Check out our last nine months of life and ministry on the Red Island of Madagascar

Last month, we started part I in a series entitled “Unsung Heroes”; a tribute to all the Malagasy people who work so hard, day after day, to eek out a living in order to care for their family the best they can. Just outside of Antsirabe lies a small wet valley where 7 families work long, hard, dirty days making bricks.  Bricks are used, especially on the high plateau for houses, buildings and walls. Men, women and children are working, they are...

Here on the island there’s a hundred different ways to say “hello”… or at least close to a 100.  Because the country is made up of 18 different tribes, all Malagasy, they each have their traditional way of saying “hey”.  Some of my favorites and their translations…   Countrywide, “salama” — “hello” The northwest coast, “karakory” — “what’s up” The north, “mbola tsara” — “still good” The deep southeast,...

We hope and pray, that one day, our 3 kids will be trilingual like their daddy.  As they play with Malagasy friends they’re picking up Malagasy and as they attend French School, they’ll soon be speaking French. In the picture above, our five-year-old drew a picture of a recent weekend trip to the beach English:        Beach French:         La plage Malagasy:     Ranomasina It looks like we’re on our...

As I’ve said before, cooking in Madagascar is no easy feat at times.  Though it has drastically improved with the number of items we can get for which I’m so incredibly thankful!  There are however, still a number of ingredients we can’t get or we need to improvise with, etc.  Case in point.  I was feeling eager a while back and decided I would make our favorite chocolate chip, oatmeal, walnut cookies that my dad bakes and are awesome!    ...

The kids just completed their second week at the French School here in Mahajanga.  Isabella entered Grande Section, the French equivalent to kindergarten and attends 5 days a week.  Eliana started Petite Section, or preschool and attends 3 mornings a week.  Now brace yourself… school STARTS at 7:15am! In and of itself, French School provides an opportunity for culture shock all over again, not necessarily in a bad way, but in a different...

There isn’t an overabundance of fun activities for kids here in Madagascar.  Thankfully though, we live on the northwest coast of the island where the days are hot and the beach is close.  As a mom of young kids, this lack of activities is definitely an unwelcome challenge.  No zoos, no parks, no natural history museum or sea center.  We do have 1 scant playground for which we’re thankful.  The other thing we’re incredibly thankful for is the...

  A few weeks ago we went for a little fishing adventure.  In the past we’ve always done this sort of thing in a Malagasy lakana or outrigger canoe.  Kids have a funny way of changing things though … and this time we went in a small motorboat where the risk of capsizing is a little less.  It was a great Saturday on the Mozambique Channel in the Indian Ocean.       ready and excited for a day of fishing! the traditional...

  We decided to start a little “Unsung Heroes” series… a tribute to all the Malagasy people who work so hard, day after day, to eek out a living in order to care for their family the best they can.  The stories are unique and they are endless.  Our goal is that these circumstances and lives may not go unnoticed in the world…. at least in our small world and the circle of friends and family who view this blog. We found are...

On the northwest coast of Madagascar fishing is a way of life.  On any given day, one can see the coastline dotted with sails of outrigger canoes (lakana in Malagasy), a sign of the Malayo-Polynesian heritage of the people here.

Last month I celebrated my birthday… I won’t tell you what exact year… just that I’m one year closer to 40!  Ohh! My birthday was a little of “this and that” this year.  We celebrated the day before with a birthday lunch and on the actual day, made the 10 hour drive to Mahajanga.  Jamie was a fabulous hubby and made me feel incredibly special throughout the day despite the lack of “ideal” birthday circumstances.  3 weeks after my...

Our long-time good friend and main ministry partner, Josy, left his wife home with their 3 kids and made the 15 hour drive to spend a few days with us and our 3 kids.  It was fantastic!!  We learned something new with our time together…. kids are kids wherever they are and whatever culture they’re from.  Josy felt like he was transplanted back into the chaos of the three small children that he left behind and that chaos was replaced by...

