Beside the Baobab

Life on the Other Side

mandy — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 23:13:54 +0000

We are settling in to life in Alaska for a bit. We have our time zones all straightened and have adjusted to the frigid temps and white fluffy stuff all around us. For all of you who are confused about what/why/where we are in the world right now; we are at our home in Anchorage off and on through August. Here are a few things that will be filling our days the next few months:

1. connecting with long-lost and dearly loved friends, family, supporters and churches throughout the country

2. sharing about our work in Madagascar with anyone that will listen

3. Jonathan will get his hands back in western medicine a couple weeks each month so he can keep his skills sharpened and our finances out of the red (thankfully this also affords us to put 100% of our support towards ministry costs while away)

4. Oliver will attend pre-school when we are in town where he is playing with lots of “little english friends” as he calls them and relishing over the plethora of English speakers and houses with toys everywhere we go.

5. ski, run up mountains and down trails, bike, kayak and camp any free moment we get

6. travel to 4 other states to focus on #1 and 2

7. drink lots of good coffee, eat lots of good food and go to the grocery store as much as possible because it is so fun and so easy and for the most part we can find every material thing we really need in life there (except bananas, which Fred Meyer was out of yesterday….a very strange experience, since in Madagascar that is something we never run out of).

8. spend time at our World Venture headquarters office in CO for meetings and personal and team debriefing

Baby, It’s Cold Outside

mandy — Sun, 19 Feb 2012 00:28:37 +0000

Travel Update

mandy — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 06:14:57 +0000

We made it to the US. After 30 hours of flight time and several days of in between, we are glad to of landed at our home in Alaska. Now working our way through the crazy fog of a 12 hour time change. We are tired, but happy campers.

Travel Update

mandy — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 13:28:26 +0000

2 of 5 flights down; kids, parents & luggage all in one piece. So far so good! We’ll let you know when we make it to the other side.

Top 10 Miss List

mandy — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 10:50:25 +0000

As we close up shop on this end of the world for a few months to head back to the states there are many things we will miss about home in Madagascar:

1. Opportunity

Daily we are faced with opportunities to give in tangible ways to people greatly in need; a loaf of bread, a bottle of water, a prayer, medicine, a listening ear.

2. our teammates

Jamie and Alissa Shattenberg and their little brood of 3. They are much more than our teammates. They are like a brother and sister to us as we have ventured through the highs and weathered the lows of our first year in Madagascar together.

3. Fish

oh, the fresh fish in Madagascar….its is good….and big….and cheap.

4. the land

Madagascar is beautiful. During the rainy season the land turns vibrantly green overnight.

5. Friends

The last six months in Mahajanga has been a time of budding and deepening relationships. We look forward to growing in these relationship upon our return.

6. French school

Oliver has taken off in his school in every direction. He will miss his teacher, classmates and new found language (although we still do get occasional reports of his determination to teach others English).

7. Mangarano

This tiny mango packs a lot of punch and is the new family favorite. Its so good you literally drink it. Just cut a little hole and voila, instant goodness.

8. Freshness

Having very little access to traditional store bought foods means we live from scratch. Although its a labor intensive lifestyle in the kitchen, the payoff is worth it. Fresh tortillas, fresh bread, and homemade spaghetti sauce are a few of our weekly staples.

9. Beach

We live in a coastal town and our house is a 5 min. walk from the beach. That comes with some serious perks.

10. Sunsets

Nothing like the sunset over the Mozambique channel. We love our special family tradition of trying to catch as many sunsets as we can.

Chains and Trees

mandy — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 10:26:02 +0000

Last weekend we took a trip to visit our friends at Toby. As per our previous experiences, we were met on the spot by the illest person on site at the moment. This is always a bit confusing because due to our own language and cultural barriers we are by far the last ones to know that the person we are conversing with is ill. The last two times this has occurred it is after our lengthy and tangental conversation that I realized the man before us had chains either on his hands or feet. This means he’s ill. Why chains? Chains are a way that the Toby staff or fellow family members use to restrain a patient that they see as a danger to himself or others. They are used temporarily when needed. In this man’s case he was in a full blown manic episode. He has Bipolar Disorder however his caretakers have very little to no clinical knowledge about this disorder. What they do know are the signs of it: he hasn’t slept in days, he won’t stop talking and pacing, he thoughts far exceed reality, etc. Since the opportunity presented itself we were able to assist his family and Toby staff with education and understanding about the cycles of Bipolar Disorder and to help sort out various medications they had on hand but did not know how to effectively administer.

Our purpose of this visit was to teach about health and hand out trees. Not just any tree, the miracle tree that we have been raving about. The church filled with men, women and children and Jonathan gave a presentation. Then we opened up the trunk of the car as people gathered eagerly to receive their tree. I heard people walking away shouting, “vitamins, vitamins” as they proudly walked home with their new Moringa tree. It was a joyous occasional for all.

