Same Problems, Differnt Place

I have lived in many different places, both in and out of the US and one thing I know For Sure is that people are people no matter where you are. When many people think about Africa (said in a voice of awe and grandeur), they imagine a place where they would have Nothing in common with the people in these villages, and thus pity those people. I am here to tell you that you have more in common with these “village” people (ignore the band please) then you ever thought.

I will make an example: I work with a small village of only about 300 people (or around the amount of people that live in a small neighborhood) and within this small village, they have spilt between the north and the south. Now, the north and the south do not like to work together, thinking both sides have it better (back in the neighborhood, you might have a similar problem, one side is closer to the school or gets more money from the government, so there is now animosity in this small place).  A small community, no matter where it is in the world, will have similar problems in the end. One problem with development is that we forget that we have similar problems at home, and we need to remember how we overcame those problems, to help them overcome them as well.

People here and everywhere worry about similar things: Money, family, food, life. I wake up every morning around 6am, go to the bathroom (which is quite a walk), come back to my house, and sit on my balcony. Within 30 mins, I hear the women coming to the Vondro (lesser cattails) reeds right across from my place. I know that they too have been up for some time, getting food ready, saying goodbye to their husbands as they go to work (mostly to their farms and fishing) and hopefully sending their kids to school. Does this scenario sound somewhat the same for many of you, the only difference is what you will spend your time doing.  They spend their mornings cutting and collecting the reeds to sell, and you might go shopping, go to work in an office, or stay in the house, cleaning or taking care of young children. Their house is a simple thatch wall and roof structure, that lets a wonderful breeze in and will never have to clean their floor…b/c its only sand. Your house is probably made out of plaster, wood and other materials, there is No wind that comes through your house unless a window is open and you are in constant action keeping the floors clean. Both of these lives have their problems and their joys; each group wishes to know more about how the other lives, but could not imagine how they live that way. Both only know how the other lives through movies, TV shows, magazines and what they might teach in school. None of these are a good way to learn how the other lives.

With this and my last blog, I write to show others how different and similar life is here to where you might live. Peace Corps is a great experience that showed me that people are people no matter where you are and that’s a wonderful thing! Many people still have this image of Africa in their heads of naked people in mud huts, with no food, and for the most part unhappy with their lives; could not be less true, just because you’re naked and live in a mud hut, does not make you unhappy. There are of course starving children, but they are everywhere in the world, not just in Africa. Here is my blog post all about Africa: https://peacecorpstesssmay.blogspot.com/b/post-preview?token=6dqiKUYBAAA.VsYeNXCoDH8nxYV1TjzM4w.846aLRohEsJeTWl29wkeaA&postId=813804449211661175&type=POST

I love my life in Madagascar, I know many of the people I work with in the villages also love their life in Madagascar. Don’t judge what you don’t understand, don’t give unfair voices to those whose you have never spoken to, be the best person you can be, without making others out to be the worst person. Ok, I think that’s enough for now, J Till next time, Merci!