you should blame them on they keyboard; not me. If there are typos after I get my computer, then oops!

Since I've been here *(it was officially a year on July 22nd)for a year, I don't feel I've spent enough time writing about various cultural customs relating to Malagasy family events. In the last month I've attended a wake, funeral, and circumcision. The customs related to these different events vary by regional tribe and religion. In the event of a family member passing in my region families hold a wake the days following the person's death. Often it is an event for the whole neighborhood. Close friends and neighbors will come and help the family with the preparations for the wake which include preparation of the body for burial, serving mourners bread and tea or coffee, singing to pass the time, and praying with the family who does not sleep the entire day following the death. During this time friends, acquaintances, co-workers, church members, and others come to visit the family. When a group comes to pay their respects to the family one person will be designated to give their condolences to the family. Someone told me that a friend of the family sits with the family to thank the visitors for coming and that the family members don’t say anything at all, but rather shake everyone’s hand as they leave. I was at a couple wakes in the past year when a family member of the deceased addressed the visitors so this may be an aspect of the wake that is different among cultures within Madagascar. The people who come to pay their condolences will bring with them an envelope of money that is then used by the family to purchase the food for the wake. When a member of family of the assistant director of the hospital passed away, all the hospital staff collected donations and we presented one envelope to the family as a group.

The process for a funeral differs upon the religious beliefs of the family as well, but the funeral and processional that I attended was similar to funerals in the United States. During the walk to the tomb I noticed that most people walked; including those who were carrying the coffin; and only a few family members rode in cars. At the tomb site, the eldest sibling of the deceased spoke a few words, the pastor read scripture and prayed and then the wife and daughters of the deceased went into the tomb after they placed the body inside wrapped in special white cloth. After the ceremony at the tomb my friend introduced me to her aunts, uncles, and cousins. I first met each of her cousins (all of whom were present happened to be males) and then I met her aunts and uncles (each of her wanted to set me up with their son). Once of the uncles was standing near a group of cousins and asked me which one I wanted to marry. I froze in silence at first as I wasn’t sure this was the appropriate venue for this topic of conversation, they I proceeded to make a joke saying I couldn’t marry any of them because I wasn’t mahay(good at) making rice. Since Malagasy people eat rice three times a day, one who marries into a Malagasy family has to be mahay mahandro vary (good at cooking rice).

One evening a few weeks ago I heard really loud music playing from the house behind the hospital and I wondered what was going on. I just figured it was a party that would end around the time I go to bed, but it continued as I was trying to fall asleep. Normally music from a church party or town event is far enough away that I can sleep through the noise, but the source of this music was right behind our building that I couldn’t sleep. I decided to find out what was happening. I saw a bunch of teenagers dancing outside the house and one room of the house had its lights on with a large group of people around the doorway. Someone saw me walking by and invited me in the house. Upon greeting the family, they told me that a circumcision was happening that evening. I had arrived before the circumcision and the eldest family members were giving their blessings to the boy and pouring a special water of the boy’s head. This went on for quite some time and then they started to sing. During the singing portion several members of the family started drinking toka gasy (the locally made alcohol) and that is when I decided to leave. By that time I was really tired and was able to fall asleep using my earplugs. In the morning; much to my surprise; I noticed the music was still playing and there was a crowd of people still at the house. I decided to visit the family to find out if the circumcision had already taken place. It had, and the boy was asleep in the mother’s arms when I arrived. Instead of presenting the family with an envelope of money, it is customary to give the child some small change to buy candy. Then I joined other visitors and family members in eating a meal under a large tent set up behind the family’s house.

Hope my explanations of cultural events in my region were interesting and informative.

Love,

Teena

This region of the country becomes concert central during June; partly because the rice harvest provides people with extra income and because of Madagascar’s Independence Day (26 June). During my time back at site I’ve gone to two concerts already and plan to go to a third this Sunday. At the Jerry Marcos concert yesterday I was even selected to come on stage and dance. I think this was only due to the fact that I was close in proximity to a group of screaming teenage girls(the same as in any country) whom he asked to come on stage for a dance contest. Needless to say I didn’t win the contest; I guess I still haven’t mastered the art of dancing to Malagasy pop music. I will try to upload the photo of me dancing on stage soon!

Besides the fun at concerts, I’ve really enjoyed being back at my site the past two weeks. I realized it was the first time I thought of Amparafaravola as home. I really missed my friends at site, saying hello to everyone on my daily walks to the market, and biking by the rice fields. I am already able to bike short distances and hope to be able to jog around the track soon. Thanks to all the get well wishes and birthday greetings that were awaiting my arrival when I returned home.

Dear friends and famiy,

I am headed back to my site tomorrow morning. Thanks to all of you for your thoughts and prayers for a fast recovery. I don't think I've been this excited to go back to my site. I miss my friends at site, being warmer as it is chilly in the capital(it doesn't freeze in Madagascar, but it gets rather chilly in the highlands), and am sad to be away from Mimi(even if her constant meowing is annoying). It's been nice to get to know some of the other volunteers during my time here. The doctors wanted to make sure my leg would heal fine with being reinfected which is really good and I am greatful to have them here to provide medical care.

Love,

Teena

Visit www.thirdgoal.org/vote in order to vote for my photo (Pretending to be Preggo) in the Peace Corps Photo contest! NOTE: Use Firefox, Chrome, or Safari browsers to open the link in order to vote, Internet Explorer doesn’t seem to work well.

After you vote, feel free to post the link to www.thirdgoal.org/vote on your own wall and send by email to encourage others to vote as well! Thanks!

Dear Family and Friends,

So I am very delayed in blogging and I forgot to bring my camera with me to the capital this time so no photos in this entry. June 1st is a special commemorative day in the events leading up to my Peace Corps adventure. June 1st a year ago is the day I received my invitation to come to Madagascar. I remember my Mom called me to let me know the envelope had arrived and I could hardly wait to get home and see what country I would call home for the next 2 years. The last week in May of last year, Peace Corps staff in Washington only told me that I should be learning French(even though I only speak Malagasy now) but I never thought I'd be living here in Madagascar. But here I am; less than a year later; month 10 of 27 of my service and I am really happy I accepted that invitation to be a Peace Corps Volunteer!

