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Category: Teaching

Community Development
BlogTeaching

Community Development is the Heart of MRCI

2 February 2018

Community Development MRCI’s progress in environmental conservation and community development, including the establishment of a Marine Protected area and Agroforestry project, would not be possible without the hard work and cooperation of the people who live here. Side-by-side, hand-in-hand we work together with strong support from the community leaders and surrounding villages. This puts community development programs right at the heart and soul of MRCI.

Every week, our volunteers go out into the surrounding villages and help teach English classes with local teachers. They have the privilege of getting to know some incredible people over their weeks here. Meet Sylvain, on of our adult students originally from the capital of Madagascar, Antananarivo. He came to Nosy be for work over a year ago and started taking English lessons with us a few months ago. His wife speaks a little English and he decided to learn so they can practice together, and he is well on his way to reaching his goal. At almost sixty, he is one of our oldest students. He comes to class, book and pens in hand and sits at the first table at the front bringing with him determination and a kind smile.

Sylvain, like most people here, makes his living off the land. Every day, he works hard selling fruits and vegetables in the market to support himself and his family. This is not an easy living, with lots of manual labor involved. Still he makes time to study diligently and attend class every single day like clockwork in the small village of Ampang on Nosy Komba island. We have seen so much incredible progress in his English in the months since he began with us, and he has earned student of the week more times than I can remember. He makes no excuse of time, age or anything else, instead brining only his incredible work ethic and resolution. He brings joy to those around him and sets a great example for us all.

Through Sylvain, we learn to take full advantage of the opportunities we have in life and work hard without giving up. The biggest barriers to achieving our dreams are those we set up ourselves. Through his dedication and hard work, Sylvain teaches us even more than we could ever teach him.

Authors: Emily Borth, Director of Operations
& Rojo Razafisalama Andofinoana, Community Development Liaison Officer

 

Find Out More About Our Community Development Program

 

Teaching Volunteer Memories Will Last A Lifetime
BlogReviewsTeaching

Teaching Volunteer’s Memories Will Last A Lifetime

Former teaching volunteer, Hannah Bonecutter, made the most of her short stay with us.  We love knowing that while we’re making a difference to the community here, we’re also helping to create wonderful memories to last a lifetime!

Teaching Volunteer Memories Will Last A Lifetime“My visit in Madagascar was absolutely phenomenal!  I started out doing the Forest Conservation Program , but then switched to the Teaching Program because I felt I would serve the community best in this capacity for my relatively short 2 week stay on the island.  Further, I am a licensed teacher back in America and indeed felt the teaching spirit calling to me much more than the forest conservation one there in Madagascar.  Hence, I switched and it was the best decision I made there.  The local staff were completely understanding and helpful in this, and needless to say I absolutely loved it!  I taught English to all ranges of students from kindergartners in Ampangorina village on Nosy Komba, to older adult students in Hellville city on Nosy Be.  I grew quite close to  several of my students in Nosy Komba and even had them write me goodbye notes in a book I made before I left.

The accommodations on camp were quite nice considering the fact that we were in the middle of serious forest and wildlife in Madagascar.  I enjoyed sleeping in my Treehouse hut with my fellow hut mates and honestly made good friends on this trip from our volunteer bunch.  I enjoyed getting to know people from other parts of the world and learn about their languages and culture

Teaching Volunteer Memories Will Last A LifetimeI truly enjoyed every part of this trip so it is hard to choose favorite moments, but here are some.   One of them was definitely my weekend trip to the gorgeous island of Nosy Iranja.  Simply viewing the sunset on that beach there was breathtaking.  Walking across the sand bar that connects the 2 land masses of Nosy Iranja was awesome!  Another one of my favorite moments was teaching my students each day.  I loved singing songs in Malagasy with my younger students at the church school in Ampangorina.  A spectacular moment of my trip was visiting Lemur Park and having the Lemurs hop on my back while I fed them bananas!  I also got to hold a Boa Constrictor snake, which was nothing short of amazing.  One last favorite moment was eating at a local highly-rated restaurant called Christian’s, where Chef Christian made the most delicious meal for a group of us.  The food was fantastic!

Luckily, I did not get seriously injured or sick on this trip (as some do because you do a lot of walking over large rocks, climbing, and digestions of potentially uncommon foods and drinks no matter what program you are in), as some volunteers do.  I also was very cautious and any cut or bruise I got I treated immediately and effectively.  If you do this, and follow safety procedures, you really have practically nothing to worry about.

Overall, this trip was extremely memorable and life-changing.  I am so grateful that I was able to do this and I truly feel that I made a positive impact in the communities where I taught in Madagascar.  I definitely plan to return to Madagascar in my lifetime and hopefully visit my students again!

Remember:  The memories that you make in Madagascar will last you a lifetime, and more”.

