Friends From Madagascar

Susan and Sister Velosoa at our apartment. One of the great blessings we have received while serving here in the Joburg Temple is being able to see, once again, some of the great people we knew while we were in Madagascar. We never dreamed when we left Madagascar that we would one day meet some of these special people again. This young lady was a sister missionary while we were there. She came to our office almost every Monday morning for cookies. We loved her. She is presently here with a friend of hers that is receiving medical treatments which are not available in Madagascar.

The couple on the right is Emanuel and Alice Rakotovao, who served here as temple missionaries until December. What wonderful people they are. They were very valuable in the temple because of their ability to speak French, Malagasy and English very well. They also had a very special spirit about them. We first met them while we were in Madagascar just prior to their coming here and our returning to our home in Utah.

Sister Bird with Sitrika's family. He was a mini missionary while we were there.

Fred and Helisoa. She was also a sister missionary while we were there and a regular visitor on Mondays for cookies and candy.

This is Brother Ndrasanirina and his new bride Felina. She was also sister missionary and frequent visitor for cookies.

Below is Solofo, our old guardian at our flat until he went on his mission to Africa. His new bride, who's name we are trying to remember, was also a sister missionary who frequently visited us.

Sister Bird's Little Friend

Sister Bird found this little fellow chewing on a small dirty block of wood. He wasn't too interested in her however, as she interrupted his play. This is in the village of Amboanjobe where we just completed our final 2009 water project. There is a water fountain nearby.

This is as close to a smile as we could get from little "Buster". He was not too impressed with us white people.

English Classes

This is our Tuesday night English class. They are the faithful ones who have stuck it out through the 25 lessons in the course. The lady on the left is Sister Noeline, the wife of a counselor in the stake presidency, who is a school teacher. Two on the front row work for Caritas, an arm of Catholic Relief Services (CRS). The rest are workers at the national Health Ministry. The classes are held in our down town stake center.

This is our Thursday night class. All are from the Health Ministry. Several are doctors. It has been a delight to teach English to these very bright and dedicated people.

The People and the Projects

We are at a preliminary meeting in Ambohipandrano with the Maire and the water committees of several villages discussing the possibility of future clean water projects for their people. The need is so great all throughout the country and yet, most areas have good clean springs in the mountains above their villages. By the time the water runs on the surface for any distance it is contaminated.

This is a well protective structure being built as a part of one of our local Area initiatives, in the Village of Ambohimanambola. A total of 14 wells in the Commune will receive similar protective structures as part of this project.

At the river bank, all of the women are busy doing their laundry except one, who is having fun fishing. I can't blame her, I would much rather be fishing than doing laundry!! Right, Roger?

Sister Bird and Friends

Sister Bird, with her fair skin, is always a hit with the village women. You would never know that these women had never before seen a white woman the way they take to her.

Sister Bird loves teaching the kids the "Hokey Pokey". They are really getting into it.

Sister Bird with some of her friends from our Branch and Njara at the water project ceremony in Ambalavao.

One version of the Malagasy Taxi. Yahoo !!!

Beautiful Children

A fly in the eye......No problem!

Nothing can put a smile on your face faster than sucking on a fresh lime.

Miss Madagascar??

The eyes of the children. So innocent, sweet and happy.

Stake Conference

At our last Stake conference, we had about 1,500 people attend. This includes people from all of Madagascar, though most live in and around Antananarivo.

Our visiting Authority was Elder and Sister Usi. He is a member of the Third Quorum of the Seventy. They live in Kenya. They are wonderful people. Sister Bird was particularly fond of Sister Usi.

Oldest Man in Madagascar ???

At one of our water projects, we ran across this little old man. His family told us that he was 105 years old and still works daily in the rice fields. If that is true, it is truly amazing. He was a little hard of hearing, like Elder Bird, but otherwise seemed in excellent health. He said he is anxious for the water to come to the village.

Malagasy Station Wagon

This family is headed into the nearest village for "Market Day". This is a once a week event in the countryside, and is the social gathering place for everyone. This is probably two or three families riding together, much like the LDS mini-vans back home.

Dental Week in Action

This lady is receiving an extraction free of charge as a part of the project. The dentists did 780 extractions the first day of this 4 day event.

















This is the crowd gathered at the hospital - dental facility, awaiting their turn with the dentists. Tooth decay is a major health problem for the Malagasy people. They usually live with the decay until extraction is the only remaining option. Extractions are much cheaper than fillings and most people have multiple teeth missing.

Morondava Relief Effort

This food relief effort was our first major project in Madagascar. The Church funded this large food relief program bringing much needed food and mosquito nets to 14,000 homeless cyclone victims. Elders Jack and Peterson worked in the sweltering heat and humidity distributing rice, beans, cooking oil and sugar to the victims of cyclone Fanele in Morondava, a coastal city in western Madagascar.

Elder Peterson and Red Cross volunteers work side by side in the food line of one of the tent camps where we distributed food.

Kids of a tent camp where the homeless victims of the cyclone were housed.

These are some of the poor people in one tent camp waiting their turn in the food line. We were told that most of these people hadn't eaten food in several days. We were almost reduced to tears as we realized the great blessing this food relief effort was to these poor people. This particular camp contained several lepers. The little lady in the center has no fingers on her hands. One lady behind the one with no fingers had a large growth on her neck the size of a softball. Several others were similarly afflicted. We are so blessed to be a part of this effort.

Visit to a Roadside Fruit Stand

These two happy shoppers came away with a little more than they bargained for. They got a great deal on these fat little fellows. Two for the price of one.

A visit to a remote roadside fruit/vegetable stand is always a pleasant and rewarding experience. Wonderful, friendly people and great prices on on the produce. Those pineapples are heavenly! We just can't get enough of them.

Find The Vazaha

This is a test of your visual skills. Can you find the White Vazaha Sister Missionary among the school girls at Sabotsy High School in this picture? If you can, you have passed the test.

Recycling - Malagasy Style

Dumpster diving is a profession here in Madagascar. Nothing ever goes to waste here. These dumpsters are gone through so thouroughly that by the time they are hauled off, the only thing that is left is pure compost. And we think we have a recycling program in the States.

Hi - We're Your New Neighbors

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This is our next door neighbor. He is in the process of adding an additional floor to his already high rise apartment. When more kids come along or when relatives move in, they just tear off the roof and add another story. We felt secure before, but now the building is approaching the top of our security fence. They can just hop over the top and they're in. It has been a real sight to follow the progress of the building