Hi there internets!
It’s been a crazy few weeks here! There’s quite a bit that
I’d like to share, but I think that I’m going to split it up into a few
entries. Today I’m going to talk about the Moringa project and my summer plans.
Moringa Trees for
Rural Schools
It’s all finished! We completed the distribution of the
Moringa trees to all the schools last month. Thanks to a generous donation from
my partner organization, Association Tinoñe, we were able to provide extra
trees to a few preschools that were not on our original list. In total, we
donated 4,050 trees to 87 schools in five towns!
On June 20th we held a training program for
community leaders here at Association Tinoñe’s training center in Ambondro. We
invited three people from each of the five towns that received trees (plus
Ambondro) – the head of the school district, a health worker, and the middle
school principal. While not everyone was able to attend, we had 15 people come
to Ambondro to take part in the session. Training was provided by Association
Tinoñe along with experts from various organizations – the public Health and Environment
ministries, the Phileol program (which purchases Moringa seeds), and SEAR (an
environmental NGO). Several community officials from Ambondro were also in
attendance. The program taught the participants about the many uses for Moringa
trees – from reforestation to nutrition. With this information the schools we
worked with to plant the trees will be able to use their Moringas to their
maximum potential.
I can’t express how grateful I am to everyone that supported
this project! Over the next year we’ll be checking in with the schools to see
how the trees are doing, so expect more updates about this project in the
future.
Summer Break Plans
In other exciting news, I gave my last exam of the trimester
today! Our summer break (actually winter here), called Grandes Vacances, lasts from July until October. I’ll be spending
most of that time working up in the north of Madagascar. My first stop is the northwest
city of Mahajanga. After that, I’ll be headed to the Sava region in the
northeast to help teach summer courses with some other PCVs. My training group
will have our Mid-Service Conference (MSC) in the capital in September, and
after that I’ll be headed to the city of Diego-Suarez in the extreme north to
help teach tour guides with another PCV.
As much as I love my site and the Androy region, I’m very
excited for the chance to see more of Madagascar!