Though Malagasy religious beliefs mostly comprise of indigenous animistic worship (52%) and Christian (41%), 7% of the population claim Islam.  As such, Ramadan is celebrated in Madagascar.  August 1st marked the first day of Ramadan, the ninth month of the Islamic calendar. This month, Muslims here in Madagascar as well as around the world are gathering together to “fast, pray, connect with family and friends, and re-evaluate their lives in...

I could not wait to see what nearly four years of new growth would do to a devastated section of a mangrove forest.  My eyes leapt with excitement as we approached a wall of fresh green over 8 feet tall.  As we stepped off our canoes onto a piece of land that was once stripped of its forest and slowly bleeding its muddy surface into the ever expanding canal, we were enveloped by a new forest. The tallest of these trees stood over 12 feet tall...

One of the great benefits of living in Antsirabe was the close proximity to a Swiss missionary who had milking cows and as a result, twice a week, we received fresh milk delivered to our house as well as thick blocks of cheese.  Since our move to Mahajanga, we’ve had to return to UHT long-life boxed milk and we haven’t been thrilled about it.  It’s terribly expensive ($7 to $8 a gallon), the taste isn’t great and I often wonder what chemicals,...

As one can imagine, there are a number of things that we miss about life in Santa Barbara…. family and friends of course, church, our home culture, paved roads, … and FIESTA!  For those non-Santa Barbara folk, Fiesta is a 75+ year tradition of celebrating the Mexican and Spanish culture that decorates our hometown in the States.  Essentially, Fiesta is a 5-day party full of festivals, parades, music, dancing and good Mexican food! ...

Traveling in Madagascar is never dull.  The roads in the city are congested with cars, bikes, rickshaws, people, pushcarts, oxcarts, broken down vehicles, and a whole host of livestock.  The only difference between the cities and the countryside is it’s less congested.  There is nothing that even comes close to a freeway on this large island.  The national “highway”, if you can call it a highway, is a narrow two lane road without dividers.  On...

Two weeks ago, Jamie wrapped up Sekoly (preschool) with the kids, Isabella (5), Eliana (3), and Oliver (3).  We celebrated this milestone for all of them with a little graduation ceremony.  They sang their favorite songs, showed us how they know their letters and the sounds they make, showed us the world map and where their hometowns are as well as Madagascar, and presented their parents with the last 6 months of their artwork and letters...

Ony has become a favorite friend for Gavin (right) and his little buddy, Alex (left).  She’s a sweet woman who watches the boys while we’re in formal language study.  She has the magic touch and these boys LOVE her just as much as we do!  We’ll certainly miss her when we make the big move to Mahajanga this coming week.

Two weeks ago, over Pentecost, we had a long holiday weekend… after all, doesn’t everybody have Pentecost Monday as a national holiday?  Along with our guests, we went to a lush rainforest, Ranomafana (literally translated as Hot Water because of the natural hot springs).  It’s one of the “must see” tourist sites on the island.  A large rainforest with a river meandering through the valley floor, full of lemurs, chameleons, mongoose,...

It’s still hard to believe that last Sunday we celebrated Gavin’s 1st birthday!  He’s a sweet, fun-loving, quiet little guy, his eyes twinkle and he brings smiles to all he meets!  He loves to stand on chairs, open and close the dryer, take all the tupperware out of the drawer and sit in wash basins.  During church on his birthday, he took his first steps unassisted!  He’s trying to master this skill daily.  I keep telling him to slow down but...

Last week we received our first guests from the States… friends, Nolan and Elizabeth Hunt.  For the year or so before we left, they also lived in Santa Barbara, attended the same church, we were in Bible study together and they often babysat for us.  How precious was their arrival!  It was a colliding of our two worlds, our Santa Barbara life and our Malagasy life.  They came bearing gifts… ALOT of gifts and so we had a suitcase...

There’s a lot of “only in Africa”-type of things our kids get to do…  one such thing…  we get to let our kids pretend to be airplanes on a working airstrip…. after all, planes only land here once every few days.           READY…  SET…. TAKE OFF….  

Fall is ending and winter is beginning here in Madagascar and with it, the glorious and HUGE poinsettia’s are in full and vibrant bloom!

