Families sell plastic toys so they can afford to eat

At Christmas, the streets of Madagascar’s cities are thronged with people selling plastic Christmas trees and toys from China, writes USPG Mission Companion Sam Beeton.

It is sad to think of those who cannot sell their wares and may not have enough money for even a simple meal.

In the countryside, there are only a few small shops. People are busy in the fields planting rice or tending their cows, ducks, geese and turkeys.

Farmers may get up to £5 for a turkey. Few people here eat meat. Indeed, while cows are growing fat on the lush grass, and swallows are feasting on insects, people find that food is scarce as they wait for harvest in May.

In Madagascar, the average family has five children, and the traditional wedding blessing is: ‘May you have seven sons and seven daughters.’

People do not strive to be independent. Instead, family members view each other as having different gifts. People are not shy to ask their brothers or sisters for help – two is better than one. As the Malagasy proverb goes: ‘You can’t catch a flea with one finger.’

The same is true in the church. Jobs are done freely by one member of the Christian family for another.

Be careful what you ask for
I like cashew nuts which grow in the dry north-west, where [my wife] Violette’s brother Patrick is working.

Patrick bought two kilos of cashew nuts, took them many miles to the coach station, and put them on a coach bound for [my town] Antananarivo.

They arrived the next morning. Patrick’s friend Naja got up at four in the morning to pick up the cashew nuts, which he brought to Violette’s family. Violette’s brother Abel then walked the six-hour return journey to bring them to our house so that we didn’t have to wait until the weekend.

None of these people expected anything for all their hard work. Now I am more careful about saying what I would like! Happy Christmas.

Posted on 29.12.2009