investment in others......

Maz the owl cat thing!

living our lives with our heads down

this time last week we were taking the early steps in teaching thirty people the finer details of Emerging Leaders 'Leadership for Life' modules. we were at the very start of a week where we would wake up the amazing potential oft dormant in their own lives, and help them to become effective trainers who would be able to deliver the timeless leadership principles that Emerging Leaders have seen change the hearts and minds of thousands of some of the most vulnerable people of the world.

team training in action

today, a week later, we are so confident that we have invested our blood, sweat and tears to those who had been identified from a 15,000 strong congregation here in Antananarivo. they certainly went on a journey of self discovery, each and every hour becoming more and more in tune with the material, ensuring that as they went through the words, actions and exercises that make these modules so accessible, that they understood the key points and were equipped to deliver this out into some of the most remote towns and villages of this vast island.

sample of our meals (inc rice!)

we left our relatively comfortable hotel here in Tana on Sunday afternoon, joining those attending the training, along with three translators and four cooks who would be accompanying us on the hour long adventure on the RN1 that leads towards the south of the island. travel is always slow in Madagascar, which has some of the most inaccessible and unkept roads in the world, but it was wonderful to leave the craziness of the capital behind and venture back in time where rural life moves on at a pace not seen in western europe since the 1800's.

Maz busy training

our mini convoy made its way up and over the red topped hills and down the valleys filled with fields being prepared for the new season of rice crops, eventually we arrived a a delightful location, set in the hills above a very small town, where we would be spending our next week with these 37 people who'd we'd only known from a couple of three hour sessions where they were just faces in amongst the 200 others who had attended our Saturday morning modules during the last two weeks.

charcoal cooking

we were welcomed by the newish owners of a 'training centre', who informed us that myself and Maz were the first 'western people' who they'd ever hosted!, they went out of their way to provide everything we needed, the sleeping arrangements were basic bunk rooms and although there were two other married couples on the training the men were separated from the ladies, thankful we weren't split up and were shown to a room with a simple double bed, another room that had been set aside as an office and we even had a separate bathroom, the rest of the men who were in the same building (10 of them) had to share!.

fresh fried fish

our water for washing was to be heated on a strange electric hot plate which had to be turned on at least an hour before required, this was hooked up to a 'Heath Robinson' electrical socket in our bathroom, however it seemed to work well and we had hot water each morning, as long as we got up early enough to turn it on!. 

group training

the four cooks prepared our meals, which would all be shared around long tables which reminded us of our school day, in a small outside cooking area where everything was cooked over charcoal. every meal, yes breakfast, lunch and dinner, was served with rice. these meal times as well as the communal clean up were key to the team working together and served as an opportunity for them to practice their English with us.

meal times

Our days were busy, each morning up for 7am breakfast, then a time of silent contemplation from 8am, a Malagasy worship song and the start of training by 8.30am, we did enjoy breaks for lunch, afternoon tea (rice tea or coffee) and dinner, and our days always ended after a fun evening session where we played silly games, such as a 32 player version of 'musical chairs' and our famous 'under over' balloon game which we perfected at our sports outreach during our six years in Grabouw. we really did have such fun, there was so much laughter as many of the people had never played these before.

my run support team

One evening I (Tim) went out for an evening run, however the team was so concerned for my safety as I make the long slog up to the top of one of the surrounding hills that they joined me along the way to provide me with some protection.....that said I arrived at a huge rocky outcrop before anyone and spotted some very strange markings cut into the rock, it wasn't my intention to upset anyone but an angry man started shouting at me from a near by local village so I ran on very quickly. I later found out was a very sacred and it was 'fady' (local taboo) for anyone to venture near the spot!

last supper

we must admit it was hard work, keeping things moving, people on track and motivated, each night we literally dropped into bed exhausted but with the knowledge that we were planting seeds that will bear much fruit in the coming weeks, months and years.

our wonderful cooks

there is so much else to say, once strangers have become friends, the team bonding and planning how to take this training forward and make the most of the opportunities that are already presenting themselves to us here in Madagascar, a country with a poor performance on leadership, in fact without saying too much we would encourage you to follow a couple of links below to local news sites which contain stories not often heard or reported in the west.

Team Tana!

tomorrow we start our two day training with 48 people from a national government department, lets hope that this Leadership training has an impact on their thinking, and mainly their heart and character!

http://www.madagascar-tribune.com/La-manifestation-des-opposants,22503.html