Last week our Malagasy class w ent on a field trip to a center for adults who are blind.  This center teaches them a variety of trades so that in time, they may be employed as rug weavers, scarf and sweater knitters, basket makers, etc.  The center and the people were impressive however what really intrigued me was the early missionaries that started this center and lived in this remote location.  I’ve always been fascinated with the daily life...

Earlier this month, we had our annual WorldVenture field meetings, which consisted of a day of prayer, a day of business, a day of team building and a day of play.  Our immediate team recently tripled in size when our family of five and the Casurella family of four, arrived on the field this past January.  As a result, our team now consists of 7 adults and 5 kids.  We also had the privilege of our Malagasy office partners, Germain and...

Madagascar, probably like most other developing counties, is home to the “knock off” as seen here in this classic case… is this pair of shoes made by Reebok… or Nike… apparently the manufacturer couldn’t decide either.  

Last weekend our family traveled to Antananarivo, the capital city, so that I could attend a conference about “Ideas For Women’s Cancer Control in Africa”.  This conference, organized by TEDx, brought in specialists from several countries, including Italy, France, India, Zimbabwe, the UK, South Africa, Madagascar and the good ole‘ US of A.  The speakers were as varied as the countries represented… medical directors, researchers, surgeons,...

OK, so this is NOT our house… in fact, it’s NOTHING like our house… this house is in the remote village of Mahabana that we’ve been going to for the last 12 years… HOWEVER.. we DID GET THE HOUSE we were hoping and praying for!  If you don’t get our newsletters, here’s the story behind the house.  In March, we traveled 13 hours to the northwest coast and large city of Mahajanga where we’ll move to in the beginning of July. ...

Yesterday our Malagasy class took a field trip to a school for visually impaired children.  The purpose of such field trips is to not only to be able to listen and speak in Malagasy but also to raise our cultural awareness.  I love these field trips and find them absolutely fascinating.  This school is the largest center on the island of Madagascar.  It was started in 1924 and moved to it’s current location in the town of Antsirabe in 1995. ...

Last week I finally had a chance to pull out my mother-in-law’s old Singer sewing machine.  Sewing was a wonderful hobby that Bonnie and I enjoyed doing when we lived together 9 years ago.  She passed away in January 2010 and I consider this sewing machine to be a bit of an heirloom that I have the privilege to borrow right now.  The machine is one of those old-school, work-horse, they don’t-make-them-like-this-anymore machines.  I’ve always...

Rice is not only a way of life here in Madagascar, rice IS life!  The Malagasy people are a blend of african and malayo-indonesian and signs of this heritage are seen throughout the country.  Rice fields can be seen in the wet rain forests of the east coast, the savanna of the high plateau, as well as the dry and arid west coast.  The average Malagasy adult can eat roughly 1 kg (or 2.2 pounds) of rice everyday between breakfast, lunch and...

Easter here in Madagascar is celebrated a little different than in the States… no dyed eggs, Easter bunny or candy stuffed in plastic eggs, but that’s not to say there’s not a party.  The town of Antsirabe where we currently live is the party capital when it comes to Easter celebrations here on the island.  It consists of a week-long street party, complete with street vendors selling clothes and food, bounce houses and train rides for the...

We get some pretty fantastic thunderstorms here and as a result, we get to also enjoy some pretty fantastic rainbows such as this one seen from our front porch.    

Two weekends ago, we hopped in the car and drove 90 minutes south to the town of Ambositra, the wood-carving capital of the island.  While there, someone pointed out where we could find raffia handmade items.  We climbed up a steep trail and emerged at the top of the hill outside a traditional Malagasy house.  We were warmly welcomed in with a “Mandroso!”  There we met a sweet elderly woman sitting on the floor of her bedroom amidst a sea of...

As Easter approached this year, I realized I was disappointed in that we weren’t going to give the kids the Easter festivities that they’re accustomed to… church would look different, Easter with family would look different, and the Easter egg hunt would look different.  I grieved at the loss of these but didn’t speak of the disappointment of the absence of the plastic eggs filled with candy, the fake green easter grass and the goodies to...

