Sambatra

Sambatra is a ceremony that is held only once even seven years in the southeast of Madagascar in a town called Mananjary. It is a month-long celebration in which boys born in the preceding years undergo circumcision as a rite of passage in becoming a man. Sambatra means 'very happy' in Malagasy and it is said that no one can frown during the events. The final week of October is when many of the events take place. I traveled to the sud-est to watch these events unknowing that I was a few days too early to see most of them. Oops.

I did get to see a parade of traditional Malagasy music and dancing, and a concert. I also had my hair braided in a certain way, wore a lambahoany (patterned cloth worn around the waist), covered my shoulders, and avoided wearing balck in order to dress like the Malagasy women and show respect. I also hung out with other PCVs that I haven't seen in a while though and spent time at the ocean. I was a very relaxing and fun weekend and though I didn't see the events that I wanted to, I was able to attend a very old and traditional ceremony that only takes place once every seven years.

You know you're a PCV when:
-95 F doesn't seem so hot anymore
-You love the taste of powdered milk
-Anyone that has hired help to hand wash their laundry is considered 'bougie'

Youth Club

I started a youth club at the beginning of October. We have weekly meetings for girls ages 12-20 years held at the CSB. Two ACs each week help me plan and carry out the meetings. So far we have talked about communication skills, decision-making skills, and self-esteem. As the weeks go on and trust is built among the group, we will talk more about women's health and birth control since many of the girls have questions about these topics. The meetings have gone very well and everyone seems to have fun! However, many of my games are difficult to explain in Malagasy and the girls struggle to understand me. My AC will then re-explain it and adjust it so that it's easier to play. There was one week in which three 9 year old girls came to the club. I was glad that they wanted to participate but I had to adjust some of the content. We were supposed to talk about teen pregnancy that day but I cut that out and we talk about future goals instead. The youth club meetings never go quite how I expect but that is what Peace Corps is about: adjusting yourself to meet the needs of your community.

You know you're a PCV when

-You hate the soda 'bon bon anglais' and avoid sitting by it at events
-You are used to roughly 30 flies buzzing around any building at any given time

VAC

Every four months volunteers in each region hold a Volunteer Action Committee (VAC) meeting. We get together to get updates from Peace Corps, discuss upcoming regional projects, or work through any problems we are having at site. My region has a few upcoming projects which I'm excited for. The first is an HIV/AIDS bike ride. My region has one main road that goes in a giant circle. We want to start at the volunteer's site that is that farthest away and then ride our bikes to each site holding an educational festival with our counterparts and co-workers. The schedule is still in the works but we plan to ride a total of 140 kilometers across eight-ish days. This won't take place until March/April though. The second project is a GLOW (Girls Leading Our World) camp. We would each hold a mini camp at our own sites then choose 5 girls to attend a regional camp then a final camp in the capital. This also won't take place for another 6 months but we are beginning to plan for it now.

We held our VAC meeting in a town on the far eastern part of the region. A Malagasy friend invited us to his hometown to meet his family and go hiking. We hiked for about six hours through the forest. Halfway through the hike we stopped and our Malagasy friend and his two family members performed 'Joro' which is asking ancestors for blessing and thanking for protection. They pulled out a liter of rum and we each took a sip inside a dried sugar cane then poured some on a specific tree. It was a neat cultural ceremony to see.

You know you're a PCV when:
-Even your taxi-bicycle has broken down
-You have found a way to binge watch an entire season of a show in one day despite no electricity

Vaksiny

Every Thursday morning I help at the CSB with vaccines. We typically have four people helping to get through 50-60 babies from newborn to 11 months. No electricity or computers and so all record keeping is done by hand. Each mother is supposed to have a karnet for her baby which is a small notebook (often with Kim Kardashian or Taylor Swift on the front) with the name of the baby, mother, father, birth date, place, weight, and to keep track of vaccines and weight gain progress. The CSB keeps track of immunizations and weight on cartes which is a card with all the information that the karnets have but kept for CSB use. Each karnet has a number (ex. Vacc 351/14) that corresponds with the carte. Helper #1 looks through the cartes organized by fokontany and by month that the next vaccine is due. Helper #2 fills out the cartes and karnet by writing the date of the next vaccine (there are 12 vaccines that should be completed by the time the baby is 10 or 11 months). Helper #3 weighs the babies on a small scale. Helper #4 is the midwife administering the vaccines. Between the waiting, weighing, and vaccines, there's a lot of crying from roughly 50 babies each week.

My least favorite spot is the weighing station. I really struggle to pronounce Malagasy names (most last names begin with R and are 12 letters long), nobody can understand me anyway, and another helper has to say the name again. However, I've learned what the miniumum weights babies should be at according to their age. This way I can tell the mother if the baby is on the right track or if the mother needs some nutrition counseling. I have recently been looking through records at the CSB and SEECALINE to determine the weights of children in 2012 and 2013. I've found that roughly 30% of children in my commune are underweight with the largest percentage in the 9-12 month age range. At 6 months, mothers are supposed to introduce complimentary foods in addition to breast milk. Perhaps mothers are unsure what to feed their babies at this age. I will work with my Acs to educate the mothers.

I've also encouraged the helpers to check if the karnet has the mother's vaccinations, and if it does, ensure that the mother is up to date as well. Mothers are supposed to receive a series of 5 vaccines to protect againt tetanus. The first two vaccines are given one month apart at prenatal consultations. The third vaccine is given 6 months later. Many women don't return for their next vaccine once the baby is born causing them to start the series over again during the next pregnancy. By checking the karnets during baby vaccinations, more mothers are getting the immunizations they need as well

You know you're a PCV when:

-Meals get more creative as time goes on. Ex. Pico de Gallo and cheese sandwich

-You're taxi-brousse takes the dry river bed route to the banking town instead of the road