In the capital because the doctor's want my leg to heal more(fell into a ditch)before I go back to site. I was originally at my site for a few days after the accident until Peace Corps said I needed to come to the capital since my leg was not healing itself, where I spent a few nights at the hospital.

The last day I was at the hospital waiting to be discharged an employee of the hospital hairdresser came to my room and gave me a coupon for a few haircut, pedicure, or manicure. When I asked why she told me if a person stays in the hospital for 3 nights they “win” a coupon. I am not really sure about this, I think they might just have been bored that day since the people at the Peace Corps Medical office didn’t know about this special hospital giveaway. It was nice to be able to go and get my haircut.

The doctor’s last update was that the wound looks better, is about halfway healed, and is not infected but the part of my leg under the wound is still painful and swollen. Thanks to all of you for prayers and messages for fast healing! I am just grateful the accident wasn’t worse and that I am on the road to recovery.

In other news my neighbors are taking care of Mimi for me. Interesting enough they are calling me everyday to ask when I am returning, perhaps Mimi's meowing is driving them crazy. I have a zucchini plants and some potatoes growing in my garden right now, assuming someone is remembering to water the garden while I've been gone. I am in the middle of applying to funding for a health communications campaign in my town.

Love,

Teena

PS: Bon Voyage to my former site-mate Chris who ended his service here in Madagascar the end of May and who will be traveling to Ethiopia before returning to the U.S. where he will be in grad school at Columbia in the fall. Congrats to you and thank you for your help this past few months!

Dear friends and family,

Handeha Hitsangasangana means to take a walk, this is the name given for a picnic the Monday following Easter. The Monday following Easter is a holiday here and many Malagasy families pack a picnic lunch and walk to a nearby village. The location of one of the picnic locations was a bit too far to walk, so I took my bike instead. I secured my basket to the back of my bicycle and biked an hour north of my town. In addition to the salad I made, I also brought some rice along as I knew people would ask if I had rice for my lunch. I joined several other families in eating my picnic lunch under a large tree and enjoyed the music of a church choir singing nearby. There was even a small carousel for the kids to ride on.

The weekend before Easter, I had some neighborhood kids help me color Easter Eggs (Thanks for the egg dye kit, Mom!) I think the kids had fun decorating the eggs and it gave me the opportunity to share the American culture of Easter as I told them about Easter egg hunts.

During the spring break vacation a group of junior high and high school students went on a week-long overnight camp. I joined them as a chaperone/health teacher. In addition to teaching a couple health lessons and organize a service project for Youth Service Day, I also went along to learn get some ideas for planning a camp. Next year I help to help organize a girls' overnight camp for the region.

Dear Family and friends, I am only able to post another update so soon as I am traveling through the capital on my way back to my site after a mini vacation. I went to visit the Andasibe-Mantadia National Park(about 2-3 hours drive from the capital) . One of the environment volunteers; Sara; lives near the town and she was willing to let me crash at her place. The Analamazoatra Special reserve and Mantadia National Park are both located near the town of Andasibe. The first day I went with Sara to visit; Mitsinjo; which is an association focused on tourism and conservation activities. There is a group working with this association on a frog breeding project. The next morning I went on a hike in the National Park. Thanks to my ability to speak Malagasy; and my residence card; I got the Malagasy rate of 1,000 Ariary instead of 37,000 Ariary entrance fee. Guide fees were a bit more, but my guide was really good since he's been working in those forests for over 10 years. We found one family of lemurs jumping from branch to branch, then we spotted a group of lemurs hanging out low on the tree trunks. My profile picture to the right is a photo of the lemurs right behind me. I was only a few feet away from them. These were the Indri Lemurs, which inhabit several sections of these eastern rainforests. The Indri Lemur is most famous for being the largest species of lemur and for the sounds they make in the forest. The cry of the Indri Lemur is a loud wailing call that can be heard up to a couple miles away. During an early morning walk on the main road I heard the Indri call through the fog and it felt like they were just in the trees above as the volume was so loud. The third day I went the Special reserve north of the main town. During that visit we saw Grey Bamboo lemur, Brown lemurs, and the Sifaka lemurs. I really enjoyed seeing all the lemurs in their natural habitat. By the third day I was getting better at spotting the lemurs by listening for their calls and looking for the rustling of leaves high up in the tree tops. Love, Teena

Dear family and friends,

Sorry for the lack of recent updates. I am normally only in my banking town every 4-6 weeks. March 1st was the Peace Corps 50th birthday. Since I needed to present my diagnostic survey report to the community, I decided to combine it with a birthday party for Peace Corps. Two other volunteers also attended which was nice. After I presented the report, Chris talked about the 50th celebration, and we cut the cake, they asked us to dance a traditional Malagasy dance. The head of the district came with a camera man and a couple weeks later the footage of us dancing was featured on the local news.

A week later on the 8th of march my town had a parade for Womens Day and the hospital employees asked me to join them on the float. The day of the event they told me they needed me to dress up as a pregnant person for the float as they had a sign encouraging women to colme to the community center for pregnancy consultations. I am not sure how many people read the sign, but they all saw me riding on the float and some even ask me if I already gave birth to the baby. Wondering if this means that I am fully integrated into my community now?

Upcoming Projects:

Teaching Handwashing in elementary schools

Organizing Service Project for Youth Service Day

Planning a health communication campaign

Assisting with Vitamin A distribution for Mother and Child Week in April

Love,

Teena

2011 Peace Corps celebrates its 50th Anniversary. As I am working on translating my Community Diagnostic Survey and planning a birthday celebration in my town, I thought I’d post some information about the three goals of Peace Corps.

The first goal is to help the people of interested counties in meeting their need for trained men and women. This encompasses my work at the Health Center and intra sector projects in the community. As there are already skilled hospital staff and health workers in my town, I am not sure how great the need is here for “trained men and women”, but many of the main causes for illness could be prevented through various types of communication of health messages, I hope to spend most of my time coordinating communication campaigns and teaching health to students at schools, English Clubs, summer camps, and Scout meetings.

