If you Google “French Bureaucracy” you find “encouraging” <Insert Sarcasm Smiley!>  like :

French bureaucracy (euphemistically called l’administration) is legendary – and most foreigners have an ‘epic’ tale to tell of their dealings with it. You should be prepared for frustration caused by time-wasting and blatant obstruction on the part of officials. Often you may wonder whether the right hand knows what any other part of the body is up to (it usually doesn’t) and you should expect to receive conflicting information from consulates, government departments, préfectures and town halls.

And

I just don’t get it. Even when you follow their rules to the letter, you are still wrong. This is why living in France drives me crazy. 

 And

Now, I am never one to moan. I am more a man of action rather than words. Upon arrival in France I was fully prepared for a long struggle with the infamous French bureaucracy I had heard so much about. I had many documents and files ready, sharpened and available for my upcoming battle with the various French systems in order to do things properly. I also felt that with all of this complete it would help my transition into life in France and make me feel more like I belonged here. Little did I know just what I was letting myself in for. 

If you Google “Russian Bureaucracy” you find:

Russian bureaucracy leads to corruption.

 And,

 Lovers of Tsarist or Soviet literature will be relieved to know that Russian bureaucracy isn’t dead. Take the experience of a friend who wants to go to St. Petersburg for an academic conference in late July. 

And,

Russian bureaucracy bigger than the Soviet 

If you Google “Malagasy Bureaucracy”

So you’re interested in getting married in Madagascar? Here’s a little advice on how to negotiate the bureaucratic maze that awaits you 

And

 What I really get a kick out of is how a rubber stamp in red ink makes everything so official. The French love stamps too, but I’m pretty sure it’d be easy to counterfeit the stamps needed here – of course, that’d be even more hassle than the bureaucracy, but it is interesting – no laminating, watermarks, or bar codes. Stamps.

And

 

The Malagasy love their bureaucracy – forms, signatures, stamps –  so if you are stopped by police while driving the more official-looking documents you can show them, the more impressed they will be and the sooner you will be on your way.

My pet theory, or more accurately, one of my pet theories is that the Malagasy Bureaucracy took the worst of the French and Russian systems (Remember they were aligned with the Eastern bloc) and combined it with the deep seated Malagasy love of officiousness! 

 Now why am I talking about this, you might ask?

 Our daughter, Anya, to our shock, and hers as well I assume, did not qualify for Malagasy citizenship by birth because her parents are married!

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 You see, according to the Malagasy laws that were inherited mostly from those dastardly French colonialists, states that if the parents are married and the father is not Malagasy, then the child, or the parents of said child must make a declaration that they (that is the father!) want the kid to have Malagasy citizenship. 

 This might sound easy, but let me tell you….

The Clash’s “I fought the law” comes to mind, but with a small change “I fought the system and the system won!”

We had to jump through something like 15 consecutive hoops, with various “Go directly to jail, Don’t pass Start and don’t collect your $200″ thrown in, just to keep the odds stacked firmly against you.

I, the father, had to go for police clearance. This probably makes sense because what if I wanted to use my daughter’s citizenship to acquire a visa in order to commit various villainous acts here in Madagascar?

 So I prepared myself for a serious grilling about my criminal past.

• Are you a axe murderer? 
• Have you ever robbed a bank?
• Have you been sentenced to hard labour?
• Did you escape from jail?

After all we must maintain law and order here in Madagascar. <Insert Sarcasm Smiley>

The actual questions went something like this :

• Where did you go to primary school?
• Where did you attend secondary school?
• Where did you complete your tertiary education?

 Even with the help of our trusted friend Google I have not been able to figure out the relevance of these questions to my criminal past. Perhaps there is an epidemic of thugs robbing little kids from their lunch money?

Anya, dear sweet little girl, had to go for a medical check up. This makes sense. After a two and a half hour trip with the taxi we reached the hospital. The administration and waiting for the doctor only (No Sarcasm Smiley here!) took us an hour! 

We met the friendly gentleman. He looked at Anya and asked us her age. She is 9 months, we replied. At that point the doctor grabbed his pen signed the relevant document and added the desired read stamps to create the impression that the paper is slowly bleeding to death.

And that was it. The whole exam. So, theoretically Anya can have some disease that could wipe out the whole island, but the paper is stamped and signed.

 I have not yet told you about the arrogance of most of these office dwellers! Or the general laziness that makes tomorrow so much more desirable to do something than today. 

