Day Seven - Saturday School

 

This morning Parc Ivoloina was full of the sound of chattering voices. It was the first day of term for Saturday School and children were arriving, full of excitement. I met several of them on the path and they were very giggly when I greeted them. White-skinned tourists are still quite unusual in this part of Madagascar and the reaction of children on encountering one is often to point and shout ‘vazàha!’ which means ‘foreigner’. It can be quite unsettling initially but they don’t mean to be rude -it’s just that they are surprised to see you.

The MFG Saturday School programme provides environmental education for primary-age children and also provides lessons in mathematics and French to improve the children’s chances of passing the entrance exam for secondary school. It is a very highly-regarded and successful programme and has recently been involved in a partnership with Unicef in their ‘Connecting Classrooms’ island-wide project.
The environmental education centre has a teaching classroom plus two exhibit rooms that are open to the general public. I began my visit in the exhibit rooms. Here there are displays about Madagascar’s  different ecosystems. The displays are quite old but have some great artefacts (including elephant bird eggs). The education team are currently working with Jana, the Austrian intern whom I met in Tamatave, to update the exhibit space and they have some very good ideas about new ways to communicate their key messages.
While I was exploring the centre I was joined by one of the MFG’s junior staff, Flavien. He took me for a tour of the exhibits and used the artefacts very skilfully to bring Madagascar’s natural world to life. In the garden outside the centre he demonstrated how water can be obtained by puncturing the natural reservoir at the base of ravenala leaves (hence the alternative name ‘travellers’ palm’) and how local people make a simple cup from the leaves in order to catch and drink the water. He also pointed out some tiny reed frogs (Heterixalus madagascariensis) sitting inside nearby flowers. He explained that the frogs drink nectar from the flowers.  Flavien’s English was very good and his enthusiasm for nature shone through. He confided that he has a dream of opening an environmental education centre far out in the countryside so he can teach rural communities to understand and to protect the environment. I discovered later that Flavien had a very difficult start in life and that the MFG has supported and nurtured him through his school years and now employs him part time.

 

I could hear that there was a lesson taking place in the classroom so went to see what was going on. The classroom is open on two sides and the children are seated on benches at tables set out in rows. There were about 75 children present - it took ages to take the register! Another of the education team, Rostain, told me that the children learn French, mathematics and ecology in the morning. They are then provided with a healthy lunch and in the afternoon they go outside to carry out practical activities. These include learning environmentally-friendly farming methods, observing wildlife, and tree planting.

 

This afternoon I went to look around the Model Station (where the ecoagriculture training takes place). While I was in the fruit plantation I located a tiny area where I had phone coverage, so was able to text home. I received some replies almost immediately, which was lovely. Several exotic fruits were growing here, including pineapples, carambola (star fruit) and oranges. It is fascinating to see what they look like when they are growing - I am just used to seeing them stacked on a shelf in the supermarket. 

Tomorrow I am due to go on up to the rainforest at Betampona so I headed back to the bungalow quite early, to allow time to pack my gear before the light goes. It gets dark quickly here and it is quite hard to see what you are doing by candlelight.

Tomorrow’s trip is promising to be a real adventure. I will be staying at Rendrirendry Research Station, directly outside the reserve, for three nights. As at Ivoloina, facilities are basic and I need to take enough food for my stay. I will be travelling up with Jeff Dawson, Durrell Conservation’s new Amphibian Programme Officer. We haven’t met but have been in contact via email. One of the MFG drivers came this evening to deliver the permit that we will need to gain access to the reserve. Betampona is a strict nature reserve and is off limits to everyone except researchers with permits and the MFG. It is a real privilege to be able to visit and I am very excited to be going. It’s a shame that Karen won’t be there to show us around but the MFG vice-chair Ingrid Porton is going to be our host, assisted by a PhD student currently carrying out research at Betampona so we will be in safe and knowledgeable hands.
The reserve is very isolated and tomorrow’s journey involves two taxi-brousse drives, several river crossings and a 5km hike. I decided that an early night was called for so I would be ready for what lay ahead.