The second goal is to help promote a better understanding of Americans on the part of peoples served. I am not sure if having my neighbors over for Mac n’ Cheese or going Christmas Caroling quite fits the second goal objectives, these are two activities I’ve shared with neighbors and friends here in Madagascar. There are certain times such as holidays where I go out of my way to share American culture such as Halloween and Thanksgiving, but really I think this goal is about my every day interactions and conversations with people. Whether talking about American music that the neighbor’s teenage sons listen to or telling Malagasy that I don’t eat rice three times a day in the United States; I am constantly helping Malagasy to have a better understanding of Americans.

The Third goal is to help promote a better understanding of other peoples on the part of Americans. This is happening now as I post on this blog, when I send letters, or share photos of my life in Madagascar. I am also currently enrolled in the World Wide Schools Program which is a program that allows me to correspond with a classroom back in the United States. A special hello to all the students in Mr. S’s class at Lowell Elementary in Seattle. My hope is that in the two years that I am here you will be able to think of more than just the movie with singing and dancing lemurs when someone mentions the country of Madagascar.

I decided to get my hair cut for the new year. I celebrated at the church party. It was a nice service complete with great music selections, dancing, and a snack of macaroni salad. Happy New Year!

Dear Friends and Family, I am just on my way back to site after a restful and relaxing Christmas vacay to the Isle of Sainte Marie ; which is to the East of Madagascar. Right now, I am enjoying a last walk on the beach at dusk on the shoreline of Tamatave before heading back tomorrow. There are lots of families out this evening enjoying the beach and a number of kids are still swimming in the ocean. I stayed in the capitol two nights after our Peace Corps Conference and had the chance to go with friends get a photo with Santa. Only in Madagascar Santa doesn’t ravel by a sleigh pulled by reindeer, rides around on his motorcycle and has shades to protect his eyes from the blazing sun. Before going to Sainte Marie I visited a Parc near the Eastern Coast of Madagascar. There were various species of lemurs, cameleons, frogs, snakes, and lizards. Some of the lemurs were free range and it was fun to see them swing from the tree tops. It was difficult to find them at times as they hid in the branches, but I could hear them call out to one another and then I would watch for a rustle of leaves. I arrived on Sainte Marie on Christmas Eve. That evening the hotel I where I stayed had a multi course buffet dinner. I was mostly a fan of the chocolate cake to be honest. Christmas morning; after talking with my family on the phone; I went for an early morning stroll along the beach looking for seashells. After that I went to a nearby church for Christmas service. It zas such a beautiful day and the cute little church was on a cliff overlooking the ocean. After lunch and some reading on the beach I went in to the town to meet up with other Peace Corps Volunteers who had also come to the island for Christmas vacation. It was nice to meet up with them and celebrate the holiday. We ate dinner at a nice restaurant on the beach and I had a yummy plate of shrimp spaghetti and fresh fruit juice. The next day a few of my friends biked up to my hotel. We spent the afternoon swimming and eating snacks on the beach. My friends saw lots of bright colorful fish when they went snorkeling out into the deeper waters. Yesterday I went on a hike to a large waterfall and then continued to look for shells along the beach. I hope I have enough to give to friends at my site and also make a small wind chime. The last night before leaving the island I had dinner with a French couple visiting from Paris as their father owns one of the restaurants in town. It was a nice way to end the week and a good reminder that I have a resolution to start learning French in 2011. I think they were unimpressed by my lack of knowledge but they both spoke some English and one of their friends spoke some Malagasy.

Have a Happy New Year, Teena

I am not sure if I will be able to get to email in the next week and a half as i will be on vacation. If I don't I just wanted to wish you a Merry Christmas. I just finished the first Peace Corps IST meeting, nice to see other members of my training group(stage mates). It was nice to share a few fun traditions;such as Secret Santa, drinking hot chocolate, and watching the movie Elf and Love Actually with other volunteers. Often it is hard to remember that it is Christmas as the weather is so warm and there aren't a lot of decorations in different places except mainly in the Capital. I am reminded of Christmas when I see a tree all decorated, christmas lights in the window of a store, and a person wearing a Santa suit (must be really warm), or when I receive Christmas Cards at the Post Office (my address: BP 35, Amparafaravola 504, Madagascar). Thanks for writing!

We ended our week long meeting with a trip to the US Embassy in the Capitol city today. It was nice to hear from the General Affairs, Political, and Safety and Security Officers about their work in Madagascar. We were mainly excited tor the pool party at the Embassy. It was nice and relaxing end to this week and hope travel to the beach will be just as relaxing.

Have a Merry Christmas !

Rice Exporting Project from my Town that my sitemate Chris is working on. The website is http://www.lotusfoods.com/FarmersTerroir/Madagascar.aspx The quote at the bottom is from Sahondra Razafindranaly at the Farmers Coop. On the website she is the lady riding the motorcycle.

Here is the write up about the Madagascar Rice from the website:

Lake Aloatra, Madagascar

Our Madagascar Pink Rice has an unusual story, like a modern day Jack in the Beanstalk tale, complete with "magic" seeds. Rakotomandimby Jean Baptiste, also known as Dista, is a farmer in the Lake Alaotra region of Madagascar. One day in June 2000, on returning home from the market with bags he had purchased to store his harvested rice, his attention was captured by two unusual grains lodged in one of the bags. Curious, he planted them in his home garden and watered them well. One died but the other grew. And grew. And kept on growing.

It produced 63 grain-bearing panicles, about twice the number of his other rice. He and his neighbors were amazed. He saved the seed for the following season, and subsequently harvested two large bags. It was time to cook the rice. However, Dista refused to allow any family or friends to eat it, lest it have ill-effects. He tested it first. The rice was delicious! He waited one more day before inviting other villagers to try it. "Varin'i Dista" (Dista's Rice) was an overnight success. Neighbors requested seeds and now the rice is grown on many farms and is prized by farmers and consumers alike. It has a long grain that elongates at cooking, tastes slightly sweet, and some locals claim it has healed them of illness.

This rice is grown using the System of Rice Intensification (SRI) methodology. Because of this, farmers are getting yields of 8-10 tons of rice per hectare (about 2.5 acres) as compared with only 2-4 tons per hectare before. And the grains shatter less in milling so farmers go home with fuller bags. Additionally, the rice is more nutritious, which may be the reason villagers claim it has a healing effect.

