Matching lambas during a dance performance Malagasy Style
The Malagasy people are actually very stylish dressers in my opinion. Perhaps not in a style recognized by the international community, (a bit like their government), but in a style at once personal and idiosyncratic. The love of bright colors is evident in the sheets, blankets and lambas that people swathe themselves and their babies in. The lamba is a multi-purpose sheet of cloth that is used as a sarong, a baby carrier or head wrap. It has deep significance in Malagasy culture and was traditionally woven from local thread. Now most women wear a mass produced lamba of printed fabric. One of the fashion idiosyncrasies is that men often wear garments in delicate hues and to see a man sporting a shirt in flaming pink or very feminine lime green is not so unusual. The further one is from the city and foreign influence the more individual stylistic expression reigns. One amazing phenomenon is the access Malagasy people have to very stylish and well tailored clothes second-hand from Europe. Many times I see people in $120 North Face or Polar Tec jackets that they picked up for $5 in the market. These clothes are donated to the equivalent of the Salvation Army in Europe and sold by the kilo to entrepreneurs who sell them at the local market.
The Malagasy people are actually very stylish dressers in my opinion. Perhaps not in a style recognized by the international community, (a bit like their government), but in a style at once personal and idiosyncratic. The love of bright colors is evident in the sheets, blankets and lambas that people swathe themselves and their babies in. The lamba is a multi-purpose sheet of cloth that is used as a sarong, a baby carrier or head wrap. It has deep significance in Malagasy culture and was traditionally woven from local thread. Now most women wear a mass produced lamba of printed fabric. One of the fashion idiosyncrasies is that men often wear garments in delicate hues and to see a man sporting a shirt in flaming pink or very feminine lime green is not so unusual. The further one is from the city and foreign influence the more individual stylistic expression reigns. One amazing phenomenon is the access Malagasy people have to very stylish and well tailored clothes second-hand from Europe. Many times I see people in $120 North Face or Polar Tec jackets that they picked up for $5 in the market. These clothes are donated to the equivalent of the Salvation Army in Europe and sold by the kilo to entrepreneurs who sell them at the local market.
Fringed hat and lamba from above
To my eye, perhaps the most stylish expression is to be found in the variety of head gear available. Many straw hats are sold, but not Panamas; they are more like the pork pie hats made famous by Lester Young and Dizzy Gillespie, with a beautiful line of pink woven through them. Of course they are worn at a jaunty angle, sometimes pulled down to shade the eyes. Women often wear straw hats with a bowl crown, a large brim with a tattered edge and the resulting dappled sunlight on the face is quite, quite alluring. The French influence is evident in the proliferation of berets and caps worn by city men. In fact, this year after visiting Laos, Vietnam and Madagascar, all ex-French colonies, I conclude that the main cultural legacy left by these gaullic invaders comprises of berets, baguettes, and petanque!
The little multi-colored bowler hat is popular too.
Stovin’
I had intended to concentrate on improved cook stoves this year, but the best laid plans on mice and men and well-meaning vahaza, (foreigners), gang aft aglay. However, I did make some inroads into learning about what stoves are available on the local market and I actually started a working relationship with two stove producers, M. Mamy and M. Roland Berma. M.Mamy and his extended family are really aluminum smelters to trade, producing spoons,cocottes (pots), and jewellery, all made from recycled aluminum window frames doors. By a great stroke of luck, I was led to their door and discovered that they had made the covers/pot supports for a series of stoves ordered by ADES, a Swiss NGO working principally with solar cookers. Straight away, I commissioned 10 new stoves to be built, that I named the ‘Apro-Acme’, since the design was actually spawned at the Aprovecho Research Center. I didn’t get much opportunity to test them out, but just before leaving I did discover that there has been design drift leading to the covers/pot supports being shorter than the original specification which diminishes the draft through the stove. Next year I will bring them a new cast iron model that will get them back on track to the original specs.
