Rachel was in hospital for a day or two, two weeks ago, with reaction to typhoid shot. She appears to be over it okay. She called for a moment last Tuesday to say that she was in her village on East Coast and that it is really beautiful and we should call her back. (She had gone an hour out to a place overlooking the Bay of Antongil where she had reception. No reception in the village, but there is in the nearest town, Maroantsetra, so we shouldbe able to talk once a month when she goes there to do banking etc.) [from the Internet: On the northeast coast of Madagascar, Maroantsetra sits at the far end of the Bay of Antongil. Discover Madagascar at its best in this small and friendly little town. Located at the edge of Masoala National Park, thousands of unique species of plants and animals call Maroantsetra home.]

We were able to get Rachel and listen for about half an hour. Bad bounce-back effect on that call, so we didn’t talk much. Finally, we lost her. I think, maybe the battery on new cell phone ran out of power. Have not talked to her since. We were supposed to call yesterday (Sunday, March 19) at an agreed-upon time, but we were in NYC with big sister Sarah and did not have a landline to use. Can’t call her on our cell phone without paying a fortune. Have negotiated a rate of 50c a minute on landline through our long-distance carrier, IDT. A cheaper rate is available through Vonage, but we are not sure it is better for us for now. Have to call very often to make it worthwhile and we probably can’t do that.

Rachel said she was staying with Maya, the young woman she is replacing, in a small hut on stilts. Huts are made of reeds and banana leaf thatch. Quite sturdy and adequate for the environment; less tempting to crawling insects than concrete structures are. She will have a bed but was going to have to spend her nights as Maya’s guest sleeping on the floor mats. She will have a bicycle and helmet and Maya says that she bikes the 22 km into Maroantsetra once monthly, weather permitting. That takes about 2.5 hours, and the taxi brousse (public transport van) takes about 2 hours. (It probably stops very often along the way.) There is a toilet hole surrounded by a little thatch wall and a separate cooking hut.

For lunch they had had white rice that Maya grew herself and threshed together with a neighbor. It is indeed white, but when hand-threshed, rice is quite healthy because some of the outer husk remains thus the vitamins are not lost. It is eaten three meals a day, every day, so had better be healthy! They also had an omelet of duck egg and green onions. (Meat will very rarely be available, but eggs should not be a problem, I hope.) There is lots of fruit, I assume, and Rachel will be able to grow some or all of her own vegetables.

Rachel flies back to capital tomorrow, March 22, we think. Rick is looking into getting her a solar-powered battery charger that he noticed on line that can apparently provide energy for cell phone and IPOD. She did not bring IPOD but did take some homemade CDs and a player and solar battery charger for that. We may have to wait until we go there (hopefully in August!) and hand-carry that.

Rachel has only received one letter so far (we have sent 8, some with reading material and such as well) but other volunteers say that you do in the end receive everything. It just takes a long time. Be sure to not her new address in her own email from last week. It would be good to start using that Maroantsetra address as of now since mail takes so long to arrive.

Rachel has 5 more weeks of training near Tananarive before she takes off for her site for the two years. She is really looking forward to being there and getting to work Interestingly, Maya went to school with the daughter of a friend of ours from Tunisia and is presently applying to Brandeis (Rachel’s university) for grad school. Small world!

Best to all, Teresa (Rachel’s mom)

March 12, 2006

Dear all,

Manao ahoana! Inona no vaovao? [Hi! What’s new?]

This is my last day in Antananarivo before heading back to our
training site in Sambaina. I’ll be flying to Maroantsetra for my
permanent site visit in northeastern Madagascar on the 18th. I’ve
spent my time in town working out more concrete contact information
for my next two yaers in Madagascar.

I’ve finally found out my permanent site mailing address. WCS (the
Wildlife Conservation Society–the NGO I’ll be working most closely
with) has mail delivered from their BP in Maroantsetra once or twice a
week and will let me retrieve it from them in my village, Voloina, a
few times a week.

My permanent address in Madagascar is (please be sure to write AIR
MAIL on all letters):

Rachel Kramer, PCV
c/o Wildlife Conservation Society
BP 106
Maroantsetra 512 MADAGASCAR

For info on the Makira Conservation Site project I’ll be working on,
visit: http://www.wcs.org/Africa/Madagascar/Makira .

