I'll Be Coming Home Next Year

I sat there in awe. The white, puffy clouds in the blue sky above me shimmered gold in the setting sun. As I lowered my gaze, the blue became purple, and the clouds darkened. Across the rice fields, that purple turned to gray and finally black, as a thunderstorm crept its way over the plains. The flashes of lightning at a distance only illuminated the magnificent view, and I thought to myself, “Wow, am I ever ‘sambatra!’ (blessed/lucky)”

I was drinking a few beers (THBs for those of you reading my last beer-heavy post), eating a delicious dinner of steak and fries, and watching the storm from atop a balcony at the new bar/restaurant just outside of my town (new to me, at least). While I may have felt a bit unfulfilled by a dinner without rice, it was a delicious change of pace and a nice way to start off my Christmas vacation. Perhaps what I was most struck by was the beauty of my surroundings: a storm rolling in over the miles and miles of rice fields, framed by mountains of grass and the early evening dusk.

Sitting there, watching this storm and relaxing, I realized how lucky I am to be here in Madagascar. Often, we Peace Corps Volunteers get caught up in complaining: my (Malagasy) coworkers are alcoholics; my community won’t work with me; Peace Corps doesn’t do this or that… Perhaps like anyone else, we get caught up in the minor details of our job or project or life. So caught up that we forget how special this experience is, and how amazing this country is. Or, I do, at least.

So, in honor of the holiday season, I think we should all take a moment to step back and see what makes our lives special. For me, it is being in an absolutely beautiful country, populated by all sorts of interesting people. It is a good time to take a break from the concerns of my daily life, such as the measurements of this season’s SRI [rice] plantings (25 cm or 30 cm??) or the schedule of an export shipment. Most people look to the future at New Years, setting goals of self-improvement for themselves (not necessarily long-lasting goals). But first, take some time to think about the people or places that make you smile. It is… refreshing.

So yes, I am headed on vacation. South-west bound, should be exciting! As for the title of this post, there are a couple reasons I used this particular lyric:

1) it is an awesome song.

2) One of the greatest people ever, who for the last 3 years held the professional title of “Potential Lunch Winner,” sent me a Foo Fighters shirt that was red with a lightning bolt. As I was watching a lightning storm, and hoping to not be struck myself (in my old training village it was taboo to wear red in a storm, or else you’d be hit by lightning), it seemed fitting.

3) It’s true. As of now, I should be back stateside early June 2011 (may need to stop off in Ethiopia to visit a certain ravenous bear). I just finished grad school applications, so hopefully I will soon have an idea of where I will be headed. Looking forward to many reunions at that time!

In Heaven There Is No Beer, That’s Why We Drink It Here

I meant to post something about this earlier, for all the graduates of Madagascar who remember that love/hate relationship with the flagship beer of Madagascar, THB. Its full name is Three Horses Beer, and it is… an acquired taste. THB is brewed by the only brewery in Madagascar, Star Brewery. Lately, a series of other beers have made appearances on the Malagasy scene, under the THB label or the Gold label. Gold itself is quite good, and they produced an excellent (at least, by good-beer-deprived PCV standards) Amber beer. They recently released a Blonde beer as well. These options, along with the THB Special (not bad) and THB Bex (terrible), have one thing in common: they are all produced by Star. Star creates the illusion of competition, while actually reaping all the benefits of a monopolized market. (Sidenote: The Wire, aka the best show ever, dealt with this issue in Season 2, when Stringer Bell and Bodie come up with the idea of creating false competition between the different towers...) Well, until now.

Just in time for the holiday season, Madagascar has a new beer, released by a new brewery. That beer is called Skol (spelled like the cheap vodka, but not like the dip). And it is quite tasty; in a blind taste test, a la the Pepsi Challenge, 3 out of 4 PCVs places it as the best beer, above THB and Gold. It tastes similar to Gold, which is a good thing. Of course, how long can a new beer survive when the market is saturated with its competition? I’m not sure, but I’m rooting for you, Skol. Just do something about that bottle size (instead of the normal 65 cl, it is only 55)

For those of you not interested in Malagasy beer culture, yet still reading, I thank you. A quick recap on what has been happening in my life:

-As I predicted in the last post, the “coup” led to nothing, and the new Constitution passed, and Madagascar inaugurated the 4^th Republic last weekend. The government is moving ahead with its program, with or without domestic/international support, and all is peaceful, at least!

