Home after a mad time in Madagascar....

A visit to a Love'NCare school which is providing
education for these children for the very first time

I'm sitting at my laptop on a dull and wet day in England, just two days ago we'd awoken to the bright blue skies that provided a starke backdrop to the plight of thousands of people who were going about their busy mornings just below us. There was a slight chill in the air, at 20 degrees celsius this was decidedly cold compared to what we had become used to during our over 100 day trip that had seen us travel to four African nations, with people were wearing thicker coats, hats and even scarves.

Sunset over Antananarivo 

It was the end of our trip and we were staying in a little hotel in Antananarivo (Tana), which provided us with our 21st different bed, for a couple of nights before flying home (to England) via Johannesburg. Where does all that time go?

So what will follow next is a brief summary of what we have been upto since our last full update after we left Bulawayo in Zimbabwe at the end of March, you can read that post by following the link here should you wish!

Maz and Ken chatting about the products that he
is making out of the flour he has ground from
Breadfruit and Cassava as an alternative to traditional flour
which is naturally gluten free. 

Arriving in Madagascar is always a bit of a culture shock, we know that much of our time spent in South Africa gave us the opportunities to enjoy many of the creature comforts of the western lifestyle that we enjoyed as we grew up in England and that aren't so available further up in Africa, but having visited other challenging nations such as Burundi and Zimbabwe we hold Madagascar at an even more challenging level.

Barge transporting charcoal which is the main
source of heat for people to cook on
given the fact that only 13% of the population have
access to electricity.

It's not only the stunning colours, scenery, the different smells and sounds overwhelming our senses, it's also the knowledge that Malagasy have some of the lowest levels of access to water, basic sanitation, education, employment and access to the outside world. It's a nation that seems to be stuck in time, taxi's are old Renaults that we used to see in the 1970's, carts drawn by cow or men are a plenty, cobbled streets are still de rigueur in Tana with other roads in the nation in such a state of disrepair that its hardly right to call them roads.

After arriving in Tana from Cape Town we spent a few days catching up with old friends in the capital city before deciding that it would be best to reschedule our planned trip and head across to Toamasina (Tamatave) to work with our contacts there first before returning to Tana towards the end of the trip.

An evening out with some very special people
Colin and Kimberley, Cho and Deborah 

Once again we were welcomed in Toamasina by our good friends Cho and Deborah who head up the amazing local charity called Love'nCare (LNC) and whom we first met way back in 2013 when Cho, a South Korean pastor, and his Malagasy understudy, Theo, visited us at the Village of Hope in Grabouw. Since that meeting we were invited to visit their project in Toamasina in 2014 and have subsequently returned in 2016, twice in 2017 and after a year out due to the internal issues within Madagascar, a cyclone, the plague and a governmental election to name just three, and we were so glad to be back.

Maz, Cho and the ambulance 

Cho is such an awesome guy and he and his team at LNC have now opened up 19 schools, most of them in rural areas where children are now able to access an education for the first time. LNC have also opened a new hospital in Toamasina, of which we were honored to take a tour of.

During our first few days we were also to reconnect with two of the most wonderful people we know, Kimberley and Colin have been friends since we met them in 2016, they run an NGO called HELP Madagascar and have been running the Leadership for Life (LfL) and LEAD NOW programmes with those that they work with since we trained a couple of their staff in 2017. Kimberley and Colin have been great advocates for both the programmes and they were the main reason why we had returned to Madagascar this time.

LEAD NOW

As usual we were keen to get out and meet other people and so it was wonderful to have the opportunity to visit a local school, the head teacher had been trained in the LEAD NOW (LN), children's leadership programme, by us in 2017 and has adopted it into the curriculum of five of the year groups within her school. The school has seen the dramatic effect that it has had on the children, not only are their grades going up, which is great news, but how the children see themselves and those around them has also improved, to such an extent that parents are now wanting their children to attend this privately run school (so many of schools in Madagascar are not run by the government) because of the new ways of teaching and the LN programme being offered!

Children being creative around the topic
of 'heart and character' which is at the
center of good leadership

It was wonderful to see the teacher, her husband was later to attended the LfL Training of Practitioners (TtP) that we ran and who will now be using that to share with the parents of the children!, really embrace the LN programme, using it to be creative outside of the actual LN lesson, with children making flowers and hearts in preparation for the lesson in their art and craft class. 

The lesson was on 'Heart and Character' and the children explored any of the characteristics that were causing keeping them small and not allowing them to grow into the full potential that lays within each one of them.

We also made time to visit the inmates who we had trained up to share the LfL within the local prison. I'm not sure if I can even attempt to convey the shocking conditions that are found not only this prison but also those throughout this vast island. Over 1500 men, women and children are kept in such shocking accommodation which not only plays havoc with their physical health (over the last year LNC have set up a daily feeding programme to combat the malnutrition which was found to be rampant during a recent Amnesty International report, see link, and during the time we were there one man died) but also their mental health.

