Do you all remember Steve Irwin… AKA The Crocodile Hunter? I have always shared a similar love and passion for the wild and the animals within. Last week I finally got an hour to go for a run so I decided to explore the forests of Subic Bay Freeport Zone. In hindsight, it was a run in memory of Steve Irwin, the Crocodile Hunter. It all started off with a face off with a troop of cranky Macaque monkeys, all whom had serious cases of...

The last three weeks I have shifted not only countries but also roles as Alissa is doing an intensive midwifery internship with the Mercy In Action midwives. As she is working many hours a day and on call 24/7 for births, I am at home with the kids. I have become Mr. Mom in the Philippines. We’re in an unknown country where I have to learn how to and where to shop all over again, where I don’t know the best brand of laundry detergent, or butter...

  For some odd parental reason I now have the kids song, “the ants go marching one by one” stuck in my head thanks to the catchy title of this post! In the last week here at the Mercy Midwives Birthing Home we’ve had 4 deliveries… 4 precious new babies entered the world safely. And at least for these last four, they’ve come in two by two. The first set of two ladies delivered within 45 minutes of one another. A few days later, two...

Mercy Midwives Birthing Home is the birth center through Mercy In Action that I’m interning at here in Olongapo. Though Mercy In Action has initiated, successfully operated and turned over many birth centers in the last 21 years here in the Philippines, this particular birth center has only been open for just over a year. Word is still getting out. The first week that we were here, I helped Lanie, a Philippino friend and employee of Mercy...

Last week we arrived in Olongapo, Philippines where we’ll call home for the next 6+ weeks. We were blessed beyond measure as our teammates here had already found and furnished a small house for us… no easy feat in a developing country! As though this isn’t gift enough, the house is literally right across the street from the Mercy Midwives Birthing Home where I’ll continue my midwifery training. Within 2 hours of our arrival, I was called...

One of the great benefits of the missionary life is the requirement of traveling through other countries to get to your final destination. For example, we’re currently in the Philippines so that I can complete my midwifery training (more to come on this one) and the most direct way to the Philippines from Madagascar is through Thailand. In my opinion, not such a bad place to have to travel through! As such, we made the most of our pass through...

It’s been a week since we left the great Red Island of Madagascar. There are several aspects of our life that we already miss… and there are some aspects for which we’re happy to have a break from. Here’s our top few…. TO MISS… 1. Friends… We’ll all miss our Malagasy friends who are an integral part of our lives. 2. Jamie will miss his direct involvement with the  management of the large scale mangrove reforestation work...

Flashback to October 9, 1999– I stepped off a Malagasy sailboat and into life within the village of Mahabana. A village barely touched by the outside world and so entrapped by the vices of poverty on every level. A village where 30% of the population controlled the other 70% simply due to ownership of canoes and fishing supplies. A village were many of the desperate 70% were enslaved to the manipulating 30% through debt bondage, as...

Since we’re below the equator here in Madagascar, our seasons are reversed. So while many of you are enjoying some cooler days, perhaps even too cold, we’re suffering through some intense heat and humidity. If you’ve ever been to my hometown of Santa Barbara, you know that the weather there is really as close to perfect as you can get….well maybe it could be a little warmer in the summers… but still, it’s pretty darn amazing. Not...

These two words don’t seem to make a lot of sense when put together… why would someone choose poverty? Why when someone has lived their entire life in poverty, married into poverty, birthed their babies into poverty and currently are raising their kids in poverty, why would they choose to continue to live in life debilitating extreme poverty? Why when given an opportunity to enter a women’s training program where they can make money every...

My husband is a Third Culture Kid (TCK)…. I am not… I’m a Santa Barbara kid! Yet we are raising TCK’s. And what exactly is a TCK? Well, I’m glad you asked… By definition the Third Culture Kid “is a person who has spent a significant part of their developmental years outside the parents’ culture. The TCK frequently builds relationships to all of the cultures, while not having full ownership in any. Although elements from each...

A week and a half ago we made the drive to the capital city, Antananarivo. 2/3 of the way there, we pulled over on the side of the road for a potty break and to stretch our legs. As we got out of the car, there was a man and two women walking towards us along the road. We said hello to them and then they turned off the main road onto a footpath to continue on to their destination. Jamie, being the wonderful dad that he is, decided to play hide...

Traveling between our city of Mahajanga and the capital city of Antananarivo is roughly 350 miles but travel takes 10+ hours with only small towns dotted along the two lane national highway. As such, there are only small take-your-chances-on-getting-sick restaurants along the way. So when hunger pains come and it’s time to stop for lunch, we pull over under a good tree, find a descent rock to sit on and take out our packed lunches. And when...

This last week has been an interesting one with ever-changing plans. The kind of interesting that happens with life in ministry and the associated spiritual battles. Last Thursday our family made the 10-hour drive to the capital city to take care of some things before we leave Madagascar next month. The kids and I were scheduled to fly back to Mahajanga while Jamie stayed in the capital to pick up Steve Fitch, the president of Eden...

