Salama be

Just over a week ago I arrived in Madagascar, to start a new job as a Pioneer Coordinator for Azafady in Madagascar. For the next 12 months I’ll be living and working in the Anosy region in the south-east of the country, helping and leading each group of international volunteers throughout their time here.

Having been to Madagascar with Azafady just a year previously, I had some idea of what to expect when I got here, from the more relaxed pace of life, to the inquisitive yet friendly looks of locals seeing an obvious foreigner walking their streets. However, when I walked down the steps of the plane in Antananarivo I felt the familiar surge of adrenaline as a new adventure begins, with unknown but exciting things ahead.

After an overnight stay in the capital I flew down to Fort Dauphin the following morning, where Azafady operate from. A large town on the south-east coast, Fort Dauphin (or Tolanaro in Malgasy) has a population of around 50,000 people, and is very isolated from the rest of the country due to the poor road connections. Due to it’s isolation, Fort Dauphin and the Anosy region it lies in are often ignored by politicians, and very little international aid makes its way to the area – for example, of a multi-million USAID sanitation infrastructure fund, a mere $21,000 was allocated for Anosy.

When based in town, I’ll be living in quite spacious shared accommodation in a compound near the town centre and Azafady office. A concrete building with an indoor plumbed toilet and shower, it is a lot nicer than I was expecting before arrival, which I’m sure will be welcome after a few weeks in a tent. Although it’s currently a little bare and doesn’t yet have a stove, after a few trips to the market it should be great. My first couple of nights were a little sleepless, particularly as September-October is a very windy time in Madagascar, so the gusts were causing loud bangs every time they slammed the roof or nearby satellite dishes. It is surprising how quickly you can adapt to living in a totally different country though, once people have shown you the basics. One of the street-side vendors was a little puzzled by my jubilation at having successfully bought toilet roll and a bottle of water (my French isn’t as good as I remember, and my Malagasy still rather limited).

Four days after I arrived, my first Pioneer scheme began, with a group of six volunteers arriving at Azafady’s Lanirano camp on the outskirts of town. Staying for 10 weeks, they have each fundraised at least £2,000 for the charity, and will be spending their time here working on three development and environmental placements run by Azafady. As their coordinator it is my job to lead the group (with the help of the Malagasy team leader), provide a link with the Azafady office, and look after the well-being of the volunteers. The first week of each scheme is usually spent doing orientation tasks and some light construction work as volunteers adjust to the lifestyle here. This proved useful for me also, still only a few days into the job (fortunately the outgoing Pioneer Coordinator, Sarah, is here until mid-October, so I have an easy transition). After talks from various department heads and a tour of the town, we started building a set of 10 benches for a local school, everyone pleased to be starting on some real work.

On Saturday the Pioneers, five short-term volunteers (arriving Friday), guides, Sarah and myself will be heading out to the bush to start our first placement. For about two weeks we will be working on two primary schools at Agnena and Belavenoka, about 25 km from Fort Dauphin. Both wooden schoolrooms built by Azafady in 2008/2009, they have been badly damaged by the weather and are in need of repair. Whilst replacing worn-out wall planks and roofing, we will build protective verandahs around the buildings to keep the rain off the walls and the children in school for years to come (very similar to the work we did last time I was in Madagascar in fact).