We discovered this wonderful, soft rice on a trip to Madagascar in 2006. The president of the KH Amparavarafola Cooperative invited us and cooperative members to his home for a luncheon under the trees where we were served "Dista's rice" with a savory stew of vegetables and duck prepared by his wife. We were struck immediately by the lovely pink color, subtly sweet flavor and amazingly soft (but not mushy) texture.

KH stands for "preserve our heritage" and is a national network of local associations, each with 10-20 households that emphasize natural resource conservation in their agricultural practices. Although the area around Lake Alaotra is considered to be Madagascar's rice basket, family incomes are less than $200/yr. Productivity is low due to weathered soils, poor land management, erosion, and farmers don't have money to buy tools, seeds or hire labor. In communities where SRI is being adopted, though, we saw signs of new prosperity – a new roof being put on, a freshly painted house, and even occasionally a motorbike. This was where we began to see that this simple method of farming could bring an end to poverty, while at the same time conserving natural resources and producing higher yields of more nutritious rice.

Madagascar is where the principles of SRI were developed in the 1980s by Father Henri de Laulanié, who lived and worked with Malagasy rice farmers for 30 years. The methodology was then locally extended by the NGO Tefy Saina. In the mid-1990s, it came to the attention of Glenn Lines, who was managing a USAID-funded project for the Cornell International Institute for Food, Agriculture and Development (CIIFAD). CIIFAD had been contracted to raise lowland rice productivity along the margins of what remains of Madagscar's rainforest, to reduce further encroachment on the forest. Though at first skeptical, CIIFAD urged further investigation and validation, not only in Madagascar but other countries. We have worked closely with CIIFAD to bring to market our three new SRI-grown rices. SRI is now being adopted in some 33 countries around the world resulting in many economic, environmental and social benefits.

"Motorcycles, new roofs, painted houses and cellphones are some of the visible signs of our improved livelihood among SRI farmers."

- Sahondra Razafindranaly .

I am using the internet quickly to send off a few emails and complete a needs assessment in preparation for the upcoming 3 month Peace Corps conference.

Holidays

A week and a half ago marked the completion of my second month at my site I am thankful that I’ve been able to adjust to life here and that God has blessed me with so many helpful neighbors here and such a supportive network of family and friends back home. I feel really settled here and while; during the first few weeks; I had a number of ups and downs, God helped me see the positive during challenging moments and helped me to laugh during the comical ones(almost being in the path of a cow on the loose, leaving church early because everyone else in my row stood up and then later realizing only the kids were supposed to leave, or telling someone I needed my umbrella because there were a lot of people as the words for people and rain sound very similar).

While trying to talk to my friends about the Thanksgiving holiday I realized certain traditions were difficult to explain such as only eating turkey, watching or playing football Americana, taking a nap after eating a lot of food, and then waking up really early to go shopping for Christmas gifts the next day. Oddly enough the Black Friday (Zoma Maintsy) activities people understand, but when I tried to explain how I could have mashed potatoes (Mitoto Ovy) without going to the market to buy potatoes but that I could add water to a mix; they seemed confused. Thanks to my family and friends who sent the mashed potatoes and gravy mixes and to my site-mate Chris; who had some stuffing mix. I invited one of my friends over for a traditional (well, minus the turkey) meal including mashed potatoes, gravy, and stuffing. As my grandmother reminded me; when I told her that I wasnt going to have turkey on Thanksgiving; the holiday is not about what you eat, but rather remembering the meaning of the holiday and sharing time with family and friends. I did go to visit my neighbors who have baby turkeys in the yard on Thanksgiving. I am sure people raise turkeys to eat, but I’ve never heard anyone talk about eating turkey meat. The head of the district of Amparafaravola has a really big turkey in his yard that he said was a gift. I think it is more of a guard turkey as it gobbles really loudly as you pass by the gate and chases people who try and come inside the gate. I am always on the look out to see where the turkey is in the yard when I go to visit.

When Thanksgiving meal was over, my neighbors helped me decorate my apartment with Christmas Lights and some decorations. I dont plan to have a Christmas tree this year as I will be traveling for the Peace Corps Conference and then Christmas vacation, but I really enjoy having the lights up that I was able to find at a general store. This past Sunday, I taught some choir members the words to Silent Night and O Come All Ye Faithful and told them about the tradition of Caroling. We went Christmas Caroling twice this week and I find it really fun to sing the songs in Malagasy and then English. The choir members enjoyed the outings so much they asked if they could go Caroling without me today as I am in my banking town for a night and they want to go again tomorrow afternoon too.

Community Diagnostic Survey

The week before the 3 month Peace Corps conference I will be busy completing my the Community Diagnostic Survey. I finished my individual interviews with members of the community including the mayor, principals, teachers, doctors, nurses, policewoman, village health workers and an agricultural outreach coordinator. I also received a bunch of responses from the school s answering from students the Student Questionnaire (95 so far). This past week I worked on the last of the door to door surveys in different villages(80 total household surveys as these are more time intensive and I can only conduct 10 surveys an hour for 2 hour increments if I’m lucky). While in the outset I thought it would be easy to schedule meetings, elicit responses to a Student Questionnaire and conduct village surveys; it’s really just been one challenge after another.

For instance one day I was supposed to be conducting the surveys, but there was a death and it means the people were not able to go help me with the surveys. The questions for the Community Diagnostic Survey are translated into Malagasy, which is helpful, but I still have to be able to be able to understand people’s answers. This is the reason a number of the questions in the survey are yes and no questions or have a number response such as 3 kids live here. There still been times I think the people misunderstood the question about how many kids at their home as some say a number and then say another number afterwards. It might be because they weren’t sure if they were to include kids who left for college or children of other family that live in their house. Since the town I live in is really big, and has a lot of schools it is not uncommon for kids to come and live here during the week with a relative and then go home on the weekends. Other challenges to completing the Community Diagnostic Survey include the weather. While 1:30pm might be a really productive time for work in the US it is normally the middle of the siesta time here and I couldn’t find anyone out and about at this time or at their place of work for a meeting. Despite the challenges people have been really receptive and willing to help me out, I hope the information in the final report will be a help in planning various projects and securing finding sources.