Also, I now have a cell phone! Hard to believe, I know. I should have
reception in Sambaina for the next five weeks of training, but after
that I’ll only be able to use the phone when I visit Maroansetra once
a month or so (no reception or electricity at my site). Would love to hear
from you!!! (The time difference in Madagascar is 8 hours ahead but while the US is on daylight savings time it will be only 7 hours).

My number is:
011-261-33-12-83253

My love to all. Life in Madagascar is tough but highly rewarding and
the biodiversity (or what remains of it) is just incredible. I love my
new home and wish you all could see it…

Do keep in touch!

All the best,
Rachel

www.rachelinafrica.com

We spoke to Rachel again on Saturday, February 25. Here’s her latest news.

- Yesterday morning in language class Rachel gave a 2 minute technical presentation, in Malagasy, on farming. She thinks it went pretty well.

- Last week Rachel converted a trash heap into a garden at the home where she’s staying while in training.

- Rachel washed clothes for the first time since she arrived; knee-deep in a river near a waterfall. There are rice paddies all around. She said this is one of the most beautiful places she’s ever seen. (And she’s seen a lot of beautiful places - Dad’s comment.) It’s hard work, but worth it.

- Rachel has seen a lot of plants and some animals found only in Madagascar: exotic birds; an animal that’s a cross between a hedgehog and a mole; a spider the size of an egg; native tree species.

- Rachel’s feeling fine, though the anti-malarial medicine (doxycycline) bothers her stomach a bit. She needs to be sure to take it on a full stomach.

- Chef Rachel has learned to cook some typical Malagasy dishes, including anana sy hena, a kind of greens and meat with local spices.

- Next weekend Rachel will travel to Antananarivo, the capital, for a few days. The following Wednesday (March 8 ) she will have an opportunity to visit her site, Voloina (near Maroansetra), for four days. This will give her a chance to see where she’ll be spending the two years following training and talk to her Malagasy counterpart. (Should be exciting and helpful to get a better idea of what her living and working conditions will be like.)

- We asked Rachel what she wants us to send her. She asked for some real luxuries: a vegetable peeler; multivitamins; seeds to plant in a garden.

- Rachel mailed us a copy of what her job description will be when she gets to her site as a PCV. (Until the end of training she’s a PCT.) We’ll post a copy when it arrives.

Rick & Teresa

The following email was transmitted from the Madagascar Peace Corps Training Center on February 17, 2006.

Also, we spoke on the phone with Rachel on February 20. She is very excited about her field site, Voloina — a village about 30 km from the town of Maroantsetra on the east coast of the island. She said that is a coveted posting and she is really honored to be chosen to go there. Besides the expected environment PCV duties, Rachel will also work in some way in maternal/child health programs. More on that later, no doubt. For now she is focused on her 3 months of training in Sambaina near Antananarivo.

Teresa & Rick (Rachel’s mom & dad)

Manao ahoana! (Hello)

I am writing this from Sambaina, a town about 30 km from Tana. We all arrived safely in Tana and I’m now settled with a Malagasy host family nearby. I adore my host family. I’m in a highland house surrounded by rice paddies with two sisters, one of whom is 18, married and has a one-year old “zazakely” (little baby) and eight other family members. Have had rice for dinner and breakfast. Will get used to it! All in the house are absolutely lovely. I couldn’t be happier! Learning to use a bed pan and wash from a bucket in the outhouse and other fun things…

Find out my field site on Saturday and will visit it after the first few weeks of training. Other PCTs are great–just fabulous people–all so glad to be here. Getting to learn a few Malagasy words…more language training today. The daughters at my house speak French, which is nice, but they try to avoid using it with me. All are very patient and highly amused by my ignorance…

I see Iambo’s and Steph’s [Rachel’s half-Malagasy sister and brother] faces in all the men and women here. Makes it feel a little more like home… There’s nowhere else I’d rather be right now. Am just so happy…life is hard, but this must be the most beautiful place on earth.

Miss you all …wish you could see it!

Veloma!

Rachel