madagascar end of week two....

wow we can hardly believe its coming to the second week that we've been in Madagascar and what a week it's been, below we've tried to capture some of the highlights which include having the opportunity to visit the poor people who had lost everything in a recent fire, engaging with the dear children the weekly homeless feeding programme, attending a 5.30am church service with over 700 people, sharing with the prisoners at their sunday service, being taken to the police station because we weren't carrying our passports, watching a local football match in the bush which was birthed out of the sports coach training we led two years ago, preparing and then sharing with over 70 people the Leadership training programme at a local church and making contact and working on further opportunities to share the Certificate in Community Leadership programme throughout Madagascar.

it's really hard to put down in word all the experiences that we have had during the last week, obviously the reason we are in Madagascar is to share the Emerging Leaders programme with as many people as we can so to have delivered the training of module one to a group of 78 people is a real mile stone in our lives. the training is really built on seeing peoples lives transformed by introducing leadership mind sets that are simple enough to put into practice. we'd seen how effective it had been in South Africa when Trevor and Jane Waldock came to share a version of this training with some of our community in Grabouw, but for us to deliver this training was going to be a different story. we worked together well, sharing the three hour session between us and to see the eyes of those we were teaching open up and engage with us during that first session was a real privilege and we are confident that those people will be applying this training into their lives right now.

we have further opportunities to share, the first of those starts tomorrow morning, where we will gather the teaching and key leaders of both Love'nCare (LNC) ministries and another wonderful NGO called Mercy Ministries together for module one, we are then going to be sharing the training in the local prison with further opportunities to share with other NGO's and even the prison guards which would be an great connector to encourage the prisoners thus completing a circle that will benefit the whole of that prison community.

outside of the training our hearts were once again broken by the plight of the thirty or so families who's homes had been lost to a huge fire that ripped through one of the informal settlements on the northern edge of Toamasina. Cho and Deborah from Love'ncare had raised funds via their connections in South Korea to purchase some large cooking pots, blankets and foam mattresses which we distributed via another NGO called Help Madagascar, representatives from the 30 families gathered together where they were given the provisions and we had the opportunity to see the devastating effect of the fire first hand. the homes made of a timber frame covered with a beautifully woven leaf cladding with palm leaf roofing which stand side by side along the banks of a small mosquito infested stream were overwhelmed by flames so quickly that everything was lost, however to stand in that place of devastation a few weeks after the fire and see new timber frames, some of the timber reclaimed and blackened by the fire, rising up like a phoenix was humbling to say the least.

our visit to the weekly street people meal on Saturday afternoon was yet another humbling experience and to spend time with the dear mothers and children, so skinny and malnourished was at times hard but to just be friends to these people, show them the love and care that so oft they are denied, taking up a child in your arms, playing simple sitting games and taking time to treat these people, especially the children with respect is all we could do and we're so glad of the heart that Love'ncare have for these dear people that are also blessed by the night shelter that has recently been opened by LNC.

we were wide awake at 4am on sunday morning readying ourselves for Pastor Fidi who was going to pick us up to share at his 5.30am service, we were once again amazed at the amount of people up and about at that time on a sunday morning and by the time the service had started over 750 people had joined us, filling all the ground floor and balcony seating of this large church with late comers joining outside (under cover of the early morning sun) with a video link!.....and this was the first of three services that would be held, the second starting at 7.30am with the late risers given the option of attending the one at 9.30am!we were able to encourage the congregation to attend our first leadership training session that we were going to host at the church on the Wednesday afternoon.

after a short trip home to freshen up we were soon making our way to the prison to join the inmates for our second service of the day which started at 9am, over 100 men, women and even their children joined us to offer up their thanks giving to God in both prayer and song and listen to me (Tim) deliver a 'message' of hope based around the feeding of the 5000. this was yet again another time were we felt so humbled, one by the joy that filled these peoples hearts, looking and knowing of the incredibly tough living conditions where their families and friends have to visit to provide the food for their loved one. remember this is a country where over 85% of the population live in rural areas where transport is so limited and what with those family members living on less that $2 a day they are expected to provide for those on the inside. we will share more about this when we have the chance to spend four mornings next week encouraging those very same prisoners with the leadership training!

