I have read recently your blog. I saw, you had spent two years in Madagascar as a PCV.Since you were a foreigner there, would you mind sharing the problems you see in Malagasy culture that undermine their development?
First, I just want to point out that there are no problems with the Malagasy culture. Finding a problem with another culture means that I inherently find my own culture superior; anyone who has seen American reality television knows this is a hard point to argue. I think both of our cultures can learn a lot from each other, but neither is right or wrong. That said, I think you meant what problems are there in Malagasy society and/or Madagascar itself.
In my opinion, here are the main problems:- People like to have a meeting, bringing ideas (often wonderful) but no action.
Ah, Malagasy meetings… they are so long! I agree, it is wonderful that people meet and offer up ideas. However, often they then spend most of their time discussing one small point until the meeting adjourns, at which time no action has been decided on! I remember one of my first meetings with the VOIs (forest management groups) in 2008. We started talking about setting up a regular patrol of the forest, agreeing that the first patrol would be handled by the main group. They then moved on to other topics, or so I thought: because of my poor language skills so early in my service, I zoned out for about two hours. When I “zoned in” again, I realized they were still discussing who would run the first patrol…
The major issue I saw amongst community groups was the lack of trust. Most Malagasy seem to share ideas, work and profits very well with their own family members. But when put into a group of farmers nothing gets done because no one trusts one another. Each farmer thinks that his neighbor will steal his fertilizer or somehow obtain an unfair share of the profits. This lack of trust makes working in large groups very difficult, and since these types of groups are the catalyst for true economic and social change, the lack of trust is a major problem. (Note: some PCVs have had great success working with women’s groups / farmers’ groups / VOI… this is only my experience).
- Elected officials and leaders spend time giving long speeches and empty promises (this is kind of similar in any countries)
Yes, this is the same almost everywhere (and is why so many people dislike politicians). I think the most important political aspect missing in Madagascar and other countries is compromise. Politicians need to learn to work together with their rivals and opponents, rather than stock all posts with their allies and yes-men (you mention this in your next question).
- Kids are not creative because they have been hammered pretty early in their childhood that their opinions are worthless. People always wait for the central government to do everything (the central government has to much power from top to bottom). Most of the positions are political-based. For instance, a mayor of a city who does not belong to the ruling political party is likely to have hard time doing his/her job; a school principle (elementary, middle, high) is likely to get fired from his/her position.
Good points here. I only have two inputs here. First, I think that creativity is the most important skill to foster among young people. My Malagasy friend Rivo asked me when I left what I thought an average Malagasy person could do to improve Madagascar. I told him Madagascar needs entrepreneurs, inventors, artists, community leaders… basically, Madagascar needs creative people. Because of the rote education system (held over from colonial times), children are forced to copy down everything a teacher says and then regurgitate it on an exam. There is no room for critical thinking or creativity. Anytime I had children over to draw pictures, they all just stared blankly waiting for me to tell them what to draw. I told them, “Draw whatever you like!” Eventually one child would start to draw, and then all the other kids would copy this child’s picture…
Second, in regard to waiting for the government to do everything, I have seen so many times when a completed building or park was locked up for over a year because they could not start using it until the government (local, regional or sometimes even national) arrived to consecrate it at the official grand opening. I often think of the bus station in Ambatondrazaka that was completed a few years ago. It is big and beautiful, but because it lies too far outside of town (and no one can get to it), the bus companies and people will never use it. But because someone high up decided the bus station should be where it is, the station just sits there growing weeds.
And yes, in Madagascar, anytime a new President or political party takes office, you can expect firings of many public officials and their replacement with government yes-men (definitely saw this in my area at the Ambatondrazaka high school and at the Region Alaotra Mangoro office after President Rajoelina took over).
Unused Bus Station in Ambatondrazaka
- The president (this is true in all Africa) is so powerless internationally that the only thing they do is to oppress their own people.
I disagree with this. In a world where natural resources are increasingly important because of their limited nature, an independent Madagascar could utilize its resources to become more powerful internationally. But to do so, its leaders would need to work together and not be in office solely for self-benefit. Also, cooperation with neighboring countries (through organizations like the SADC) would allow Madagascar to negotiate better deals with world powers in Asia, Europe and North America. Finally, there is no excuse for oppressing people domestically. I think most leaders may see the only way to increase their international power is to crush all domestic opposition, but in reality fostering a climate of constructive criticism and debate and eventually presenting a united front of various interests to the outside world is the only way to achieve international respect and be treated as a serious (and more equal) trade partner.
- People do not appreciate and take advantages of the blessings they have (land, nice weather, endemic animals and plants)
In a sense, I agree with this: Madagascar has an environment (plants, animals, etc.) that you cannot find anywhere else in the world. It also has enormous natural resource reserves (particularly in rare metals). But in another sense, I think the Malagasy do appreciate and take advantage of these blessings, just not in the way we (as Americans) want them to. Most people see the beautiful trees as excellent firewood, the extensive tracts of land as unlimited rice paddies and grazing land (which allows them to use slash and burn agriculture or use the land heavily until it is completely exhausted and then move on), and in some cases the rare lemurs as sources of needed meat for their diets. I found it very difficult to make people understand the benefits of conservation, as they felt it was their right to utilize the resources around them. It was only a few people at the village level who saw the need to protect present resources for future use as well.
I think the major problem with natural resource reserves in Madagascar (such as rare metals and minerals) is that Madagascar has mostly invited foreign companies in to exploit these resources in exchange for upfront fees and some continuing payments to the government. Now, bringing in foreign experts is not a bad thing when the local knowledge to exploit these resources is not available. Also, Madagascar has made efforts to include community development stipulations to foreign companies mining contracts. But no real knowledge is being passed from the foreign experts to the Malagasy workers. Every time there is a major new mining project, many Malagasy are brought in for temporary manual labor, and highly skilled workers are brought in from places like India, France, China and South Africa. The Malagasy government should be requiring these experts to train Malagasy workers so that future projects can be managed completely by the Malagasy themselves. Foreign companies have no incentive to do this training, because if they do not train Malagasy then Madagascar will be forced to call on these companies for each project in the future. But the only way to break this cycle of dependence in exploitation of natural resources, and begin to utilize these resources to maximum value for Madagascar, is for the Malagasy to learn this industry and allow Malagasy companies to process the country’s resources.
I was asking you about the problems of people in Madagascar because sometimes it is helpful to observe from a different eye (even though any NBA game has three referees on the court, they still use videos to make the correct call sometimes). Looking forward to your reply.
Thanks,Barawa
Thank you for your opinions and for reading Barawa! I agree that it is useful to see things from a different perspective! Any more thoughts you have, please feel free to contact me.
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