 Later much later we received the coveted  paper from Madame Lalatiana, whose friendliness and efficiency lifted our spirits every time we met her, much like the Statue of Liberty inspired so many immigrants through the years. (I have been accused of exaggerating by some jealous mean spirited people in the past!)

The next step was to apply for a passport for Anya so that she would be able to accompany her parents if they were to go to South Africa for nefarious or valid reasons.

This time I was armed with aforementioned the experience and the wisdom gained from it. I was ready for a fight to the end. I would do all in my power to beat the 6 weeks it took us to get Anya’s nationality recognised. 

And after probably about 4 hours we had the passport in our hands.

 I am still trying to figure out how this is possible. A national ID document does not allow you to cross international borders. In a sense a passport is a much more powerful document seeing that it allows you to travel abroad.

But still after about four hours we had it!

After sharing this story with some other fathers from abroad I allegedly heard the following story.

Jimmy said that they told him it would take eight weeks or more to get his daughter through the Nationality process before they can start with the passport. Jimmy explained that it would cause a lot of problems for him seeing that he already bought the air-tickets, booked the hotels etc for the end of the next week.

An alleged police officer then allegedly asked for “taxi money” so that he can travel to the relevant offices to expedite the process. Four days later Jimmy’s kid had a passport!

The “taxi money” was less than  we paid for a single return trip to one of the many offices! 

I am sure you can understand my jealousy? Or what would one call that feeling? But there is a certain satisfaction in knowing that we fought the system without paying a penny in bribes or “taxi money”

And moreover this is a testimony to God’s goodness.

 Next time, for there will surely be a next time, we have to battle with the Malagasy Bureaucracy I will not arm myself with the Clash’s “I fought the Law” or even with Bob Marley’s “I shot the Sheriff” (However tantalising!)

Rather, I will hide these words in my heart :

“Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil;
For You are with me;
Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.”

Ps 23:4

 If you Google “Africa is a tough country” you find lots of posts, pictures and perambulations that Africa, is, indeed, a tough country, then someone usually offers to sell you the ideal 4×4, winch, fishing-rod, camera, or pest resistant strain of tulip.

 If you Google Madagascar, you find bits about penguins, a vegan  lion, a rapping lemur king with a Indian Accent, and if you scroll down, way down you find that Madagascar is a real country in the midst of a political crisis! This is for sure much funnier than winches, fishing-rods and Tulips with an attitude.

I have been living in Madagascar sine the end of August 2003. That is a long time. It is like more than a thousand sleeps, and way more than a million grains of rice.

During my  8.5 years here I have had many adventures. I once helped to kick-start a 10 ton Mercedes truck! Hiked to see the Indri lemur in its natural habitat. Sat 24 hours next to the Tsribihina river waiting for the river taxi-boat. (Reading the book of Job actually helped to improve my mood!)

Getting married to a REAL princess, and becoming father are also great experiences that I would not have wanted anywhere but on the Red Island.

Madagascar is a country of contrasts and idiosyncrasies.  Ox-carts share the road with a few Porsche Cayennes.

But the weirdest and most wonderful, albeit extremely frustrating at times, adventures are to be had when interacting with the people. (Talking about the Malagasy people as if they are an homogeneous group is common practice but far removed from reality. It is like the ubiquitous (Thank you Opera for your built-in spell-checker!) South Africans. Which ones are you talking about, the black, brown, white, Indian, coloured or the other ones?)

Recently I was going to pick up my wife. some <insert age and audience appropriate adjective> person decides to cross the road. He just runs without turning his head at all once he crosses the middle, seeing that the traffic will now come from the opposite direction! 

No, he just runs. And he timed his run perfectly or imperfectly because the only way I avoided hitting him, after various loud and urgent blasts of the hooter or horn, was to fall with the motorbike.

After skidding to a very undignified halt, I jump up and grab this man by the neck. (In retrospect, it was not the most missionary action I  could have performed at that time, nor Christ-like in the least, but somehow hosting an impromptu Bible study on the infertility of Elizabeth did not seem appropriate either!)

I started asking him what his problem is? Then the rent-a-crowd start shouting at me. They soon reach this consensus: It is your (that is me the Author!) fault because you used the horn and that frightened the poor man!

The logic, the logic! (I am convinced that if I didn’t hoot, they would have blamed me for that instead!) 

The thing we learn here is that the road belongs to the pedestrian and never to the mechanised vehicle. 

This is not so surprising taking into account that the majority of the people in the country are pedestrians. 