-We did successfully export the first shipment of organic rice from Madagascar last month. It was quite a headache, and I’m sure the project will continue to have issues, but come 2011 you should be able to find organic Madagascar Pink Rice for sale from Lotus Foods. Fun stuff for you foodie/hippie types!

-I “finished” my Peace Corps service, but am extending 6 months as a “Peace Corps Response” volunteer. It is mostly just a nomenclature change. But it means I will be here til the end of May 2011, at which time hopefully the younger Planicka will come visit and we can travel a bit? Then on to Grad School (applying as we speak…)

-The Moringa trees I mentioned briefly in my last post, when talking about the children’s center, are growing extremely well (whereas everything else here is struggling due to very dry conditions… waiting on the rains!) I will probably write more about that center as I plan to work with them more in the next few months; it is a good way to maintain my connection to environmental work, while also getting to play with kids (things I miss in a more office-oriented job).

-To wrap up, here’s a brief glimpse of life on the road in Madagascar: a bridge between my town and my banking town, Ambato, has been out for a few weeks now. It is a panel bridge, with half meter by one meter metal panels covering a metal skeleton structure. A few of these panels, which are supposed to fit in a way that they cannot fall through, fell through. So now taxi-brousses (mini-buses) have to stop on either side of the bridge, then people get out and cross the nearby railroad bridge on foot. What is really impressive is how quickly a mini-market set up around this bridge. It is in the middle of nowhere, yet there are pasta and fried bread sellers (staples of Malagasy street food), drink sellers, and porters to carry baggage from one minibus to another. The automobiles themselves park in an orderly, albeit ad hoc, fashion. It is one of the few times I have seen Malagasy people reacting to an issue and meeting the demands of a potential market. Pretty cool.

One note: I still am unsure what trucks (camions) do; they appear to just sit there on either side of the bridge waiting. Perhaps they transfer their goods also? Or, maybe they cross at a given time… I am told that the bridge, which is missing entire rows of panels and therefore has gaping holes, is passable on Sundays. Gotta get to church!

I Can't Tell You What It Really Is, I Can Only Tell You What It Feels Like...

And right now? It kind of feels like deja vu.

On Wednesday afternoon, about 20 Malagasy military officers contacted international military to say they had overthrown the government and absolved all institutions, setting up a military ruling committee to broker an impartial transition and return to democratic practices. No one at that time in my town had heard anything of this, and as I later learned no one in the capital, Antananarivo, had heard about it either (despite the officers being located there and claiming to topple the political regime based there).

So what is this reminiscent of?

Is it May 20, 2010, when two factions of the armed forces clashed violently? (this led to the smaller rebellious faction fleeing, and after this one day of fighting no further events)

Is it March 17, 2009, when a small cabal of military officers toppled the ruling regime following months of political uncertainty? (this send then-President Marc Ravalomanana into exile, and the officers handed power to current-President Andry Rajoelina)

Is it November 18, 2006, when a military officer took control of the airport in the capital and claimed to have disbanded the government, setting up military rule? (This officer was subdued without major consequences and life continued as usual, more or less)

Is it 2002, where the military split and two capitals were set up under two Presidents, each claiming legitimacy while trying to isolate the other? (This was the most violent of recent crises, as bridges and communication links were cut to the capital)

It is still early to say for sure. I am, however, pretty certain that this situation is not similar to 2002. So far there has been no massive split in the military, and quite frankly my opinion is that the Malagasy are too tired of this crisis to rise up in arms against each other (This also rules out the event earlier this year). Indeed, outside of the capital, no one really cares about this latest stunt. Thus, it is looking similar to the 2006 coup claim, as the officers claimed to control the country on Wednesday but so far have been unable to move out of their barracks. They are, once again, isolated near the airport, and making claims far beyond what their actions have been able to substantiate (again, so far). The current situation is a direct descendant of the 2009 crisis, as the officers are fed-up with the transitional regime they installed (Rajoelina). Indeed, some of the officers were the very ones who led that (successful) changing-of-the-guard. Still, so far there is nothing to indicate this event is more than fiery rhetoric.

If a Coup Happens and No One Cares, Does It Make A Sound?

Here is what my day looked like when the coup d'etat "happened" - Wednesday was the referendum on the new constitution, so most work places and schools were closed for voting. The vote was a simple "Yes" of "No" on a constitution re-written to allow a younger president (age limit changed from 40 to 35), along with other less-noticeable (by me) changes. President Rajoelina, aged 36, pushed strongly for the "Yes" aspect, appearing at rallies with popular Malagasy musicians and promising public works projects (fixing RN44, an olympic swimming pool for Toliara, millions of Ariary for each fokontany, etc.)

