On a different note, Steve and I had a marvelous experience up in Tamatave. This is an area Brad served in for 6 months while he was here, and LOVED. We had the opportunity to visit this area when we picked him up and fell in love with several people. They were so good hearted and generous (despite their poverty!). We often had the desire to see them again. We were excited, but cautiously optimistic since we weren’t sure if they were still in the area, or even active in the church. Much to our delight, they were! All of them!! Through the missionaries, we were able to find one special family. When we walked up to the house, out of the clear blue, the father of the family was outside. He got the biggest grin on his face and kept saying how happy he was. This time, we were able to say a few Malagasy words, which was so fun! Unfortunately his family was not at home, but he promised to come to church with them the next day. Another family was equally surprised to see us, and we had a delightful reunion with them.
The next day at church, many people came up to us and told us Brad had baptized them, and asked when was he coming back. The man who had taken us on a boat (hollowed out tree trunk) ride when we were here 4 years ago and who we affectionately named “the sand man”, is now serving as a counselor in the Branch Presidency. He and his wife have been sealed in the Johannesburg temple. What joy!! Another sister was quick to pull out pictures of her baptism to share with us—there was Brad!! It truly was a joyous reunion day and we couldn’t have been happier.
During our stay in Tamatave we visited some healthcare facilities to determine if there were any adequate for the missionaries. We also inspected the missionary apartments for cleanliness and functionality. We gave them fair warning, but one house was pretty bad. We are trying to encourage them to keep their apartments clean, both for physical as well as spiritual well-being. Some don’t get it!! UGH!!
Steve also inspected the bikes. There is a real problem with keeping the bikes in good working order there due to the sand, humidity and never-ending pot holes! He has been tasked with overseeing the maintenance of the bikes in the areas that have them. This will be a challenge indeed!
We stopped on our way back to Tana to visit the Lemur Park in Andasibe, where we had visited before. The other couple with us had never been there before. We ended up rushing through due to the emergency in Tana, but it was fun to see these unique little animals. They are so funny and it’s fun to have them jump onto your shoulders on onto your head! These are tame lemurs, most lemurs will not come close to humans.
The way back to Tana is winding and narrow, but fascinating. There is a definite ‘island’ feel close to Tamatave as it’s by the ocean. So along the road, instead of brick and mud houses, the houses are made of wood sticks and poles with thatched roofs. The people sit along the roadside and sell bananas or other fruit. The women wear a “lava-lava” type wrap and it seems as if one is in a remote Polynesian island…fascinating!! Bananas are abundant here and they pick them green to send to Tana to sell. We saw a huge semi truck bed loaded with stalks of small green bananas to take to market. Also along the way, the people will pop out of the tall willows with a string of eels to sell, of a string of fish. One young boy had a dead critter he was hoping to sell hanging from a stick (we thought it might be a prairie dog or something like it). Some of the young girls were pounding rice with tall sticks in a type of large ‘mortor and pestal’ contraption. Another elderly woman was winnowing the rice in a woven basket. There were mats covered with rice drying in the sun along the road. It seems as though these villages have remained untouched by the modern world for generations. It’s fascinating!
There are banana trees and a variety of palms that cover the rolling hill and valleys. Many of the vistas look like they were taken from a scene in Jurassic Park. There are also abundant rice fields along this winding, pot-holed, two-lane highway.
Back in Tana, we enjoy our weekly English teaching assignment out in a small village outside of town. It’s at a very old hospital in need of much attention, but it services the lower income people and outer areas of town. The administrator came to our English class at the ministry of health and asked us if we would be willing to teach there once a week,too. It’s a bit of a trek, but they are so appreciative. Our ‘students’ are doctors and other healthcare providers who have little opportunity to learn English. We have over twenty willing students there. We get up early, around 5:00, so that we can avoid the traffic. The trek that takes us 35-40 minutes at 6:30 am, could easily take us 2 hours+ in rush hour traffic. Besides, I love going out early in the morning. We see the people making bricks from the mud in the rice fields, and some plowing by hand with wooden plows pulled by zebu. We also pass brightly painted wooden carts (think gypsy style) pulled by zebu , and hear roosters crowing in the crisp morning air. It’s quiet and peaceful in this little hamlet town—it’s my slice of heaven outside the busy streets of Tana.
Steve is still working on a course for those interested in business. There’s much to be understood first, but we hope to help in this area. There’s a high unemployment rate here so it is our hope to help them with alternatives.
Malagasy’s are a friendly, gentle people who are not aggressive (although sometimes one may wonder when they see them drive!). We feel safe here, albeit there is a lot of thievery here, thus the need for lots of security. But we don’t fear for our safety (except when driving, ha ha). We have invited several people over for desert or dinner and it enriches our lives to make friends with these great Malagasy people, including our good bishop. OH…before I forget…look up an article in the Ensign Magazine from October 2013 called, “Becoming a man of Peace.” This article is about our Bishop! He’s a great man!!
We love our work in this country. We love serving together. We love the easy smiles of the Malagasy people and the way their smiles light up their dark eyes. We are enamored with their lifestyle which never ceases to amaze us! We love knowing we are all brothers and sisters in God’s eyes. We feel gratified to help them in whatever way we can, and also to assist in helping the missionaries as they strive to spread the gospel here. We feel blessed to be here.
We love you all and pray for your well being. We also love hearing from you and what’s going on in your world. God bless you!!
Elder and Sister Rossiter
A Malagasy woman on the road to Tamatave. She was winnowing rice--separating the chaff from the grain. I suppose this has been done in her village for hundreds of years!
These girls were pounding the rice--I'm guessing to get the husk to separate from the grains.
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| A beautiful fruit stand not far from our home. I love how they stack the fruit to look so appealing! |
So many of the children look just like these little kids...especially those children of the street vendors. They hang around the stand all day long.
A new member of the church in Tamatave. She is the mother of 6 children and her husband had just passed away...so sad.
I love the brooms here! This cute little girl wanted her pic taken..makes it so much better!
Ya gotta move it, move it! Fun with the Lemurs in Andasibe!
Rice fields on our way to Fenoarivo.
Loads of bananas being loaded from the village onto the semi-truck to take to Tana to sell. I've never seen so many bananas!! And they were right out of the fields!
View from the top looking down...typical scene!
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| Friends in Tamatave |
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