If you would like to find out how you can join our Teaching Program, contact us today.

Madagascar Volunteer: Volunteers in Ankarana Forest Reserve
BlogForest ConservationTeaching

Volunteers Journey to an Exotic World

As part of both our Forest Conservation and Teaching English volunteer programs, volunteers enjoy a five day adventure tour through the Ankarana Forest Reserve.  Natalia shares her experience with us…

“My friend, you are late, the boat leaves”.

Madagascar Volunteer: Volunteers in Ankarana Forest ReserveOur party of four volunteers made its way through the busy port of Hell-Ville.  The port provides transport back to Ankify (the closest mainland port) and other islands in the area.  Needless to say there were many boats moored at the harbour.  Serjay, a local I had met the day before, had booked us a speedboat to Ankify and taxi-brusse to Ankarana.  We were led smoothly through customs and loaded onto a speedboat with a name that translates to “fast like the wind”.  Our driver seemed particularly excited about the name.  After a quick glance to check where the life jackets were located, we were off.  “Wind maker” seemed a more appropriate name.

Arriving in Ankify, a large sign over the entrance to the port confirmed that we had arrived at the correct destination and the port seemed to be exploding with people.  Our next objective was to find the taxi-brusse.  Asking around for Jimmy’s Transport, a larger, obviously respected man signalled for us to stand to one side.  Before long somebody else arrived and explained that he would take us through town to buy a banana and water for the trip before taking us to the taxi-brusse.

With luggage piled high and roped down to the roof, the four of us board climb aboard.  Being tall, I am ushered into the front seat.  This is a blessing as Joe and Hetty are cramped in the third row with six other people…and it’s only a three seat row.

The three hour journey to Ankarana was an exhilarating game of “dodge the pothole, Zebu and continuous stream of locals using the road”.  It’s busy but not with cars.

It was incredibly refreshing to be on this journey after leaving city life behind a month ago.  Traveling at a typical speed of about 60kmh never felt so good.

We arrived at the Ankarana Forest Reserve at 2:00 pm where we met our friendly local guide, Joaqim.  By then, the team were more than ready for lunch and eager to explore the park.  I could already tell this was going to be a good trip.  On the walk to our lodge we saw many exotic fruit trees.  Joe eagerly climbed every tree and to try all the fruit, as our guide patiently explained what was ripe and edible. Over the next few days we tasted a number of different fruit, Joe climbed several trees and we all came away with a new favourite fruit, possibly not to be found anywhere else in the world.

Madagascar Volunteer: Volunteers in Ankarana Forest ReserveAs the park is open only during daylight hours, we did a night walk along a path outside the park on the first night.  The wildlife in the forest is exotic and plentiful.  The whole team excitedly joined in identifying forest animals by recognizing the reflected eye colour when holding torch at head level.  A red reflection is that of a mouse lemur.  These are incredibly cute lemurs the size of kittens that timidly move from branch to branch eating insects, fruit, flowers and leaves.  They are rarely seen during the day, but we saw several of them that night, along with many geckos and chameleons.

Madagascar Volunteer: Volunteers in Ankarana Forest ReserveThe next morning saw everyone well-rested and still excited from the success of the night before.  We then headed off into the Forest Reserve, each taking six litres of water with us.  The park is quite flat but we travelled slowly to enjoy both the stories our guide shared with us and to spot the flora and fauna.

The Ankarana Forest reserve is situated on a small partially vegetated plateau of 150 million year old limestone which slopes gently to the east but ends abruptly at the west at the “Wall of Ankarana” (a sheer cliff that extends for 25 kilometres.  Erosion and seismic activity have created a rugged Madagascar Volunteer: Volunteers in Ankarana Forest Reservealien landscape where the forest is fenced off by large canyons of sharp Tsingys (karstic plateaus in which groundwater has undercut the elevated uplands and gouged caverns and fissures into the limestone). The word Tsingy roughly translates to “walk on your tip toes”.  I certainly would not like to travel far across these rocks without shoes.

While seeing such an abundance of wildlife as well as the striking Tsingy was amazing, the highlight of our day was to experience one of the Ankarana caves.  Earlier in the day we spotted a huge sinkhole on a dry riverbed into which two rivers disappeared.  Then we went to see a section of the underground riverbed.  A biologist friend once said to me, “Nature is great at sorting things. All the water is in the ocean all the trees are in the forest”.  Here, nature was no less organized – all the snail shells were neatly piled in a small sand bed in one corner.

Madagascar Volunteer: Volunteers in Ankarana Forest ReserveReturning to camp we were all tired from an exceptional day.  After a large meal of fish, fresh vegetables and flaming caramel banana desert, the team asked for a night photography lesson.  The stars were out and by the end of the lesson, all had captured at least one pleasing image of the Milky Way and a little more understanding of the amazing journeys a camera can take you on.