Now this post is reaching the point where it should reveal some great insight to the reader.

I am going to stretch things a bit so that they meet up. 

Madagascar, the Red Island or Dago as it is also known is a great country. Sometimes it feels that the Malagasy are especially great at frustrating you because of their differentness. (Or am I the odd one out?)

 It is also a country in crisis. The political confusion that started in 2009 is just dragging on. Slowly it is strangling more and more of the poor.

Someone said: Show me the state of your roads and I will tell you how corrupt your government is. (Did I mention the 80 kilometres in 8 hours?)

My point is that slowly corruption and a host of other evils are pulling this country deeper into the abyss.

God willing I will be one of His instruments of life, light and change here. Even if is only I that change. 

Wikipedia, our semi-omniscient friend, defines world view as:”the fundamental cognitive orientation of an individual or society encompassing natural philosophy; fundamental existential and normative postulates; or themes, values, emotions, and ethics.”

What a relief now that we know the definition! Or perhaps not! (We will get back to defining world view a bit later.)

Your world view determines how you see the world. How you interpret what you see.

An illustration: A visitor to Israel (some years ago) noticed that in some areas trees were being planted and the country developed. While in other areas nothing was happening. On asking around he found out that the areas that were being developed belonged to Israelis who saw it as “the land of milk and honey.” The other areas were settled by/ belonged to Palestinians who believed that the country was cursed by God. (My facts might be a little bit wrong, since it has been a while since I read this story.But it is fundamentally correct.)

Another illustration: Recently I told my gardener to remove a growing termite mound from a wooden door here in my house. He hesitated and wanted to know if it was really necessary. I told him that it was because they are destroying the door!

He told me that it would be better to leave the termites alone, because it is a sign of good luck if they build their mound inside a door.

Here we have two completely opposing ideas. One from a western world, ruled by science and facts and the other from a animistic world where invisible forces and powers rule earth.

If you, as a Westener hears some of the stories about “magic and whitch craft” that are commonly accepted as the truth here in Madagascar, you would just shake your head in disbelief and wonder: “What is wrong with those people?”

If a Malagasy person hears what you think about the existence of spirits etc. he/she would just shake his/her head in disbelief and wonder: “What is wrong with those people?”

By now, you should begin to see the point I am trying to make. Each person is brought up to think in a specific way. These “lessons” are not part of a curriculum or some such thing, but they form the basis of who you are!

Max Weber, author of “The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism” apparently said: “Ideas have consequences.” That means, the way you think determines the way you live and how you world will look like.

He was however not the originator of this thoughts. In Proverbs 4:23 we read “Carefully guard your thoughts because they are the source of true life.” (CEV) (Compare different translations.)

James Sire, Christian thinker and author of “The Universe Next door” defines World view as

1. “a commitment, a fundamental orientation of the heart,
2. that can be expressed as a story or in a set of presuppositions (assumptions which may be true, partially true, or entirely false)
3. which we hold (consciously or subconsciously, consistently or inconsistently)
4. about the basic construction of reality, and that provides the foundation on which we live and move and have our being.”

To simplify I often use this comparison.

* Culture tells us how to do something. How should one get married? How should one treat a child or an elder? How do you respect god/the gods? How does one become an adult? etc.
* Worldview, on the other hand is about why! Why should one get married, as ooposed to just living together? Why are children and elders treated differently? Why are elders respected. etc.

Both Christians and Muslims agrees that marriage is a sacred institution, and that co-habitation is forbidden. However if one where to examine the moitivation(s) for these apparently similar thoughts, you will find completely (?) different motivations!

Jesus says “You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” (Jn 8:32, CEV). The whole concept of World view does not dispute this.

Understanding the world view of another enables you to communicate the truth to him in a way (I am not talking primarily about language, but more about concepts, ideas etc.) that he understands!

And this is the great challenge we are currently facing in our outreaches to Malgasy churches. Many of these men and women have accepted the church, much fewer have actually accepted Christ and entered into a living relationship with him.

We are now looking for ways to communicate the ultimate Truth via understanding the Malagasy Worldview in a way that makes sense in Madagascar!

On the 27th of March 2010,
I got married to RASOLOFONIAINA Laingo. (This explains my prolonged
silence.)

I met this beautiful girl early last year. Initially I might a very bad impression as she described me as arrogant! But, by the grace of God, I was able to convince her other wise.

We have many plans for 2010. We have already identified three possible
villages in which we want to do a Bush-pastor outreach.

