(foko) blog club

Patrick when not busy sharing blogging tips to his friends at BUEC has posted a great reportage on Tamatave and shares his amazing knowledge of this wonderful city : 

This is a town tour number one here in Tamatave. Let’s start from nautical center, there where is Ratsimilaho street is started.

The big market or bazary be , Tamatave hall town, The mosque, The old continental hotel and more and more with pictures and great descriptions.

Lalatiana wants us to know more about the real Tana :

Taxi phones everywhere and join the debate on whever it should stay on the streets or not 

  A “Taxi Phone” is a place where you can phone cheaper. One minute call costs 200 Ariary ( around 0,10 EUR) when it is 438 to 720 Ariary if you use your cell phone. They also sell airtime cards. By the way, we have three telecommunication providers here in Madagascar: TELMA (TELecom MAlagasy), ZAIN and ORANGE.

When going back to Tamatave, Moma brings us to Foulepointe :

But Lomelle, who has been very inspired and is motivating everyone to blogging lately, takes us to many spots in Tana (where she is currently interning) : 

With my best friend Rondro we decided to on an adventure in Tana, but what to do? We decided to do something crazy : taking the first bus which will bring us at a place we don’t know ! So the one we took brought us to a place called Ambatofotsy. We thought we ended at a sordid place but discovered a park we didn’t know before this day : SISAONY.

Randy Donné, teacher and very activist journalist, is doing an amazing work trainnig Com1,Com2, Com3 classes at ESSVA and sharing his passion with them. After our meeting last week, they kept on blogging and even added 4 more members to the very powerful FBC-Vakinankaratra. Meanwhile Majunga based bloggers are still very active after meeting on Saturday and updating their blogs together.

Antsa and Manampy head of Com3 class

to be translated

Journée Mondiale de la Pauvreté by Yhra

La Culture a Madagascar by RaslMetal

La Pauvreté by Micramania

Il est bien d’être important mais il est important d’être bien by Rondro

S’habiller gasy-gasy by Lomelle

We were very excited to train the new bloggers at ICE and also introduce them to “senior” bloggers Karenichia, Diana and Patricia. We had hard time this month choosing from the amazingly interesting posts(thanks to ikalamako and sipagasy for their choices and their very intensive commenting)

Law and Dream from AndryDago

http://andrydago.wordpress.com/2008/09/23/law-and-dream/

Vous les vazaha nous les Malgaches (Vazaha and Malagasies) from Pati

http://patiettoi.wordpress.com/2008/08/18/vous-les-vazaha-nous-les-malgaches/
(English translation)
For those of you who do not know, originally the word VAZAHA meant French people, but for others it simply means “foreigners”. But I don’t really want to discuss etymological origins of words here. I will speak of the different kinds of relationships that young Malagasy girls have with young or not so young Vazaha.

On one hand, vazaha are like everyone else, so we may have all sort of feelings towads them: love, friendship, and vice versa. Therefore going out with a vazaha is as normal, natural and human as it comes.

However, dating a vazaha has become for some Malagasy, a matter of pride, not to say a distinctive sign. Again, there is nothing wrong with that but what I want to emphasize here are the different ways that Malagasy girls use to distinguish themselves in that manner.

Because the Internet has now become more acessible, it is one of the most utilized tool to date a vazaha. More precisely, arrange meetings via internet. As you know by now, meetings are not only for articles and chat rooms but also webcams. You might wonder what is wrong with that so I’ll tell you.

Nowadays, it is not only about seeing the other person but also to watch each, see what I mean ? There are special cyber meeting rooms for activities that require a certain degree of privacy so that girls can show their most intimate parts to the one on the other side of the webcam. I do not know whether it’s something we imitated from elsewhere or if it’s a trend born in Madagascar but in any case, the evolution of technology is not only about technology in this country !

And what does it to have to do with vazaha? Well, it’s especially with vazaha that Malagasy girls do it every so often! … To be continued!

