March 23: Tech Trip

For one week we traveled to the east coast of Madagascar for our tech trip! The purpose of the tech trip was to apply what we've been learning in classes, practice language, experience Mada outside of the Mantasoa bubble, and see other Peace Corps volunteer (PCV) sites. Each morning was super packed with presentations and activities; the afternoons were spent prepping materials for the next day; and then in the evenings we were free to do our dinner and hang out.

We left on Monday, March 17, and drove to Vatomandry, which is right on the Indian Ocean. The drive was absolutely breathtaking as we drove through the highlands, mountains, and through small rural towns with wooden huts. The road was very curvy and a bit nauseating.

Vatomandry is larger than Mantasoa and has a large market. It was fun to be able to order our own food from the various small restaurants or street food stands in Malagasy without the crutch of a nearby language instructor. The experience made me feel closer to actually living here rather than being at summer camp - though, I did mess up the language a few times. For example, I was talking to a shop owner and telling him about Peace Corps and why I am here. I thought he asked how many people were in my group and I told him 20. It turns out he asked how long I would be staying here and I told him 20. So now there is a man in Vatomandry who thinks I’ll be staying here for the next 20 years. Whoops!

I also had a free moment to swim in the Indian Ocean. The waves were huge, and it was so refreshing because the temperatures were crazy hot and humid. One of the evenings, my stage had a bonfire which was super fun and a great boding event. We attempted s ‘mores with crackers, chocolate, and bananas. This evening was a highlight of the trip.



 

MALARIA FESTIVAL

On Tuesday we went to a current volunteer's site for a malaria festival. I know it sounds strange to have a festival regarding malaria, but the event focused on prevention and care of mosquito nets. The event started about an hour late which is expected. While waiting, I started dancing with the local kids. We all held hands and made a giant circle. More and more kids and trainees joined the circle. Soon there were about 75 people all watching me and copying my dance moves! It was an awesome moment, and afterwards, many of the trainees told me how much they enjoyed that! 

Circle of kids I led in dancing


Next, the mayor gave an opening speech thanking all of us, as well as discussing the prevalence of malaria is the community (about 30 people per week are diagnosed with malaria during the height of the rainy season).


In tech class learning about mosquito nets

The community healthcare workers (CHW) danced for us, and a youth group sang while we sat on stage. Then the festival began and we headed to our stations. My station was how to turn a square net into a circle net. Many houses have only 1-3 rooms, and families may sleep in the same bed which may also be in the same room as the kitchen. The purpose of the circle net is so that it will be easier to hang in a small house, and easier to take down during the day. My station, which included four PCTs and three CHWs, performed three large demonstrations, and several small group discussions. It was very difficult to understand people's questions with the language barrier but I think we got the message across.
 

My group at the Malaria Festival

The next day we headed to another volunteer's site. We gave presentations on various topics. My group presented on malaria again. We originally planned to sing 'head, shoulders, knees and toes' but the audience was made up of mothers and their infants. We quickly had to learn a new activity were mothers could participate while sitting down. Events never go completely as planned! The presentation went well for the most part, and the interns of the health clinic were even taking notes on our poster!
 
On Thursday, we went to yet another volunteer's site and had one-on-one interviews with CHWs where we learned how to fill out intake forms. After lunch, the community threw their New Year's party...in March. They said there were too busy to celebrate in January. We danced for hours before getting on a bus to the next site.


In the next town we went on two hikes. I saw many awesome plants, chameleons, frogs, snakes, and...lemurs! I saw the two largest species, as well as two other small species. It's hard to describe them so I'll try to add pictures as soon as I can. After the hike, we planted a community garden with a school class and taught them about composting and companion planting. We also talked about the importance of hand washing.

Our last destination was Moramanga which is a city about two hours from Tana. We went dancing and fripping (second hand clothes shopping) before catching a taxi-brousse back to Mantasoa. We were all nervous for our first taxi experience without any PC staff helping us. However, everything went smoothly and I was even able to chat with a 13 year old girl for roughly 20-30 minute in Malagasy. Progress!

The tech trip was awesome, and I'm glad I got to see more of Madagascar before going to my site. It's crazy to think that I only have four weeks left of training (two weeks with the host family then two weeks at PCTC). Time is flying!

You know you're a PCT when:

• 'mianatra Malagasy aho' (I'm studying Malagasy) becomes a legit reason for any language mistake
• you lend personal items from dictionaries to deodorant or underwear without thinking twice