Reflecting on the New Year

A year ago, I knew it was time for a change.  I was hoping 2015 would be a year of new adventures. So when I spent New Year's Eve in a remote Malagasy village, a 12 km hike and an hour boat ride from the main road, dancing with the villagers young and old, under the light of a disco ball, powered by some mysterious power source since the village was without electricity or running water, I knew my wish had come true.

Living overseas has been an important life experience for me, pushing me out of the comfort zone of what I know.  At the same time, living on the ship is a very controlled environment, so I don't always feel like I'm really living in Africa, just on a ship that happens to be parked on the coast of Africa.  So over the Christmas holiday, my friends Jen, Michelle, and I set off to spend 4 days experiencing what Madagascar is really like.

Through this great Dutch non-profit, we were able to get connected with a local village who wanted to host us and with a local Malagasy guide.

After 2 bus rides and a boat ride, we hopped on a tractor that happened to be going up into the mountains. The road was so bumpy we could have walked almost as fast. (I wished we were walking as I was perched precariously on the very top of the mound of supplies and people and with every bump I thought I might be tossed from the tractor).

We joined at least 20 other people who piled into the back of this tractor.

But when we finally got off the tractor, we found ourselves in one of the most beautiful places I have ever been.

Although the village we stayed in was very poor, they were very excited to welcome us.  Most of the villagers grow rice.  A little bit of tourism can provide a much needed additional income source for the village. The kids were shy at first, but they warmed up once I started teaching them Frisbee. 

Our meals consisted of lots of rice. Breakfast was soft rice and coffee. Lunch might be rice and carrots. Dinner: rice and chicken.  

Breakfast!

The homes in the village were made of palm trees. 

The river where we swam every day.

One day we hiked to a beautiful waterfall.  The entire village accompanied us; it was like a processional or festival!

Me, Houssen (our guide), and Michelle

Having 100 people joining us at the waterfall just because we were "vazas" (white foreigners) was a little unnerving. Part of me was wishing for a quiet day of solitude in nature. But at the same time, I went on the trip hoping to connect with local Malagasy people and get to know a bit of their culture.  I realized that they were just as curious about us and our culture. So instead of being annoyed by the crowd, I just enjoyed it. Enjoyed the high-fives from the kids, the funny attempts to communicate, the awesome photo ops.

The teenage boys showing off for the camera

Relaxing after the day at the waterfall

Touring the local graphite mine which employs about 40 people from the village.
We got to see first hand how it works from start to finish.

I wish I could have a dog on the ship!

The 12 km hike down the mountains on the last day was one of my favorite parts of the trip. The scenery was breath-taking. And I was so glad not to be on a bumpy, crowded tractor.

On the way home, I was sitting in a crowded taxi-brousse (the bus system here consists of 20-25 people squished into a 15 passenger van), hoping not to get car-sick, wishing I was anywhere else in the world at that moment, when I had an epiphany.  2015 was the year of external change: changing my job, where I lived, the people I see every day.  I changed almost every external factor of my life in the past year. And I am happier for it.  Every day I am glad I made those changes. But the hard work still remains: working on the inner change I want to see in my life.  Being able to find contentment no matter what my circumstances are. Because it doesn't matter how "cool" my life looks on Facebook, I can still only find happiness from within.  

There are things I wish for that I don't have.  But my prayer for 2016 is that I won't miss them because I am wrapped up in what I do have and in what God is doing in my life. God has been faithful to me through all the changes of the past year; He deserves my trust for the coming year and beyond. 

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas to my friends far and near! Christmas is a joyous season on the ship with many fun activities to celebrate. Here is a glimpse of some of them:

The Academy Staff Christmas Party

The Junior High/High School Team.
Front Row: Myriam (French), Floor (P.E./Computers), Kim (English), Robert (Science)
Back Row: David (Principal), Me (Math)

I decorated my classroom door for Christmas, complete with a Christmas Math
 Challenge based on the 12 Days of Christmas.

Decorating cookies at the Academy Christmas party

Running the Jingle Bell Dash - a 2k run from our dock to the port gate and back.
 This is Maya, my running partner. She is an excellent pace-setter!

Christmas Carols by Candlelight - led by our Australian crew

 (complete with a few special Aussie carols and a blow up kangaroo)

Making treats for a Christmas party

Me and my bunkmate, Tam. They don't have white Christmasses in Madagascar!

My family sent my stocking from home! They are amazing because they had to send
it by August for it to get here in time! This is the window in my cabin.

The ship tradition is to put your shoe outside your cabin on Christmas Eve.
Then everyone goes around leaving little gifts and candy in each other's shoes. 

