Letter to Mr. Kramer's class
Trip Start
Nov 02, 2003
1
54
70
Trip End
Feb 14, 2006
My village, Madagascar
Wednesday, December 29, 2004
Hello again! I'm sorry that our letter-writing is taking so long - mail is really slow between the U.S. and Madagascar - but I love getting all your letters and am glad to hear that you like reading mine too. As usual, I'll give you a short update and then answer your questions.
This school year has been going well so far (the kids are now on Christmas break, and will start school again on January 10.) I've been teaching sex-ed classes to children in 8th through 12th grades. Unfortunately, school here isn't like school in the U.S., where everyone in one grade is pretty much the same age. In Madagascar, lots of kids start school late or don't go all the time because they have to help their parents farm; the result is that the seventh grade might have students ages 11 to 20. (You might think it's cool that they don't always have to go to school, but they think you're really lucky - they'd much rather study than farm!) The problem is that teachers are afraid to teach the 11-year-olds about sex and AIDS, so the 20-year-olds in their classes don't learn about AIDS either. Now I'm trying to start sex-ed classes for the older students, even if they are only in 7th grade.
I also want to say another huge THANK YOU! to the students who held the bake sale last year. The money you guys raised was enough for two trainings about AIDS, drugs, self-esteem, decision-making skills, and a lot more for all the sex-ed teachers and members of an anti-AIDS club I work with.
I'm also still working at the nutrition center (weighing babies and teaching mothers about food groups) and at the hospital (helping with vaccines and teaching about disease prevention.) I'm still thinking about starting a school lunch program at the middle school, but it's a huge project and I'll need a lot of help from other organizations. I'm determined to get the program started before I leave in a year though!
Now I'll move on to your questions. There are so many of you now that I can't write to you individually anymore, but I love all your letters and will answer as many of your questions as I can.
WHAT ARE THEIR HOUSES MADE OF?
Houses are made of different materials in different areas of Madagascar. Where I live, on the central plateau, most houses are made of mud bricks with mud plaster on top or just layers of mud built up to form a wall. Roofs are made of mud tiles, tin, or thick layers of sticks and leaves. On the coasts, where it's warmer, people need a breeze through their houses, so the homes are made of bamboo or other sticks and the roofs are sticks and leaves.
The structure of the houses is also very different from what we have in the U.S. It gets pretty cold where I live so people need to keep their animals inside. They build separate little shacks for chickens, ducks, geese, rabbits, etc., but cows and pigs often live on the first floor of the house while the people live upstairs. Houses are usually pretty small, especially since families are large (up to 14 kids! Average is about 5) and they only live on the second floor, so lots of people usually share the same room and even the same bed.
ARE THERE STORES FOR BUYING THINGS?
In the larger cities, there are grocery stores, mostly South African grocery chains that have a few stores over here. These stores sell everything - even really fancy foods for the French people who live here - and are very expensive; normal Malagasy people can't afford to shop there. In the larger villages, like where I live, there are small shops called "epiceries" (the French word for "shop" that sell mostly "dry goods" -
things that don't go bad, like canned food, flour, dishes, etc., along with dairy products. In the very small villages, there might be a couple shacks that sell a few items: candles, oil, beer, and crackers, for example.
No stores besides grocery stores sell produce (fruit and vegetables) or meat; these things are sold in open-air markets. Since very few people have refrigerators, everyone goes to the market every day to buy the food for that day. It's actually kind of a social event; everyone sees each other at the market, sees who is selling the best tomatoes or chickens that day, and compares prices. One or two days a week the open-air markets also sell used clothes and lots of random stuff. On "market day," people come from all over to sell things, and even more people come to buy. On a normal day, 100 people sell fruits and vegetables in my market, but on Mondays (market day), about 1000 people sell. My town is very large; lots of towns have 10 people on a normal day.
WHAT KIND OF CLOTHING DO PEOPLE WEAR?