Peace Corps had warned us about the election, and asked us to avoid major gatherings. As such, and since my Koloharena office was closed for the day for the voting, I set-up a Moringa planting project with a friend. This friend, M. Henry, runs a small community center. This center was recently started with funding raised by the previous two volunteers in this town, and they focus on providing nutritious meals, vocational training and education to at-risk youth. It is a small project with laudable goals and lots of potential. The kids come once-to-twice-a-week for meals and lessons. I visited last week, and decided to plant some Moringa trees on M. Henry's property, both as teaching examples for future lessons with the children and to provide another nutritious ingredient for meals (a fellow RPCV contacted me this week, asking, "What was that miracle plant that was all the rage when we were volunteers?" He was talking, of course, about Moringa!) Anyways, I spent the morning planting tree seeds and talking about Moringa. I then rewarded myself with a nice lunch at the best hotely in Madagascar (for ex-Amparafa-ites, Tsiky Tsaky and the henakisoa sy tsaramaso!) I made it home in the early afternoon, having successfully avoided anything to do with the referendum!

That afternoon, I went to the market and noticed the voting taking places. It was orderly and overall quite subdued. People went about their business calmly. One difference I did notice: no alcohol for sale. I was also informed that if any drunks were on the street, they would be arrested. Seems like a good way to avoid altercations! I then went back to the office to check emails and follow-up on our rice container departure. As I was getting ready to finish up there, I checked google news for any Madagascar updates. This is a regular habit, and I just type in "Rajoelina" to avoid any articles about Madagascar the movie(s). This works well, because any article about Madagascar the country invariably includes something like "Madagascar has been embroiled in a political crisis since the takeover by ex-radio DJ Andry Rajoelina." It was only at this time that I learned, along with the rest of the country, that there had been a "Coup."

What Happens Now?

As I mentioned, very little came of this coup claim. Rajoelina and his companions quickly claimed to have a firm hold on the situation. The rebels have been holed up in their barracks since then, apparently negotiating for a bloodless end to their attempt to take power. In the meantime, referendum results are being processed, and throughout the island life has continued quite normally. Peace Corps has been taking precautions with volunteers, asking us not to travel until the situation becomes clearer. They have also been providing us with regular updates and are checking in with all PCVs.

Throughout these events, crowds have gathered and been dispersed via tear gas, much as they have for the past few months. Each day, local and international media claim that "today events could unfold that will clarify the situation," and at the end of the day they say something like, "tomorrow could be the day to decide events." This is very similar to Indecision 2009, when consolidated PCVs, Peace Corps and the US Embassy were all unsure of what would happen the next day, and in the end usually nothing happened at all. Thus, I highly doubt anything of substance will occur, and see this as just another of the drawn-out standoffs that Madagascar has become famous for.

How Can I Keep Up-To-Date On the Situation?

Check Google News each day, typing in Rajoelina or try just "Madagascar," we're all over the web right now. I read somewhere that the only time an election in Africa makes headlines is when violence occurs, and the only time Madagascar makes headlines for non-cartoon reasons is when their is a coup d'etat. Seems pretty true. I have found Reuters articles written by Alain Iloniaina to be particularly detailed (Here is his latest). For local coverage, you can check some of the links on my right-hand column, though most of the sites are overloaded with traffic these days, and local commentators are just as confused as international ones.

On a lighter note, I thought this article detailing "Development Speak" was a great look at the crazy vocabulary of the international aid world. Peace to all, and remember, no matter what you see on the 'Net, we are in good hands here and safe in our villages!

So Fresh and So Clean, Clean

About a month ago now, I moved to my new town, which is significantly bigger and richer than either of my past two villages. The first sign of this wealth? Walls. My previous villages had flimsy fences of papyrus reeds that cows could knock over with their breath (granted, cows have strong breath!), if they had fences at all. My new town has brick and concrete walls, topped with shards of broken glass to deter… thieves who don’t wear shoes, perhaps? I think it is a truism that when you have more wealth and prosperity, you have more to protect. Your defenses increase and your relationships with your neighbors decrease. There are still plenty of small huts and houses sharing communal ground here, but there are also many veritable compounds set off from the neighborhoods with high walls and mean dogs. Of course, we see the same phenomenon in the USA: small tight-knit neighborhoods giving way to walled off and/or separated large lots (Madison folks - so would that make “Woodgate” the equivalent of a village?)