Out fishing on the Panaglane

It was great to see the seven men who still remain inside, as well as meeting up with the guards who were also on the same programme. We also met up with the new prison commander who has committed herself to implement the LfL to help both those new inmates and those set for release. We hope to hear some better news around the ways in which the prison will further improve as both the inmates and guards start to write a better story for their lives and the lives of those around them.

Maz meets up with some men walking to sell
their recently made charcoal

We were also keen to make a short trip down the 600km long Canal Des Pangalanes where we had worked and stayed in 2016, this was at a local village where LNC have just recently built another school and where they have an orphanage to care for some of the local children who live in this rural area. It was wonderful to spend a day with these people and have an interaction with some local people who were making charcoal to sell, you could read about this by following this link to an earlier post.

The main reason for this part of the trip was to train up 35 local people who the trainers who we'd trained in 2017 from HELP had been sharing the LfL programme with during the last two years, our five day training would ensure that each of the 35 people would be equipped to be able to deliver the LfL programme into the organsiations and networks where they are working. 

It was great to spend time investing in these awesome people who we shared meals with and even in the humidity managed to keep from falling asleep in the afternoon session! They have all already been putting the leadership principles into action in their own lives and hearing the stories of the difference it has made.

Training 35 people in LfL is a tough task
given the humidity which saps all your energy over
the five days of training. 

We had a diverse group of people attend the 
training, including a man who lives and works in some remote locations outside of Toamasina helping local people understand the need to live alongside the lemurs that they share their space with and helping to help maintain the unique flora that exists in that part of the big island under the MFFG organisation, a lady who works in the local fistula clinic that our friend set up after the Mercy Ships had spent time in Toamasina in 2017, and many other heads of local organisations who are helping to uplift some of the poorest people in the city via sustainable projects.

Smiling faces

After spending near on three weeks in the east coast port we made our way back to Tana where we worked with some of the people who we had first met in 2016, most of these people are connected with the FJKM church in Ambohipo a huge church (well in numbers of people, 15,000, not the size of the building) which is based near the university of Antananarivo which attracts a large number of intelligent young people who are keen to make a difference in their nation.

Teachers trained to deliver LEAD NOW into their schools

We hosted a three day TtP for LN where we trained 10 local teachers who will now be sharing the programme with the children that they teach. Once again it was great to invest in these people who will grow the potential of the children that they are working with, helping them understand that they are the leaders of their own lives and that the way that they lead themselves has an impact on those around them.

Third world meet first world at the port of Toamasina

Madagascar is like no other place that we have ever been to, which as we said earlier include some of the most challenging places and nations in the world such as Burundi, Zimbabwe and the townships of South Africa, according to the World Bank 'Madagascar is lagging in a number of development indicators. Every second child (under the age of five) suffers from stunting, and the country has the world’s fifth highest number of out-of-school children. Furthermore, at only 13%, the rate of access to electricity is one of the lowest on the planet. In 2018, Madagascar’s Human Development Index (HDI), as measured by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), improved slightly from 0.512 to 0.519, but the country fell three places in the world ranking, from 158 to 161'.

Food is at the center!
Although the photo looks more like the Last Supper.

There are many factors that leave us with that feeling, but we think that the vastness, remoteness and failing infrastructure are major contributing factors but also it's risk to natural forces beyond its control, such as cyclone and disease, that place this nation of over 25 million people in a very challenging position.

Catching up and updating those who
we trained in the LfL programme in 2017.
Some very friendly faces there including
Flaurid who was instrumental in organising our time in Tana

After running the LN programme with the teachers, (which gave us such great joy as with all of the other issues the education system in Madagascar is severely lacking, as highlighted by UNICEF in this simple web page which shows that 'only 20% of teachers are civil servants and 97% do not have a vocational education degree') we were able to share the updates that had since been introduced to the LfL programme with those people we had trained in 2017. It was so good to see these wonderful people and to hear of their stories of how they had put the programme into action in their lives.

Prayer times with the Sisters

Our final engagement of this early spring 2019 trip was to run a four day retreat for eight people who we would train up to share the LfL programme within their networks. We were hosted by an order of protestant sisters who live in a small 'center' just outside Tana. As we said eight people joined us as we ran a LfL TtP with some very long morning, afternoon and evening sessions but we made sure that we had the opportunity to join the sisters during their three times of prayer during our days.

Off to our 'Leadership' retreat
Vonji and Voirana at the fore!

We are thankful to our friends Flaurida, Vonji and Voirana who were so helpful in arranging all our needs in Tana, from gathering people, arranging interpreters and translating the LfL programme, now in a second updated format into Malagasy.

