Despite having sandwiches at five, we go to Coco Beach on the night of our return to camp at Lanirano. I drink a gin and tonic. I am so excited to have ice cubes. I have a chinese soup. We talk about school for children: we ask each other whether we were ever hit, we complain about the expense of private school, and we speculate about the importance of a good school.
We have baguettes for breakfast on the 21st of February. We give Manga a bunch of laundry to do. I go into town in the morning. I get some supplies at Prix Unique before going to Hotel Kaleta. I respond to a lot of emails from my family. We go to lunch at Filao. It is just six of us to begin: Matt and Delphine are checking into a hotel and Sarah is unable to attend. I have avocado and shrimp to start and a chicken club sandwich. The orange juice is tart and that is very refreshing. I go back to Kaleta after lunch to try to videochat with my parents. Despite two hours of attempts, we are unable to connect. I miss the group at Libanona beach but I have a nice walk back to camp. There was pumpkin with rice for dinner. Since Jo went to a hotel too, I am the oldest Pioneer at camp.
I wake early. I find me to be alone in the school. I go outside to meditate under a tree. I go back to sleep at about five. I get eggs for breakfast around seven. Lou does not feel well. Ruth gets upset at breakfast. We fill out the review of our last placement. I adamant about being direct concerning shortcomings of the staff. Declan finds that Sarah dealt well with a barrage of questions before our scheduled departure for Ft. Dauphin. I have to agree. I forget to mention that we failed to complete a half day of work last Sunday because we planned to go to a wedding that one of eight of us attended.
I get a mille fueille in Kaleta before lunch. The internet does not work. In the office, we meet Ginny, the new project development leader. She worked disaster relief in the UK. After lunch, I get a cell phone before joining Jo, Ruth, and Aven at Ancuna beach. We meet a Quebecois boy who is traveling. He wants to volunteer. We go to a church concert by the market. Some english teachers help me understand what is happening. The chinese restaurant is nearby. I don't order enough food because my stomach hurts. Also, I order lemonade and I receive Bonbon Anglais...fail. It tastes like fizzy bubblegum. Back at camp, Declan and I talk through problems we have with another volunteer. It feels good to have things in the open but we need to widen the audience to the the person concerned.
In the night a cyclone hits. I am awake at 630am, believing it, for some reason, to be already 10am. The grounds are flooded and we have the morning off from work! I read a few chapters of the book, Emma, with Ruth. It is a quite afternoon.
The next day does not dry the ground, but there is not much rain. We all saw. Ruth and Matt have infections on their legs. We have white beans for lunch. I eat a lot of rice. The guide let us try a few small, fried fish that they bought from a woman who passed by while we were at work. Ruth takes a break in the afternoon to reapply her bandages. After work, we get ready to go to the last night of a concert the church choir of Yvonne. Tsina dows not approve given the conditions. I play Euchre with Louis against Matt and Declan. We beat them in two out of three games. I get a little drunk. After most are asleep, I try to talk to Ruth about publicly teasing one another because in order to discern better when it is going to be taken seriously.
This is our camp at Lanirano a day after the cyclone
We go to the office on the day after to learn about the project. We are building long drop latrines for section of Ft. Dauphin that suffers considerable open defecation. There is adequate funding for a few hundred toilets. We are behind on the first order of sixty. Our work is pretty hard since it is done at camp, an hour walk from where the latrines are to be installed. We are preparing part for the top structure. It will have a ventilation tube. There is a wooden frame that will be filled with traveler palms for privacy and shelter. Below the cement san plat on which users squat is a cement box with a small hole for cleaning. We are cutting and chiseling wood for the top structure. We also prepare the cement box cover. Our hours are pretty relaxed and we do not really have a goal for our time here: we are just going to get to what we get to.
This is the frame that we need to recreate for the top structure of the toilets
We go to restaurants frequently. On the night of the twenty sixth, we go to La Filao with the ACP crew. I have a nice onion quiche to start and a cheeseburger for my main course. The cheeseburger is a lot like those they serve at In-and-Out because it has a mayo ketchup sauce. I enjoy my conversation with James about his experience in St. Luce and his travel plans. I have a mint sorbet for desert. I try to order Farci Crab after the meal but the order does not get through. We go out to the bar, Florida after dinner. Louis eats some cashews that I took out of my pocket and threw into an ash tray. I leave early because I have a stomach ache. A few people come. We are stopped by the police. We do not have all our passports. They ask for some compensation. Over the phone, Aime persuades them to let us go home.
This is an area we pass on the walk between Lani and Ft. Dauphin
On the twenty seventh, I chisel a lot. My hands are sore. I visit hotel Croix du Sud for wifi after work. It is so nice. I manage to change my flight fro Tana for a later date.
On the last day of February, and we are again woodworking. My butt gets sore while chiseling. We buy crab for lunch from a lady walking distance buy camp. She is a little drunk and we get 15 lice crab for 6usd. Our day guard boils them and adds spices. We meet with Joe concerning the upcoming community survey. We are also going to make a map. Joe has been here since his Pioneer experience two years ago! At Croix du Sud, I find that I will need a visa to visit South Africa. I transfer money to Claude. And I request frequent flier miles for my trip here. I eat dinner alone because the other Pioneers went to Coco Beach.
We go to Fara Fara on the first of March to celebrate open defecation free day. We have breakfast between half five and six in the morning but the camion doesn't come until half seven. We are in Farafara after being cramped with basically the entire Azafady crew for two hours. Under the shade of a tarpaulin, we wait for the chef De cartier of Mahatalaky. He thanks everyone from the NGO and from the community in Madagascar. You there are a few speeches that are along these lines. Then we give out certificates and buckets. I watch a movie on a projector. It details how essential competition for cleanliness is for encouraging a community to use latrines. We feast. I open a Window whose opening is prohibited while I drink beer. The camion gets a flat on the way back, and so we spend almost two hours walking. It catches us and takes us the rest of the way. Under the impression that there is no food, we go out to Chez Coco for dinner. We meet the ACP's there but Christian, a tea drinking German, stayed at camp. Declan tells his story about getting a black eye from his ex girlfriend. James tells me that there is a lot of money in mining in Australia. I eat again upon returning to camp. Declan, Aven, and and Ruth go out for more drinks. Ruth is back in the school at four am. I meditate.
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