(the continued story of our trip to Ambalason village along the Pangalanes......)
......whilst we were busy with the teaching module two, which looks at leading your team (or family), Chris and Claire kept the children entertained with some crazy games including those involving balloons which the children were extremely please to receive. however the main activity that they were encouraging the children to get involved in was the tidying of the areas around their homes, whilst there wasn't the usual clutter of plastic bags and crisp packets (that's chip wrappers for all you guys from the USA and South Africa!) that we would normally expect to see they did collect around four bags of odd litter which included a glass bottle hidden in some longer grass and the remnants of many of the balloons which had burst against the branches of the trees!
by lunchtime on Saturday we had completed module two of the training with the expectation of 'how we lead our finances' coming up during the afternoon. we had seen how hard module three was to teach during our previous training sessions in Toamasina and those attending in this remote village were to prove no exception to that rule.
fishing along the wide canals makes up the majority of the income of those living along its banks and it was both sad and challenging to hear of the depleted stocks of fish and the lower prices that the fishermen were receiving for their hard work. the teaching encourages us to 'change something' if its not working but it was very hard for the fishermen to see how they could change the only thing that they had known during their lifetime and something that they had learnt from their previous generations.
it seemed that the basic living costs, such as materials to mend their nets, school fees, cooking and lamp oil, along with extra food made up much of their expenditure, with the purchase of coffee their only real 'treat', there was no forward planning for saving (e.g. for medical expenses) but they all agreed that having a budget was a good thing so we made sure that they understood the essence of that and encouraged them to create one for their own lives.
after the changes we have already seen of those who have completed our other training we are confident that these wonderful people will put these new ways of thinking into action.
during our stay we were made to feel extremely welcome by everyone and as the weekend went on the hearts and minds, and also the faces, of those around us opened up as they realised that if they 'changed their thinking they could change their lives' and that 'they could do more together than they can on their own'.
we had a tremendous rainstorm on Saturday night and whilst it reduced the temperature for a while we woke to another glorious day of sunshine and a lifestyle which followed much the same pattern of the day before for many of the villagers. there was the excitement of a church service which we were taking part in after we had lead a quick resume of the previous days modules with the participants.
the church service was held in the school 'building' and we were joined by the other women and children from the village, Tim shared the story of Joseph and his technicoloured dream coat which had the bias towards encouraging them all to start dreaming of the way they would like their world to look like and whilst things may seem to go against them (such as in Josephs story, like being sold into slavery or being forgotten in prison or his brothers hating him for having a dream) that if they were persistent they could see their dreams come true.
our time with these amazing people was drawing to a close and after a lunch of rice and freshwater crab we made our slow way down the track back to our boat. we are already making plans to come back in the autumn to see how they are getting on with their community projects which they were all keen to see started and we are sure that we will see toilets being built, along with a greater sense of purpose for all of their lives.
the weekend was full of highs and lows, its hard not to worry for the well being of a village on the edge of the world, the plight of the children, their schooling and future job opportunities but it with great joy that we have been able to share the incredible 'Leadership for Life' with them.
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