I had intended to concentrate on improved cook stoves this year, but the best laid plans on mice and men and well-meaning vahaza, (foreigners), gang aft aglay. However, I did make some inroads into learning about what stoves are available on the local market and I actually started a working relationship with two stove producers, M. Mamy and M. Roland Berma. M.Mamy and his extended family are really aluminum smelters to trade, producing spoons,cocottes (pots), and jewellery, all made from recycled aluminum window frames doors. By a great stroke of luck, I was led to their door and discovered that they had made the covers/pot supports for a series of stoves ordered by ADES, a Swiss NGO working principally with solar cookers. Straight away, I commissioned 10 new stoves to be built, that I named the ‘Apro-Acme’, since the design was actually spawned at the Aprovecho Research Center. I didn’t get much opportunity to test them out, but just before leaving I did discover that there has been design drift leading to the covers/pot supports being shorter than the original specification which diminishes the draft through the stove. Next year I will bring them a new cast iron model that will get them back on track to the original specs.
The new 'Apro-Acme' stove
I did have M.Mamy make two pots with integral pot skirts, that is, another another pot without a bottom that surrounds and is attached to the first one. This skirt captures the heat that is normally lost at the sides of the pot and forces it to scrape against the sides of the pot, thereby increasing the heat transfer into the pot and its contents. Increasing heat transfer into the pot is the Holy Grail of Stovers and it’s said that a pot skirt can reduce fuel consumption by 20-30%. We’ll see, I’m taking one back to the Aprovecho Research Center laboratory for testing.
The new Acme integrated pot skirt hits the catwalk!
Malagasy Taxis
Most city taxis in Madagascar are old Renault 4s, sometimes up to 50 years old. There are a few Deux Chevaux, and a few more modern Renaults (from the 70’s), but the field is utterly dominated by the farmer’s friend, the Renault 4. It has numerous advantages including a really spongey suspension that survives well the many cobbled streets in Tana and other towns, it is extremely simple to repair, with all parts being easily available or easily fabricated locally, it’s economical on gas as there really isn’t much metal in it and you can still pick up a completely refurbished one for $3 to 4,000. At first I was puzzled by the constant smell of petroleum inside the taxis, until I realized that the one-liter plastic bottle at my feet was in fact always full of gas! This is because the high cost of fuel forces taxi drivers to buy only one liter at a time.
Most city taxis in Madagascar are old Renault 4s, sometimes up to 50 years old. There are a few Deux Chevaux, and a few more modern Renaults (from the 70’s), but the field is utterly dominated by the farmer’s friend, the Renault 4. It has numerous advantages including a really spongey suspension that survives well the many cobbled streets in Tana and other towns, it is extremely simple to repair, with all parts being easily available or easily fabricated locally, it’s economical on gas as there really isn’t much metal in it and you can still pick up a completely refurbished one for $3 to 4,000. At first I was puzzled by the constant smell of petroleum inside the taxis, until I realized that the one-liter plastic bottle at my feet was in fact always full of gas! This is because the high cost of fuel forces taxi drivers to buy only one liter at a time.
When the Peugeot breaks down, there's always the ox-cart.
However, in the countryside, la brousse, the chariot of choice is the venerable Peugeot 404 pick up. These vehicles are unbelievable in their ruggedness and longevity. They have metal dashboards and so many welded repairs and replacement parts that they look like my uncle’s axe, that had 6 new handles and 3 new heads, but was still the best axe I ever had. Like the human body, the Malgasy Peugeot 404 seems to change its entire cell structure every 7 years! The only way to go from city to city is to take a taxi brousse which will usually be a 15 seater mini van, Toyoya or Mazda. This year I broke a couple of my personal bests in terms of cramming human bodies into vehicles: 25 into a 15-seater mini van and if you can believe it, 25 into a Peugeot 404 pick up, which had much baggage piled up on the metal cage + canvas “roof”, and had two bicycles on top for good measure. Needless to say, we broke the transmission on that last mentioned voyage. I once saw a decal stuck on the side of a taxi brousse that, instead of saying “No Fear”, actually said “No Far”! A wee Scottish voice in my head said, “you’re no kiddin’ pal!” My record for shortest journey before breakdown was 500meters. Lastly, in some towns there are no taxis and one has to take a pousse-pousse, a rickshaw. I rapidly found out that there is no bodily position that can assuage the psychological discomfort that accompanies being pulled along by another human being. Arms akimbo, legs crossed or even arm slung casually over baggage – none of it works. It’s impossible to feel a l’aise while someone else sweats and struggles to get you from one place to another.
Walking the last 7 kilometers with the driveshaft held overhead like a trophy from the hunt!
A group of adherents in Soatanana watch the ritual washing of traveler's feet.