The accommodation was quite basic by European standards but it was great to share this special time with these people who had attended LfL programmes that had been run by some of the people we had trained during our time in Tana in 2017, we shared meals together, and I (Tim) even managed to get out for a couple of runs which took me into the communities that live in between the rice paddy fields that surrounded the center.

More food which was prepared to suit our
'Plant based diets'

We left Madagascar with great expectations, we are very pleased with how the trip went and although we could have trained more people we are confident that those that we have trained are going to be great advocates and trainers themselves.

So now we are back in England having visited four different nations, worked with people from six different cities and sit with the knowledge that the Leadership for Life programmes are already having a huge impact into some of the most vulnerable communities in the world, delivered by local people to their own people groups, thus ensuring long term change coming through an understanding that everyone has amazing amazing potential to change their minds to change their lives.

Rice, rice and more rice

It's kinda weird being back in England, we are overwhelmed by the good state of the roads, cleanliness and availability of food and other products that we often take for granted. As for the foreseeable future we no further planned trips until at least October so we are going to make the most of this time by spending some time with family, meet up with old friends and have some down time in readiness for the next adventures that we are sure will come our way.

Madagascar we'll see you soon!

settling in to life back in South Africa

saturday chillout at Camps Bay

we'll we've been back in South Africa for two weeks exactly and it seems like we have never been away, it's been wonderful to see old friends and to make new ones as we undertake the work that we have been set for the next three months.

we certainly 'hit the road running', landing on Sunday morning, picking up our rental car and travelling to the stunning accommodation in Grabouw that will be our home for the next three months. we unpacked our meager luggage into the huge wardrobes and then set about delivering the Emerging Leaders 'Leadership for Life' programme to a group of school teachers on the Monday.

working with the farmworkers

a lot of the preparation for the first month of the three months that we are going to be based here was done in November and December so we haven't stopped since arriving. 

each of the four modules lasts about three hours and we have worked on two different farms with three groups of people, two schools and a large packhouse, delivering 13 modules over the first ten days.

the awesome Pool Room

if you have been following our story you will know that the Leadership for Life programme is very interactive and its been great to see people open up, to start to see themselves as leaders, in whatever they are doing in their lives, to start to pick up their 'life pen' and look at what it might take to write a new story for their lives.

xhosa farmworkers

we have also had some great meetings, both with the exporters of the fruit which is grown in South Africa and with some influential people in local government and other businesses who are very excited to see how the programme can impact the hearts and minds of the wider communities that live 'beyond the farm gates'.

maz and some of the teachers

it is our dream to have the new 'Lead Now', children's programme, piloted in a couple of the local schools so its very important that the school teachers are understanding and living out the leadership principles that make up the programme. it has been wonderful to work with these people and we hope that they will now be 'seeing themselves as leaders' as they provide the role model and examples to the children that they teach.

working together on our 'Here to There'

we did enjoy a 'date night' out at the Pool Room at Oak Valley, where we were welcomed with open arms by Gordon and Emma who own that awesome restaurant, we also went into Cape Town and had our hair cuts sorted by the guys at 'Scar' and we spent the couple of Saturday's at the beach, first at Camps Bay and yesterday in Hermanus, we also went into Cape Town to watch the third T20 cricket international between South Africa and Sri Lanka.

SA lose to Sri Lanka at Newlands

it is also lovely to have our 'own' space, to be able to relax, read and enjoy the beautiful views that surround our rental home, we have both been running around the vineyards and apple orchards which also helps us to relax and unwind.

new haircuts

this coming week is another busy one so we'll update via Facebook as and when we can but till next time please keep us in your prayers as we firstly look for a longer term solution to our extremely high rental car costs and as we see those that we are working with 'lift up their heads' and start to see a different future for their lives, the lives of their families and their communities.

so that was Christmas 2016......

Grandad playing subbuteo with Alfie!

well it's been over a month since we last posted and once again so much has happened since our last update, as we sit here back in sunny and warm South Africa we can hardly believe that Christmas 2016 has passed, however we move into 2017 with excitement and expectation, we hope you do too!


as a brief update we enjoyed a wonderful month in England celebrating the Christmas season with our family and friends which was a true blessing and one that we wouldn't have wanted to have missed for the world, we hadn't seen these precious people since leaving for Madagascar on the 6th September and what with our current scehdule won't see them again for another six months! ;-(

we arrived home in time to celebrate Maz's sisters birthday which was important to us as she and her husband have been hosting us for all of the time we were 'at home' in 2016, it was a lovely evening in the fancy dress theme of 'the 1950's'.

it's Christmas!

we also managed to get to see Josh (our middle son) and his fiances new home in London before rushing down to Bristol to join our eldest son (Chris), his wife and our three awesome Grandchildren to help out with some 'babysitting' prior to spending Christmas Day with them and seeing the children enjoy that special day.

