July 23, 2004
"Impressions of the people of Madagascar"
by Belinda Hodgson

Before I set off to Madagascar, I didn't know what to expect of people with a culture and way of life so different from my own. But now that I have met the village locals both at church, on the project, and in the village, I realize that we are not so different after all. The children at the church all dressed in their Sunday best were the most well-behaved I have ever seen. Even the tiniest ones sat on the pew waiting for the service to begin, occassionally turning around to give us a big cheeky grin. After the services the villagers shook our hands and were very happy to have their photographs taken. In fact they were very excited to see their images displayed on the digital camera. They showed us great hospitality on our visit and the retired preacher said he hoped we would come every week.

My second encounter was with Fred's family. Fred is the happiest young man I have ever seen, with his engaging smile and sparkling eyes. So I suspected that Fred/s family might be similar. I wasn't disappointed when I visited his home on a domestic animal health trip to castrate his 2 cats. His family greeted us with smiles and handshakes and laughed and joked whilst trying to catch the cats. There was his mother and father and all his brothers and sisters the youngest of which was a beautiful baby with chubby cheeks, and upturned nose and deep soulful eyes. She was very interested in me and motioned that she wanted to come to me.So I put out my arms. I think her mother was very pleased in the interest she was showing me, but also surprised as the baby was usually scared of white people. Everyone seemed engaged by my playing with her, holding her in the air to make her laugh. I told her moher in sign that I had two children and she motioned that she had 5.

Although the purpose of my visit is the fossa, my second interest was the people and their culture, and I have to say that these are some of the nicest people I have met anywhere. They seem to be very happy, bright, honest and open. They do not seem to complain about their lot. We in the possession-obsessed west should really take note. If you have got what you need (food, water, shelter and community), then that is what matters and makes one happy. Possessions are only things, and ultimately in our stressed out world, We should remember this. We should take pleasure in what we have and not stress too much in what we have not.