I've started my grad school program (more on this soon), so I have not been able to write much here. I wanted to share a story and a video about issues affecting Madagascar. First, there is this article from last weekend. The BBC documents the treatment of Malagasy women taken to the Middle East as maids and other domestic workers. The conditions are horrendous and equate to modern-day slavery. It is worth remembering that the Malagasy have a long history of being abducted by many cultures to live as slaves. This history is due to Madagascar's location between Asia, Africa, and the Middle East. Malagasy slaves were especially prevalent in South Africa, where white settlers used them for work as a way to avoid interacting with the native South African cultures. It is sad to see this type of treatment continuing in the modern age. I expect little is made of this issue because of Madagascar's current international isolation, but at least the current government was able to eventually evacuate many of these victims.
The other issue is AIDS. Check out the below video, where the Tana Gospel Choir sing a Malagasy version of "I Will Survive" to raise AIDS awareness (fanentanana @ SIDA). It is pretty awesome.
You can check out more on the Tana Gospel Choir at their website. Bon Weekend!
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