Total Helicopters in Mada = 2

Today we were talking with our team leaders. They nonchalantly made a comment about there being two helicopters in Madagascar--one belonging to the president & one belonging to Helimission. That's when I burst out laughing! I find it hard to believe that I live in a country where there are only two helicopters.

There are also only 2 CAT-scan machines in Mada but only one is accessible to the public. As you can imagine, the line to get a scan is exceptionally long & the cost expensive. There are also few reliable blood tests here. Rumor has it, almost every test you take will tell you that you have malaria or typhoid when perhaps neither one is the case.

That's when it hits you that you really & truly live in a third world country.

Team Conference Photos

Here are some photos from our conference with our AIM team. The first is of a bunch of the single women missionaries & myself. We have some amazing women who have been in Mada for a long time! I think the longest is 15 years...and they are single to boot! The second one is of our entire AIM team with the addition of a couple of Malagasy guys that watched the kids & the exception of our Dutch teammate, Gerla. Carel & Annetjie, our team leaders, are pictured near the top with us. This happens to be taken at the center of Madagascar which was really close to where we had our conference. We went for a picnic there (also pictured). The last one is of Daniel & Canadian missionary, Kevin, introducing our guest speaker, Jannie, from South Africa to true Malagasy coffee.

Greetings from rainy Antananarivo!

Greetings from rainy Antananarivo! There is a cyclone just north of Madagascar which is causing some early rain showers--what a blessing after months of dryness! However, it is unusual to have cyclones at this time of year, so we are praying that it will not hit the island but remain off the coast. Surely, there will be more cyclones to come during the usual season beginning in January.

On Sunday, we will go to Ampefy, a town about three hours west of Tana, for a weeklong conference (October 26-31) with our AIM Team here in Madagascar. Please pray for our safety in travel as well as for our discussions & fellowship. This is the annual time of decision-making so please pray that we will have a fruitful, uplifting time together.

Our October prayer letter is attached. We are so grateful for your prayers! There are many stressful days as well as fun ones; we couldn’t do it without you!

Our House "Tenants"

At the beginning of this month, we moved into a house near our language teacher, the marketplace, and many of our AIM teammates. We initially thought the house would be too big and empty but have discovered some previous tenants—cockroaches, ants, geckos, spiders, and mice! We even acquired a dog along with the house (she previously belonged to one of our teammates). Fotsifotsy (her English name is Whitey) has a fierce bark which discourages anyone from entering our yard unwelcome but she’s really pretty easy-going. Unfortunately, she keeps trying to invite more tenants—fleas! In all seriousness, we do love our house. It is helping us to connect with the neighborhood as there is a soccer field next door (below) where tournaments are held every Saturday and Sunday. Much of our time has been spent studying the Malagasy language. On page 1 of our newsletter, we are pictured with our language teacher, Chantal, who teaches us four mornings each week. We feel good about the progress we are making and can converse easily in every day situations but not quite well enough to have deep, spiritual conversations yet.

We've Moved!

Photos Above: 1) view from our house; 2) our neighborhood 3) the soccer field next to our house; 4) our neighborhood omby [cow]; 5) our house which we have lovingly named "Cockroach Hotel" (all are welcome to visit our B & B!)

We've moved into our new home! We are getting settled with our own furniture and setting up house. We are really enjoying being closer to the market and our language teacher. Unfortunately, we don't have any internet in our new home as of yet so that means we may be a little slow in replying to emails but we hope to get it set up soon. Oh yeah, and our mailing address is still the same..
Daniel & Sarah Zagami
C/O Africa Inland Mission
BP 714
Antananarivo 101
MADAGASCAR

"Salt from the Heavens!"

I wish I were referring to a revival, but I'm just talking about the weather. The calendar says it's the end of September, but it's spring here in Madagascar. The rainy season of summer will officially begin at the end of October, but we had a taste of it earlier this week. We were in uptown (no one says downtown but us!) Tana late Monday afternoon when the sky started to get dark and cloudy. So we made a dash to the bus station to catch a taxi-be home. No sooner had we crowded into the aisle seats of the taxi-be than the rain began to fall. When we were about halfway into our commute, it started to hail. The windows at the front of the bus wouldn't close so the teenage girls sitting next to the driver began to shriek! They were getting drenched and pummeled by hail. Then some men began yelling for the driver to pull over so that the helper (the man who rides at the back of the bus to take the money) could close the window. After some maneuvering and more screaming, he managed to get the window to close most of the way. We got back on the road but had to pull over again a little while later to get some gas. It was then that the driver decided to close his window, for which the drenched passengers in the seat behind him appeared to be quite grateful. But his window wouldn't close so he tied a piece of cloth across it. Then we set out again. The hail continued to fall. The men in the seat behind me began to gasp and point to the sides of the road. There were big piles of pebble-sized hail, which they were calling "salt from the heavens." Truly amazing for a place that rarely sees the freezing point on the thermometer. Yet at that moment, I was more interested in the streams of water coursing down the walls from the window tracks, for once very happy to be in the makeshift seat in the aisle rather than next to the window. Along the road, rivers had formed, gushing with red soil-tinted rainwater. Unfortunate pedestrians still trying to make their way through the storm were sloshing along up to their ankles in water and muck. When we reached our stop, the rain stopped long enough for us to get home. Many tree branches had fallen and some flowering fruit trees were damaged, but the rice crop seems to have escaped unscathed. If it were any later in the season, it would be detrimental. We were without power for a several hours as the storm ensued on into the night. Overall the storm wasn't that bad but I can't help but wonder what the actual rainy season will be like. I'm just thankful this city built on hills doesn't see snow or ice. That would really be an adventure!

Sell, Sell, Sell!

Recently, during one of our language lessons, I was thinking about how many words the Malagasy have that are related to selling. They have names for different shopping locales, the marketplace (tsena) or the small shops along the street (mangazay). But they also have names for the various sellers according to what they sell. There is the fish seller (mpivaro-trondro), the bread seller (mpivaro-mofo), the meat seller (mpivaro-hena), the fruit seller (mpivaro-voankazo), and on and on it goes. Thankfully, most of these words have the same root which makes learning the language a little easier.

This morning, as we walked home from our language lesson, I was marveling once again at everything one can buy on the street. I'm beginning to become more accustomed to the sight but every once in awhile, I can't help but say, "Daniel, look! There's a blender! And there's a hair straightener!" You can buy extension cords and super glue, sunglasses and hats, jeans and shirts. They don't have a shopping mall in Tana, but I guess that's because you can buy anything you need along the street!

We are particularly intrigued by the street food for sale. You can buy a cup of coffee, thick with sweetened condensed milk, from a vendor strolling along the street. You can also buy a glass of fresh fruit juice. The only catch is that if you didn't bring your own glass or cup, you'll have to use one provided by the vendor, and the washing of dishes isn't a reality in such a mobile business.

Some of our favorite foods are the bonboncoco (the coconut cookie I am pictured with in a previous post) or mofo mangazo (manioc with ground peanuts rolled into it) which we buy from children in a little shop. They get a laugh out of our Malagasy and we enjoy delicious treats along with a chance to practice our language. The relational culture of the Malagasy which is so apparent in their constant buying and selling is an open door for us to engage in their lives. We really enjoy these interactions and look forward to being able to get to know them on a deeper level.