Se relever from Lomelle

http://as2coeur.wordpress.com/2008/09/29/se-relever/

To rise again by Lomelle:

Youth demands that one must go through various challenges to mature and understand that life is not just a walk in the park. After traversing my own challenges, I quickly understood that the hours  spent in misery allow us to rebuild ourselves, reassess our priorities and evaluate our lives so far.  Life is made of ups and down but it is staggering to realize how easily we stumble. I think we all went through that. We pain ourselves to build something for a while and then within seconds, everything falls apart.  Enough to drive you  bonkers.

One day, as I was browsing through books, I read a sentence that rung so true to me that I had to share it with you. It picks you up when you are down and keep fighting when you are about to give up. “The greatest of victory is not to never stumble but to rise up everytime we fall.”

So anytime you feel defeated because someone sabotaged you, keep in mind that as long as you keep rising up, you will always be the greatest winner.

To all bloggers, don’t give up, don’t ever give up.

Women at work from Ariniaina

http://ariniaina.wordpress.com/2008/09/29/women-at-work/

My Grandmother [my Mom's mother] did not work at all, in her life. I mean, she did not earn money. She told me women stayed home. The traditional belief says that the husband makes money and the wife takes care of the house and the kids. So, only men worked.

My Grandmother explained that life was easier and cheaper at that time. Women did not need to earn money. Men could afford all the needs of the family (with 7 sons and 7 daughters ).(read more here)

Tourism in Madagascar from MomaDago

http://momadago.wordpress.com/2008/09/28/tourisme-in-madagascar/

In our country ,you could find many beautiful sources for tourism as you like.For example ,the fauna and flora ,handicraft,or if you like to dive there is an wonderful place like in the south of Madagascar(Tulear),the sea is nice ,it’s blue like the sky,the baech is white and very cool to see the under our ocean.Not far for this area ,in Morondava ,you have the same,in Belo sur Tsiribihina.Apart that ,if you really like the Allee de Baobab ,you could find a wonderful place if you visit this site.But anyway,if you like barbecue,we have all see food that you never regret to tast and enjoy it.However,the weather is always nice to excit you to dive see all around our beautiful country.

With 80% of FBC on vacation or passing their final exams, we were surprised by the intense commenting on some blogs and after a little inquiry discovered that it was related to the topics they discussed. Youth activism, education, sex, AIDS, contraception, etc. are not commonly blogged at Malagasy blogosphere (were the age range is 25-40 and most of the bloggers from the diaspora). Foko bloggers with their “spontaneous” blogging and honesty bring some controversy, fresh air and a taste of reality to the community.

Condoms for Adolescents – Abortion – Youth unemployment

Patricia in few months has made extraordinary progress in blogging and writing skills (especially in english). Today she is intensively answering to her supporters comments and is keeping things…politically correct.

“No sex before the marriage”: this rule still to be respected by some young persons, but the most of them can’t follow it! So, if we really can’t avoid sex before getting married, what to do?

In spite of its prohibition and many ways existent for avoiding it, abortion always exists, most of the time in total discretion. Why to abort? Is there any other solution aside it?

The unemployement was ever a problem for Madagascar since many years. In spite of this fact, no important and suffisant solution hasn’t yet found till now!

Dans la peau d’Amlah

Diana is known from her project to help Baby Kamba and when you discover her other posts, there are no doubts about her activist fiber:

In Amlah’s shoes (part two)

“Aryan , hold me in your arms, I am hurting”. “I am hurting” those were the words that I kept repeating and that are already overwhelming Aryan who does not what to do.
“3 murderers are needed to kill a being, a defenseless innocent being and still, we have yet to succeed.”