we were due to meet up with Cho and some of the other LNC team for lunch but a spanner was thrown in the works when our car was stopped by the police who were running routine spot checks on the drivers and the vehicles paperwork. once we'd been pulled over our two Malagasy friends who were in the front seat were questioned about their credentials, and the credentials of the two white people sitting in the back of the vehicle, those being myself and Maz, where were our Visa documents? after a few minutes explaining that we didn't have them on us, mainly to do with the fact that we had just been sharing a service in the prison and that perhaps wasn't the best place to take vital documents the police man was not too cooperative and informed us that we needed to follow him to the police station to explain ourselves!..........in the end I was held there with Maz being allowed to return to our home/accommodation to pick up the documents. everything ended up ok, but our friends were so embarrassed about the situation, we had wasted over an hour of our time, for what, to prove something that the police already knew?

after a wonderful lunch with some of cho's South Korean friends at a restaurant on the beach, the Indian ocean lapping against a white sand beach where local fisherman's boats made from dugout logs sat waiting for their owners to return on Monday morning to go out searching for the wonderful selection of seafood that lays beneath the surface and which adorned our plates (this is where poverty and plenty meet), we were off into the bush with two of the LNC staff to watch their local football team take on a team from the town in a friendly match that was to take place on a flatish piece of ground set amongst the palm trees and rice paddy fields. this team had been set up as a result of the sports outreach programme which we came to share with around 20 local youth leaders two years ago. it was fantastic to see the team, adorned in their South Korean sponsored kit play some amazing football on what was a very challenging sandy pitch sparsely covered in long tufty grass. the boys encouraged each other and whilst we had to leave at half time we did get chance to see the only goal of the game scored by a very tricky left winger who finished off a well worked team move with aplomb.

the rest of our week was taken up by the long and tedious translation of the key story boards that we use to engage people with the leadership training, Maz has done an incredible job, ably assisted by young brother Theo. we go into this next week with thoughts of the training tomorrow morning, the four day training in the prison and a trip into the remote bush via helicopter with Mercy Ministries on Monday morning, but those stories will have to wait until next week!sorry about the lack of photos but our internet allowance has run out so you'll have to visit our facebook pages to see some of the photos we'd uploaded during the week, click here to see Tim's page!

first week update from madagascar

our air seychelles flight in the seychelles

its exactly one week since we left the shores of a wintery England and made our long journey to the Indian Ocean isle of Madagascar, in this post we hope to provide you with an idea of what we've experienced since we arrived and what we've got to look forward to over the next few weeks as we seek to share the Emerging Leaders 'Certificate in Community Leadership' programme to those we have relationship with here in Toamasina.

firstly we want to let you know that other than being very hot and therefore sweaty we are both well, Cho and Deborah (the Directors of Love 'n Care Ministries) have made us feel very welcome in their home which we are sharing with two other girls from South Korea. 

selfie on a tuk-tuk ride to the market

our accommodation is situated on the edge of the city about a mile from the city center of Toamasina, the islands main port on the east coast, and has electricity and running water, unlike many of the homes that surround ours (which are little homes made from palm leaves raised up off the ground on vertical poles which keep out the unwanted rodents and ensure that the water flows under the home rather than through it when the rain's come and oh have we seen some rain since we've been here! it seems like there are just two settings on the weather gauge, blistering sun or torrential rain with the temperature set on high whatever the weather).

saturday afternoon street people feeding programme

after arriving in the capital Antananarivo (Tana) by plane and being met by Cho and Deborah we made the 'interesting' road trip on one of only a handful of tarred roads on the whole island, this was between Tana and Toamasina. Seeing as though this road links what is the main port and the capital one would be forgiven in thinking this would be a major three or four laned highway which would enable the ease of transportation of goods and people both to and from the island, well that iddle couldn't be further from the truth. the road, the RN2, is little more than an English country road which winds its way through the vast mountain ranges and rainforests is edged by soft verges, and small villages with people selling all kinds of goods via their tiny wooden shops which could easily be blown down by the traffic and the road even narrows to single carriageway bridges over some of the smaller rivers.

local fishermen's dugout kayaks

thankfully we enjoyed an overnight stop before completing the near on nine hour trip which was made all the more exciting with drivers of any kind of vehicle, and those ranged from huge articulated lorries carrying shipping containers, buses packed full of people, smaller taxi's overloaded with what seemed like the whole of the passengers worldly possessions precariously balanced on the roof, to small little rickshaws and even carts loaded (overloaded) with bananas being pushed by men up and down these tight roads. everyone was vying for position on the narrow, twisty roads and overtaking uphill on blind bends was the accepted norm!.......saying that our driver was fantastic and even if he did put Lewis Hamilton to shame on more than a couple of occasions he was very careful to ensure we arrived in one piece.

