Tamana ve?

I'm constantly asked if I feel 'Tamana' at my site or in Madagascar in general. Tamana simplified means to feel comfortable. To me it means to feel integrated, happy in the community, comfortable with the culture, have friends, and like the food all encompassed into one word. I realized after I got back from MSC in May, I finally and proudly feel tamana. 

I feel comfortable in my community and know where all the interconnecting roads go while recognizing people along the way (again I live in a pretty big town of 15,000 people). The language clicked and I can understand most of what is being said as well as get my point across on more abstract ideas. I've gotten to the point where I crave vary sy loaka (rice and meat/vegetables) and enjoy the taste of ranon'mapango. This is a hot beverage that's drank towards the end of a meal made from the water of the burnt rice in the pot. 

I don't mind waking up to the sound of roosters, Vola sifting rice with the sahafa, or the compound kids running around. I like when CSB visitors stop by my house to say hello. I get invited to community events and invited into choreographed dances performed at these events. If I'm bored I can crochet with the CSB staff or visit friends such as Vola, Rosety, or the ACs. 

I love my work and working with the ACs. I believe in my projects and look forward to house visits and trainings. I've reached the point where if I could choose sites all over again, I would pick my own. There have been many ups and downs throughout service but I feel more resilient. I've been asked countless times since I arrived in Madagasar a year and half ago if I feel tamana. I can now say that I truly do feel tamana tsara. 

You know you're a PCV when

-you automatically read the @ symbol  as 'amin'ny' in Malagasy

-you steal soap from hotels to use for washing clothes

GLOW Camp

In October, the PCVs in my region began planning a Girls Leading Our World (GLOW) camp. This is a very popular Peace Corps project that is done all over the world creating opportunities for travel, education, and leadership for young girls. My region decided to split into two GLOW camps: team lycee (high school) and team CEG (middle school). I joined team lycee as there are two lycees within 15km of my site. Another volunteer headed the grant which was submitted last March and we were the second project in ALL of Peace Corps to be included in the Let Girls Learn (LGL) initiative formed by Michelle Obama and Peace Corps.

In June, I held two mini camps at my site and invited 20 lycee seconde girls across two Saturdays. The first day we talked about goals setting and action plans lead by a good friend from my banking town. She was so full of energy and games for the girls which seemed to really motivate them. The second week the Ministry of Forestry spoke about the environmental situation in the region which is something the girls are not taught in school. My counterpart and I chose one girl from each fokontany (5 total) to attend the regional camp held in the capital. This was the first time for 3 of the girls to ever travel to Tana.

Our GLOW camp was comprised of just people from our region and there were a total of 20 girls, 4 counterparts, and 4 PCVs from three different towns that attended the week long Tana camp. On the first day, the girls were shy and sat with other girls from their same town but by the last day they were crying because they didn't to leave their new friends! We visited the Queen's palace, the US Embassy, the zoo, observatory, teacher's university, radio station, TV station, an orphanage, Youth First, and taught the girls softball and held a talent show in between. It was a tight schedule! The girls learned so much about leadership opportunities, volunteerism, education, and career paths. They were so motivated all week participating in activities and asking many questions! The activity they seemed to enjoy the most was volunteering at the orphanage for an afternoon. The girls lead short English lessons in small groups then lead games. They bonded so quickly with the children and asked to go back again the next day. I was so proud of them.

GLOW camp was one of the most impactful things I have been apart of in service so far. The girls learned so much and created lasting memories. They made made plans to present at their schools about what they learned at camp to spread the message of opportunities and programs available. A huge thank you to everyone that donated to our GLOW camp project! You helped these girls participate in a very memorable program and impact their lives through learning opportunities they may not have had otherwise. Misaotra indrindra!

With my girls and counterpart at the Queen's palace

Presenting action plans for long term goals with Youth First

At the zoo

Leading games at the orphanage

At the teacher's university

Learning to play softball

At the TV station

The certificate of GLOW Camp completion ceremony

Healthy Households Continued

We are now in month 3 of the program already and it is still going very well! One AC officially dropped out which is to be expected; again, ACs are volunteers that have outside responsibilities. At the second training on safe motherhood and family planning, only 8 out of 14 ACs completed all the surveys and were paid. By the third training on vaccines, 12 out of 13 completed all education and surveys with their houses and were paid. The one AC who didn't have her surveys completed turned them in the next day. This is a huge improvement! They are still motivated and the households still seem interested in the program. One of the challenges of this project will be maintaining this motivation.

The best way to learn is to teach and I can see the increased knowledge and confidence in my ACs. As for the households, one lady thought she couldn't get pregnant in the first year after giving birth. We talked about family planning a bit and I saw her at the CSB later that day picking up birth control. Yay!

August is the last month I am visiting households with the ACs and then they are on their own to complete the rest of the visits for the next 5 months. I feel confident that they will move forward with the program with only monthly trainings and check ins from me. So far so good!

You know you're a PCV when

-you get upset when you are ripped off even 100ar (3 cents)

-you have a 'taxi-brousse ride from hell' story in your back pocket