Madagascar, the country as a whole, is one of the poorest in the world. There is little infrastructure and in the year 2015, many people still live without electricity or running water. Many people don't have access to a potable water source. Diseases that were eradicated in the U.S. many years ago such as the plague or typhoid are still present here.
Madagascar also has the second highest rate of under nutrition in the world. The roads are poor and there is not much of a sanitation system in place. Begging is an acceptable norm. There is not enough work year round. There is a hungry season every year. But millions of people live here with a culture still rich in traditions.
One time in Tana I was walking to the grocery store. I made a wrong turn and was in the slums located directly behind a rich vazaha shopping mall. Another time I made a house visit with my AC. The house was one room that had only space for one bed and a table yet 6 people lived there including a newborn baby. Immediately after that we visited a three story home with filled tiled floors. Neither I nor my AC mentioned the juxtaposition.
Coming back from Europe was a huge shock not because anything changed but because I was used to seeing the widespread poverty prior to my trip. When I first arrived at site I fought against the perception that I would be viewed as just a money source. After living at site for 9 months I don't think that is such a bad thing anymore. I can help a friend buy medicine when she can't afford it or help a child go to school. I do deeply believe that behavior change is the key to development work but I feel that donating funds to build wells or renovate a hospital is just as important as long as proper sensitization and a maintenance plan is in order. I still get the question of what exactly I do here, and it has taken me a while to truly understand the work of a peace corps volunteer. Though I also believe that the conception of what a PCV does truly depends on the volunteer who has lived through it.
No comments:
Post a Comment