There are other signs of this new wealth and prosperity in my town: electricity, meat in the market every day, and cold beers among my favorites. One new aspect that I had not given much thought before my arrival is a roof on my shower. In both of my last two villages, I had a shower stall of reeds about shoulder high with no roof. While this exposed my upper body to all on-lookers (and a 6ft white man regularly[1] bathing himself attracts a few), I had no problem with it. The roofless top allowed me plenty of range in showering; this is important because by showering I mean a “bucket shower,” or pouring cold water by the cupful over my head and body. Of course, this meant that if I wanted to shower when it was raining, then I showered in the rain. As I now know, this was a small price to pay…

In my training village, way back in early 2008, I also had a roof on my host family’s shower. This proved to be an unexpected challenge. As with most things in Madagascar, the shower roof was way too short for me, so I could not stand up in there. I had to crouch, in the “sitting on your heels” mode that is so popular in much of the developing world, and pour cups of water over my head, shifting my body to allow one cup to soak as much of my body as possible. I adapted to this relatively quickly, and it proved to be the far less embarrassing of my shower challenges during training[2].

So now I am back to this old method, as my shower here is tall enough for me to stand up in, but not tall enough for me to pour water over my head. So I crouch once again, and do the Shower Shimmy: head-shake into shoulder-shake into booty-shake, cleaning my whole body with the minimum of water. I know it sounds like a touchdown dance, but it’s a talent, really. And now that I have to be somewhat presentable at my office job, and because it’s getting hot again, I do this Shower Shimmy more frequently and it is getting to be almost fun! Not as much fun as my other cooling-off technique: sitting in front of my fan and listening to Christmas jams. I can almost feel the snow!

Last time I mentioned the political and social situation a bit. The constitutional referendum is this week, so we may finally see the beginning of a democratic solution to the almost-two-year-impasse. There are some protests in the capital, but everywhere else seems calm. I did want to point out this article, written in English by a Malagasy person (I assume from the last name), which does an excellent job summing up some of the many issues facing Madagascar and other developing countries. Some samples:

"The lack of effective information and active citizen engagement are among the reasons why the impact of climate change has been felt so strongly in Madagascar. There has been a flagrant degradation of all natural resources, and the Malagasy state continues to ignores the issue, only to pretend to engage with environmental politics at election time. If we don't act, the future of this country will be sealed within a few years."

"The farmer is nothing but an observer because he is unable to resist the deforestation and has no opportunity to reap the financial benefits of these industries – unless he opens a tavern for the nearby workers. He is the impoverished victim of the situation. The farmers lose their way and place of life."

"But the important question is: do the Malagasy really know what climate change is? Until they understand the impact and are able to adapt their lifestyle? Madagascar's prospects could be bleak."

---

[1] Regularly being about once-to-twice a week. Hey, I’m an environment volunteer!

[2] Long-time readers of this site may recall a tale from my first morning at my host family during training, in which I awoke to an unfamiliar environment and, rather than try my non-verbal communication skills to find the shower (not yet knowing any Malagasy), proceeded to shower in my room. That’s right, I stood over a bucket while I poured cups of water out of my water filter over my body. This later made a few of Madagascar’s ministers laugh at our swearing-in ceremony when another PCV told the story as an ice-breaker during his speech.

Information Travels Faster in the Modern Age

One of the most fascinating aspects of recent social upheavals has been the use of traditional and digital communication devices in organizing, documenting and reporting on civil strife. During the crisis in 2009 here in Madagascar, people used texts to report where and when gatherings would happen. They took photos of rioting, looting, and clashes with soldiers on their cell phones. And they wrote about all of this on their blogs and facebook groups. These same outlets have been utilized ever since to track the current government's progress and any opposition groups' events. This phenomenon has received a lot of attention in places like Kenya (check out this interesting crowd data software that is used for things like election monitoring and emergency services)

Here in Madagascar, I have noticed a great upswing in local internet-based coverage of political and social events (thanks also to my upgraded internet access). Now if I type in Madagascar to google news (and add a word like "Rajoelina" to filter out the movie references) I can find lots of French and Malagasy language articles. I've added a few of the more-frequently-updated sites to the sidebar (note: some of these are quite biased; as a matter of fact, pretty much all journamlism and websites are biased here, so please take any news gathered from any of these sites with a large grain of salt!) - here are the translated pages (from French): Madagascar Tribune, Express de Madagascar, Tananews