Below are the lyrics of a song called Antso Ho Anao (which means a call to yours) by Malagasy singer Y-zit. I heard this song on the radio and when my friend played the music video I noticed the English translation was running at the bottom of the screen of each shot of the video. Hope you enjoy the song lyrics. I think the song has a nice message to summon the people of Madagascar to find peace admist the political strife.

You see those who are crawling, always silent theyd like to say theyre ill but theyre mute begging but no one listens drifting, searching; ordered; punished wishing for the protection of angels searching for eyes and attention song of the heart, a voice calling unto you a call given to you only one voice shall speak today only one fellowship shall it seek its no fool to wait for this happiness

a God given right; so stand fast only one voice shall speak today only one happiness shall it persue and coming soon lets fire up the hearts

the hearts call shall not keep silent

the goal for peace shall not keep silent a call for you; take it upon you the hearts call shall not keep silent the goal for peace shall not keep silent a call for you; take it upon you Madagascar the blessed land only one voice shall speak today only one fellowship shall it seek its no fool to wait for this happiness a God given right; so stand fast only one voice shall speak today only one happiness shall it persue and coming soon lets fire up the hearts the hearts call shall not keep silent the goal for peace shall not keep silent a call for you; take it upon you the hearts call shall not keep silent the goal for peace shall not keep silent a call for you; take it upôn you no more do i know that victory such is this thing called peace for you gunshots are competing it seems that you do not know the future generation will be affected it seems like Madagascar is only yours humainity seems to be gone underground dont forget love is stronger than violence we apologize because we may be tough in words to say Do you still deserve to be called elders? Madagascar where are your children heading to? lets go to the goodness where we find life

Disclaimer, I am not sure if Y-zit is affiliated with any particular political group here, but by posting this I am not claiming to support or not support any political party here. As a Peace Corps Volunteer I am not involved in politics here.

After a month at site, I can honestly say that I am starting to feel settled. The people I work and live near me are really helpful and have gone out of their way to make me feel at home. Establishing my own daily and weekly routines helped me go from the very structured schedule of training where I had little free time and control over my time; to my experience now; where I have complete control over my schedule and lots of time to allocate as needed. Every weekday morning I go and help out at the health center. I normally run errands (post office, buy phone credit, browse the local market) before having lunch and a siesta. The afternoons are normally set aside for working on my Community Diagnostic Survey (CDS). Which is the tool that helps me learn about the needs of the community and later will be helpful in planning projects and applying for grants. I have a book full of questions about history, demographics, gender roles, work, education, health facilities, and social problems. While it helps that the questions are translated in Malagasy it is still a challenge because in addition to asking questions, I still need to be able to understand their answers.

My evenings are spent catching up on reading, corresponding by letters, and journaling. Most nights I am in bed by 8 or so unless I am expecting a call from family or friends in the U.S., or if there is an event in my town during the evening. Which was the case this past Friday as there was a dance held for an opening of an office of a local Microfinance organization, I thought the office was already open, so I think they were just celebrating a new paint job after painting the building. I spent most of the evening rejecting dance invitations and moving around to different tables to avoid having to talk with people who’d had too many beers. I had fun practicing dancing traditional Malagasy dances and people were impressed with my knowledge of the dances already.

In addition to establishing routines, having furniture made and decorating my apartment has also helped me feel settled. Being able to finally unpack and stop living out of suitcases made a big difference. On one of my walks around town, I came across a carpenter who had an Ikea catalog. I was able to order (mi-command) a big shelving unit that I use to store my clothes in baskets and a small desk. I was very happy with his work and his ability to finish on time. It’s nice to be able to custom order Ikea furniture and not have to self-assemble them.

Flipping through the Ikea Catalog was a nice reminder of home. There’s been a couple of other instances where I’ve been reminded of home as well. In my last post I wrote about frippery in Value Village tag on the used clothing(frippery). At the dance last Friday I saw a guy wearing a Mariners jacket and a woman with a small notebook with a picture of the Space Needle on it. She was really surprised when I had a photo of the Space Needle.

This past week was Mother and Child Health Week. It happens every 6 months as a national health initiative. It is a week long distribution of vaccines for kids under 4 years of age, vitamin A, and deworming pills. I went out each afternoon to help in the four local villages. There will be a mass mosquito net distribution in November as well.

The update on the politics here is that the head of the transitional government is too young to run for president. There is a vote scheduled for Nov 17 to approve amendments to the constitution, included is a change in the age requirement for someone to run for presidency. I am not sure if the election will occur as planned as many were delayed in the past. There is a big campaign to get people to vote yes, but no opposition campaign.

Here's a photos of my cat and I in my apartment.