Again the clothing is different in different parts of the country. Near me, people tend to wear lots of layers, even when I think it's hot outside. Most of the clothing is Western (like the stuff Americans wear, though often 5 to 30 years out of style), but some items are Malagasy. For example, most people wear woven straw hats and carry straw bags. They also use large decorated cloths called lamba hoany ("wahee") for everything from clothing (skirts or shawls) to baby carriers (women put the baby on their backs and then wrap the lamba around both of them to keep the baby there.)
On the coasts, people often wear only the lamba hoany as a dress; even men (especially in the southwestern desert region) wear the lamba like a skirt or a toga. All over the country, people either go barefoot or wear flip-flops, which are sometimes called "Scooby-Doos."
WHAT ARE THE WEATHER AND CLIMATE LIKE?
Since Madagascar is in the Southern Hemisphere, the seasons are reversed. July is winter and December is summer. Where I live, winter is about 60 or 70 during the day and 40 to 60 at night; since none of the houses are heated, that's pretty cold! Summer is 80 to 90 during the day and 60 to 75 or so at night; it also rains most afternoons and pours every night.
I live in the coldest part of the country; on the coasts, it's much hotter and wetter, and in the desert, of course, it's dry, but much, much hotter.
WHAT KIND OF MONEY DOES MADAGASCVAR USE?
Madagascar is actually in transition right now. They've used Malagasy Francs, or FMg, the French colonial money, for decades, since their independence from France in 1960. They finally decided to switch to their own money, Ariary, which they started to use last month.
The value of the FMg and Ariary in dollars changes all the time, depending on how the economies of the U.S. and Madagascar are doing. Right now, $1 = 8800 FMg or 1760 Ariary (5 FMG = 1 Ariary.)
DO LOTS OF PEOPLE HAVE TVs OR DVD PLAYERS?
In my town, which is pretty wealthy, there are a few people with electronics, like these. Most Malagasy people don't have them, or even electricity and running water.
WHAT SORTS OF ANIMALS LIVE OVER THERE?
Madagascar is an island that separated from Africa millions of years ago, so the animals here evolved differently than in Africa or anywhere else. (Ask Mr. Kramer to explain basic evolution to you if you don't understand.) Half of all birds, most mammals, and almost all reptiles, amphibians, and freshwater fish in Madagascar are endemic - they aren't found anywhere else in the world. The most famous animal in Madagascar is probably the lemur, which is like a monkey. There are many kinds (species) of lemurs from the tallest, the indri, which is 4 1/2 feet tall and sounds like a whale, to the aye-aye, which is small, with red eyes and extremely long middle fingers, which it sticks into holes in trees to get the bugs it likes to eat.
Speaking of animals, some of you guys remembered my puppy Lulu (the Malagasy word for "butterfly") who died last spring. It was really nice of you to ask if I'm feeling okay!! Yes, I'm doing fine, but I've decided not to get another pet - the vets here only take care of farm animals like cows, pigs, and chickens, and it's too likely that a dog or cat would get sick and die. Plus, I'd have to leave my pet here when I come home in a year and that would make me sad. I do play with my neighbor's dog, Bitsy (Malagasy for "whisper), though.
DO YOU SPEAK MALAGASY?
Yes I do! It's really cool to speak a foreign language; I hope that you guys will study hard when you take language classes. Here are some Malagasy phrases for you:
MALAGASY SPELLING PRONUNCIATION ENGLISH TRANSLATION
Manao hoana! Mana-ona! Hello!
Inona no vaovao? Eenoon-vovo? What's new?
-Tsy misy. -tseesy. -Nothing.
Tza no aparanao? Eeza noo anaranou? What's your name?
-Jessica no anarako. -Jessica noo anarakoo. -My name's Jessica.
Avy aiza ianao? Avy eye-za yanow? Where are you from?
-Avy any Amerika aho. -Avy akny Amereeka ahoo. -I'm from America.
Veloma! Velooma! Goodbye!
DO YOU STILL LIVE WITH MALAGASY PEOPLE?