The drastic contrasts we experience in our life in Madagascar on a daily basis is phenomenal and sometimes overwhelming. The cold of our air conditioned car to the oppressive heat outside, the filth on the streets to the cleanliness of a nice restaurant, but by and far, the biggest contrast we’re faced with daily is the extreme poverty and the rich. In America, we’re not rich… we’re middle class folks. In Madagascar however, we’re...

When it comes to shopping, and I’m talking shopping for food, this statement is so true here in Madagascar…you never know what you’re gonna get.  When we lived here 9 years ago, the food items in terms of variety were limited, very, very limited.  When we returned a year ago, I was absolutely ecstatic how times, and items on the shelf, have changed.   Here’s a sneak peak list of items we CAN get here in Madagascar. *Ketchup,...

Last post I told you about our Family Outing to a Birth and promised that the story wasn’t over yet.  Unfortunately it wasn’t over… and three weeks after the birth of this little girl, the story still continues.  Medical care in Madagascar is, we’ll just say, sub-optimal to put it nicely.  Case in point… The baby in my previous post was born at 35 weeks gestation and weighed just over 5 pounds at birth.  The mom and baby stayed in...

Family Outing to a Birth My days lately have all been running together, but sometime before Christmas we experienced a new type of family outing… to the birth of a baby.  We were enjoying dinner out with a couple who are considering returning to Madagascar when I received a text from the doctor I’m working with.  First time mom, 35-weeks along in her pregnancy and 4 centimeters dilated.  Could I come?  Absolutely!  We finished dinner,...

Quiz: A customary gift of friendship here in Madagascar is: flowers a froofy-smelling candle a chicken a stuffed fish on a plaque to hang on the wall   If you guessed C. a chicken, congratulations!  Yes, a chicken is the traditional gift of friendship here in Madagascar.  There’s not any hard and fast rules about this (that I know of), however it’s the typical fomba or custom. Since we moved back to Mahajanga in July, we’ve received a few...

Last weekend on Christmas Eve we had a family first.  In the days leading up to Christmas, I was in a baking frenzy, making our hot kitchen all the hotter.  In total, I baked 19 dozen cookies as well as some bars.  We celebrated Christmas Eve day by delivering these scrumptious treats to our Malagasy friends and employees.  In Malagasy culture, it’s more of an honor to visit someone in their house.  So, all five of us loaded up into the car and...

A few days a week, after school is over and kids are awake from naps or rest time, our kids play with a regular group of 6-7 Malagasy kids.  It is awesome!  It brings joy all around– to our kids, the Malagasy kids, and to us.  Usually they play games like prison tag, kick-the-can and soccer.  They push each other on the tire swing and the girls braid one another’s hair.  Their play language is Malagasy with our girls trying to teach some...

If you didn’t already know, I’m a Master’s trained Family Nurse Practitioner and practiced for 5 years in the States before returning to school once again to attain my Midwifery licensure.  For the past 2 years, I’ve been slowly chipping away at my midwifery academics as well as attending prenatals and births.  A few weeks ago, I attended my first birth here in Madagascar.  As could be expected, it was different than the lovely home births I...

Christmas in Madagascar is… well, I’ll just say a little different than in the States.  It’s hot, it’s humid, there isn’t the Christmas music playing in the stores since before Thanksgiving.  There isn’t the buzz to go shopping and spend loads of money on Christmas presents.  There isn’t Christmas lights on the houses and beautifully lit and decorated Christmas trees in the windows.  There isn’t a bunch of holiday shindigs, ugly Christmas...

There is something amazing about seeing my children being cared for by the friends of my youth.  In truth, it is a dream come true.  I love watching my children experience the world of Madagascar that I grew up in, a world one would not appear to fit into and yet where one is welcomed without hesitation. Take for instance, Isabella riding on the back of Armand’s bicycle through the slums of Mahajanga with full confidence that Armand will care...

Last week I shared with you our family’s deep love relationship with Mangoes.  We’ve had the privilege to introduce numerous short-term folks to the scrumptiousness of this fruit… as well as how to cut the perfect mango.  So, with no further hesitation, I’ll share with you too the art of cutting a mango….       Step 1: Grab as many juicy, ripe mangoes as your hands (and shirt) can hold. Step 2:  Hold the mango...

Aaghhh, my favorite time of year in Madagascar… OK, well not really because it’s so unbelievably hot and muggy.  On average, it’s 97 degrees with an outrageous humidity level… somewhere around 80-90%.  However, with this ridiculous weather comes MANGOES, and this my friends, makes me very happy!  Mangoes are everywhere!  The trees are dripping sweetness all around.  Women are carrying them by basin-fulls balancing them on their...

Part of the goal of our work here in Madagascar is to see the health of the Malagasy people restored.  Nutrition is a huge part of the restoration of health.  There is a tree here in Madagascar, called felomorongo, in English, it’s the Moringa tree.  It’s also known as the “Miracle Tree” and “Mother’s Best Friend”.  And for good reason… check this out… (taken from the TreesForLife website)   While in Mahabana two weeks ago, we...