Who’s going to eat all those cakes? My second day at site I came across a group of women baking in a house. When one of the ladies invited me inside, she showed me a bunch of cake layers they had baked. They told me it was for a wedding the next day. They asked me if I’d been to a Malagasy wedding and when I said no they invited me to join them. The next day at the wedding they let me sit near the front to take photos. It was much like an American wedding, except the bride and groom shared a first dance at the church as well as at the reception and the dance after the dinner reception. The bride wore a beautiful white wedding dress with gold thread embroidery which she later told me she bought in the capital. After the wedding, there was a long processional of cars through the village and everyone came out to see the bride and groom as they rode in the back of a pick-up during the processional to the reception hall. There was a nice three course dinner; which of course included rice; awaiting us at the reception hall. The bride and groom had one large sheet cake and a bunch of small round cakes around it which they lit with sparklers as they cut the cake. After their first dance the couple led a traditional Malagasy dance. It’s a bit hard to explain, but it’s kind of like a line dance where the couple faces the same directions and holds each others’ hands in the air and then other couples line up behind them and they all move their feet to the right and then to the left in time to the music. After a few songs we started going back and the family I was with asked if I was going to the ball (dance). I was really confused since there already was dancing at the reception, but apparently they clear all the tables away and a couple hours later, the whole town is invited to a dance. When we arrived back there for the ball(dance) there were no tables, but benches on the sides of the hall. For about 20 minutes I had flashbacks to junior high; with boys on one side of the gym, girls on another, and nobody dancing; but then I realized we were waiting for someone to give a welcome speech(kabary). We didn’t stay too long as it was already really late and we were tired. What did I get myself into? That was the thought that entered my head when the Peace Corps staff drove away after installing me at my site. That question was immediately replaced with what am I going to cook for dinner? Then I ventured out to the market to buy some food, dishes, pots & pans in order to cook dinner for myself. I walked past the post office) on my way home to say hello to the people who set up my new PO box. (my new addresss: B.P. 35 Amparafaravola 504 Madagascar) The past few weeks I’ve walked to the market several times a day to buy fresh food every day and get acquainted with the food vendors. In addition to selling fruits, veggies, household items such as dishes, cups, and buckets; vendors also sell used clothing called frippery. One day when looking through a pile of frippery, I thought to myself how much it felt like shopping at a second hand clothing store without racks of clothing and much to my surprise I came across both Value Village and Goodwill price tags on a couple items of clothing. I now know what happens to some clothing that doesn’t sell at those stores, it comes here to my town. While I didn’t purchase either of the items with Value Village and Goodwill, I did find a dress, 2 shirts, and a skirt. It’s much like a treasure hunt and I have a lot of time on my hands now to sort through piles of frippery. Why aren’t you already good at speaking Malagasy, you look Malagasy? The process of integration into the community has been really interesting the past few weeks as a number of people have commented that I look Malagasy. Most people react with confusion as to why I can’t say very much to them in Malagasy or when I can’t understand what they are saying to me. I normally try to tell them I am American and they I arrived in Madagascar in July and that I am learning Malagasy because I will live here for 2 years. Once I have a mastery of the language, there may be some additional benefits to looking Malagasy. There are a number of benefits and drawbacks to looking Malagasy. Sometimes I feel that people may have different expectations for me socially and expect that I know more about the culture than I do, but then again it’s nice not to everyone immediately know that I am a foreigner(vazah) when they see me. A couple weeks before our training ended, our group had a discussion about integration as part of our cultural session. Some of the members of our group wanted to know why Malagasy people will say(sometimes shout) vazah every time a foreigner walks by. Our cross-cultural trainers tried to explain that it was just another way Malagasy like to state the obvious as part of conversation. For instance, is commonplace for people to make statements such as “you are taking a walk” or “you are eating a banana”. While this would be strange; and almost socially awkward; in the United States, it is a way in which Malagasy often begin conversation. I enjoy this and use this technique to learn language. I think it is great that people don’t think I am strange when I say things like “there are a lot of baby chickens” or “I am tired because I was running”. Our conversation about Malagasy people calling out vazah when we walk by soon turned into a discussion about privilege and what it means to be an American. It was interesting that this conversation had a lot of similarities to conversations I had with my study abroad group 6 years ago when I traveled to India. The next two years will be an interesting case study as to social construction of race here in Madagascar as the Malagasy have both African and Asian cultural influences. Perhaps for the first time, I will feel like the majority and not the minority for once. I am not sure if I will always like that, as there are some added social responsibilities I feel I need to balance with educating Malagasy about American culture. Where’s your cat from? My response is that my cat is from Montasoa. This is the name of the town where our training was held and the place my host family lived. While the logistics of getting my cat and transporting her on the 8 hour ride, 2 nights in a hotel, and then to my site were a bit tiring, I am glad I have her. I don’t have an official name for her yet. I thought I would call her Mimi since that is what everyone calls cats here, but people keep asking me if I have another name for her, so I will have to think of an American name as well. She’s been a nice companion even though she likes to meow a lot. She’s also proven to be useful in the first few weeks by killing and eating a gecko, cockroach, and grasshopper in my apartment. She’s also nice as company and fun to play with as well. When can you teach my kids English? I don’t think I can count the number of times that people have asked me to teach English. My standard response to them is that I can’t teach English right now because I need to learn Malagasy and that I am not an English teacher, but rather that I work at the health center(CSB) and I teach health. My work schedule is really dependent on when people come to the health center. Right now, I go to the health center and help weigh babies, record weight and height of pregnant women, and fill out the mosquito net distribution book. Since my language is still really limited, I’ve only given one health speech and I am not sure how much of what I said they understood. Luckily the nurse introduced me and told the group that I was still learning Malagasy before I gave my speech. The most difficult part of my work at the health center was when the nurse wanted me to ask each person their name and what village they lived in and then record this information in the book just from hearing the people tell me. Well if you thought the name of my town(Amparafaravola) is difficult to spell, it is nothing compared to some of the names and the villages. Since it was really hard to hear people and they spoke to fast for me, they let me copy down that information from the people’s medical charts when I fill out the mosquito net distribution book. After making lunch and taking a siesta, I normally spend the afternoons integrating into the community and shopping at the market for dinner food. This last week I started talking to a few people about the Community Diagnostic Survey(CDS). This is a study of the community I will work on during the first few months to help me identify potential projects to work. How much is that chicken in the church? Nope, that’s not the line of a song, but rather a question I asked the first Sunday I went to church here. I was informed that in lieu of taking a special offering for the deacons fund at the church, one Sunday a month people bring food to sell at the church. While this also happened at the church in the town I lived at during training, I only say fruits and vegetables being sold there. I was really surprised to see a live chicken and duck at the front of the church for sale during the service. Besides the selling of the livestock, the rest of the service seems about the same as church services I’m used to attending the U.S. Since one of the Protestant churches is located right next to the Hospital compound where I live; I’ve started attending that church. While I can’t understand much of the sermon I enjoy listening to the hyms being song and people enjoy watching me read along in English when scripture is being read. This is probably the first time I’ve needed to bring a dictionary to church, but it comes in handy to translate passages of the bible during the service. In what other setting would I learn the Malagasy words for blessed, pray, resurrected, spirit, revealed, believe, patience, salvation, strength, and more. For those who are interested here is a translation of Jeremiah 29:12 “Ary hiantso(call on me) Ahy hianareo ka handeha(go) sy hivavaka(pray) amiko, dia hihaino(then I will listen) anareo Aho(to you). Thanks for making it to the end of this long blog post. Hopefully it was informative and interesting. Please write (B.P. 35 Amparafaravola 504 Madagascar )and let me know what questions you may have and I will try to include answers to those questions in future blog posts. A special message to my friend and former neighbor Taylor; who is on his way home as I type this; We’ll miss you here in the Lake region and people here have already asked about you and want to send their greetings to you as well!