Where there is no normal

mandy — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 11:49:32 +0000

If you’ve spent any time on the fringes of the earth then you are probably familiar with the popular book, Where There is No Doctor. It’s a household staple for us traveling types. (Even though we have a household doctor of our own, Jonathan has found this book to be a very useful teaching tool). All that to say as we pack our house and bags again and prepare to spend a few months stateside I have been doing a lot of reflecting about our wild and at times unwieldy life style where “normal” is hard to come by. Our little world has been turned upside down and spun around a few times since we left our home in Alaska in August 2009 to begin a grand adventure. From traveling across the US in our VW camper van to studying French in our dingy Parisianish apartment to settling into life on the remote island of Madagascar, its has definitely been a life-altering experience. We’ve been stretched far outside of our comfort zones; we’ve learned to adapt to new people, places, languages, custom, foods, weather; we have been challenged with how to respond responsibly to the extreme poverty that surrounds us and we have been sTrEsSeD…sometimes thriving under it and sometimes being crushed by it.

that's not snow

Our latest not normal experience has been living through the wet/cyclone/rainy season. Strange and unusual things are happening all around us. Namely massive amounts of mold and bugs. “Oh the ants come marching in” is a daily theme around our house. And something about wet weather makes ants ferociously hungry. A grain of rice on the floor will draw out hundreds. I have even seen an army of ants carrying away a live roach for dinner, unbelievable. I remind myself daily that I am bigger and stronger as I go to war against these tiny terrors. Crazier than the ants though is the mold. Things around our house are molding before our eyes: hats, jewelry, wall hangings, bags, toys. Jonathan came in the kitchen the other day holding Alex and exclaiming, “you will never guess what molded?” (a daily guessing game in our house). I exclaimed back in panic, “Alex!” I have just been waiting for it, fearing we are next. Thankfully that hasn’t happened yet, it was just a mat outside.

Rain, Rain Go Away

mandy — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 18:01:04 +0000

We are experiencing our first tropical storm on the island. Chanda, as the experts call her, is currently 500km south of us, but her tail end is still giving our town a beating.
I am finding that there is a lot to learn about tropical island rainy/cyclone season in Madagascar.
While there may be annoyances for me like laundry that never dries, cooped up children and an army of outside life that takes up residence inside (aka BUGS), it is nothing compared to what our friends and neighbors endure.
It doesn’t take much wind and rain to topple over a house built on sand or a house built of leaves and flimsy pieces of metal. And that is what most houses around us are made of. It’s hard to imagine what it would be like to live in a pool for days. Beds, clothes, furniture soaking wet until finally the rain stops and the sun returns. This is reality for many people where we live. There is no laundromat to dry their blankets. Everyone is at the mercy of the weather; literally praying that the sun will come out tomorrow.
We helped a friend today buy the materials needed to patch her roof to keep the rain out. She had been plugging holes with bars of soap through the night until the soap ran out. For $2.50 she can patch holes in her roof; this is more than half a day’s wages. A steep price when you are living on pennies.

That’s life in Madagascar.

The Gift of Giving

Jonathan — Mon, 26 Dec 2011 13:12:07 +0000

It was a shopping spree like none other. One 100lb gunny of rice, 10 live chickens, several baskets of assorted vegetables, a sack of flour and a sack of sugar. Mandy and I loaded up the car, grabbed the boys, and drove out into the bush. We were headed back to Toby [Toobee] to bring a little Christmas cheer to some of the poorest and neediest people on the planet. As we pulled into the compound, the bell gonged and the sick and care-givers alike began to collect in the plain concrete church. We greeted many with whom we had met during our last visit: the pastor, the community leader, and the sick man who had previously been chained up to protect those around him. It was such a pleasure to give this gift from us and our supports to this community… to see their eyes light up when they saw the luxury items of flour and sugar… to hear the kids sing and dance… to see the smiles on the faces of the sick. For us the most touching moment was when an elderly sick lady presented us with her chicken as a thank you. It was a poignant reminder that it is not the gift but the heart of the giver that is important. It was a powerful opportunity to reflect on the greatest gift of all as we celebrate the birth of Christ.
Click to view slideshow.

New traditions

mandy — Mon, 26 Dec 2011 12:46:05 +0000

A fun new tradition that we began this Christmas was our first annual American/Malagasy/Norwegian all in the spirit of Mexico and Jesus Posada. This is a tradition that my mom carried out in our neighborhood when I was young. It’s simple. You gather kids together, have them play dress up and re-enact the Christmas story, sing songs and then eat food together. We had a blast joining with families and friends and carrying on this festive tradition in our yard this year. It’s definitely a repeater.

Click to view slideshow.