we encountered many different views
on our way to church last sunday!

upon arriving on Toamasina (also known by it's French name Tamatave, which is kinda crazy but hey nothing surprises us any more) we made our way to the local football stadium, OK once again put aside any ideas of what this might look like in your mind, where we joined the amazing team 

maz at a local standpipe

of dedicated people who provide a nutritional meal to the homeless people, mainly women and children, who live on the streets of the 'city'. this once a week meal might seem like a drop in the ocean but this ministry compliments the recent opening of a night shelter by LNC where these street people can stay in safety whilst choosing to remain on the street by day (their choice).

huge shipping container ship in toamasina port

we joined the church at Bethany school on Sunday morning, this once little school has been transformed since our first visit in 2014, it is now equipped with a two story building which provides the classrooms for around 300 children and an open sided building which doubles up as a church on Sundays. Tim spoke at the service and no the congregation (once again mainly made up of children) didn't fall asleep.

view of our neighbours from over the wall
 of our accomadation!

there are so many things that overwhelm you about Madagascar however one highlight must be the riot of colour that seems to abound this can be seen as you ride on the local Tuk Tuk past lines of vibrant coloured fruit and vegetables laid out on the small hand made market stalls that adorn the sides of all the roads in the town or in the clothing of the smiling faced people or leaves of the plants which we have the joy to look out over in our little garden. 

LNC school children, in class

the other thing that hits you is the extreme poverty, it's not right in your face but even to wake to the sounds of our nextdoor neighbours pumping water from a standpipe by hand or becoming aware of the smells wafting over our wall of people cooking on the open charcoal fires that surround us, one realises that yes this is one of the poorest countries in the world with a an annual GDP per capita of less than $500, which to give some comparison India sits at near on three times as much, with South Africa near to $7,000 and Great Britian at over $40,000. 

another classroom 

there is so much need here but with the links we have via LNC and their networks through Madagascar we are certain that we can help to change some of the mindsets that keep people from living the lives that they once dreamt of.

we had the opportunity to visit the two new schools that LNC have built since we last visited, this is an incredible testimony to the favour that these guys have, the desire to make a difference no matter what and to see children who live in some of the most challenging areas of the bush that surrounds Toamasina gain an education which could enable them to see a different life for themselves, their families and the wider communities as they become responsible and participating members of what is an amazing country. 

maz making her way
through the puddles on the way
to the market

apart from schooling LNC have acquired a large piece of land which they are now developing into a small farm, we visited this land and there is a large harvest of aubergines and courgettes ripening and with their chicken hatchery they have over 30 hens that will all be used to provide the nutritional meal that all the children receive during their school day. 

one other encouraging point is that via their work in the local prison where they hold a morning service that is open to all the 1000 men, women and children who are held there, one of the ex-inmates is now employed to help with the cultivation of the land at the farm which is fantastic news.

maz and theo at the new LNC school

we had the opportunity to meet up with a couple of old friends whom Cho had arranged to meet to discuss the Emerging Leaders material with and following that meeting we have now set up five workshops which will take place for three hours over the next four weeks. 

our first one starts next wednesday afternoon at a large local church and as part of the presentation we have agreed to speak at the church which has over 5,000 people on Sunday morning to encourage their congregation to attend the training course, we hope that not all of them will take up the offer, but as an example of our commitment to the cause the first of three services starts at 5.30am which will mean a very early start if we're both to get our hair sorted prior to being picked up at 5.00am!

waterpump/tower on the
farming land

our other events include the leadership staff of LNC as well as the inmates at the prison, we are so excited to be able to share this life changing material which has been so effective throughout the rest of Africa.

well that seems like a pretty comprehensive update for now, there is obviously so much more to share but we'll leave that until next time to share that.......

First night in Madagascar

Maz outside our first
nights accommodation

I awoke to the soothing sounds of the rain forest, the melodic chirp of small insects and frogs and in the distance the call of a Lemur high up in the canopy. As I came to my senses however that idyllic dreamland vision was broken by the disconcerted thought that I'd gone totally blind such was the darkness that surrounded me. 

My mind was somewhat relieved as I caught the inconsistent blink of Maz' cell phone which I was aware of in my peripheral vision but even with that partial light I couldn't even make out the detail of the mosquito net that hung over our bed or my hand in front of my straining eyes.

