Manadona and New Tutor

Finished painting room

Sunday, 28 May 2023 (104)

Another long slog to bike to Manadona for church. I felt inspired to talk with one sister about my looking for a tutor. She said she and her husband work for the missionary department here in Madagascar. I got her name and number to call in the next week or two. Like the other teacher I talked to this week they both live and work in Manadona.

Monday, 29 May 2023 (105)

Dr. Clertant is still out of town and Rindra should have gotten in to Antsirabe today. The mayor brought by a guy who was going to help me with painting. I had already started to prep the walls and floor for the blue and green paint. Turns out we had just enough blue for the one long wall but barely enough for the small green wall. The green paint is just not  the covering kind of paint. Much like the yellow wall which took half or more of the 20k bucket.

Bought my guy lunch and we finished up about 2pm. I let him go so I could finish up and get the place back in order. It's looking good now. Just a few more additions like more shelves and curtains.

Child at CSB

Tuesday, 30 May 2023 (106)

At the clinic this morning again. Starting to figure some things out but will like it more when Rindra can clarify for me my schedule, the schedule of the CSB and what exactly is expected of me. One thing already she help me determine - Dobby is a girl dog.

As soon as Rindra got here I took her around the Tuesday Market and had her answering questions for me, such as, where can I buy eggs in Sahanivotry? The answer - nowhere. I also am using her to help me remember names of my co-workers and favorite people in town. I can't keep asking them over and over, and there are so many. I think if I just write them down and their position in town and possibly try and get a photo, that should help.

Manda & Rindra - future and past tutors.

Thursday, 1 June 2023 (108)

Rindra and I went to Manadona this morning to meet with the three potential tutors and visit the Thursday Manadona market.

We spent about half an hour with Sitrapanahy and her husband who are members of the church branch here in Manadona. I felt inspired Sunday to talk to her and she said her husband would be the more likely tutor. Today, she said she would probably be the primary tutor and her husband, the backup. But in our conversations there was little English spoken by her and almost none from her husband. I also thought she had said she and her husband worked for the church, but today I discovered they did not. They learned their English from American companions when they were missionaries here many years ago. 

There was much information shared by Rindra and me but very little English was heard from them. Even when asked, only a sentence or two was conveyed and it was obvious to both of us that there could be some communication problems. 

On to Manda in Manadona. He met us just outside the CSB and he was smiling more than I remembered from last week in Sahanivotry. He spoke as much English as Malagasy in our conversations. The more we talked, the more we both felt this guy would be the best tutor. He mentioned how he was more interested in doing this more for learning than for the money. The going rate for tutoring is 15,000ar or about $3.47 an hour. I had been told this is more than what teachers make and the average people live on here is around $3 a day.

Afterwards, Rindra and I both agreed that he would be my tutor. The hard part will be letting the other couple down.

We connected with Nada, the health volunteer here in Manadona. She seemed to be a little flustered with more additional work at the CSB today. Her co-workers and two other french volunteers seemed not to be around. I was pleased to see her a little confused as we watched her getting instructions. She didn't look like she understood. I felt that same way and get the impression it is common for us to go through this confusion being new. Nada was at the top of our class in language and gave the speech to represent our cohort at swearing-in so I know it isn't just me.

We connected back up about noon when she finished her time and got something to eat. I had three or four people come up to me in the streets who knew me from church or Sahanivotry. Nada says I am already spoken about in Manadona. My reputation has already expanded even here. I should thank my supervisor Dr. Clertant, who takes every opportunity to introduce me to all people gathered together at the CSB or in town. And he and my co-workers continue to take me out to the local fokantanies to do so as well. 

The three of us got some street food and bought a few items - more balloons and chocolate to give away to children, and a ball for a little girl I met across the river yesterday who was playing with her own homemade ball of string and cardboard. We stopped to talk to an older woman who was selling groups of four and five seeds for 100ar (about two cents). How could she possible be making any money? But there she was, selling the least expensive things among hundreds of sellers. I bought four seeds and won't say what I paid for them. Thinking back, I wished I had paid ten times more. I hope to see her again soon, to do just that.

All the taxi-bruss' were more than full headed back to Sahanivotry, so we walked south until a taxi-bruss drove by that had some room. Otherwise, it would have been quite the hike back to town. Rindra's mother had made us both some lunch.