Putney: Madagascar Global Awareness in Action: Voloina, Tamatav, and on to St. Marie

Friday, July 25, 2008

Voloina, Tamatav, and on to St. Marie

The GAIA Madagascar group has just arrived in Tamatav, the second largest city in the country, after a two week stay in the Maroantsetra region (where there is no internet!).

We spent over a week in the rural village of Voloina, learning to make compost and plant trees, building cookstoves, painting at the community center, hiking through the mud and getting to know the lovely people who live here. While here, our students had daily lessons in Malagasy which prepared them for a two day homestay with local families. Some students enjoyed it so much that they opted to continue their stay with the families after it was over. Here, students also began working on independent projects, subjects of particular interest to them.

Tomorrow we are off to St. Marie, an island off the east coast of Madagascar, to spend our last few days in country. They will be filled with lots of reflection on the experiences we have had and the new global awareness that the program has given us all.

-Maya and Joe

MAYA MOORE

Georgetown University, B.S. Biology. Heller School for Social Policy and Management, Brandeis University, M.A., Sustainable International Development. During Maya’s junior year in college, she studied in Niamey, Niger, for a semester where she studied West African language, literature and philosophy, djembe drumming, as well as jewelry making with a Toureg nomad. She also worked on an independent project to produce a rap album about AIDS in native languages. Upon graduation, she joined the Peace Corps and served as an environment volunteer for 2 years in northeastern Madagascar. She worked with the Wildlife Conservation Society and their project to conserve the remaining Makira rainforest by teaching sustainable agricultural techniques. After Peace Corps, Maya pursued her interest in sustainable development and conservation at the Heller School at Brandeis. During her second year of study, she worked with the Sustainable Development Foundation in Chiang Mai, Thailand, on a community forestry project. Maya is fluent in French and Malagasy.

JOSEPH BLOCK

North Carolina State University, B.A. Parks Recreation and Tourism Management. After graduation Joseph worked as an assistant manager at a white water rafting company in Copper Hill, Tennessee working with many school groups and managing the staff. He also spent time teaching at Murphy High School in Murphy, North Carolina. In 2006 Joseph joined the Peace Corps in Ambondro, Madagascar. He spent two years working as a volunteer there in the environmental sector. Joseph focused on improving the conservation of Madagascar’s protected areas by reducing natural resource degradation, increasing agricultural Saveproduction and food security, establishing locally run, sustainable income generating activities, and enhancing the capacity of the Malagasy to effectively manage their land, water, forests, and other natural resources. He worked with relief agencies, NGOs, and coordinated with many locals. Joseph is fluent in Malagasy.

Putney: Madagascar Global Awareness in Action

Friday, July 25, 2008

Voloina, Tamatav, and on to St. Marie

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MAYA MOORE

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