With this type of upsurge in mass communications and overall political awareness, it is shocking to me that some politicians think they can still get by with the old tried-and-true methods of election tampering and other tricks. For example, here is a story that may have gone completely unnoticed a few years ago, and may have even worked in previous elections. "copies of a single ballot for use in the next referendum were distributed to the population of Moramanga. These ballots have already been checked in front of "Yes", and could be used to buy votes. Voters who received one of these ballots would have to slip it into the ballot box on election day and return the blank ballot as proof of their participation. A sum of money would be paid in exchange."

Seriously?

One other link, completely unrelated to the above but very related to my work with organic certification of our koloharena's rice. this is from the organic certifying agent we use - ECOCERT talks about their certification program: ""Sometimes we have producers who are calling us and asking: How much does the certification (cost)? And when you can send the certificate? But it does not happen like that, a certificate can(not) be issued without a field monitoring and sample analysis."

That is an understatement.... let's just say the process is anything but simple. But it is true, most Malagasy seem to think if you pay a fee than you should receive certification, even if your product is full of chemicals. But the length of the process and the challenges of the monitoring and anlaysis make for a nice sense of accomplishment when you finally receive certification!

No Overnight Success or Running with Vets, Just Pure Unadulterated Work Progress

…If you only knew, the trials and tribulations we been through…

I’ve been holding off on writing this post for a while now. I had hoped that my next post would be about successfully exporting the very first organic rice shipment from Madagascar. Our plan was pretty simple, and we got the rice to Tamatave (the port on the east coast) with no problem. But then we ran into lots of problems in dealing with the freight forwarder and transferring the rice into a refrigerated container (since it is organic rice we cannot fumigate it, and we decided to freeze the rice to kill off any insects larvae). It’s a long story, but the shipment has been delayed multiple times. So while I waited to post about our rice export until the rice had actually left Madagascar, my blog silences continued. Also, since the blog post I wanted to write related to my work, and my life has been all work lately, there have not been too many good other stories to share with you, my patient (hopefully!) readers.

So what have I been doing lately? Crisis management. There have been so many issues popping up here and in Tamatave for the shipment that I have stopped referring to my experience here as “project management.” Negotiating with mill operators, cargo loaders, freight forwarders and receivers, warehouse managers… exhausting. Every time we think something is definitely good to go, it all falls apart at the last minute. I think we are on Plan W by now… Such is the price of doing business in a developing country: everything can change at a moment’s notice, and nothing is certain until after it has happened.

But I am confident that the first organic rice shipment ever from Madagascar will be successful. The ship is scheduled to leave in the next week or so, and should be arriving in California in about 2 months (ahh, luxurious ocean travel!). Where is it going again, you ask? Lotus Foods, a seller of exotic and organic rice products mostly from the developing world. They are committed to fair trade policies and helping small farmers improve their lives via access to a new market. Here’s a video of their co-founder speaking at the Clinton Global Initiative recently.

When not in the midst of a new crisis, I have been preparing documents for our next rice planting season (beginning this month). This season, in addition to organic certification, we will be pursuing free trade certification. This means we need further training for our farmers and staff, and a lot more paperwork and records (the certifying agent must be able to trace wages to insure fair payment, for instance). A lot of this paperwork does not exist here, much like the mountain of organic certification paperwork did not previously exist. When dealing with rural farmers unfamiliar with lots of paperwork, and office workers unfamiliar with or lacking access to digital databases, these processes can be a real headache. But in order to create a better product and receive higher premiums for the farmers, it will be worth it.

Lastly, the question on everyone’s mind back home surely has to do with elections. Madagascar elections, right? Ha… well we have a constitutional referendum in less than 2 weeks, which will be followed by municipal elections in December and a possible presidential election by the middle of 2011. What does all this mean? Probably more rallies and political activity, especially leading up to the referendum. Also more politicians will try to make names for themselves and raise a ruckus of sorts. But as usual, I predict the whole process will continue to move excruciatingly slowly and no real changes will happen for some time yet. One interesting story involves the continuing illegal logging of precious woods in the eastern rainforest. Check out this (translated) article / video combination, which claims a direct connection between the current regime here and the illegal Chinese timber sellers. Interesting…