Here's a pic of me swearing in as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Madagascar!

I am finally a Peace Corps Volunteer! I took the oath of to be an official Peace Corps Volunteer along with 41 others in my training stage.

I am thrilled to make it to this point as it's been a really long 2 months. My body's finally having a chance to rest after a third case of food poisining. It was so wonderful to have a weekend to go canoeing on the lake, taking naps, and reading in the sunshine without being sick or feeling guilty that I should've been studying the language or preparing a health presentation. I passed my language exam at the level required for health volunteers, but I will still search for a Malagasy language tutor to work with me to practice conversations so that I will be able to communicate better with the people in my town and the 22 villages nearby. Soon (this Friday) I will be at my site and will have to begin speaking Malagasy all day, everyday, to everyone. During my first few weeks, I will begin to introduce myself to various key people in the community, tour the surrounding area, learn how to cook, and hopefully find a mpanasa lamba(clothes cleaner).

It was a little sad to leave my host family as I've really enjoyed living with them and they really helped me to feel a part of thier family.I will miss their hospitality and kindness. I enjoyed attending church, going to soccer games, listening to American music, and watching movies dubed in French with them. I told them I would see them when we all return here for a 3 month conference in December.

If you want to read a better description of the 14 hour taxi brousse trip, read my friend Taylor's account here:

Mofo, Malaria, and Mandals: 20 August 2010 SITE VISIT: some good, some bad, l...: "Pics: 1 of the CSB where I will be working for the next 2 years. The other two pics are of the bike ride to Ambatomainty, on the west side..."

My home for the next 2 years:

I just arrived back from site visit which was a whirlwind experience. I am in a great little town NE of the capitol of Madagascar. It is the highest rice producing area of the country. They were not joking when they said I would be surrounded by rice fields. The town is just the right size, it has a small town feel but amenities of a larger town (lots of restaurants and a large market). When I arrived I was introduced to the medical officer for the region and the doctor who runs the small health clinic(CSB). The doctor and his staff gave me a nice tour of the clinic and let me sit in on a pre-natal class. The staff was all really friendly and helpful in explaining the weekly schedule and the services they provide at the health clinic. In my self guided tour I found a store that sells post-it notes, two carpenters who are willing to build shelves and other furniture, and a large track next to a basketball court. I am sure there are lots of other things to explore in the town and the 22 surrounding neighborhoods (fokotonys). Even though it was a really short visit, I felt at home there are am excited to learn more about the people and become a member of the community.

There are a number of other Peace Corps Volunteers who are situated around the lake(I think that I am about an hour bike ride from the lake) that have the same banking town as me. This includes one other health volunteer in my training group and several current health, education, and environment volunteers. I had an opportunity to meet them when we stayed in the banking town (Ambatondrazaka). We stayed in a really nice hotel that had a pool that overlooked the city. I had a really nice swim on one of the warm days. (picture is of me sitting by the pool)

Taxi Brousse Intro:

I am sure that I will have many stories to tell about my experiences in a taxi brousse. This is the primary means of transportation that I will use to get around Madagascar. A taxi brousse is a large van with a large luggage rack up top. The national taxi brousses that go from the major cities have a limit as to how many people can be in each row, but the regional ones that run between the small towns pack as many people as they can into each row which can be interesting. My first taxi brousse ride/nightmare was with one other Peace Corps Volunteer and our Language teacher going to site visit. We arrived at 8am to board the taxi brousse. The driver of the taxi brousse forgot to put water into the water coolant into the engine and so we had to stop several times (and this was on the good road) and finally the taxi brousse overheated so we had to transfer all our stuff to another taxi brousse. The next leg of our trip consisted of several more breakdowns in the second taxi brousse on a very bad dirt road. I think the fastest we went on that road was 10mph. We finally arrived 14 hours later at 11pm. I guess it was a good introduction to transportation in Madagascar and a great reminder to bring snacks along.

Are you from Madagascar or Mauritius?

Are you from Madagascar or Mauritius? This is the question that I got a lot at site visit. It was interesting to see how many people were confused as to why I didn’t speak Malagasy better. Several people said; well you look Malagasy; but you don’t speak it. I am hoping this will be an asset for integration when my language skills are better, but right now it is more a source of confusion when I interact with people. I posted a few pics on facebook (http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2628045&id=10718571&l=65b1d31bf5)

I am able to give a quick update as we(fellow Peace Corps Trainees and I) are traveling through Tana (capital) on our way to our respective sites. My site is near Ambatondrazaka. I will stay there for a few to meet key people and learn about the town and about the health structure of the town and the services they currently provide as well as check out my apartment so that I know what I will need to buy when I move.

LANGUAGE:

We just had our first language assessment this week which helps us to identify areas for improvement. It is hard for me to remember meanings for vocabulary and sentence structure, but practicing the language with my host family and other in the community is really helpful. The description of the language level that we are supposed to test out of right now says something about sympathetic people being patient to understand when we speak. This is definitely important as it may take quite awhile for me to get one complete thought conveyed in a conversation. The following letters don’t exist in Malagasy; c, q, u, x, and w. There are many pronunciation differences for instance; an “o” in a word has an u sound. So, Veloma (goodbye), sounds like Veluma. One of the longest words I’ve learned so far is mihazakazaka (to run).

Host Family:

I am still enjoying living with my host family. I miss them already and it’s only been a few days. The older brother just returned from studying in the Capitol and the daughter is on break from school. I enjoy the food the family cooks for me. It would be great if there was a little less oil used in cooking the food; but regardless; I am still always the last one at the table eating and I am eating serving myself more rice now than the first few weeks. The cat finally had its kittens. I was a bit confused because I was telling a visitor that the cat was pregnant last weekend and the family informed me that the cat already had its kittens in the forest and she would bring them home soon. I showed up today and the kittens were there in a box.

