Laura -- Emotional Roller Coaster

Today has been such a roller coaster of emotions for me. I’m not really quite sure how I feel. Have you ever just sat there in a daze with your eyes glazed over and just wonder “is this real life?” I had that moment several times today.

At 7:00am, our new friend, Olga, picked up Tiffany, Paige, Mika and me. First of all, we were picked up in a car. This was a real treat. I promise I’m not being facetious. We walk several miles everyday, so it was nice to have a break. Olga is a judge. In fact, she is the President of the court here in Manakara. Paige and I went to observe court on Thursday and we stayed around to meet Olga after court let out. She was so excited to meet us and asked if we could be friends. She didn’t have much time so we set up a meeting on Friday. On Friday, Paige, Tiffany, Mika and I visited with Olga and learned more about her. She has wanted to practice English for a while but had no one to practice with so she was so excited to meet us. She already wanted to plan a time to meet again...So, she invited us to her tennis lesson on Saturday (today).

Okay, so Olga picked us up in her car and we drove to the tennis court at Parthenay Club where we were greeted by the tennis instructor and two of Olga’s children. For the next 2-½ hours we all took turns playing tennis and it was a blast. Her 6-year old daughter and 3-year old son even played.

Olga is a very ambitious woman. She wants to become fluent in English and Chinese (she already speaks French and Malagasy).  She is very passionate about her work and always tries to maintain a positive and happy attitude. She said it’s important to be happy. From observing her in court, it is obvious that she cares about people and tries to help them. She cracked several jokes in the courtroom. On top of being a judge, Olga takes care of her 3 kids by herself. Her husband is currently working in the south.

After tennis, we walked over to the beach and Olga treated us all to coconut water (straight from the coconut). So delicious! After that, we headed to the market with Olga. We got to drive to the market, which was a first. We had to wait a while for the meat and Olga left her children in the car. She bought them some ice cream while we were waiting. Once we stepped outside, a beggar woman and her children approached us and Olga gave her some money. We finished up the rest of our shopping and she took us back home.

We made some lunch and then it was naptime. After naptime, I had plans to be productive, but I couldn’t stop thinking about this morning. This morning was so different. It was different in the sense that it was so familiar. I almost forgot I was in Madagascar. We played tennis at a hotel with a tennis instructor. Olga treated us to coconut water and to a tennis lesson.  We drove around Manakara in a car.

While I was trying to process all that happened today, there was a knock on the door. It was Mika. He said he had bad news. Anita’s son died this morning. Mika said it would be good for us to go visit the family in the village. Anita is a woman we’ve been getting to know. She is the cousin of Fonja, who works at Om Snack. Paige, Tiffany, and I put on our lambas (like a sarong) and we followed Mika. We met up with some members from the church and we all walked together to the village, which is right down the street from us. When we got to the house, we had to leave our shoes outside. We walked in and there were about 15 people sitting down around the bed where Anita’s son was laying. Anita wasn’t in the room, but we saw Fonja. We sat down next to the bed and Fonja came over and sat with us. The bed was adorned with flowers and pictures of him.It was a silent for a while. Fonja told us in broken English that he died unexpectedly. He was fine and playing yesterday and then he went to bed and never woke up. Anita walked in and sat down next to us. You could see the numbness and shock in her face. After about 15 minutes, a woman began praying. While she was praying, it was hard for me to stay focused on the prayer. I could hear the men outside building the coffin. Goodness, my heart just sank. They were building a coffin. A small coffin. After prayer, we sang several Malagasy hymns. During the hymns, several women broke down in tears. You could hear the pain and emotion. It gave me goosebumps. It was so difficult sitting there. After 30 minutes, Mika said we should go. We got up and shook the hands of the family, telling them Mahareza, which means, “Be strong.” We stepped outside and there was a lot going on. There were women cooking, men building the coffin, children playing, and women crying. We stepped into another house where the father’s family and friends were. It was very apparent that they all had been drinking. We sat there for a few minutes then shook their hands and left.

Life here in Madagascar is about living in community with one another and I think today was a great example of how community plays out here in Manakara. Ephesians 4:15-16 says, “Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.” We have been here for just a short time and we are already a part of this community. 

Please be praying for Anita and her family during this difficult time.