Madagascar – not like So. Africa at all….

The Malagasy people will be the first to tell you they are not Africans.  While there are some black Africans among them, most look more like Filipinos than Africans.  They are proud of being from the Malagasy Republic (though we would call it Madagascar).  Their preferred language is Malagasy, but most of them also speak French which with Malagasy are the two legal languages.

                                                                          





Malagasy Airport/South Africa Airways                                    

                                                 Driving down the streets

As we flew into Antananarivo, the capital of the Malagasy Republic, we could see that it is built on a series of small mountains.  The low lands are filled with rice paddies.  Like much of Africa, there is a small area of relatively nice homes, flats, and commercial buildings, much of the city is very poor.  As you can see from the pictures, there are lots of shop keepers, with very humble little stores.  There are street vendors everywhere who sell everything from Christmas Trees, to CDs, jackets, sunglasses and jumper cables.  Traffic is gridlock in the city, and as we waited in traffic we were constantly approached by street vendors.  There is a tunnel through one of the hills and we saw three little children ranging in ages from about 8 to 3 who live in a bed of rags on the side walk in the tunnel.  We suppose they are orphans.  They live by begging from those who walk through the tunnel.  It was so very sad to see what is all too common in this part of the world.

Even in the best hotel, we couldn’t drink the water, or eat any fresh fruits or veggies.  Bottled water is for everything.  Madagascar is and island of spices. It was on the spice trade route in old days.  The food has very different flavors.  I had a bowl of soup which had so much ginger that it burned like hot peppers.  Have you ever had a hamburger that the main spice is ginger?  Cooks know that Madagascar vanilla is world renown.  The spice shops sell 24 strips of vanilla beans for about $5.00 and a four inch wide bundle of cinnamon sticks for $2.00.  There are at least 10 kinds of pepper and a lot of spices I could not recognize.

                Here is the local barber shop and hair salon - (Coiffeur) where
                                       we really need to check it out!

         

 Vendors prepare to set up stands 

 to sell goods in the park.

                            This is the church and a few of the members.

 

 

The purpose of our visit was to attend an annual general meeting and do a visa audit.  The ward was there was wonderful; the meeting was in Malagasy so we couldn’t understand anything but the Spirit was still strong.  President Donnelley, the mission president, invited us to go with the missionaries who were going home, to an island off the coast which has a species of lemur found in no other place on earth.  We did not have time to go but next time we will go and see the lemurs..... ("maybe" says Marge) because we were heading to Kenya. 

 

There are over 220 species of plants and animals found in Madagascar which are found nowhere else; it is a nature preserve.  The missionaries stay at a lodge and then take boats to the island.  The lemurs are not afraid of people and soon they are crawling all over you - on your head, arms, shoulders, lap, etc. 

The people were celebrating the first anniversary of the 4th Republic and there were masses gathered in the street below our hotel.

                                                Street scenes - the new and the old

Our camera ran out of battery so we have no pictures from Kenya on this trip.

Nairobi, Kenya is just off the equator; because of its elevation (5500 ft) it is temperate all year round.  It was in the low 80s when we were there which is about as warm as it gets. The traffic is awful.  From the airport to the hotel takes about 20 minutes to drive in low traffic and balloons to 3 hours in heavy traffic.  We came in late in the day and it only took an hour.  When we left the hotel to return to the airport at 6:25 AM it only took only 15 minutes.

We were only in Nairobi one day and spent all of that day meeting at the mission office with President and Sister Broadbent on business.  Sister Broadbent (Julie) happens to be one of Marge’s best friends and both were bridesmaids at each other’s weddings!  It was nice to catch up with them and learn about their mission experiences.  Dinner at a lovely restaurant was delightful and ended a good day.

 

On the drive to the airport at sunrise the next day, we could look out over the plains.  It is the rainy season and Kenya is incredibly beautiful.  We can’t wait until we go for a safari where we can see more of the real (Out of Africa) Kenya.

Unstoppable ...

