Mada Update

September 26, 2014

As time goes on, we find ourselves settling in to life in Madagascar. We worry that we may forget that not everyone has to dodge ox-driven carts and people-pulled carts on every road they drive on! We don’t want to lose track of the wonder of this unique country…but it’s been nearly five months and we find ourselves fitting into the flow of things more and more. While driving still remains a frustrating, challenging experience, we have fewer nail biting experiences and recognize that one does get a “sense” of things as time goes on.

This past week we were very busy as we prepared to move to a new apartment up the hill from where we lived. We were fortunate to be offered the apartment after the Richard’s left, but it has taken several months to get the internet run here. We did not want to move if we could not have adequate internet—it’s our lifeline for sure!! As another Public Relations couple are coming next month, the pressure was on to get everything finished now and get moved prior to their arrival. So it all came together this past week. It was a bigger job than we had anticipated! It was more than just packing up clothes…it also included cupboards, food supplies and the like. We also had to take some time to clean our last apartment. Since we had our daily responsibilities, all this had to be done in the evenings, so we were quite tired by the end of the week.

But we love our new place! It has a great view overlooking the famous “Rova” landmark…high atop the highest hill in Tana. The Rova is the old “Queen’s Palace” from the 1800’s. The inside was pretty much destroyed in a fire about 15 years ago, but the impressive “shell” of the Palace can be seen pretty much all over this capital city. It is beautifully lit up at night and we can see it from all of our windows! We love that! While our last place was cozy and we loved our typical Malagasy neighborhood setting, this place definitely has it’s advantages. One of them is not having to lock and unlock our big gate every time we had to drive in and out! When the rains come I’m sure I will even appreciate it more—I won’t have to get drenched several times a day.

We now have 2 bedrooms and an additional bathroom with a large tub! We are excited for that—i love a tub when I’m cold and Steve loves one when he is sick (thinks it’s a cure for everything!). We actually have a master bathroom and a nice kitchen with granite-like countertops. I hate to give too many details for fear you won’t think we suffer enough in this 3rd world country! haha! If it only had heating and air conditioning, we’d be set!! ha! We do feel blessed with our amazing new accommodations, and fast internet! To celebrate, we had all the couples over last night (p-day) for a few games of UNO and popcorn…it was fun!!

Earlier this week we received a call about 8:30 pm from an elder who, while walking up the tile stairs outside his apartment, tripped and fell with a bottle of Coke in his hand. The bottle shattered and lacerated his eyelid and his eyebrow. They were unsure if they needed stitches or not. Normally, this is not a place you want to go out in at night, but I felt that we needed to go and check out this elder. So off we went. Traffic is much diminished at night, but there are still people walking the streets. There are no street lights, so the winding nature of the unlit roads makes them scary to drive on for fear of not seeing people, etc. It’s also unsafe from a robbery view point. I always pray we won’t have to stop along the way or have car trouble! But, we made it OK. The cut on the elder’s eyelid was small, but pretty deep as was the other cut was in his eyebrow. If we had been in the US, I would have taken him in for stitches. But after the last (less than wonderful) experience with stitches here, I decided to steri-strip them closed and hope for the best. I cleaned the cuts very well and then applied the steri-strips. I was grateful to even have them. I had to buy them once after a procedure another missionary had had. They came in handy! I had to patch his eye to make sure he wasn’t opening and closing it too much until the eyelid could heal. It was one of those interesting calls to the mission nurse!!  We made our way home and were so glad for a positive outcome and to get home safely! (BTW; the elder’s eye is healing well…thank goodness!)

We enjoyed a lovely lunch one day with the Bishop and his wife of the Ward we attend. They are wonderful people and treated us to a typical Malagasy meal and it was delicious! We had a shredded carrot salad and a pasta salad to start with. Since she said it was a “simple meal” we thought that was great! So we filled up on the plentiful salads and then she went into the kitchen and brought out a rice (a staple with every meal here), a delicious stewed chicken and garbanza beans with pork! We were already near full, but enjoyed the additional offerings. We find the Malagasy people so kind and generous with what they have! Following lunch we talked about the ward and some of the blessings and challenges there. Unfortunately, due to the overwhelming poverty here, welfare issues are the overriding challenges in every ward or branch. The biggest push and goal for members here is teaching and understanding the concept of self-reliance. The culture is such that many people look for the quickest handout or follow the least line of resistance and live literally from hand to mouth. It is a very large obstacle that needs constant addressing. The church has recently hired a full-time employee to help with the self-reliance program. We sure hope it helps. We know from talking with many young people that the concept of planning, saving and doing what one can to get ahead is not on the radar. They typically spend everything they have in short order, and always have great need by the end of every month. We hope to continue to help teach principles of planning and self-reliance, too, within our scope of influence. In any case, our bishop is wonderful and has a maturity and understanding beyond most of the leaders in these, the relatively early years of the church here. He is a gem!!

