I don’t remember what day it was, or what we were doing, but
it was at worship service during orientation in Chicago when Heidi
Torgeson-Martinez, the awesome head honcho of YAGM, was allowing time to offer
up thoughts or prayers or something to “loved
ones we have not met”. And by golly, those words struck at my heart
strings! Oh wow! I will have loved ones in Madagascar. And I don’t even know who they
ARE yet! That concept amazed me and I sat in my chair in tears excited for
the opportunity to fall in love with Madagascar and the people there. So now,
as I get used to being more open about my story here, I feel it fitting to
introduce you to some key characters while I’m here.
Mama
Mama holds the title of site supervisor, community
development person, confidant, host mother, master chef, super woman… you get
the idea.
Her name is Helene but everyone on the compound at this
women’s center calls her “mama”. It’s a perfect title for her because of all
the care and love she’s shown me since I’ve been here.
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| Mama and me on Christmas |
Mama never ceases to amaze me. I’ve lost track of all that
she’s involved in. She is the director of the women’s center (ILOFAV) where I
live, she’s a president of one committee, a treasurer for another one, a world
traveler (including attending Seminary in the U.S.), a teacher, a mother of
five, and she recently told me that she was translating a book from Malagasy to
English. And yet, she is one of the most humble people I’ve ever met.
For her, waking up at 5am is considered sleeping in. Every
morning we have breakfast together around 7:15am. We eat mofo (bread) and
homemade strawberry jam (sometimes made by yours truly) and sip on hot
tea. I ask her what time she woke up and
she’ll ask me about my dreams. One morning I told her that I was troubled by my
vivid scary dream and that night after dinner she wished me a good night and
lovingly said “Don’t dream!”
After a couple months of breakfast, she admitted that this
type of breakfast wasn’t a part of her daily life before me, “I usually don’t
eat breakfast. I’m just accompanying
you, Sarah”. That’s literally what she said. I was dumbfounded. Coming into
Madagascar I was geared up and ready to accompany the people here. I guess I
never thought that they, too, would be accompanying me. I was so touched and humbled by her saying that. Like I said,
she never ceases to amaze me.
Pastor Rene
Pastor Rene is mama’s husband. There aren’t really words to
accurately describe him. He’s hilarious… in random ways. He reads the English
dictionary for fun. He’s always asking me hard questions about the English
language and my life in the States. For example “What do you call the sign
someone holds at the airport when they’re picking someone up?” I answered with
something like “ummm… a sign?” He seemed disappointed with my answer. So if you
know the technical term for this thing, PLEASE let me know so I can pass it on
to him.
He likes to make things up sometimes. He calls my water bottle
a “breast bottle” because I suck water through the straw. He was very proud of
that name. “Are you a baby??” he asks. I just smile and say “yes”. And he’s
convinced that people wear braces because they eat too much sugar. And no
matter what I say, he won’t believe me.
He always has a proverb for things. “You know the proverb
says….” I’m not sure if these proverbs are true, but I smile and nod.
Needless to say, he makes dinner very entertaining. He usually chats the whole time while mama is
fighting to stay awake and Ana, their daughter, rolls her eyes with everything
he says. And I love it!
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| Pastora and mama on Christmas. Looks like neither of them were ready for the photo... oops. |
Ana
Ana is their oldest daughter. She works at the hospital
nearby (the one I teach English at). She’s in her early thirties but not
married yet, so she still lives with the parents. She’s a sweetheart and she’s
amused by my jokes, so that’s a bonus! We joke about her father’s rambling
(because sometimes even though he’s speaking English, I have no idea what he’s saying) and it’s so
comforting to have someone at the table who’s thinking the same things as me.
There was one time when Ana made a delicious dish of zucchini and beef. She was very proud that I
loved it so much so we decided to create a name for it. It is officially called
“zoobeefa” – zucchini and beef, made by Ana.
Fetra
Fetra is their son who attends University. He’s very shy and
quiet. He usually whispers to me whenever he talks to me, in English or
Malagasy. And I usually whisper in response to him, and get a little chuckle
out of him. But whenever he leaves the room, he surprisingly belts whatever
song that’s stuck in his head and it’s beautiful.
The other three children live outside the house. One
daughter, Heliosoa, is actually the supervisor of Lee, the other YAGM in Tana.
Small world.
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| Heliasoa, me, Fetra, and Ana on Christmas |
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| Me and Diamondra at the Zoo, making friends with a camel |
Then there's Pastor Haja, his wife Janet, daughter Diamondra, and nephew Fetra. They also live at ILOFAV and I find myself over at their house jamming on guitars and singing every once in a while. Fetra (who is also shy - what is it with shy Fetra's here?) has been helping me learn guitar. Kind of. I'm not a very good student. I would much rather sit back and watch him work his magic than struggle through a simple chord progression. But he is patient with me, and I am very appreciative.
Sthela
Sthela is an AMAZING 21 year old. She is mature far beyond her years. She was one of the main people who got YAGM up and running in Madagascar - traveling around the country with Heidi (YAGM head honcho) and again with country coordinators, Austin and Tanya. And I feel SO lucky to call her my friend. She has been so helpful to have here in Tana, especially because she shares one of my deepest loves... KARAOKE!!!
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| Sthela and I ready to FEAST. Getting ready to sing out hearts out. |
Thank you for reading.
Love ya, mean it!
~Sarah
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