Three weeks ago tomorrow, we arrived in Johannesburg.  Jeff has been busy non-stop - (work, work, work); I have been busy stop-go, stop-go - (stop here, go there).  Though our lives go different directions each day, we are working together to make our new situation "fit."  Jeff just arrived in Kenya this afternoon and has been in Madagascar for a few days.  I stayed home and have tried to nest a little bit.  One big event for me this week was driving to/from church ALONE on Sunday - remember.... left side of road, right side of car, inner city.   I conquered it!  I did it!!!  Driving home was the worst because there were more cars on the road at noon than at 7:30 am.

The weather was drizzly rain for a couple of days.  Ruth (Renlund) and I went shopping on Friday for some fresh flowers to decorate the White House entry way for a Sr. missionary Christmas party on Monday night.  Does it seem like there are a lot of parties here?  Since we arrived, there have been 3 major parties but I just think it is the season for parties.

Renlunds were kind enough to invite me for a delicious Sunday dinner along with the Cooks and the Jamesons.  After dinner we attended a farewell evening at a Sr. apartment for one of the couples heading back home to Boise, ID from their 3rd mission.  Monday was decorating day for me.  I had a lot of fun putting up some seasonal decorations but it was a challenge using the flowers they have here with no real floral supplies available.  I had no Oasis for the fresh flowers so they held up long enough to have the Christmas "HOME-like" feeling and then started to droop.  Ruth did a magnificent job with the meal and program.  She is quite a wonderful hostess and made everyone feel at home.  Elder Cook gave great remarks about HOPE - the HOPE he feels about these African people and the HOPE we all need to have in our Savior's plan.

This is the way the mantle turned out and it brightened up the beautiful dark entry where we had 50 people seated for the program after dinner.

I don't feel like I contribute much to the missionary purpose here except maybe just being a support right now.  It is great when we see the missionaries here on P-days and at church be we are about 1/2 hour away from the MTC and the mission home.  I'm sure that we will find our way to those places soon.

This is Emily.  She is on the maintenance staff of the Area Office and she comes by often to help all of us.  She helped out with this party and made a nice contribution.  I asked her to turn to the side so I could see the back of her cute hair.  I really like Emily.  She has a funny sense of humor and is nice to everyone.  She makes me smile.

                Everyone gathered out in front.  Elder and Sister Renlund are on the step - 

                                                (black sweater/red scarf.)

       This is Elder and Sister Roberts and Sister Cook.  The Roberts work in the
             Public Affairs office and got here just a few days before we did. 
      Elder and Sister Cook arrived the first of August.  We are all pretty new here.

 

After dinner we gathered in the entry and sang Christmas carols, heard 3 very funny "favorite Christmas" stories from 3 of the couples and listened to a sweet Christmas message from Elder Cook.

This is our wonderful group of missionary couples still here with us from the DR Congo.  The Hatches left this morning to go to Zambia for a while to train an office couple there.  The Binghams may be leaving soon for some other country till things quite down in the Congo.  The Staggs and Jamesons are working from here and are hoping maybe by another week things will be safe enough for them to return to their assigned homes.  We pray for them and hope that the work will continue very soon in the DR Congo.

Our entire group of AMAZING couples accomplishes SOoooooo much - with happiness and positive attitudes.  Each and every day they are UNSTOPPABLE!

Things change overnight....

   

By Sunday night, we learned that the Jamesons (mission president in DR Congo) and 3 other couples had evacuated their country because of civil unrest after an election of their president.  We invited them to supper and two couples came.  The other two were invited elsewhere.  These good people are always in the trenches like no one I have ever seen.  Their missions are challenging and difficult.  They feel that their missionaries are safe now but the white Americans can sometimes be a target when trouble breaks out.  They traveled all day to get here and soon after they arrived, they discovered that the airport was closed in the DR Congo.  It remains closed and problems are getting worse.  At the present time, they do not know when they might be able to return but they think it might be after the first of the year.

We invited all of them to dinner on Wednesday night and had a wonderful FHE with them.  I fixed an enchilada dinner with fresh fruit, salad and apple cake.  They normally don't eat those things in the Congo.  As each couple told us of their mission experiences and what they do, I was in awe of their dedicated service and willingness to work hard.