The Bush-pastor program involves various components. Primarily, we want to encourage the pastors where they work under difficult circumstances in
isolated villages. By screening the Jesus-film a few nights, we want to create interest in Jesus and the Gospel of the Good News. Coupled with this we plan to do some training about relevant topics.

These
include topics like: Who is Jesus, really? We are working on teaching
about  God of the Bible and the traditional god, who are often
called by the same name.

I apologise for
my long silence. I realise that  I let you down !

Wedding photos   
    Honey moon photos

]]> http://jandreinmadagascar.wordpress.com/2010/04/26/165/feed/ 1 jandreinmadagascar Laingo & Jandré http://jandreinmadagascar.wordpress.com/2010/04/26/165/ http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/JandreInMadagascar/~3/r-Xq3YgUde0/ http://jandreinmadagascar.wordpress.com/2009/03/30/high-constitutional-court-are-you-a-member/#comments Mon, 30 Mar 2009 16:38:02 +0000 jandreinmadagascar http://jandreinmadagascar.wordpress.com/?p=159 ]]> Disclaimer: The following “sermon” makes use of exampes drawn from the current political situation here in Madagascar. However it is not my intention to be political. I am using relevant examples from everyday life.

A while ago there was an article on one of the pro-TGV websites claiming that Ravalomanana is a Satanist. They even offered a copy of his initiation certificate. (I could probably make a similar certificate on MS Word in about 5 minutes.) Others claimed to have heard from “very very reliable sources” that Ravalomanana is not a Christian but either a animist (Technically the term animist is incorrect. In its widest sense Christians are also animists because we believe in “spirits.” African Tradtional Religion, ATR is a more accurate term.) or someone who practices syncretism. (Syncretism is when you try to merge several different religions and or philosophies into one coherent belief system. For example taking a bit if Christianity and a bit of ATR and form something new that removes the opposition between the two.)

The point that I tried to make in the previous paragraph is that there are people (some say many, some say few) who claim that in spite of his personal claims, Ravalomanana is not a Christian. Some might even argue that this is God’s punishment on him.

But….

This made me think a lot about who is and who is not a Christian. What makes you a Christian? And what actions absolutely disqualifies you from being a Christian? Murder, rape, robbery, lying, lusting after another women, a white lie, theft, dishonouring your mother and father, worshipping an idol, like e.g. your Star-sign, or even the Lotto, loving money or bad manners? Which one of these disqualifies someone from being a Christian? I’m probably only innocent on two or three of these charges.

You see I have a problem. It is not my job to prove who is a Christian. And it is definitely not my job to pass judgement and say who aren’t. If I decide A is a Christian but B is not, then I am appointing myself as judge, and putting myself on level with the Judge, Jesus. (That would be the ultimate coup d’etat, wouldn’t it?)

My experience is that when I judge another person, it is usually to distract attention from my own failures. At least I don’t drink and swear like C. (But meanwhile back at the ranch, I am a hypocrite and a Pharisee.) I repeat again, this is what I have noticed in my life. I don’t know if it also holds true in yours.

Francis Schaeffer, one of the greatest Christian philosophers, apparently said, I do not know how little one needs to know (believe) to be saved.

I find that we often have all these rules that have to be obeyed. Do A,B,C,D and E, but most definitely don’t do F,G,H,I and J. And no, I am not saying that faith and deeds are separate. I love James. He is 100% correct in saying that the one cannot survive/exist without the other.

Back to my life. At least I am not like Elias, of James (no this is another one), or Jonah (also another one), or that fat policeman on the corner always demanding bribes, or that …..

“Don’t pick on people, jump on their failures, criticize their faults–unless, of course, you want the same treatment. That critical spirit has a way of boomeranging. It’s easy to see a smudge on your neighbor’s face and be oblivious to the ugly sneer on your own. Do you have the nerve to say, ‘Let me wash your face for you,’ when your own face is distorted by contempt? It’s this whole traveling road-show mentality all over again, playing a holier-than-thou part instead of just living your part. Wipe that ugly sneer off your own face, and you might be fit to offer a washcloth to your neighbor.
(Mat 7:1-5) The Message (Nearly wrote The Massage, not quite the same)

My response? Hopefully I can join the tax collector in praying:
‘God, be merciful to me, sinner that I am!’
(Luk 18:13) NET Bible

Perhaps you have heard or read these words of Jesus. These last few days I have realised again how important the truth, albeit in the political arena, is.