I also wanted to share a touching story about our counselor in the mission presidency. It is a touching story that has taught me so much in terms of faith and “being an example of the believers”. I think I wrote about President Lalary losing his little 6 week old baby to a respiratory infection. Well, I’d like to share ‘the rest of the story’. As the story of his little baby, London, unfolded, we found out that when he was in the hospital struggling the breathe, the hospital only had one nebulizer machine in which to administer the life saving respiratory medications.  This one machine had to be shared among all the sick babies. The parents literally ran the machine to their child just as soon as the previous baby was finished with it. It became an impossible situation and baby London could not get all the medication and attention he needed to survive this ordeal. I remember the heart wrenching but beautiful words Lalary wrote on FB to announce the passing of his little baby boy. He wrote, “With firm testimony of Jesus Christ and belief that we are a forever family that we announce with regret the passing of our beloved son ZIVA London Jairus.” President Lalary could have been angry or bitter, but he was amazing!  Although it was a very sad event, they displayed exemplary faith and helped those around them (many non-members) to see and feel the hope for the eternities. 

But it didn't stop there. A week following the funeral, president Lalary put out a plea to everyone he knew to raise funds to purchase more nebulizers for the hospital where his son had been. The machines were only about $85.00 (which is a lot for Malagasies), but many people chipped in and they were able to purchase 6 new  machines (exceeding their original goal of 3 machines) for the hospital. He did this in the hope that fewer babies would have to die in the future. They delivered the machines this week and they brought their other two little boys to present the gifts. They called it "London's gift". I think this is such an amazing example of faith and forgiveness. The head of the hospital, who accepted the gifts, said he was also touched by this family's example. He said many people would be bitter and blame the hospital and doctors, but this family turned a sad event into something positive. I couldn't help but think of the amazing example the parents were to their other children. They involved them in learning a valuable lesson of grace and forgiveness; in bringing light into an otherwise tragic event.
I love and appreciate President Lalary’s example to me and to all those around him. His example makes me want to be a better person!

We have another big week coming up with 17 new missionaries joining us. This is always an exciting time and we usually don’t get quite so many at one time. But with new missionaries come a sense of excitement and enthusiasm that we all enjoy. It’s busy with making extra food and several training sessions, but it’s wonderful. Steve and I are involved in the training as I do the health orientation (there’s lots to learn about staying healthy here), and Steve trains on the bikes maintenance program and emergency preparedness. We enjoy being involved and ‘anxiously engaged!’

One last word before I close. We received a very thoughtful and sweet note from one of our missionaries last week. We have had time to get to know him quite well as we have shuttled his new Malagasy companion back and forth to the dentist for extensive dental work. This sweet missionary told us how appreciative he was of us and the talks we have had. Apparently some of the things we shared really buoyed him up at a challenging time in his mission. It really made us feel so good and happy that we were here and that we helped someone out. Of course, it is always our great desire to be of service wherever we can and one of the  motivating factors for our serving was to kind of “pay forward” the kindnesses showed by the senior couples who had such a positive impact on our sons while they served. So, needless to say, we appreciated his sweet note more than you know!

Lots to love to all—
The Rossiters

Random thoughts/ observations:

Joy in finding “Cadbury” chocolate bars..expensive, but HEAVENLY!! (I told Steve we really shouldn’t  spend $20..00/ week in chocolate bars…but then on the other hand, why not?!? ha ha!!) They are our one big indulgence in an otherwise unfamiliar world! We are petrified they will quit selling them, so we make sure we are stocked at all times..mint chocolate being our favorite!

Seriously, having just one Wendy’s here (not to mention a Cafe Rio) would enhance our lives so much! While there are food stands everywhere, they are unsafe to eat at…sometimes we just need to grab a quick bite to eat, but that’s impossible!  

If you see something in the grocery store that you like, you grab lots of it…the next time you go they may be out of it, or you may never see it again!

I miss brown sugar for baking, regular mustard (they have lots of Dijon, but no yellow mustard), and I crave hot dogs….go figure…didn’t even eat them much at home…ha!

Most all the stairs here are uneven in height. They will range from 8-12 inches or more. It really throws off one’s rhythm when climbing or descending stairs…bet you’ve never thought about it before! Oh the things we take for granted!!

I’m in awe of how the women carry things on their heads…mostly with no hands!!