Everything started when Aryan told me that we were going to see his friend, a health care provider. He gave us 2 tablets of misoprost containing 4 pills each.
Aryan’s friend told us that one ought to be moving around a bit after taking the pills. At 4h30 am, Aryan wakes me up: “ Amlah, wake up, you need to take your pill now so that you feel better in the afternoon”. I refuse to wake up because I slept late last night. However, I suddenly realize the situation and rise up to take the pill.
“Aryan, Amlah, where are you two going so early ?” Aryan’s mum has obviously awaken.
“ We are just going for a run”. Her mum bought it and we head for the deserted streets so that no one wonders what we are up to.
Suddenly I feel a sharp pain in my belly. I cry in pain in the middle of the street. The sun has arise and the mist that protected us from the public eye is slowly fading.
“Let’s walk faster” Aryan says. I am trying hard but we still need to stop from time to time in front of the Indian shops for rest. Crying, I tell Aryan “ I am tired and I am hurting everywhere”. We finally arrive at my place where my bed looks like a million bucks to me at this time. Aryan is looking for wet towels because I am starting to bleed.
As I wake up, I feel better because the pain has subsided a bit and my precious is next to me. He asks me how I feel and I told him I am fine. I am fortunate to have Aryan’s love because most guys would have left as soon as they hear of pregnancy. Everything goes as plan for the next 4 days. I am still bleeding a bit but deep inside, I am in great pain. “ Allah will never forgive me for having killed his creation”. I feel like eating seasoned manguo achar all the time. It’s not usual for me to still have cravings so I decided to take a pregnancy test again.
I yell in panic “Aryan, how come it’s still positive ? ” I am shouting at him as if it’s his fault. He runs outside to find his friend. They come back and he says:” we will give youa shot, my dearest, I am also tired of putting you in harm’ s way like this so we will take care of it one and for all”. So another road paved with broken glasses and sharp thorns waits me. I so want this to be over with. My body is internally bleeding and my heart is torn. Allah , have mercy on me.

[Translator's note: this is part II of a fiction piece translated from Diana's work]

Why

From Patrick

Some of them (children) aren’t  intitled to their right because of the differents kind of distinction or discrimination on account of race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status, whether of themselves or of their families. WHY?

Madagascar: Land of my people.

by Zouboon

It has been 48 long years since Malagasies have been given the authority to decide our nation’s, beautiful Madagascar’s fate.
There are still however some hints, even indirect ones, that show that foreign residents are in charge in our country.
Because it has only been one month that we celebrated our independence, our patriotic heart cannot but tell the truth. The questions rises : “do we Malagasies repudiate a young spouse, to give others a new partner”, or do foreigners dominate us and take advantage of our poverty? The reality is that foreigners enslave us and control wealth in Madagascar, and are the pampered ones. How many are those foreigners white (Europeans), Chinese, South Indians who all gather our island’s wealth. Many of them own huge local industries, and we Malagasies are their lowly employees. Those from abroad own the industries, which are built locally, the finished products are sourced from local material. However they are the ones getting the most gain, us Malagasies, whose sweat and material generate the finished products, only get the left over crumbs foreigners deign leave. And finally, those foreigners are much respected and feared. We Malagasies lick their feet and plead for the wealth that is ours in the first place.
There is a saying “The owner is begging for his own organs”. The saddest thing is our helplessness and indeed even our mentality has been altered. The belief that whites are above blacks has been internalized.
Following is my message : may the stepping over the vanquished stops, may we stop drowning in our milk like cockroaches do, because our love for Gasikara is eternal, indeed eternal. May our Gasikara never become a foreigners’ land.

Nobody was on vacation this summer at Foko when the bloggers kept on publishing and publishing week after week. Even if we noticed some inconsistency and problems with the commenting (this is the main problem at Foko and we will publish an update exposing this situation on our Rising Voices blog) For now please read and comment on the very touching post published by Patrick on one of the 3 F that build Malagasy society Friendship, Foko (community in this case) and Family .

GOO’BYE

Tamatave’s University city,

Is a green and clean campus,

Buildings and white houses,

They are all pretty indeed.

Time is running away,

For 4 years at University,

It seems like yesterday,

Because of our unity.

What wonderful time,

During our 4 years together,

According to me, it was fine,

But I don’t know for the other.

Now it’s time for saying goo’bye,

For all of my classmate, indeed my friends,

I’m sure that one day, we’ll meet again.

So Sir, miss let’s say goo’bye.

Special message for:

Harista and Priscilla Théline,

I love you like crystal clean,

And I won’t forget you forever more.