New Year eve was a blast from the past, where we spent it with our good friends, along with their children, we must be honest and say that we didn't get to bed too early and were soon up again to travel to Northampton to spend New Years day with Tim's sister and brother in law, his Mum and Dad, Faith, Joel and Charlotte (who were married earlier in the year (2016). 

Grandchildren full of delight

whilst we didn't experience the 'white Christmas' we had wished for we did spend a night in Tim's sisters summer house without any heating which certainly tested our resolve as the temperatures dropped below freezing, however we soon warmed up as we ran about 7 miles around a local reservoir the next morning!

Happy 2017 everyone!

our friends at the Aylesbury Vineyard church made us feel welcome as usual and we very much enjoyed their carol service and had a chance to share our vision for 2017 with the congregation prior to our return to South Africa last Sunday. 

one note of sadness was that we didn't get chance to see our youngest son (Arron) who was sailing away to the Caribbean with his new job, however we are looking forward to catching up with him during some special days in 2017, more news of which will follow shortly.

a New Years run...welcome 2017

so we sit here with the doors of our rented home open to the sounds of Africa which are bursting through the darkness with great expectation of what is in store for us both in 2017, some known, like a trip to Uganda following this time in South Africa, prior to a return to Madagascar for a month or so in May and some unknown, we hope you will continue to journey with us and we thank you all again for joining us so far.

back in busy beautiful South Africa.....

maz and joe running a leadership for life module
in the hot South African sun!

so we've been back in South Africa for just over a week now, after arriving on a very rocky and hair raising flight through the thunderstorms from Antananarivo, via Johannesburg, to Cape Town and we have certainly hit the ground running.

it was very sad to say goodbye to our friends in Madagascar but we leave them with the knowledge that we have delivered on all aspects of our vision for our time there and have left an amazing team of trained trainers in both Antananarivo and Toamasina with the knowledge that we will be returning to work with these people in 2017.

Lekker braai 

this first week here in Grabouw has been a time for us to not only catch up with some of the wonderful local people who we'd grown to love during our six year stay here when working with the Thembalitsha Foundation but also setting up and attending meetings with different farms, businesses and organsiations who we are looking to work with to deliver the awesome Emerging Leaders, Leadership for Life, modules to all members of the local community and beyond.

initially we were hosted by our good friends Sandy and Ali before moving onto a local farm where we are also staying with some people who have become part of our lives over the last few years. one evening we were served a wonderful meal by Rob and Emily House at their newly built home in Sir Lowrys Village.

Our great friend 'Big Mike' who helped us with our xhosa
translation at our first training

on Friday evening we were interviewed by the local radio station on a programme talking about the 2020 vision of Grabouw, it was wonderfully to be able to share the dreams that we have for the next few months with some people of similar heart and mindset.

today we ran our first ever Emerging Leaders training on a local farm, it was fantastic to work with the existing team here in South Africa, as well as to see the eyes of the farm workers light up as they began to see themselves as leaders and the realisation that their lives are real stories which they are writing.

catching up with old friends in the community!

we've enjoyed lots of braai's, hugs and smiles since returning and although we think we've got our work cut out to deliver the numbers we have been set but we know that we have until the middle of April to work towards those, and its with great excitement that we look to the next steps of this journey, seeking to bring a tangible difference via mindset change to a town and people group that we love so much.

so we've got news......

....what news we hear you cry!

well you're never going to believe it but Emerging Leaders have asked us to help assist in establishing a 'new model' of sustainable training which will help bring transformation into the farming communities in.....


.....South Africa!

yup you read that right and not just South Africa but specifically the Western Cape which is a place we know and love so much.

this opportunity came totally 'out of the blue' and the six month contract will mean that we will leave Madagascar in the middle of November and travel straight to Cape Town, we have already changed our existing return flights to England and we will initially be staying in the very valley where we spent near on seven years of our lives as we set up and then ran 'The Village of Hope' under the Thembalitsha Foundation.

there is a lot of work to do within this short space of time, but we are very excited to have this opportunity to work within a community and alongside people whom we have grown to love.

we are going to be looking at a this 'new model' for the UK High Street retailer, Marks and Spencer who are working towards their 'Plan A 2020' (should you wish to read more then please follow the link), with the wonderful existing Emerging Leaders 'team' in South Africa. 

this will include an integrated plan of community engagement via farms, schools and wider social networks with the understanding that without 'good leadership' there is no tangible change, therefore it is important for us to ensure that the leadership principles of the Emerging Leaders material is delivered, understood and put into practice by as many people as possible as we seek to show that 'everyone is a leader' and it starts with being able to lead your own life.

we will update further nearer the time, but just to say we are still very much focused on the work we are currently undertaking here in Madagascar and hold both opportunities to see communities transformed via 'leadership mindsets' at the forefront of our hearts.