Report from Rowan from Madagascar

Rowan and friends in Madagascar - she's about halfway through her Peace Corps service & could use some help building wells there.

Whenever I see Rowan Braybrook‘s mom Erin around town, she tells me how Rowan’s doing with her Peace Corps work in Madagascar, and it would make anyone proud to hear the cool stuff she’s involved with. She sent me a review of what she’s been up to that I’d like to share with you – you’ll see what I’m talking about. (By the way, her blog is here). Here’s more from Rowan:

Madagascar, off the east coast of Africa

After graduating from Spring Street School and Middlebury College in Vermont, I’m now serving in the Peace Corps as a Natural Resources Management volunteer in northern Madagascar. I thought people on the island might be interested in hearing a bit about what I’m doing over here. I’m also fundraising for a rural well building project—there is a link at the bottom of this message where people can make tax-deductible donations.

Madagascar is, culturally and geographically, halfway between Africa and Asia. The island, slightly larger than California, is home to almost 20 million people and growing fast. Madagascar is famed for its biodiversity (including lemurs), rice, spices, poor roads, and of course, King Julian, from the movie of the same name. Madagascar is affected by a number of problems, including explosive population growth, political instability, deforestation, widespread erosion, poor infrastructure, poaching, a low level of literacy, and lack of jobs, and low income (the average family lives on about $250 per year).

My village is called Anjangoveratra, and is located on the main road in the far northeast of Madagascar, a region commonly known as the Vanilla Coast. I live in a converted office in the community storage facility (much more roomy and comfortable than it sounds) with no running water or electricity. I speak a mixture of three dialects of Malagasy, have no boss, and am constantly chasing cows out of my yard.

Toto, I don’t think I’m in the San Juans anymore.

Over 95% of the people in my area are subsistence farmers. Almost everyone farms rice (Malagasies have the highest per-capita rice consumption in the world), and many people also grow vanilla beans. The price of vanilla has fallen drastically in the last decade, so one of my main projects is to associate three vanilla cooperatives with a fair trade organization.

Although my placement is in the Environmental sector, I also do a lot of community development work. I work in conjunction with Missouri Botanical Garden, which oversees a 7200ha research reserve in my area, to reduce forest incursions through community projects designed to educate communities and provide work alternatives to rosewood and lemur poaching. Some of my other projects include starting a community library and English Club, conducting environmental education presentations, expanding a fish farming cooperative, spreading health information, and building wells in rural areas. I’m now fundraising for well building in three reserve-side towns that have high rates of water-borne disease; if you’re interested in reading more about the project or possibly donating, please visit this link below.

In addition to technical support for the people in my community, my job includes cultural exchange—bringing the outside world to Malagasies and telling the outside world about Madagascar. So just by reading this, you’re helping me with my work! I’m halfway through my two years of exhausting but hopefully rewarding and productive service.

Rowan Braybrook

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