I think I will end my post by listing a few funny/interesting sentences that I’ve said when I am here to help to convey some unique things about my experience thus far:

“I can touch the ceiling of my room” (Yes, I am 5ft tall and can touch the ceiling of the room I am staying in at my host family’s home)

“I am going to go visit my host family’s pigs”

“Wait, you mean all almost all the verbs in present tense start with the letter M?”

“I hope I don’t have to touch the bones” (I was able to attend a famadinia; turning of the bones ceremony. This is when a family takes the bones of a loved one of the tomb, dances around the tomb holding the bones, re-wrap the bones in white linen clothes, and place them back into the tomb).

All the best,

Teena

* Thank you for all the letters I’ve received so far. Mail day is definitely the highlight of my week.

Manaona Daula (Hello All),

This is the Malagasy greeting I say to a group of people as I pass them on the street. I’ve been trying to jog in the morning to sneak some exercise into my super busy schedule. Jogging is difficult as I have to run around large puddles, cows, kids on their way to school. Everyone in the small town is really friendly. They say hello to everyone; I mean everyone. It is a great way to meet people and practice my Malagasy.

Learning Malagasy has been an adventure already. There are so many words to learn. I just learn to laugh at my mistakes and celebrate small successes. I was able to successfully bargain at the market and ask the a cat if it wanted a banana. My host family is very helpful in learning the language. I live with a family who has two teenage kids who enjoy listening to American, French and Malagasy music on their radio and computer. The mom runs a small store and the dad is a security officer at Peace Corps. They have two cats and from what I can understand one of the cats is pregnant.

There are 41 other trainees in my training. 21 health and 21 education volunteers. A good number of the people are recent graduates from around the U.S. We just learned out sites and I will be at a site 300 miles northeast of the capital (Tana) near Lake Alaota.

Since I don't know how often I will be online(it may be a few weeks or months) please write to me as a better method of communication (Teena Curry, PCT Peace Corps, Corps de la Paix, B.P. 12091, Poste Zoom Ankorodrano, 101 Antananarivo, Madagascar. ) If you write to me then I will have your address and can write back.

I need to go now as more people are in line for the computer.

Thanks,

Teena

Dear Family and Friends,

This will be a super quick email as I am in the Hotel computer in Johannesburg (Jo-Burg as it is called here). We arrived here at about 8pm yesterday and we leave for Antananarivo(Tana) at 10am this morning. I slept a lot on the 17 hour flight and so I am not that tired now. I met a woman from Senegal on the plane ride as I was reading my Africa phrase book(thanks Darryl). I attempted to say hello in her language of Wolof and she said I pronounced it pretty well. Another person(from Mozambique) on the plane asked about Greys Anatomy and the big building with the sphere on the top(Space Needle) when I told him I was from Seattle, Washington. When I arrived in the Johannesburg hotel I met a guy who is a physical trainer for soccer players who are currently training for the next World Cup in 2016 in Brazil.

Dear Family and Friends,

I will be at the D.C. airport in just a few hours to board my flight to Madagascar by way of South Africa. I am really excited (and nervous) to be beginning this journey of my life. I feel that God has called me to serve in this way and I know that he will protect and provide for me.

I had the opportunity to meet the other 41 fellow Peace Corps volunteers in my group and will meet some who are already working in country when I arrive. They are from around the United States and two are from Seattle. We leave today at 5:40 ET and will arrive in Antananarivo, Madagascar on Thursday afternoon. I may not have access to internet for a few weeks when I arrive, but I will update this as soon as I am able.

Thank you to all who send lovely messages and participated in my Open House on Saturday.

Love,

Teena

January 21, 2010

I saw an email for the University of Washington Career Fair on January 21st. I thought; sure; I'll go and walk around and pick up some free giveaways. Little did I know that day would change the course of 2010 and my life forever. I walked by the Peace Corps table and paused to talk to the recruiters from the Seattle Peace Corps Office. I’ve had a desire to join The Peace Corps since I studied Human Rights at UW.

January 22nd - March 24

I believe I was there at the UW career fair on January 21st to pick up information about the Peace Corps for a reason. I spent the next few weeks praying, talking with friends and reflecting upon the opportunity to serve as a Peace Corps Volunteer. After thoughtful consideration I felt that God was calling me to serve in this capacity at this time in my life. I was immediately drawn to the health education program. I approached several wonderful friends and mentors for recommendations and began the application process. Thanks Larry, Cathy, Anita, and Amanda!

Wednesday, March 24

My interview in Seattle with a Regional Recruiters in Seattle occurred on March 24th. During the interview; I was asked questions about my ability to adapt to different food and living conditions, lack of privacy, isolation, prescribed gender roles, and minority challenges. I remember being really nervous, but preparation in advance allowed me to draw on examples from my time abroad in India and other past travel and work experiences.

March 25 “ You were nominated on March 25, 2010!” What a great message to see on the application status website.

May 28, 2010 "Peace Corps sent you an invitation kit on May 28, 2010." Super exciting day!

Tuesday June 1, 2010

Okay, it’s 3:42 pm Tuesday June 1, 2010. I really want it to be 5pm so I can leave and go home to open the Peace Corps envelope that my mom informed me just arrived. The minutes of the computer clock are going by slower than usual.

The previous Friday I was told by my placement coordinator that I will be leaving to go to a country in Sub-Saharan Africa some time in the middle of July. And that I should start learning French. Being the detective that I am I immediately went to the Peace Corps website that has a map of all the countries that currently have open programs, googled African countries where French is the primary language, and cross referenced the two. It only took a couple minutes to realize that my efforts to guess are futile in nature and that I wouldn’t be able to guess the name of the country. I spent the weekend making a list of things I knew would need to be done between June 1st and the middle of July. I loaded a couple French Apps on my I-Phone. I figured I would begin by learning a few greetings.

5:45pm

Of course this had to be the day that my bus got caught in really heavy traffic? I was speechless when I saw my country assignment. MADAGASCAR; like the movie? I spent the next few hours pouring through all the instructions about working in Madagascar, getting my passport and visa, packing, ect. The list of things to complete in the next month and a half seemed enormously long

June 2nd, 2010

I've accepted the offer. My life is now changed forever.

June 5th, 2010

Happy 26th birthday to me! I figured I would wait until my family members were happily eating cake to tell them of my plans to leave for 27 months. Surprise!