So, it has been awhile since I have updated this. I guess it was just easier to email all of my family and friends because the internet in Mcar was too slow to even create a weblog entry.
But, anyways.. I was evacuated from Madagascar and the Peace Corps program was suspended on March 18, 2009. This was right before the President was overthrown by the opposition party who had gained the support of the military. As of today, there is still no agreement between all of the fueding sides, and the UN and SADC have sent negotiators and mediators to help settle the political instablity there. The international community has called the takeover a "coup" and frozen any foriegn aid because of it. There has also been complaints of stifled freedom of the press there, as well as other human rights complaints. But, the only concern in the American news is for the animal species and rainforest that is in danger because of the politcal instability. DOESN'T ANYONE REALIZE THAT PEOPLE LIVE THERE TOO! IT IS NOT LIkE THE MOVIE THERE! Recently, there have been uncoverings of hundreds of homemade bombs, and radical sections of the Pro-Ravalomanana have been accused of attacking the current transitional governements leader, Andry's, radio station and were shot and killed while breaking in. The four power players have tentatively decided on a power-sharing transition government with internationally monitored elections within the next 15 months. We'll see.
Alright, frustration aside.. I just wanted to share with you an email that I sent out to everyone to explain what evacuation was like. So, enjoy.
My dearest friends and family,
I'm extremely sad to write that Peace Corps Madagascar has been suspended until the political instability resolves itself. All 113 volunteers have been flown to South Africa to complete the paper work to end our service. I was on the first flight over and there is one flight everyday for the next four days of volunteers coming in. Yesterday, one part of the military said they were going to take control of the government if the two parties didn't resolve their conflict that was leading to military mutiny's which allowed looting of property in the capital in the past few weeks. Then, yesterday the military said they had access to tanks to use if need be. Then today the opposition party leader declared himself in charge of the government and took over the remaining ministry office and installed a prime minister. The President still asserts that he is in charge and that the opposition leader has no constitutional authority. Andry, the opposition leader, says that the sentate and house of parliment have no authority and that the "transitional" government will write a plan to hold new elections within the next 24 months.
Now, all of that sounds scary and like it is unsafe there. But, on the contrary, I drove through the capital last night and everyone was walking home from school and work as usual... all markets and shops were open and you couldn't even tell that any of this was going on. Most of the Malagasy people I know that live outside of Tana think that this is just a few stupid people in Tana supporting Andry because they don't like their positions in life. The majority of people want this to just fade out and wait for the next election, like they democratically should do. Especially people in my town... people go to work and school as usual and just ignore the annoyances of the happenings in Tana. Many people still support the President, even if they are angry with his practices. They don't think that he has done enough wrong to constitute a coup d'etat. Many people think the French newspapers are making the opposition party seem like they have more supporters and reporting things wrong because they would gain from closer contacts to a Malagasy leader, which was not happening with the current President, who was moving farther and farther away from French relations. Many Malagasy people talk about how French companies want to have good governmental relations with M/car so they can exploit the mining and tourism opportunities there.
So, as I see it.. life here is normal outside of the capital, and even in the capital outside of times when there are protests. There is NO PHYSICAL FIGHTING between the two sides because the opposition party is trying to start trouble by creating public haovic.
On Thursday, I got called at 8 at night by our Admin Officer saying that we had to evacuate. I was up all night packing up my house and organzing my belongings. The next day, I exhaustedly informed my coworkers that I had to leave and could not finish out the school year. Then, I tearfully said goodbye to my students, who will now be without an English teacher for the rest of the school year. I bawled for a good 24 hours, and raced around town trying to say goodbye to everyone. meanwhile, all of the volunteers in the area consolidated at my site. Then, on Friday morning, a Peace Corps car drove us out of my town and to Mantasoa where everyone but me got out of the car and stayed overnight there. I continued on to Tana, and arrived at 8pm and headed straight to the office to finish out some paper work, and then the medical office. Then, this morning at 7am we left for the airport and I am now here in Johannesburg, SA. I am exhausted, depressed, worried about my second country, and disappointed to see my home for the past two years deterioate into this situation. NONE of my friends or students understood why I was leaving, and were crying hysterically when I said goodbye to them. MY TOWN WAS NEVER DANGEROUS... or even INVOLVED in the unrest. It's been an extremely difficult past few days. In the next week, I will be staying in a hotel in JoBurg as we are all being forced to end our service. The people who are less than a year into their service have the option of transfering to another country, going back to the US and waiting for the possibility of returning to M/car to finish out their serivce, or simple going home and finishing their service. I, however, don't have that many options since my finish of service date was supposed to be July 1, 2009. I can only close my service. I want so bad to return to M/car within the next year, when things calm down or are resolved, so I can see all of my friends and dogs and family and have a proper goodbye. Many of you will never understand why it is so hard for me to return back to the US a few months early. But, just think of how it would feel to just up and leave your life and never see anyone or anything in it again. I LOVE MADAGASCAR... I LOVE IT THERE, and my experience there has CHANGED me forever. I know that it will always be with me, and I try to keep in mind that I can try to save up money to come back to vacation here. But, that doesnt mean I will live here again. Its just a hard transition.. so please understand my non-excitedness to return to the US. I love you all and look forward to restarting my life with you.
I will leave you with a malagasy proverb that my best friend in m/car said to me as I left. She said, "boribory ny tany dia hifakahita indray isika" which means... "because the world is round, we will meet again someday". so, I will see you all soon.
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