Soatana
While I was cooling my heels in Fianarantsoa, waiting for a PV project to be funded, I took a side trip with two French friends to the nearby village of Soatanana. Beautifully located next to a steep rock massif, this village is famous for being the center of an unusual Malagasy Christian cult. Founded in the 1890s by a Malagasy man who was seriously ill, then cured by divine intervention, the cult now has thousands of adherents and is to be found in all parts of the country. Defining features of this faith are that the members are always completely dressed in white, (to symbolize purity), their main form of worship is singing, they wash the feet of travelers and they do not pratice “second burial”, (which is common among most other groups). They do however, practice evangelism, which I was less keen on. Never-the-less, they treated us with great respect and welcomed us into their midst. We attended a Sunday mass with several hundred believers and enjoyed greatly their renditions of old hymns, in a distinctive Malagasy style.
While I was cooling my heels in Fianarantsoa, waiting for a PV project to be funded, I took a side trip with two French friends to the nearby village of Soatanana. Beautifully located next to a steep rock massif, this village is famous for being the center of an unusual Malagasy Christian cult. Founded in the 1890s by a Malagasy man who was seriously ill, then cured by divine intervention, the cult now has thousands of adherents and is to be found in all parts of the country. Defining features of this faith are that the members are always completely dressed in white, (to symbolize purity), their main form of worship is singing, they wash the feet of travelers and they do not pratice “second burial”, (which is common among most other groups). They do however, practice evangelism, which I was less keen on. Never-the-less, they treated us with great respect and welcomed us into their midst. We attended a Sunday mass with several hundred believers and enjoyed greatly their renditions of old hymns, in a distinctive Malagasy style.
Sunrise in Mahazony. Hallelujah!
Mahazony and Miarnanarivo
Although the funding for the PV system on the new Maison de Vannerie, (basket weaving), in Ambohihamasina never did come through, Samantha at Feedback Madagascar did tell me about three villages with clinic solar systems that could use some help. The first clinic was in Mahazony and served a population of around 11,000. M.Hasina and his wife, the residents medics, put me up me in their house while I diagnosed the problems with the PV system, installed 7 years ago by Electriciens Sans Frontieres. The PV panels still worked, but the batteries were totaled and unbelievably, someone had wrecked the charge controller by brutally removing several of the key electronic components. Luckily, I had an exact replacement charge controller, but it was stored back in Tana, a two-day, several taxi brousse journey away! Since the batteries were only available in Tana anyway, I decided to make the trip.
Although the funding for the PV system on the new Maison de Vannerie, (basket weaving), in Ambohihamasina never did come through, Samantha at Feedback Madagascar did tell me about three villages with clinic solar systems that could use some help. The first clinic was in Mahazony and served a population of around 11,000. M.Hasina and his wife, the residents medics, put me up me in their house while I diagnosed the problems with the PV system, installed 7 years ago by Electriciens Sans Frontieres. The PV panels still worked, but the batteries were totaled and unbelievably, someone had wrecked the charge controller by brutally removing several of the key electronic components. Luckily, I had an exact replacement charge controller, but it was stored back in Tana, a two-day, several taxi brousse journey away! Since the batteries were only available in Tana anyway, I decided to make the trip.
Mahazony village on the right, with the white clinic above and towards the center.
Joy was unbounded when I had completed the installation and the 10-room clinic plus the medics house were ablaze with light for the first time in four years. I also brought back a battery for the system in the little rooms made available to family members of patients, (more on that later). This trip I brought my newly purchased mountain bike which allowed me to visit the next village, Miarnanarivo, which has no taxi brousse service. There, the problem was, of course, a set of totaled batteries, but also some strangely low voltage readings on the solar panels. Upon further investigation I found that the panels had been incorrectly wired from the get-go and could never have kept the batteries charged under any circumstances. I rewired the panels, put in the new battery, (which the clinic guard from Mahazony had carried on the back of his bike for 2 hours), and the system fired up like a wee champ.
Staff, patients and villagers at Mahazony clinic.
The system for the relatives of the Mahazony patients also suffered low voltage disease, so I rewired that panel too and they had electric light, probably for the first time in their lives. I was suddenly the most popular guy in town. A run for mayor of the commune was bandied about for a while, but I told them that I thought I really should learn their language before running for political office!
The relatives get light, just like the patients.
The future mayor of the commune with M.Hasina and his wife.
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