For the first 3 months I was in Madagascar, I lived with a Malagasy host family. They helped teach me Malagasy (I was also taking language classes with other new volunteers) and taught me skills I'd need to live alone later. These included polishing my floor with half a coconut, cooking on just a stove (no oven or microwave), washing laundry in the river, and preparing Malagasy food.
Now, I have my own 3-room house, made of mud bricks and plaster, with a mud tile roof. I have electricity, but no running water; I get water from a tap in my yard and carry it into my house in a bucket. I feel safe because my neighbor comes by to check on me a lot, and because Malagasy people are generally really nice.
The next bunch of questions are all about my work here:
WHY DO YOU CHOOSE TO WORK WITH PEOPLE WITH DISEASES?
Working in Madagascar has made me realize that the problems people in poor countries have are usually related. For example: Children get diarrhea because they drink dirty water from the river. The water is dirty because people poop near the river. People poop near the river because they don't know they shouldn't. Children get diarrhea because people aren't educated.
Children get sick because they don't get enough vitamins. They don't get enough vitamins because they don't eat enough healthy foods. They don't eat healthy foods because their parents can't pay for the foods. Children get sick because their parents are poor.
(This goes on and on: Their parents are poor because they aren't literate and can't get good jobs. They aren't literate because they didn't go to school.. They didn't go to school because they had to farm. They had to farm because their parents were sick...
So the problems of disease, nutrition, poverty, education, environment, and others are all closely related. Because of this, I don't just work with people with diseases. I try to work on all of these problems together. I do a lot of education about nutrition, disease prevention, and family planning (if families have fewer children, they have more money and food for each child, and the children and mothers are healthier.) I'm also trying to learn about better farming methods (growing more food on the same amount of land) so I can help farmers grow more food for their kids.
As for why I chose to join the Peace Corps, there are many reasons. I thought I wanted to work with a big organization that tries to help people in developing countries like the United Nations and I wanted to see what it's like to live in a developing country. I wanted to travel, learn to live on my own, and learn a new language. I also wanted to try to help people; teaching about how to stay healthy is one good way, but there are many, many other ways too.
CAN YOU CATCH DISEASES BY WORKING WITH SICK PEOPLE? WHAT DO DISEASES DO TO PEOPLE?
Well, I don't work with sick people, exactly; instead, I try to teach healthy people how to avoid getting sick. I'll tell you how I stay healthy here in Madagascar, though.
I'm less likely to get sick because I'm strong, sleep a lot, and eat healthy foods (lots of fruits and vegetables.) Malagasy people get sick easily because they eat mostly rice, potatoes, and other starchy white foods that don't make them strong or protect their bodies.
The most common diseases here are diarrhea, measles, respiratory (breathing) diseases, malaria, and sexually transmitted diseases (STDs).
Diarrhea, as I've said before, is kind of gross to talk about, but it's very dangerous for children here. People get diarrhea when they eat dirty food (like food that flies have landed on), drink dirty water (water that comes from a river people poop near), or don't wash their hands after they poop and then eat food. When children eat dirty food or drink dirty water, the germs go into their stomachs and intestines and then give them diarrhea. The diarrhea drains all the water out of the kids' bodies; a baby can die from diarrhea within a few hours unless it drinks liquids constantly. I don't get diarrhea because I eat clean food and water.
Because you all live in America, you either got measles vaccines when you were a baby or when you came to the U.S. Kids here in Madagascar, though, only get vaccines if their parents bring them to a hospital, which is very far away from most people. Lots of kids don't get the measles vaccine and then die of measles; I'm protected because I've had a vaccine.
You've probably all had respiratory diseases like bronchitis, pneumonia, and the flu and you've all recovered. Kids here don't recover because they don't take the right medicines - either the medicines aren't available or they're too expensive. Also, most people cook their food on wood or charcoal fires, and their kids breathe the smoke and get sicker. Additionally, kids are malnourished, so they're weaker and get sicker than you would.
Malaria is one of the biggest killers in the world - it's a blood disease that's carried by mosquitos, and it kills millions of people in Africa, Asia, and Soluth America. (The mosquitos in the U.S. don't carry it, don't worry.) I prevent malaria by taking a special pill every day; if an infected mosquito bites me and gives me the malaria germ, the medicine kills the germ before it can make me sick.