Gingerbread House Making

I'll close this post with a poem that sparked my interest this Advent. May the joy of Emmanuel - God with us - fill your life this year.

                          O Adonai

Unsayable, you chose to speak one tongue,

Unseeable, you gave yourself away,

The Adonai, the Tetragramaton

Grew by a wayside in the light of day.

O you who dared to be a tribal God,

To own a language, people and a place,

Who chose to be exploited and betrayed,

If so you might be met with face to face,

Come to us here, who would not find you there,

Who chose to know the skin and not the pith,

Who heard no more than thunder in the air,

Who marked the mere events and not the myth.

Touch the bare branches of our unbelief

And blaze again like fire in every leaf.

       

~Malcolm Guite

Analalava Forest

One of the adventures I have been here in Mada is to the Analalava Forest. It is a small nature reserve with 26 different species of palm trees.  The nearest city, Foulpoint is about 90 minutes from Tamatave, but you have to walk the last 7 km to the reserve because the taxi-brousse doesn't go that far.

The plan was to leave Friday after work and head to the local bus station.  There we hopped on a taxi-brousse (think 10-15 passenger van, but filled with 18-20 people). About 10 minutes into the trip, we had to stop because the lights on the van weren't working. After waiting around for awhile, with no replacement bus in sight, we walked back to the station to get another bus. We finally made it successfully to Foulpoint (after some very bumpy roads) and, for about $8 each, stayed in a small bungalow near the beach.

Saturday morning we walked the 7 km to Analalava and spent the afternoon hiking in the reserve.

The road from Foulpoint to Analalava

Scenery on the walk to Analalava

My travel companions: Robert, Fred, Floor, and Alex

Some of the palm trees were huge!

Some of the palm trees in the reserve can be found no where else in the world!

I've never seen anything like this before.

We saw Flying Foxes: a species of bat that have furry bodies like a fox.

Dress Ceremony

"The most dangerous thing an African woman will experience is childbirth."*

I heard this statement earlier this year and it came to mind as I joined in the celebration at the bi-monthly Dress Ceremony.  One of the most common medical issues here is obstetric fistula, which is a complication of childbirth which leaves women incontinent.  Obstetric fistulas are so common here because women who experience obstructed labor are often not able to have a Cesarean Section. This may be because they don't live close enough to a hospital, they cannot afford it, or they don't realize they need one. 

The tragedy of these women's stories is great; imagine the grief over losing a baby in addition to the shame of their incontinence.  At the dress ceremony, each woman is given a new dress to symbolize a new life after their surgery.  Many of the women who spoke at the dress ceremony I attended had been waiting for years for a surgery like the one they were able to receive on the ship.  Seven, 8, 12 years of smelling like urine because you are constantly leaking.

The dress ceremony is a joyous celebration with lots of singing and dancing. It is a beautiful picture of God bringing hope and restoration in the midst of pain and sorrow.  

Approximately 50,000 women in Madagascar need surgery to repair obstetric fistulas. This is an overwhelming number and the ship will only be able to make a small dent in it. The good news is that our doctors and nurses are training and mentoring locals who will continue the work after we leave. In partnership with another organization, Freedom From Fistula, we will leave behind a fully equipped fistula clinic to continue to serve the needs of the women of Madagascar. 

*In Western countries, the lifetime risk of dying in pregnancy is approximately 1/3300. In Africa it is 1/40.

http://www.who.int/reproductivehealth/publications/monitoring/maternal-mortality-2013/en/

The HOPE Center

Sometimes I forget that I live on a hospital ship.  Working in the Academy means I don't naturally interact with our patients in the course of the day.  It's easy for me to get preoccupied with lesson plans and classes on the ship and forget that I live in Madagascar.  So I've started visiting the HOPE center. 

The HOPE center is an off-site building where patients, who travel from out of town, can stay before and after their surgery. The HOPE center, which can house over 200 people, frees up beds in the hospital, so more people can get surgery. Patients at the HOPE center visit the ship for outpatient follow-up appointments until they are ready to travel home. 

Hanging out at the HOPE center gives me an opportunity to spend time with our patients in a more relaxed setting. The Malagasy people are especially friendly and I enjoy spending time with them even if we don't share the same language.  Whether it's origami, games, or music, I'm figuring out fun ways to interact with the people I meet there. Going to the HOPE center is also a good way for me to get off the ship (it's about a 10 minute bike ride away) and I always feel so happy after an afternoon spent there. 

I think I'll make this a part of my normal weekly routine. 

Teaching kids to play Quirkle. No words needed!

Dancing to the music of a tin whistle is sure to put a smile on everyone's face.