Here in Madagascar at this time of year, the air isn’t getting crisp, the leaves aren’t falling from the trees, nor are we sipping hot chocolate by the fireplace but never the less, the holidays are upon us. There are only a handful of Americans living in or around our town… 14 adults that we know of.  Just 14 Americans celebrating a holiday that most here in Madagascar have never heard of before. A few weeks back, I got a crazy bee up my...

Some exciting news was released yesterday.. One Day’s Wages is partnering with Eden Reforestation Projects who is partnering with us, Jamie and Alissa Shattenberg, to plant 100,000 more trees in Madagascar!  If you don’t know about One Day’s Wages… you should. Taken from their website, “One Day’s Wages (ODW) is a new grassroots movement of people, stories, and actions to alleviate extreme global poverty.  ODW promotes awareness, invites...

I have to admit, I was a little nervous as to how our kids would handle the village life of Mahabana.  It’s not easy living.  Hot and humid temperatures without escape, no electricity, no running water, no toilets, and only bucket showers.  Granted, it’s been a long time since I was 5 years old… but I should’ve remembered.  To our kids, once the excitement factor of our arrival vanished and the village kids weren’t so enthralled in the...

Getting to Mahabana is no easy task!  Though only 120 miles from the large city of Mahajanga, there are no roads, not even the semblance of a road.  In 2000, Jamie attempted to drive it once, it took 7 days, one way, and when they had driven as far as they could and after several problems with the car, including a small engine fire, they gave up and turned around.  They didn’t even make it half the distance to Mahabana. In the past, Jamie and I...

Mahabana is a small yet growing fishing village 120 miles south of where we live in the large city of Mahajanga.  When Jamie first went to Mahabana in 1999, the village consisted of just 100 people; today, it’s home to close to 400. After living there, Josy, a good Malagasy friend, took Jamie to Mahabana for the first time in 1999 with the hopes of good fishing and the chance to share the sweet message of Christ.  Just prior to their arrival...

Two weeks ago while in the capital city, Antananarivo, we saw quite the entrepreneurial spirit at work.  The guy in the photo above, was making his way through the neighborhoods, weighing people for 50 Ariary, the equivalent to 2.5 cents.  The crazy thing for this American mind of mine…. people were lined up to weigh in, especially women!  A lady would stop whatever she was doing, step on the scale with crowds of people surrounding her,...

As I said in my last post, our family along with my parents, went to the beauty country island of Mauritius for a vacation earlier this month.  One word sums up Mauritius… AMAZING!  By no means is the island a first world country but it is a long ways from Madagascar…. in fact, Mauritius is one of the developing world’s most “successful democracies”  compared to Madagascar that recently earned the title, “the World’s Worst Economy...

While my folks were visiting, we decided to forego the normal 10-hour drive to the capital city and instead take the quick 45-minute flight.  It sounds a bit like a no brainer but in fact, this was the first time we’ve done this… and it was so nice! We arrived at the airport the required 90 minutes prior to our flight, tickets and passports in hand.  I stepped up to the counter, gave them our electronic tickets and within minutes, all of...

While my folks were with us, the seven of us ventured over to the neighboring island of Mauritius in the Indian Ocean.  This was a long anticipated and planned trip, we were full of excitement for a vacation in a tropical paradise and Jamie and I were ready for a break from the “dailies” of Madagascar.  We arrived after dark, stepped off the plane and strolled into a beautiful air conditioned airport.  Within the first hour, the contrasts of...

What an absolute joy all around to have my parents with us!  They arrived bearing lots of love and gifts (including Christmas presents) from Santa Barbara.  They also came bearing some fun items from home… a few new movies and coloring books for the kids, some fishing lures for Jamie and coffee for me!  It’s been awesome to enjoy our days together, soaking up the parental and grandparental love that they bring and bestow upon us. The last...

The Story of their Lives…                     Sisters, Sissy (16) and Vanna (14) are the oldest of 5 kids.  We first met Sissy and Vanna in the remote fishing village of Mahabana in 2000.  At the time, they were young girls but their lives were already on the common track in such areas to be married at 13 years old, most likely pregnant by 14 and abandoned shortly thereafter, leaving them...

The Story of their Lives… Cousins, Clarisse (16) and Andry (13) have experienced a dramatic turn of events in their young lives.  Clarisse is the 3rd child of six.  She grew up in the small town of Anjijia, a farming community in the countryside of Madagascar.  Life in Madagascar is hard, and even harder in rural areas like Anjijia.  From an early age, children are taught and expected to help their parents to plant and tend the family’s...

Transportation in Madagascar is as varied as the people here.  For most, transportation is easy, free and God-given: their feet.  However, for some, transportation is on a sarety or ox cart.  For others, its by pousse pousse, bicycle or small motorcycle with the all-too-familiar sight of a family of five aboard.  Recently, there has been an influx of ATV’s in our beach community.  Then of course there is the car, both the old jalopy as well as...

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...