Hey! Don’t worry!

Be happy everybody,

‘Coz life is always like this,

I mean, please take it easy.

When you’re emotional,

Or get some problems,

You just read this poem,

I think that is all

I wrote this poem to memorize my best friends at University. Patrick loves you!!

by Patrick (please see also his very touching pictures)

_____

Back in November 2007 during the first Blog Club with the Namana Serasera Madagascar, we were introduced to Ravatorano on the chatroom with these few lines :

08:09 ravatorano-madagascar mbola tsisy pro zany ato ra jogany an

there is no pro here jogany

08:09 ravatorano-madagascar mbola vao mianatra e

we’re still learning here

But the improvments he realized in such a little time and the notoriety i gained on the Malagasy blogosphere made us forget about Ravatorano! In fact his intensive blogging inspire continuously many forumists from the Namana Serasera Community and we can’t also miss his jovial presence during each chatroom at each FBC. So please welcome cheerfully Ravatorano !!!

best posts to be translated soon.

July was the FBC -Tamatave month with 2 workshops and all the world attention to the new kids from BUEC (Barikadimy’s!). But the Majunga and Antananarivo’s group had a lot to share too…in 3 languages azafady !

• LEDHEADA : Barikadimy and it’s life

http://ledhada.wordpress.com/2008/07/30/barikadimy-and-its-life/

Madagasikara has 6 differents university on each province,the university of Toamasina is one of them wich built in 1976 and calls BARIKADIMY UNIVERSITY because of the place where it lays.

The university has two departements.First;Departement of DEGS composed by 3 field:Economy, Managament and Laws.Second; Departement of Letters and Social science wich composed by 4 fields:History, Geography, Philosophy and French.

Students from different places of Madagasikara, Comores and other country of Africa comes there to follow their study in order to get good job in the future.

Entrance axam doesn’t exist in BArikadimy,good school report is enough to go to the university; also all student get scholarship.

Like the other university, Barikadimy has its own motto wich is:”FAHAIZANA SY FANAHY” or “KNOWLEDGE AND SPIRIT” in english.Knowledge via study and spirit in church.Religion like Chritian,Muslim and Advantist take care of student’s soul.

When we talk about study;every spaces like classroom, library and studyroom are occupied day and night especially one mouth before examination.Though, probleme as lack of administrative materials restain the student’s task.Consequently, some are oblige to find documetation out of the campus, subcribing in other library in town, using net and buying books at the market.

Despite the situation, the president of the university stills optimistic and finds the best way to get over this issue and encourages the student to keep on study.As result, 3 years now, partners such as old student, authority and some university from another country like Canada, France suplied Barikadimy in term of computers, books and funds to increase the level of the student.This year, classroom and rooms has been repaired in the cooperation with Ambatovy project,also some material like table, chair and boards has been renewed by the old student.Thanks to the partner, relation is become hopefull bettwen them and the university.

Apart from study; love and fashion occupied the student’s life.Consequently it is hard to find someone without partner at the campus.Love gains their life.Moreover, teenager think that life whithout love likes sauces whithout salt, but sometimes the situation turns bad.

Attracted by the fashion and money, pretty as they are, girls running after richman and stranger to make their fantasy true.As result they come to the net to find partner instead of documentation and the situation compromises the reputation of the university.

As young, student plays sport as football, handball,basketball and volleyball.Every year there is always tournement on those discipline and the match takes place at the campus where different entity runs for a winner.Every weekend, there is a contact party organizes by the entity to welcome the new student and for entertaining but sometimes either sport or party end on a little quarel between a group of student.This year it provokes scuffle between student from the south and north and now, curfew is setting in the campus.

• ZOUBOON : Gasikarako tanin’olona

http://zouboon.wordpress.com/2008/07/28/gasikarako-tanin%E2%80%99olona/

• HKAMBORA :Fitsangananan’ny Maty
  

http://hkambora.wordpress.com/2008/07/25/fitsanganan%E2%80%99ny-maty/

• VIOLANCE : Relationship

http://violance.wordpress.com/2008/07/26/relationship/