The Waiting Game

The political situation seems to be at a stand-still. The former president would still like to return home to Madagascar and continues to try to rally support from the international community. Continued efforts have been made to try to resolve the situation with help from the African Union, the European Union, and the United Nations (perhaps there are others involved as well), but as of yet, no dialogues have truly been successful. The new elections are currently set for October 2010 though the aforementioned groups are pushing for elections much sooner rather than later. Please pray that there would be successful and productive dialogues and that elections would be held as soon as possible so that the Malagasy people can have a voice in their government once again!

For the most part, life continues as normal for us here. There was a shortage on margarine for awhile as the former president’s company, Tiko (the only supplier of butter and margarine in the country!), was forced out of business by the transitional leader. We now have margarine imported from South Africa for almost half the original price of the Tiko products (go figure!). Yet this is a minor inconvenience compared with the rising price of oil and flour (the Malagasy don’t use that much margarine anyway!) and the declining foreign aid. Please pray for the poor who just keep getting poorer that there might be more jobs available and that the cost of living would not increase too much!

If you are interested in following the political situation more closely, I recommend checking the BBC website or searching for “Madagascar News” on Yahoo. Then you can get the most recent articles in English! If you are really into political hearsay or just want to hear the former president speak English (ha!), you might also check YouTube and search for Madagascar, Rajoelina, or Ravalomanana.

Sunday is Global Prayer Day and thousands of Malagasy will gather at the stadium in the center of the city to pray for their country and the world. They are thankful for your prayers as well!

Update on the Political Situation

I apologize for the delay in updating you all on the situation. We are currently in South Africa attending some leadership training conferences with AIM. However, exactly two weeks ago, before we left Madagascar, President Ravalomanana stepped down from his office, handing power of the government over to his military commanders. He did this out of concern for the Malagasy people. Within a day the opposition leader had taken control of the situation and was sworn in by the high courts as president. This action has been called a coup by the UN, the U.S., the African Union, and most recently, the Southern African Development Community (SADC). It's understandable considering his move was undemocratic but will have great effects on the economy and even moreso, the poorest of the poor in Madagascar. Much non-humanitarian aid has been withdrawn from the country and sanctions have been placed against Madagascar. The actual elected president (Ravalomanana) has left the country but is trying to regain his rightful authority in Madagascar by rallying with the international community. Over 30,000 supporters of the president have held protests and rallies in the capital, mostly peaceful though resulting in some minor injuries. It seems the tables have been turned with the opposition leader (the new president) calling for dialog with the former president as he is now struggling to keep control. It's a bit ironic since he was unwilling to cooperate while the president was still in power. We will know more when we return to Tana but wanted to fill you in on the latest so that you will know how to pray for the leaders as well as the common people of Madagascar.

Please pray for wisdom & discernment for those in power to make decisions and for helpful direction and assistance from the international community which could lead to a peaceful end and solution to the ongoing unrest.

Pray for the Malagasy as prices rise and their spirits fall with the difficulties that result from this unrest in the government.

Pray for us and other missionaries that we can be an encouragement and a light to our Malagasy friends and co-workers during this difficult time.

And please pray for unity among Malagasy Christians and within the church.

Thank you!

The Terminal

We recently watched the movie, The Terminal, which reminded us of the high security in U.S. airports. Here in Madagascar, the security is much lower. In fact, one of our favorite places to hang out on a day off is at the Ivato International Airport. It's just a 20 minute bus ride from the bus stop near our home. There is only one sit-down restaurant in the international departures and arrivals building but the view of the runway and the mountains is excellent. We like to sit there, order a big bottle of Classiko Cola (something like Coke made by the president's company), speak Malagasy with the waiters, and then watch the planes take off and land. These pictures were taken there recently. It's actually the only place in the airport where you are allowed to take pictures. Many of our co-workers find it amusing that we enjoy the airport so much, but a clear view of the runway is a thing of the past at most American airports. Even as a ticketed passenger, you often can't find a place to see clearly what is happening on the runway. But here in Madagascar, you can see it all! And, a trip to the airport is like a trip to another country. Depending on which flight is leaving that day, it might seem that you are in Europe or South Africa. The people we see in the airport are so different from the ones we see on the street and some of the foreigners are really intriguing. For example, when we went late in the evening to pick up a returning missionary, we encountered two American guys waiting for the flight to arrive. At first I was excited to hear them speaking English (we don't see many Americans) but before I had a chance to greet them, I realized they were a couple of hick southerners. One was drinking a huge bottle of Three Horses Beer (the national brew which is cheap and readily available, no laws managing the consumption of alcohol that I'm aware of) and the other had a can of Mountain Dew (which I later realized was not for drinking but for spitting because of the large wad of chewing tobacco in his mouth). They were walking around the arrivals corridor loudly joking in their southern drawl. It was one of those moments when you're not so proud to be an American! Yet it's another reason why hanging out at the airport is so fascinating!

Andasibe National Park

We recently took a weekend off to visit nearby Andasibe National Park. This is one of the most popular tourist destinations in Madagascar as it is only 3 hours from Tana and provides many opportunities to spot the famous Indri lemurs (There is a picture of one below). This is the off-season for tourism right now and because of the political situation it is even quieter than usual! It's unfortunate because their are so many Malagasy park guides without work. So they were thrilled to see us and happy to hear that we'd "survived" Tana. Some of the things they'd heard were just absurd! The other photo was taken from a small hotel restaurant in the village of Andasibe (about 3 km from the park). We spent some time in the village where we discovered delicious fried bananas and other fried cakes for a cheap breakfast on the run! Yeah, not so healthy but really tasty... In the photo, you'll notice the clothes hanging out to dry on the wooden fence. This seemed to be the trend around town so I had to capture a photo since it's not like that in the city. Here, they lay their clothes on grassy hillsides or rocks along the rivers or hang them on a clothesline.