Finally, STDs are a big problem here; the AIDS rate is still low (about 1.2% - since Madagascar's an island, AIDS came more slowly than in the rest of Africa), but there's a high rate of other STDs like syphilis and chlamydia, which can cause sterility (people can't have children) and death for mothers and blindness or death for babies. People can protect themselves by not having sex, always using a condom if they do have sex, and seeing a doctor if they have any symptoms of these diseases.
AIDS kills people by killing the good cells in the immune system, the cells in the blood that fight germs and diseases and keep us healthy. When AIDS destroys the immune system, then people die from diseases they can usually fight and recover from, like the flu.
HOW DO PEOPLE BRUSH THEIR TEETH AND GO TO THE BATHROOM IF THERE'S NO RUNNING WATER?
There aren't toilets; instead, people use latrines, holes in the ground. For water for brushing teeth or washing hands, people get water in buckets, then pour water over their hands or toothbrush with a cup. (I should tell you, though, that most Malagasy people don't brush their teeth! Most adults are missing lots of teeth because they never brushed. Brushes, floss, and toothpaste are just too expensive and people don't know how to make "toothbrushes" out of sticks, though I'm trying to teach them.)
To shower, I heat water in a pot on my stove, then pour it over my head with a cup. It took a little while to get used to it, but now I like it.
DO KIDS GO TO SCHOOL? WHAT ARE THE SCHOOLS LIKE?
Most kids go to elementary school, some go to middle school, and a few go to high school; very, very few go to college. They think it's really strange that all American kids go to elementary, middle, and high school!
The school buildings are some of the nicest buildings in each town, but they still don't have running water. There's usually a gravel basketball court or grass for playing soccer and some grass and flowers for recess.
The school day is different from yours; school starts at 7 a.m. and goes to noon, then students have a 2 hour lunch break (they go home or to a little restaurant; there are no cafeterias at the schools). Students study again from 2 to 6 p.m. - it's a very long day! The schedule is a little different in the elementary school; there are many more students than fit inside the building, so students study in shifts; some kids only go to school in the mornings and some only go in the afternoons. (Again, that might sound fun to you, but students here really wish they could study.)
The week works differently here too; no one studies Wednesday afternoons and some kids study Saturday mornings. (This is the French school schedule, which Madagascar uses because it used to be a French colony.)
DID YOU TOUCH ONE OF THE DEAD BODIES ON FAMADIANA?
In case you don't remember, famadiana is a Malagasy ceremony that takes place every late summer and fall. Families go to their relatives' tombs (each family has one tomb where all the family members are laid to rest together.) Family and friends go out to a tomb, where they have a big party with music, dancing, drinking, and special food (usually rice with really oily beef or pork.) (The tombs aren't all together in a graveyard, but just all over the place, so through August and September you see these parties everywhere.)
After people dance and eat, they open up the tomb and take all the bodies out. (You don't actually see the bodies/skeletons because they're wrapped up in cloth.) Different families have different traditions: some carry the bodies in circles around the tomb, some pour rum or honey on the bodies, some dance with the bodies. There's always music and people are happy, not sad. It's a big party. Families also always wrap the bodies in new cloth. (They add it on without taking the old cloth off), which is the major part of famadiana.
I did touch a body and I also went inside a tomb. It was strange for me, but not scary; I wanted to experience these things as part of living here in Madagascar, and am glad I did.
Well, that's it for now. I can't wait to see your next batch of letters! I hope that you're all doing well, studying hard, and behaving for Mr. Kramer!
Happy New Year,
Jessica
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And now, some legalese:
The opinions expressed and experiences described in this travelogue are those of one individual Peace Corps Volunteer. Nothing written here should be interpreted as official or unofficial Peace Corps literature or as sanctioned by the Peace Corps. I have chosen to write about my experience online in order to update family and friends; I am earning no money whatsoever from this endeavor.