Madagascar Volunteer: Volunteers in Ankarana Forest ReserveOur final day in the park was another day to treasure.  We woke early to climb the highest hill in the area for a terrific view of the Tsingy wall and surrounding Baobabs and forest.  Our breakfast arrived a little late as the truck from Diego that delivers food was running late (another sign that you’re in Madagascar) as Diego is 2 hours’ drive away.

Madagascar Volunteer: Volunteers in Ankarana Forest ReserveOur second stop after having a picnic below lemurs flying through the air above our heads, was the bat cave.  This jaw-dropping cave has one of the largest cave entrances I have ever seen and is home to two species of bats.  We also witnessed a snake catching and eating a rat (good to know the pest control is working).

Madagascar Volunteer: Volunteers in Ankarana Forest ReserveAs our final hours in camp drew nearer, the team opted to do another night walk.  At 6 pm we returned and were greeted by close up encounters with crowned lemurs and leaf-tailed geckos.

The next morning, we awoke at 4 am to catch the taxi-brusse back to our base camp.  The staff at the lodge awoke early too to see us off.  Although we were saying goodbye to the forest, as we boarded we knew the adventure wasn’t over until we reached camp.  Within an hour I had my first exotic visitor!  The van stopped by the roadside and a live duck was passed through the window and purchased by my neighbour.  We travelled the rest of the way with the duck peacefully asleep in the second row.

To find out how you can join our volunteers on their adventures, contact us today or complete our online application form and join us in Madagascar!

Madagascar Volunteers: Environmental Day
BlogTeaching

Madagascar Volunteers Saving the Environment, One Battery at a Time

Madagascar Volunteers: Environmental DayEvery couple of months we hold an Environmental Day in the classes our volunteers teach. We always pick an appropriate topic and this time around we decided to talk about flat batteries and how they can negatively influence the ocean and forest.

Madagascar Volunteers: Environmental DayDuring the first part of class, we explained the impact of the dead batteries on the environment, drew some pictures, taught new words and practiced grammar with sentences like: “I don’t like dead batteries, we don’t like dead batteries”, and so on.

Madagascar Volunteers: Environmental DayDuring the second part of the class, we asked learners to join us in collecting dead batteries from the area surrounding the school and the beach. The kids loved it, and so did we.

We collected roughly 10 kilograms of batteries (5 full bags) from all the schools we teach at on Nosy Komba. Madagascar does not have the appropriate facilities to deal with the disposal of batteries, so you might ask: “What happens next?”

Madagascar Volunteers: Environmental DayWe brought all the bags of batteries back to our camp and made little paper envelopes to put a few batteries in. Whenever a volunteer leaves the camp, we ask them to take a bag or two with them, to dispose of it properly once at home.

Did you know?

Batteries are recognized as being a problem material in the waste stream. They are made from a variety of chemicals to power their reactions. Some of these chemicals, such as nickel and cadmium, are extremely toxic and can cause harm to Madagascar Volunteers: Environmental Dayhumans and the environment. In particular, they can cause soil and water pollution and endanger wildlife. For example, cadmium causes damage to soil micro-organisms which affects the breakdown of organic matter. It can also bio-accumulate in fish, not only making them unfit for human consumption but also reducing their numbers.

Madagascar Volunteers: Environmental DayWe know that nobody can do everything, but everyone can do something and by helping in this small way, we believe we can improve the environment that we are a part of, as well improving the lives of the next generation.

If you would like to be one of our volunteers, teaching English or participating in our forest or marine conservation projects, complete our online application form today.

Madagascar Volunteer: Rachel Rawcliffe Volunteers
BlogReviewsTeaching

Volunteers Remember Gorgeous Views and Sunshine

Rachel Rawcliffe (from the United Kingdom) took time out of her teaching career to join us in Madagascar.  She joined in several of our projects and, like all of our previous volunteers, is sad to be leaving.

Rachel Rawcliffe VolunteersThis programme offered forest conservation, marine conservation and teaching so was ideal. I also had the opportunity to spend 10 days living on a boat travelling around islands and the mainland. The boat trip was amazing, even though it rained a lot, we went to a lemur island, saw a giant tortoise and visited remote villages. I was most nervous about going into the forest, however, I loved seeing the lemurs, chameleons, geckos and snakes!

On weekends, we have spent time exploring Nosy Be and Ampang, a local village. The staff have been brilliant, helping out with any issues there have been.

The other volunteers have been great and I know I will visit some them over the next few years! I am gutted to be leaving soon and will miss the gorgeous views and sunshine!

At least there will be enough happy memories to last through many a cold, wet day back home.

Read about more about the experiences of other teaching volunteers here.

For more information on our volunteer programs in Madagascar, contact us today!