The average life expectancy here in Madagascar is 61 years for men and 65 years for women (CIA World Factbook).  So when you run into an older person who wears the rugged lines of life well on their face, it’s always a joy.

We recently celebrated our second daughter, Eliana’s 3rd birthday.  It is during times like this that we are so incredibly thankful for modern technology and the ways that it has the capacity to bring families together who are literally on opposite sides of the globe.  During our celebration, we skyped with “grammy” and “grampy”, who despite being a 10-hour time difference, joined in the festivities with their own party hats, cupcakes, candles...

So we both love photography and Madagascar is a photographer’s paradise!  We’re going to start “Picture of the Week” (POTW) so that we can share some of the beauty of this country with you all.  Check back every week to see a new snapshot.

Money is an interesting thing here in Madagascar.  Though we have been paid for medical services in the form of livestock, fruit and/or vegetables before, this quite obviously is not the standard.  Malagasy money has quite the history of changing on several occasions.  For example, when we lived here before, we used the Malagasy Franc (MGF) but in recent years, the currency has returned to the pre-colonial Ariary.  The Ariary is 1/5 the amount...

Madagascar is behind in the times with many things though I’m happy to report not with everything.  My find yesterday was a prime example.  We quickly stopped into a grocery store (which in and of itself is relatively recent… within the last decade or so) and I spotted an English magazine near the check out!  This is absolutely incredible!  This is just the second store that I’ve seen English literature here, the first being a somewhat...

One may think that being a tropical island in the middle of the Indian Ocean that all of Madagascar is hot.  However, Madagascar is in fact the 4th largest island in the world and therefore the climate can be drastically different.  Since we’re below the equator, our seasons are reversed from most of you, so currently it’s summer and we’re in the midst of the hot and rainy season.  Yet where we’ve been living on the high plateau region, the...

    Our long-time good friend and main ministry partner, Josy, left his wife home with their 3 kids and made the 15 hour drive to spend a few days with us and our 3 kids.  It was fantastic!!  We learned something new with our time together…. kids are kids wherever they are and whatever culture they’re from.  Josy felt like he was transplanted back into the chaos of the three small children that he left behind and that chaos was replaced...

Last weekend we took a trip to the coast for a change of scenery and a little scouting trip.  To get an idea of the vastness of this island… it took 6 hours to travel by car from where we live in the middle of the island to the west coast!  Morondava is a bit of a sleepy town on the coast bordering the Mozambique Channel.  The town isn’t much to boast about but the baobab trees are another story!  These gems of the forest are one of the...

It didn’t take long for our first “casualties” to occur here in Madagascar.  We experienced two casualties in three days a few weeks ago.  The first, Jamie’s soccer cleats.  Jamie and Jonathan went to play soccer late one afternoon and quickly a pick-up game began with several Malagasy guys.  None of the guys were wearing shoes so Jamie and Jonathan took off their cleats and played barefoot also.  The cleats were used then for the goal posts...

Sekoly is “school” in Malagasy and is what transpires four days a week for the three older kids on our team; Isabella (4), Oliver (3), and Eliana (2).  Sekoly coincides with Malagasy language lessons for the parents, however it’s a very different education for these little ones.  Jamie is their exuberant teacher and as a result, sekoly days are full of explorations and adventures, singing, learning Malagasy words, as well as...

Cooking most always poses some kind of challenge here in Madagascar!   Unfortunately, a lot of my time goes into cooking for our family.  I remember this from years past and it’s still true today.  There’s a variety of reasons why this is so… there are many ingredients and spices that simply can’t be found even in the “big stores” in the capital, when fruits and vegetables aren’t in season they’re not on the island, recipes are in grams...

  Often referred to as the “Eighth Continent of the World”, Madagascar is quite the unique island.  Around every corner there’s intriguing and sometimes not so intriguing sights and scenes.  We’ll spare you from the “not so” intriguing ones….  however, we will share with you the beauty of this Eighth Continent and the people who live here!  Come, walk into our world….