Trees, Malaria, and Exams

Hello everyone!

It’s been an interesting few weeks since my last blog post. Here’s a brief update on the goings-on down here in the south of Madagascar.

Moringa Tree Project

The most exciting news is that I've submitted my first grant application to Peace Corps! The grant will provide 74 local schools with Moringa trees. Each school will receive 50 trees – a total of 3,700 trees! For those of you who have never heard of Moringa trees, they're very useful in areas that suffer from malnutrition. Their leaves, seeds, and flowers are rich in vitamins, minerals, and proteins. The addition of Moringa leaves greatly increases the nutritional value of staple foods such as rice, corn, and cassava. Since many students in this very dry region suffer from malnutrition, Moringa trees are a cost-effective way to improve their diet. Moreover, there is a project in a nearby town that uses Moringa seeds to manufacture oils. The project purchases seeds directly from the community, so the trees can provide a small source of income to each of the schools. These rural schools are seriously under-funded. They are almost all wooden buildings, with a wooden roofs and dirt floors. Many don’t even have desks for their students. With the money generated from selling Moringa seeds, they will be able to purchase basic supplies and improve the learning environment for their students.

In order to ensure that the trees are used properly, there will also be a one-day training session for all of the communities involved. Since I'm not an expert in nutrition or agriculture, the session will be led by representatives from NGOs, IOs, and the Malagasy government.

Now that I’ve submitted the application to Peace Corps, I'm waiting on their response. Hopefully the project will be approved and I can start fundraising as soon as possible. Peace Corps Partnership Program (PCPP) grants don’t provide direct funding for projects, but rather they are a way for volunteers to collect donations from friends and family back in the US. Once the PCPP grant is approved, I’ll be counting on the support of people back in the states to actually fund it. It’s a very low-budget project, so I’m not worried about locating funding!

Other News

We had a visit from an American last week! Catholic Relief Services (CRS) is wrapping up their operations in our region, so they've been organizing a series of town hall meetings to assess how effective their programs here have been. Last week they held a meeting here in Ambondro, which was attended by an American who works for CRS in Tana. She's a RPCV, so we talked a lot about our Peace Corps experiences. She was very friendly, and had some very interesting insight about life here in Madagascar. Since my site is so far from the capital, we very rarely see other Americans here. When they do come, it's always a great surprise!

Peace Corps really likes to promote Malaria awareness and prevention, so I've been teaching my English club about Malaria. Peace Corps has a curriculum, “Nightwatch,” which provides young students with some basic facts about Malaria and how to protect against it. While only 15 students attended the first lesson, they were very enthusiastic! Later next month I'll also be helping another volunteer with a Malaria festival that she's organizing in Ft. Dauphin. Malaria remains a major problem here, like in many other African countries, so I’m happy to be doing something to help address it. Even if it’s only 15 kids!

My community counterpart, Josoah, has also just completed a request for a grant from the Embassy of Japan. The grant would finance the construction of a high school here in Ambondro. Right now there is a high school, but there's no actual building for it. As a result, all of our classes are held in the local community center that Josoah's association runs. The grant would pay for the construction of three new buildings to permanently house the high school. Japan is quite active in Madagascar, and they've been very open to the community's request. I've helped out a bit, mostly with translating things into English and/or French, but Josoah and the community have been the driving force behind the project. I really hope that they get approval from the Embassy!

Aside from all of that, I've been finishing up my second trimester of school here at site. Next week are our exams, and after that is Spring Break. As always, I'm a bit nervous about how my students will do on their exams. They've progressed significantly over the past six months, but it’s still a challenge for them. I've been doing a lot of review in all of my classes, so I'm hoping for the best! I'm also very excited for the break. The second trimester is by far the longest in the Malagasy school year, so I’m looking forward to a bit of relaxation.

Also, as of last week, I've now been at site for over six months. I can't believe how quickly time is flying by. Just one more trimester, and I'll have finished my first year of teaching!