Someone else who enjoys praying!

After what seemed like hours of stillness I decided to find out what time it was, I knew that my phone must be close at hand but then I remembered that I'd inadvertently dropped it onto the baked mud floor as I had drifted off to sleep in what felt hours ago. Once I'd located it I was shocked again as my eyes adjusted to the harsh light of the screen to discover it was only 11.46pm.

It was with mixed feelings that I turned over to find a comfortable position on the hard mattress, firstly I had the unexpected joy to be free to listen to this great crescendo of unfamiliar sounds for as long as I wanted such was the rest that my body had already found in those short hours of sleep but the thought of being so warm and slightly sweaty this early in the night caused my soul to long for the far off sunrise which would surely bring an even greater cacophony of noise!

our first night, in the rain forest

Our small single roomed abode with its palm reed thatched roof and adobe walls was heavy with the sweet smell of a spiral joss stick which we had lit a few hours before to ward off the attractions of the blood sucking mosquitoes that seem so abundant in the valleys and still places of the counties that sit along the equator, as I laid there as still as possible as not to wake Maz who was dreaming easily beside me my mind retraced the incredible journey that we'd been on since the last time we slept together on a cold winters night in rural England, was that really less than 48 hours ago, it felt like another world, in fact it was a whole world away from where we'll be serving for the next three months.......welcome to Madagascar!

and so the next season begins

Maz and Arron at Heathrow (actually this was taken
when we dropped Arron to catch his Thailand flight!)

as we touched down in a cold Heathrow airport following our three week trip to South Africa we were greeted by our brother-in-law (Mark) and our youngest son (Arron) who we thought we might not see before he flew off to his new job in Thailand, so that was a great surprise and one that we made the most of prior to his departure yesterday!

Trevor delivering some key points to the
Emerging Leaders leadership team.

the reason for our return to England, rather than flying direct from South Africa to Madagascar (which would not only have been the quicker option but also a much cheaper one too), was to join the team from Emerging Leaders at the event they were running for their core team in sunny Suffolk (a county on the east coast of England).

A David Beckham moment (Focus) as a leadership tool

what would seem like a long round about trip was in fact an important part of our journey and was a fitting start to our new season. it is their amazing community leadership programme that we will be using to help transform the hearts of minds of some of the most vulnerable people around the world, starting as you will all be aware in Madagascar later this month. 

Some of our African friends were a little cold

Trevor and Jane (the founders and the incredible people who have created the life changing material) had gathered their team from around the world to come together to learn from each other and share the potential of the training, encouraging us with stories of hope from the field and creating a desire to share this training with more and more people. they are keen to build a team of trainers to train other people living on the coal face of some of the worlds most challenging communities and we were so blessed to have been included as part of that team.

We were joined by Morpheus from
The Matrix (not really this is Sekou pretending!)

it was so amazing to meet up with Purity from Kenya, Joseph from South Africa and Steve from England who are the heads of their countries. Purity has been working with Emerging Leaders for the longest time and it was great to hear how lives are being transformed in some of the slums and wider communities in her country, but we were also very excited to hear about the work that is already taking place in South Africa (obviously a country very close to our hearts) however it was the stories that were shared by Steve that blew us away, Steve told us some fantastic stories of partnerships that were being developed to ensure that this Leadership programme was being accessed by some of the most venerable people in our home country (England) too.

children at Bethany in Madagascar 2014

so now it's time for us to get involved, we know that our time in Madagascar will be very different to anything we have experienced before and although we visited the projects in May 2014 living there for three months will be another ball game, however are really really excited about the opportunity we have been given and are really looking forward to be working with our friend Cho and his team at Love 'n Care Ministries again. 

Tim selfie with children in Madagascar 2014

we can't wait to blog again from that island with new stories of hope, where people are given the chance to see themselves as a leader, be that in their own lives, the lives of their families, their finances and their communities.

we'll be working with the communities along the inland
waterways on the east coast of Madagascar

we'll sign off for now, knowing that you guys will be coming along for the ride (abet from a distance) and that we will post up the stories as soon as we have a stable Internet connection be that in Tomasina or Antananarivo.  

we need a few more of these to help with the
delivery of the Leadership material

should you wish to support some of our financial costs on what is a self funded trip then please click on this link to give online and if you'd like to follow us or the Emerging Leaders team on twitter then follow these links which will take you to those twitter pages tim_at_voh and emerging leaders/leadership4hope