(But before I get to that, lets just quickly look at the context of the original words.

Where:Jesus was in the temple teaching the people when the scribes and the Pharisees brought to him a woman caught in adultery. A whole conversation ensued. In v 34 Jesus says “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin.”
From this we can conclude that Jesus was primarily (exclusively?) talking about spiritual freedom. )

What does this have to do with Madagascar? I have mentioned before how lies are being propagated over the radio and television in Madagascar.

Some examples. Perhaps you have seen or heard in the international press about the two or three explosions close to the presidential palace sometimes during the night. But according to the French press the Prime Minister denies that this happened. (Just for the record, my mother sms’ed me this morning and told me that she heard about the explosions on South African radio!)

The truth is that if someone or a radio/TV station tells you one thing, the next will most probably tell you the complete and exact opposite.

The resulting situation is that we do not know what is true. Is the army really with the opposition, the president or neutral? Has this, that or the other thing really happened, or is it propaganda? Some claim Andry TGV did this. Others blame the president for that.

Madagascar is caught up in a great bunch of lies. And there are many people actively propagating lies to further their own agendas. My prayer the last day or two has been this: Lord, let the truth prevail! I ask you to join me in this prayer. The Devil is the father of the lie (Jn 8.44). Our prayer for the truth will oppose his work and bring honour to God. Also, if the truth is known in Madagascar peace will return. IT will be clear who is guilty and innocent of what. It will be clear who is serving the country and who is serving themselves.

I am not asking you to pray for this one or against that one. No! I am asking you that the truth will be told so that there will be freedom in Madagascar!

Everyday they pass me by,
I can see it in their eyes.
Empty people filled with care,
Headed who knows where?

People need the Lord.

I am really sad this evening. A friend decided to be angry with me. I do not understand the reason.

Did I do something wrong OR Didn’t I do something? Did I say something OR Didn’t I say something.

X, my friend, was helping me with some translation work. I am preparing a course on Inter-Cultural communication to be presented in April. While X came to fetch some papers Y and Z my new Malagasy teachers were here. We were discussing times, rates, etc. Unbeknown to me there is some history between X and Z. Now the nuclear fallout is hitting me.

Another friend, AA, I seem to be running out of letters, is having an affair with a married man. It seems as if she believes that being somebody’s plaything is all she is good enough for..

Yesterday whe found some marijuana (dagga) seeds here on the college property. The property is 22 hectare and not fenced in. We have a problem with trespassers.

I see that more than 3500 people lost their jobs just in the Analamanga region because of the political crisis here.

I am sad and hurt.

And I realize that I am one of the people who needs the Lord. When will I learn to trust Him with my probems, instead of solving it on my own? When will I lean to care more about others real problems than my petty inconveniences?

In my course on Inter-cultural communication, one of the basic tenets is: Ideas have consequences. That is the way I think determines my life. And this is not just mere positive thinking. See Proverbs 4:23

When wil I stop thinking that: I can do it! I am self-sufficient!

When will I live from the realisation that: I am crucified with Christ therefore I no longer live Jesus Christ now lives in me, and He is the Boss. Not me!

Let me tell you about mercy
It led me to this land of grace.
Once I was homeless,
Ashamed to show my face.
I deserved no gift or favor
After all that I had done.
You’ve all heard my story, I am the
prodigal son.

CHORUS
And he wasn’t surprised at where I had been;
He was waiting for me at the end of my sin.
And the heaven I found in the hell I was in,
That’s where his mercy, That’s where His mercy begins.

Let me share an invitation;
Come join me in this land of rest,
Where we trade our failures And
gain the Father’s best.
Let us turn to Him together,
Leaving all our fears behind. The
Father knows your story. Its mercy you’ll find.

CHORUS

I had run so far from him that all my hope was dying.
But when I finally turned for home, his mercy came and showed the way;
And he’s never surprised at where we have been, He is waiting for us at the end
of our sins, and the heaven we find from the hell we’ve been in, that’s where his mercy
that’s where his mercy begins. Oh, that’s where his mercy, that’s where His mercy begins.
Sweet mercy. Thank you, thank you for mercy, your sweet mercy. Sweet mercy.

As you know by now, there is a political crisis in Madagascar. Everybody is unsure what (the generic) tomorrow holds. More riots? More deaths? We silently hope that it won’t affect me directly. That somehow I, me and mine will be spared.