This is Sister Stagg and Sister Hatch  (right) and Sister Bingham (below).

The Hatch's are the office couple, the Staggs work in the employment office.

The Binghams work in humanitarian and they go out into the bush to dig wells and latrines, help with medical issues and teach survival skills to the people in the DR Congo.

                 Elder Bingham, the Staggs, President Jameson and the Hatches.  Great people!

Once again, the small world of the church brought together old friends from Highland High School.  Sister Jameson (Lorraine Bird - wife of the mission president) graduated in our same high school class of '65.  Who ever thought we would have a reunion in So. Africa?  We have enjoyed some good visiting this week.  There is a lot of catching up after all these many years and it was great to see her and meet her sweet husband.

Sunday best....

Reality came in spades this week.  The learning curve was huge and we seemed to start into a groove.  I'll begin with our new ward - Johannesburg 2 Ward.  I was elected to learn the route and drive there and though it is not far from us, the building is located in a very inner-city, (scary) part of town.  Our GPS first took us to the wrong place - which was a dead end and had groups of black men standing around in groups outside staring at us.  I made a U-turn and we scrambled out of there.  We invited the Martineaus along on our next try and we got there with the map being our guide instead of the GPS.  I almost wrecked a tire turning a close left and hitting the curb but it turned out alright with no damage. By Sunday morning, I had memorized the route in my mind and we arrived just fine.  The streets were very empty at that time of day and it only took about 10 minutes to drive there.  This is what we found.....

Our ward was the first meetinghouse in Joburg.  It seems very, very old inside but the grounds are kept very nice.  We park the car across the narrow street in a gated, guarded parking lot.

During the time of Apartheid, this was the building where blacks would come and sit on the steps to listen through the open windows to the sermons preached.  They were not allowed to enter the buildings.

We and one other missionary couple (the Hartmans) were the only whites attending the Fast and Testimony Meeting.  When we arrived, there were several men cleaning the building - including mopping the floor in their Sunday best suits.  Members welcomed us with open arms and kindness and our 30 year old Bishop Sehloho (pronounced Sech-lo-ho) invited us to bear our testimonies.  There was no one to play the piano in any of the meetings and I wondered if I should start practicing.  hmmmmm...... yikes!

The Bishop invited us into his office after the block to get acquainted.  I was humbled to see his office which doubles as a store room for cleaning supplies.  He said that sometimes the supplies disappear so they are safe in his office.  The picture on his wall was a worn, unframed copy of The First Presidency tacked to a bulletin board.  His white board looked like it had seen better days too.  He said that the office is well used.  He told us that he was called to be Bishop when he was 27 and that he and his wife don't live within the boundaries of the ward.  He is a good man and you can feel that when talking to him.  He told us that they don't usually have activities at night and it was not safe for us to be there at night.

Our Ward theme is:  "Becoming a Zion people - fully converted to the gospel of Jesus Christ."

This is the fence around the chapel.  Look very closely and you can see the spikes on the top.  Almost every fence around town is like that.

Just imagine the history of this building - these doors and these stairs.

Fast and Testimony Meeting was outstanding.  Every single testimony was PURE TESTIMONY, not a talk or thought or thankful talk.  It was so wonderful.  One sister said "God is visible to me." A brother mentioned the blessing of tithing had come to his family recently when 2 of his younger brothers were called to serve missions.  Another brother said he felt like Alma and the sons of Mosiah who were were excited to see friends in the gospel.  A young woman said "I'll leave anything to go to the temple."  All were articulate and seemed well educated. At the end of the meeting, the Bishop bore his testimony and counseled us to "live what we believe - to be consistent and DO what we believe."  He said to "face the future with hope."



When leaving church, we saw these three happy young men who were so nice. 

 Below are some of the saints visiting.

Outside the church gate on the right is a quiet street at the moment.  Often, there is a lot of walking (or skating) traffic.

                                        Each of these boys had on one skate. 

                    They were having their "Sunday Best" time and loved to pose for us.