This song has two themes. Mercy, and sin. I think it is correct to say that without sin there cannot be mercy. For without sin we would be just and not in need of mercy. (No I am not saying, sin more so that the mercy can increase.)

All Christians are, to some extent, involved in sin. We all have sin in our lives. If I ever say that I am without sin, then I am either lying or dead. (And therefore in the presence of Christ.)

Being melancholic by nature I like to beat myself up about the sins in my life. My sin is SOOOOOOO bad that ……. (insert adequate penance here.)

This song just reminded me of GOd’s mercy that he shows to us even though we deserve condemnation.

And he wasn’t surprised at where I had been;
He was waiting for me at the end of my sin.
And the heaven I found in the hell I was in,
That’s where his mercy, That’s where His mercy begins.

Yes it is true, He is not surprised at where I had been or what I have done. But all along He was waiting for me to stop looking at my sin but that I would look at him, confess and return.

I am crucified with Christ, therefore I no longer live. Jesus Christ now lives in me. (Embrace the Cross, Steve Green)

Father, I have sinned, repeatedly and knowingly, often enjoying it immensely. And perhaps even counting on your mercy in the back of my mind. I am guilty. Forgive me. Forgive me. Heal me. And make me a witness and testimony to your great love that transcends our understanding, insight and wisdom. Help me Father for I am sure to fail on my own. This I ask of you in the Name above all names, in the Name of your Son, Jesus. Amen

But…but…but it never arrived!

If you look at the three pictures you will see that at one point was gathering steam and heading straight for Tamatave and the Tana. And then it started to turn. Gael missed both Madagascar and Reunion!

Thank you Lord! Thank you!

I believe that it is God who changed the direction of this powerful cyclone. When it was closest to Madagascar it was a Category 4 cyclone. Plenty strong, plenty damage!

Quoted from DagoTiako
In this period of political crisis, I sympathize and I morally support all families victims of the shootings at Ambohitsirohitra . As a mother I do not accept this violence”, said Cécile Manorahanta. Her conscience could not endure the bloodshed.

“The police were supposed to protect people and property so after all that happened, I have decided to no longer be part of this government.” , explained Cécile Manorahanta.

Vice Admiral Mamy Ranaivoniarivo, the military chief of staff to the presidency of Madagascar, was appointed as the new Minister of Defence.

The appointed UN representative, Haile Mekeiros, met with President Ravalomanana and later with Mr Rajoelina. The president, according to reports, accepted Haile Mekeiros as facilitator. His opponent made it clear that he will only talk if three demands are met.

Firstly a transitional government should be invested. Secondly early elections should be held, and lastly Mr Ravalomanana should be prosecuted.

He also proclaimed a general strike for tomorrow, 10 February.

The African Union will also send a representative, Mooring Essy. A goverment delegation, under Minister Alain Joyandet, will meet with a high level delegation of the Indian Ocean Commission

Note
It seems as if things are reaching a point where I can not maintain my objectivity. That is one of the reasons why I have been posting less and less as the situation worsened.

As a foreigner in this lovely country, I can not pretend that I understand the politics. I have no special insight into who is telling the truth or who is lying. I feel that I do not have the right to use a public forum like this blog to share my views on the local politics.

So,if I do appear to have lost my objectivity, forgive me and pleae point it out to me. Above allI desire that people will know how to pray intelligently for the people of Madagascar.

Pray that the media will report honestly and accurately. I have personally heard and saw things that are not even close to the truth, but nothing else than incitement.

This morning someone told me that she could not find dried beans, the poor man’s protein, at the market. The price of rise has risen. Charcoal, which most people use to cook has become considerably more expensive. It rose from 9000Ar a bag to 16 000Ar in the space of two weeks. Oil is between 8000 and 10 000Ar a liter.

The official exchange rate for 9 February as per BVF SG Madagascar
EURO                 EUR 2 523
Dollar                 USD 1 974,010
Pound                 GBP 2 895,370
Swiss Franc           CHF 1 685,810
Japanese Yen       JPY 21,660
Canadian Dollar       CAD 1 591,170
Swedish Krone      SEK 239,910
Norwegian Krone NOK 288,920
South Africa Rand ZAR 198,520

And remember that on average the working Malagasy earn less than a Dollar a day.

A friend said to me, ” I think that if the riots continue Madagascar will be completely destroyed.”

Please Lord, roads can be rebuilt. Cell-phone towers erected again. But at what cost? What about all those who will lose their lives? Please Lord, hear our prayer and save the country and the people you love!